And yet they come! -- these fascinating Card Mysteries -- to Intrigue you with their cleverness.

And think! You are now learning effects which the Modern Masters of Magic use in their repertoires. You are learning their secrets and their methods so that you, too, may master these experiments and work for skill to match theirs. Faithful study and earnest practice will bring you to the stage where you, too, can hold audiences spellbound with the display of your wonderful art.

"TACK IT"

An effective version of the famous tacked card mystery by Ed Reno, a Master of the Art.

EFFECT:

Spectator selects a card from a deck, returns it, and it is shuffled thoroughly into the deck. Magician then pretends to show a tack to audience. He places this invisible tack in the center of pack. Rubber bands are placed around the pack and it is thrown at a board. All the cards fall to the floor except the selected card which mysteriously attaches itself by means of the tack to the board.

PARAPHERNALIA:

1 -- A deck of cards.

2 -- An extra card.

3 -- A thumb tack or sharp carpet tack.

4 -- Two rubber bands.

5 -- A soft pine board, about 12 x 16 inches in size. Board should be about 1/4 inch thick. The artist's drawing board makes a suitable board for this experiment.

SECRET AND PATTER:

To Prepare:

Paint the board any color you choose on both sides. Black is the color generally used.

On the back of the board make a border of one-fourth inch elastic tape about two inches from the edges. Glue or tack this border to the board, leaving on one of the long sides a space large enough to permit the insertion of a card. Figure 1.

If desired, this board may be taped on both sides. To the audience it looks like a decoration, but it serves a much more useful purpose.

Push the thumb tack through the center of the extra card (assuming here that it is the Four of Diamonds).

The head of the tack must be on the face of the card and the point at the back. Figure 2.

Place this card under the tape on back of board. Face of card should be against board and tack should be resting on tape. Figure 3.

Place the board on a nearby chair, leaning it up against back of chair, or let it lie on the table.

Run through your pack of cards, pick out the Four of Diamonds and place it on top of the deck in preparation for forcing.

To Perform:

This is an excellent trick in which to use a small boy as an assistant. Request that one come up from audience and, as usual, learn his name. Suppose it is Theodore.

Have the deck of cards in your hands.

"Theodore, you are! about to come in to your own. While the audience isn't looking, I want you to select one of these fifty-two cards."

FORCE the Four of Diamonds. (Lesson 14.)

"Show it to the audience, but do not let me see it."

Turn your back to Theodore while he shows the card to audience. Pick up rubber bands. "Now take the pack and shuffle your card in among the rest of the cards." Theodore takes pack, places his card in it, and shuffles it. "Sort of shuffling along, I should say." Take pack.

"We shall just place a rubber band around the pack this way."

Place one rubber band around pack the short way.

"And another around the other way."

Place the other band around the cards the long way.

Show cards securely bound with rubber bands. Hold pack in left hand and show both sides. Figure 4.

Walk over to chair or table and pick up board in this manner: Deck of cards held by left thumb on front of board, card with tack on back of board held by left fingers. Figure 5.

"Step over this way, Theodore, a foot or two."

Motion to him with right hand, turning your right side toward audience. This brings your left hand with board and cards away from audience.

Reach over and take board with right hand. The Four of Diamonds with the tack in it is automatically slipped from the back of the board to "top" of the pack. Square this card up with the pack.

"And hold this board. You may hold either side or both, if you like."

Show both sides of board, then give it to the boy to hold with taped side away from audience. Figure 6.

"Hold it tight so that all your friends can see both you and the board."

Be careful to keep faces of deck of cards toward audience so that they cannot see the detached card at rear.

Now reach into pocket and pretend to bring out a tack held between tip of first finger and thumb of right hand.

"Theodore, this is a tack which I hold here in my hand. Have you ever come into sudden and unexpected contact with one? It is remarkable, isn't it, how a simple tack can find one out? I'll just place this one inside the deck."

Open the cards a little about in the center of the pack and pretend to place the tack there. Figure 7.

Allow cards to come together again. Hold deck again facing the audience, in left hand with palm and fingers screening back of deck.

"Do you remember, Theodore, the card which you selected and shuffled into the pack? You do? Let me congratulate you. What was the card? The Four of Diamonds? You are sure it wasn't the eight or the nine? All right -- the Four."

Take deck and prepared Four of Diamonds in right hand. Hold as in Figure 8.

"Hold the board tight. One — two— three."

Then throw cards against the board so that they strike flat. The force of the throw and the weight of the deck will drive the tack into the board and fasten the Four of Diamonds securely on it. Figure 9.

The pack of cards falls to the floor, but does not scatter because of the rubber bands. The audience can see that it is still intact, bound by the rubber bands.

"The Four of Diamonds." Take board from boy.

"Sit down, Theodore, and recuperate."

