#22 Food Choice Card Reveal & Card thru Bill

When the magician’s psychic ability seems to fail, the magician divines the chosen card with 3 food related questions. What? Next, by wrapping a borrowed bill around a single playing card, the card penetrates the bill for everyone to see. Then suddenly, the card is ripped thru the bill, but as it is handed back, the bill is shown to be totally restored. Wow!

The last time I posted a card trick, I posted two card tricks. Well, I’ve done it again, and for the same reason. The second trick uses one card only and you can’t just bring out one card and perform a trick with it. Your audience will want to examine the card and of course the card has been gimmicked.

So, let’s look at the first trick, which also has a gimmicked card – a “Cut Card”. By cutting a corner off a card, you can find out where it is in the deck by performing a thumb riffle. Hold the deck in your palm with the fingers around the long side and your thumb at a corner. Push down on the corner with your thumb as you hold the deck firmly with your fingers. The corners of the cards will start to come off your thumb. Notice the sound as this happens. Now, when you get to the cut corner the sound will change slightly, just before the cards stop moving. This is when you will know you have reached your “Cut Card”.

In trick #17, you learned “The Key Card” principle and this is a variation on that. When the deck stops at the “Cut Card”, you will place the spectator’s card into the deck beside it and then when you spread the cards face up and look for the “Cut Card”, you will notice the face up card just before the “Cut Card” and that will be the chosen card.

At this point, you know the chosen card and this is when you can ask any random questions and pretend that the audience member’s choices are leading you to the chosen card.

Once you have revealed the chosen card, you put the cards back into the box, when you seem to get the idea for another card trick, (when in reality that was your plan all along because you put your second gimmicked card (the “1 ½ card”) in the box before the trick, with the flap folded over it). So, you pull out the flap and put the deck into the box and then right away pull all the cards out again including the “1 ½ card”.

The “1 ½ card” is…you guessed it: one and a half cards. Just cut a random card in half and then use clear tape to hold it to a whole card. The best way to tape them together is to put the tape in between them. Put the whole card face down on the table, then at one end, place the ½ card face up and tape them together. Now flip the ½ card against the full card. You should now see only the backs of the cards.

So, you have pulled the whole deck out of the box, now simply take your “1 ½ card” off the back of the deck and put the rest of the cards aside. At this point you can borrow a bill from the audience or get your own, or a Canadian Tire bill or a piece of paper.

The important bit is folding the bill so one side sticks out past the other about ¼ inch or ½ centimeter. This will help the illusion of the card going thru the bill.

Once folded, place the bill with the longer side against the back of the “1 ½ card”, and without being obvious slip the edge of the bill between the cards. It should look like you just placed the folded bill behind the “1 ½ card”.

Next, fold the bill around the “1 ½ card” and do some magic: blow on the bill, put magic dust on it, or wave a magic wand. Then turn the “1 ½ card” around with the back toward the audience and unfold the bill and slide it up and down a little bit (you don’t want to go up too high and have the bill come out from in between the cards).

The most important move is NOW. Holding the top of the card with one hand, put the index finger of the other hand on the bill right where it is folded in half at the centre of the card(s) and have your thumb behind right against your index finger. NOW with your middle finger, pull the bottom edge of the bill upwards until it is horizontal. This will strongly create the illusion that the bill has gone right thru the card. Just make sure you don’t go up so high that the half card pops out and gives away the secret.

Now, move the side of the bill back downwards and hold one end of the bill and move it up and down slightly once again. Count to 3 and then pull the bill sideways, which would (in reality) now rip the bill about ¾ of the way thru it’s middle. Hand the bill to the spectator and have him/her examine it and tell everyone if it is ripped?

Take a bow!!

———————————————————————————————————–
Steve Baker is a magician located in the GTA residing North of Orangeville.

Since 1997, Steve has entertained adults and children at private functions and large public venues to amaze them with sleight of hand, strolling magic tricks, mentalism and fun characters from Alton, Caledonia, Oakville, Scarborough, downtown Toronto, Oshawa, Owen Sound, Barrie, Newmarket and many towns all over Ontario, Canada.