side to help anchor the fan in position. Wave the pen toward the initialed corner, and secretly press forward on the card with your third finger while the second finger pulls back on the card. These small controlled movements of your fingers under the fan make the initialed "white space" slowly glide along the edge of the fan from right to left. As soon as the dancing has started, put the pen and the finger palmed white space into your pocket.
This method to make the corner dance are the same used to make a whole card dance along a fan — but are kept tighter so that only the initialed corner of the card is exposed — preserving the illusion that only the small piece of white space is dancing along the fan's edge.
NOTE — The animated white space does not have to zip around at incredible
speeds nor do a choreographed tap dance to be impressive. A few slow ghostly movements is all that's required to leave a lasting impression. Wait for the white space to run out of gas then direct the spectator to remove it from the deck. The white space, along with the spectator's initials, have melted into the selected card — like a lady ghost into the arms of her guy, or a slice of soft cheese on a hot cherry pie . . . Isn't life wonderful?
Presentation:
STEP I — "Yesterday I had someone pick a card from the deck — and in the
excitement of the moment she forgot to put it back — so I had to go out and buy another complete brand new card to replace it."
Do reverse move — using the actions to
highlight your words.
STEP II — "You seem much too mellow for that to ever happen. But just in case
— I've brought along a receipt. We'll fill it out in a moment."
Bring out the white space.
STEP III — "Right now I want you . . . (stretch out the pause for the joke only if
you can handle it) to say "stop!" — at any card that would make you feel good about yourself (If she hesitates say "If you can't decide on a card you'll have to take me." If she likes her second option better, act appropriately embarrassed — then get her phone number later.). I'll put the card over here so I can keep an eye on it.
Perform the switch and table the face- down card.
STEP IV — "And now I need two pieces of information from you for the receipt."
Position white space on deck and hold pen
ready for action.
STEP V — "It's personal — so you'll have to trust me. I need your first and last
initial,"
Write the double set of initials.
STEP VI — "I would have asked for something even more personal — but I'd have
trouble stapling it to this little piece of paper . . . your respect and admiration."
Square the deck, table the initialed white
space and pen, arid pick up the card while your left little finger obtains the break.
STEP VII — "Since you were careful not to lose the card I'll have to lose it for
you — just so you can see what happens when a card is missing."
Place the card on top and double undercut to the break. Fan the cards and get into fan dance position.
STEP VIII — "The lost & found system works automatically. First, a powerful
electro-magnet sucks the initialed receipt up against the edge of the fan — Metal filings in the ink enable the paper to react to the
magnet."
Pretend to stick the receipt to the f an. Pick up the pen and use it to gesture toward the initials as you mention the metal filings.
STEP IX — "Then a small but effective solar motor moves the card along the
edge of the fan until the sun goes away."
Cause the corner to move, and then stop.
Put the pen and palmed white space away.
STEP X — "A cleverly concealed wire coil then heats the receipt and melts it
onto one card . . . wait for it to cool . . . now take it out."
Direct your spectator to remove the receipt. STEP XI — "Now the card is impossible to lose because the receipt's
permanently attached."
NOTE — Sometimes to cap off "Fan Dance" I'll "lose" the card into the deck —
then palm it out and produce it from my pocket ... to show how impossible it is to lose the card.
The Seduction:
You comment that, Just like the heads of Las Vegas women, a pack of cards consists of ninety percent air. The entire deck is still seen in your hands as you squash your hands around it. The deck, still visible as the hands squash together, instantly disappear . . . leaving behind only an air of mystery.
The one time preparation consists of putting a crease into the side of one card (which can be borrowed). There is no palming, lapping, or pitting. The raw nerve impact of the vanish transcends sleight-of-hand and borders on the seriously weird.
Note to Las Vegas women — Cynthia, Janet, Marisa, Rhonda, and Sandie: Of
course, you're the exceptions.
Preparation: Remove the two jokers from the pack. If you don't have the jokers
use a pair of two's or three's.
Hold the joker face-down and fold half an inch of its left side face up onto the back. The half inch flap should consist of the word "joker" (or a joker symbol) and uninterrupted white space. If the joker's design intrudes onto the rest of the white space then you have to use another brand of joker or use one of the two's or three's.
Fig. 1.
Set-up: Place the deck into its case (make sure the tabs fold in).
Close the cardcase flap.
Tuck the creased joker face up into the case through the space between the flap and the half-moon wall so that the bent part of the joker slides down the left corner of the case — along the left side of the cased deck.
It should be a perfect fit.
Place the unbent joker face down into the cardcase so that it covers the bent joker.
Your set up then, from the half moon side of the card case down is: a face down joker, face-up bent joker with its bent flap square with the left side of the case, the tucked in cardcase flap, the cased deck.
Note for Non-Believers:
You are about to convince your audience that the folded flap on the joker is actually an entire deck of cards.
Right now I can hear muffled whispers . . . but a bent joker doesn't look anything like a deck, and there's no little lines where the cards would be, and besides — the sides of a real deck aren't that white."
To concerned whisperers everywhere — be concerned no more. After years of abusing cards, I truly know what it takes to make a bent joker look like a deck.
Regarding the inherent discrepancies of line and color . . . this would be a problem if you held the fake next to a real deck and asked people to compare the difference. But because the audience have no chance for a comparison, and no reason to suspect that the extremely deck-like object coming out of the card case is anything other than a deck — they will be solidly convinced of the deck's internal integrity.
The illusion is perfect. The theory is sound. The seduction is unavoidable.
STEP I — Hold the case, half-moon side up and toward you, on your palm up left
hand. The case is positioned high in your left hand so that the left second finger is at the inner right corner.