#17 Card to Name & Egg on Card

A spectator’s card is shuffled into the deck of cards. The magician asks the spectator to think of the card they chose. After looking through the deck and apparently having trouble with his psychic ability, the magician turns the deck over and spells the spectator’s name, while putting cards face down on the table. The next card is turned over to reveal the chosen card. Then, the magician balances a marble egg in an egg cup on the edge of a single card. Eggciting Magic!!

For the first trick, a spectator takes a card from the deck of cards. The magician turns away as the spectator shows everyone the chosen card. The magician holds the deck in one hand and takes small amounts of cards from his hand and drops them onto the palm of his other hand in what is known as a Hindu Shuffle. The magician keeps doing this until the spectator says stop. The spectator places his chosen card onto the dropped cards and the rest of the deck is placed on top of the chosen card and the rest of the deck. The deck is cut as many times as the spectator likes and the deck can be shuffled again.

The magician now takes the deck and asks the spectator to think of the card they chose. The magician starts sliding the cards face up from hand to hand. Once the magician has looked through the entire deck, he turns the deck over, saying his psychic ability is not working today and then spells the spectator’s name as he puts cards face down on the table for each letter. Once the name has been spelled, the next card is turned over to reveal the chosen card. That’s the first of two card tricks on this video. Spoiler alert – you have to do the first trick before attempting the second!!

The secret to this first trick is called “the Key card”. The Key card is the card on the bottom of the deck. Generally, a card is chosen and then it is placed on the top of the deck and then the deck is cut. Cutting the deck places the bottom card on top of the chosen card.

But for this trick I am using the Hindu Shuffle to find out what the Key card will be. The great thing about the Hindu Shuffle that no one knows is that although little packets of cards are being moved from hand to hand, the bottom card never changes. As you square up the cards, you glimpse the bottom card and have you Key card. Once the spectator says: “Stop.”, you have them place their card on the hand that is holding the small packets and then place the Key card right on top of their chosen card.

Now the deck can be cut as many times as you want and can also be shuffled and those two cards will not separate from one another. What I have seen a few times is that as you start to slide through the deck you see that your Key card is on the bottom of the deck again – Don’t panic – that just means that the chosen card is the top card of the deck.

So, you are looking through the deck for your Key card. Once you come to it, you know that you just went past the chosen card because with the deck face up the chosen card will be above the Key card.

What you do now is start spelling the person’s name beginning with the Key card. Let’s say the person’s name is Mark. You silently spell M.A.R.K. as you slide the key card and 3 other cards. Now, from underneath the deck you put your index finger between that last fourth card and the rest of the deck and keep sliding through the cards as you pretend to still be looking for the spectator’s card. When you get through the whole deck, you split the deck in two piles right where your index finger is and place that bottom pile on top of the rest of the cards, effectively putting the chosen card 5th from the top of the deck and turn the deck face down..

If you haven’t asked the volunteer for his name, do it now and then start spelling the person’s name as you place a card on the table for each letter. In this case, M…A…R…K. The next card is the chosen card, so you can ask the spectator to name their card and then turn over the 5th card to reveal that their name led you to the chosen card.

As you may be noticing, it is very hard to explain these kinds of manipulations with written words, so go back to the video as you read this over to get a better idea of the process.

Now for part two of this video.

First you have to create your “gimmick” – that is your tricky card. Get any two cards and fold one in half lengthwise. Put some glue or double-sided tape on half of the face of the folded card and stick it to the back of the other card. And then place these cards under a stack of heavy books for a day.

Now place the card into the deck, being sure that the flap is facing downward when you overhand shuffle the cards, so other cards can’t accidentally get into the fold. This “gimmick” can be in the deck for the first trick, and as a matter of fact needs to be to prove that the single card used in this second trick is just that – a single card.

So, after performing the first trick just cut the cards and the deck should split in two right at the gimmick. If it doesn’t just spread and look through the deck and find it, hold it in your hand and flip it over (holding the flap shut) and show it is only one card.

Now two things must happen to cause a little misdirection – at the same time, you reach over and pick up marble egg in an egg cup (or a glass filled with juice or anything you like that can be balanced on the gimmick) and talk about the item as the other hand is opening the flap with your thumb which is behind the card with the fingers out front.

Once the flap is open, place your glass on the card and move both the card and glass to the table. Once on the table, slide the glass back and forth and try releasing your hold on the glass. When you know it is balanced, take both hands away and show the impossible. You are balancing a glass full of juice on the edge of a playing card!

To finish up, take the glass in one hand and put the thumb on the flap and lift the glass and card as you close the flap. Turn the card to show the back and pose for you well deserved applause.

Now, put the glass down and put the card back into the box and move on to your next trick. See, I told you, eggciting magic. Eggcellent practicing will make Eggceptional trickery. Really, I don’t eggzagerate!! Sorry, it’s just a little yoke.
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Steve Baker is a magician located in the Greater Toronto Area residing North of Brampton, Vaughan, Orangeville, Caledon, West of Shelburne and South of Dundalk (as the crow walks).

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 Algonquin Park to Ancaster and from Merlin to Arthur (it’s a magic thing and they really are towns)in Ontario.