NEW ERA VERSION OF CARD THROUGH HANDKERCHIEF

This is a modification of an old magical experiment which is in every magician's repertoire. In its old form it was effective, but in its new dress it is even more wonderful. In the old version only one side of handkerchief could be shown after cards were wrapped. In this version both sides of handkerchief can be shown just before the card starts to penetrate the handkerchief.

EFFECT:

Spectator selects a card. This is returned to deck and shuffled thoroughly into it. Magician then borrows a handkerchief in which he wraps the deck and holds it up by the edges of the handkerchief. Both sides of handkerchief are shown. Performer then shakes handkerchief and the chosen card slowly comes down through the handkerchief and drops to the floor.

PARAPHERNALIA:

1 -- A deck of cards.

2 -- A borrowed handkerchief -- or performer may use his own.

SECRET AND PATTER:

To Perform:

Borrow a gentleman's handkerchief and throw it over your left arm.

Request that a spectator select a card and remember it. Have it returned to deck. Perform the SIMPLIFIED PASS to get selected card to top of deck. Shuffle cards well to give audience impression that card is lost in deck.

Place handkerchief over left hand. Hold deck with right hand. Figure 10.

"There is a story told about a fairy godmother who tucks the little fairies in every night, just as I tuck these fairy cards away under this gentleman's handkerchief."

Place right hand with deck of cards, faces up, under handkerchief. Remove left hand from under handkerchief, letting edges of handkerchief fall over right hand. Figure 11.

Note carefully the position of the cards in the handkerchief. They are diagonal to the edges and the two short edges are in line with two of the corners. Figure 12.

One corner of handkerchief hangs down over right arm toward audience, and the other toward yourself.

Reach over with left hand and grasp deck through the handkerchief. As you do this, quickly palm the selected card in right hand. Figure 13.

Remove right hand with card palmed from under handkerchief.

Remember to watch your Angles of Visibility and Naturalness in palming. Figure 14.

Rotate deck upward so that edge B comes up and deck is straight up and down. Figure 15.

Continue to rotate deck until you have it in position shown in Figure 16. Cards in handkerchief are in line with palmed card in right hand and outer edge of handkerchief falls over back of right hand.

Take cards and handkerchief in right hand, thumb holding them on side toward audience and fingers holding the selected card in back. Figure 17.

Figure 18 shows how selected card is held in back of pack and handkerchief by fingers of right hand. Left side of body is towards audience.

Bring left hand up to pack and grasp it at end opposite that held by right hand. Figure 19.

The moment that you grasp the deck with left hand, slip the selected card in back down about an inch and

a half with right fingers. Hold this card in place with fingers and thumb of left hand clasped around deck and handkerchief. Figure 20.

"I fold them in just so."

Fold left side of handkerchief to rear and over selected card. Figure 21.

Then fold over right side of handkerchief so that card is now completely covered. Note carefully the manner in which the handkerchief is folded over the card with edges K and Y just concealing the card. Figure 22.

Now turn other end of pack up and hold deck and selected card through the handkerchief with thumb and fingers of right hand. Figure 23.

Show both sides of handkerchief to audience. They see nothing unusual about the rear side where the handkerchief is folded. Then turn folded side of handkerchief to rear again.

"But every night, one little fellow, when all the rest of the little fairies are asleep, slips away and runs out into the moonlight to dance and play and have a good time."

Begin to shake handkerchief slightly so as to allow first grip on selected card. The card slips slowly down and makes its appearance, apparently coming through the handkerchief. Figure 24.

"Here comes the little fellow now. The Eight of Spades. Was that your card, sir? Right through the fairy covers it comes and gaily flutters away." Card drops to floor.

Unfold handkerchief and show pack of cards still inside.

"And the rest of the fairy family are still asleep inside. As you see, the fairy covering hasn't been hurt a bit. That explains how Santa Claus comes down the chimney on Christmas Eve."

THREE CARDS THROUGH THE HANDKERCHIEF

EFFECT:

Similar to preceding effect, except that three cards are selected, remembered, and returned to the deck. The handkerchief is wrapped around deck as previously, and then the cards come through the handkerchief one at a time.

PARAPHERNALIA:

1 -- A deck of cards.

2 -- A borrowed handkerchief, or performer's own.

SECRET AND PATTER:

To Perform:

Borrow a handkerchief and place it over your left arm. Pick up deck of cards. Figure 25.

Have three spectators select cards, remember them, and have them returned to pack. You, of course, keep track of these cards with your little finger. After each card is returned you supposedly place the two sections of deck together again, but in reality you keep them separated with little finger, so that each time you open deck at same place.

Thus when first card is returned, you divide deck into two sections and have selected card placed on top of lower section. You pretend to close up pack, but really keep little finger inserted over first selected card. Then you open deck again at same place and receive second selected card on top of first one. Then insert little finger over second selected card and pretend to close deck. Again open deck at same place and have third selected card placed on top of other two. Insert little finger above third selected card, and pretend to close deck up. Audience is not aware that you have opened deck at same place each time. It appears that you have closed the deck after receiving each card and that consequently these cards are lost in the deck.

Now perform the SIMPLIFIED PASS bringing the three selected cards to top of pack.

Fan pack slightly and insert little finger of left hand under three top cards in preparation for Palming. Square cards again.

Pass right hand over deck in left hand and PALM the three selected cards in right hand. Give the deck in left hand to someone to shuffle. Figure 26.

"Give these cards your favorite shuffle."

With right hand containing palmed cards, grasp corner of handkerchief and pull it from left arm. Figure 27.

Grasp upper edge of front card with first finger and thumb shown in Figure 28. You will have no difficulty in holding corner of handkerchief with cards palmed in right hand. This helps to remove any suspicion from minds of audience that you have anything in right hand. Audience believes that you could not use hand so freely if you had something concealed in it. Figure 28, next page.

Drop handkerchief from right hand and instantly move right hand up under handkerchief so that it is covered. Figure 29, next page.

"I shall take the pack of cards and wrap it in the gentleman's handkerchief."

Take the deck and place it on the handkerchief, directly over the palmed cards which are in right hand under handkerchief. Square deck and palmed cards even. Figure 30.

Take hold of lower front corner of handkerchief and bring it up over the cards. Figure 31.

With left hand fold left side of handkerchief under around the three selected cards, making the same kind of fold as you did in Figure 21. Figure 32.

While doing this, spread the three selected cards upward with right hand. Thumb of right hand is in front of handkerchief, holding deck of cards and handkerchief. Left hand holds Card 1 tight against handkerchief and right hand spreads Cards 2 and 3 apart. Figure 33.

Then hold cards in place with left hand while you fold back right side of handkerchief with right hand, as you did in Figure 22, Figure 34.

Now hold handkerchief by the edges as shown in Figure 35. The two upper selected cards are gripped by right fingers and thumb.

"It is said that nothing is really solid -- that the solid bodies are in reality made up of atoms, each surrounded by space. Knowing this fact has proved very helpful in getting out of many a difficulty. It makes it possible to go through apparently solid objects with practically no trouble at all. Even this handkerchief is really a series of holes held together by thread. Let me shake it a bit. The atoms then separate, and anything inside can penetrate through."

Begin to shake handkerchief slightly, loosening your selected card to slip down slowly, giving the effect of coming through the handkerchief. Figure 36.

"The first gentleman who selected a card. What was it? The Five of Hearts. Come on Five of Hearts. See, it walks right through."

Let the card flutter to the floor, or take it when it is almost out of the handkerchief and drop it on table.

"The name of the next card, please. The King of Clubs? All right, King of Clubs, come right into sight."

Shake handkerchief and, as you do so, release your grip on the lower card of the two selected ones left. It will drop down and gradually work its way out.

"The name of the third card? The Seven of Spades."

Turn handkerchief around carelessly to show the rear so that audience can see that there are no cards there. The position of the card and the folds of the handkerchief, of course, conceal the card. It looks as though the deck were wrapped in the handkerchief completely. This puzzles even the initiated for they know only the old method and believe the card to be visible at the rear.

Turn handkerchief back again to former position with folds of handkerchief at back. Shake handkerchief and release hold on card. It, too, gradually slips down into sight.

"Here we come -- slow, but sure."

Take card when almost released, or let it flutter to floor.

"And the remainder of the pack."

Open up handkerchief and show deck of cards.

"Still in the handkerchief. And the handkerchief--just the same as usual." Show handkerchief both sides as in Figure 28. 

Place cards aside and return handkerchief.

RISING CARDS THROUGH HANDKERCHIEF

This effect is a variation for either of the two preceding tricks. Instead of holding the handkerchief and shaking it so that the cards slip out of the bottom, the position of the handkerchief is reversed so that the card or cards rise out of the top.

The card or cards can easily be pushed up by first finger of right hand. See Lesson 9, Figure 15. The same principle applies here.

The audience does not see your first finger working up the card. To them it appears that the card is slowly pushing its way up through the top of the handkerchief. Figure 37.

Figure 38, next page, shows the rear view of your effect, which the audience does not see. Your hand is clasped around the deck in the handkerchief and your index finger is working the card slowly upward.

When three cards are caused to rise, you proceed in this manner: Place three cards together as if they were one. When making them rise, first push up the top one, then the second one, and finally the third.

Before the cards rise they are arranged as in Figure 35, except that handkerchief is turned to bring opposite end of cards up.

If you desire to show both sides of handkerchief before making the cards rise, simply push the cards back under the handkerchief so that they are concealed by its folds. Then after rear of handkerchief has been shown, push cards back into place. Only a slight movement of the right thumb will get the cards into position.

LESSON 17

From the wonderful repertoire of CARDINI, the eminent English conjurer and master of sleight of hand, come the fascinating card effects of the Seventeenth Lesson.

Tarbell System, Inc. Chicago.