Many thanks to my dear friends for their proofreading:

Marc Kerstein, Michael Blau, Jamy Ian Swiss,

John Graham, and Laura Alexander.

Copying all or any part or this text is prohibited unl ess

given permission by the author.
Copyright CD 20 19 by Asi Wind
 Contents

1. 3-D Telepathy
7. Double Digits Force
11. Noah
27. Gang of Four
 3-D Telepathy

One of the reasons I don't use the center tear often is

because it's not always possible to justifY tearing the
billet right after you have instructed someone to write
on it. In this routine, the use of the center tear is
logically motivated.

EFFECT: Three spectators each write down

information on a billet. The billets are folded and mixed.
A spectator randomly choose one of them, and the other
two are torn into small pieces (one is torn by the
performer, the other by a spectator). The performer
correctly reveals the information on the chosen billet.
When the other spectators ask, What about what we
. wrote?, he then divines the information on the other
two billets, as well.

1
NEEDED: You will need three pieces of paper and one billet he wants you to concentrate on. P ick up one
three pens. Blank index cards are the perfect thickness , of the other two (unchosen) billets and ask him to pick ,
and 2112 11 square is a good size, although other sizes can up the other unchosen one. "Tear it up into small pieced jt&t
work as well. Test the pens to make sure they are not Like I'm doin/!." You demonstrate by tearing your billet,
the kind where the ink bleeds through to the other side but in reality, you are performing a center tea r ~the
of the index cards. type wherein you glimpse the information as you tear,
rather than the type where you steal the center piece.
(Many good versions have been published by Al Baker,
PERFORMANCE: Hand a piece of paper and a pen to Richard Osterlind, Bruce Bernstein, and Ran Pink, to
each of three people. Ask the first spectator to write name a few) .
down a two-digit number, such as a portion of an
address, pin code, birthdate, etc. ~any number that's Let's assume that you peeked the secret number;
commit the number to memory and continue shredding
meaningful to him. Take a pen and draw a line across
the billet while asking the spectator to drop his torn
the center of the billet with a little X to the left of the
pieces onto the table.
line to indicate where the number should be written.
I have discovered that if you ask someone to tear a
Instruct the second person to write down the first name
folded billet into small pieces, the information written in
of a person with whom he has an emotional connection
the center of the billet will remain intact. In other
with. Again, draw a line with an X indicating where he
should write. words, the spectator performs the center tear for you.
If you look closely at the torn pieces on the table, it's
Finally, ask the last person to draw a simple drawing of
quite easy to tell which piece contains the written
something that he can relate to on a personal level. On
information; look for the only piece that has folded
this billet, draw a square in the middle to restrict him
edges on two sides (forming an L shape) . Once you
from drawing outside the center of the billet.
identifY that piece, drop your pieces on top of his, and
Once they are finished, ask all of them to fold their secretly grab that piece. Since it's quite small, stealing
pieces of paper in half twice, once in each direction. that piece goes unnoticed. Let the stolen piece rest on
Have one of the spectators collect all three billets and your right fmgers, so that your hand appears relaxed.
mix them up behind his back (or under the table). Once
A short recap: you have committed to memory the
fmished, ask him to place them onto the table.
information (a number) from the billet you tore, and
"Since thiJ iJ quite difficuLt, I am onLy going to try to gaUd you have the center of the other billet resting on your
whatd written on one of thue p~perd, but you wilL deciJe which fingers.
one itd .'Join/! to be." Ask a spectator to slide forward the

2 3
Point at the folded (chosen) billet on the table and say, challenge you to reveal the other two thoughts that
'1 think thid 6eLongJ to the person who i! thinking ofa number: " were committed to paper. So wait until someone
Of course, this statement will change depending on challenges you, and while you wait, it's very easy to
whatever category of information you peeked during unfold the torn piece of paper you deposited in your
the center tear. For example, if you peeked the drawing, pocket and position it in finger palm; then find a
you would say, '1 think thi.t 6eLongJ to the peNon who drew a moment to secretly glimpse it. As far as the audience is
picture. " concerned, the trick is over, and so finding this moment
should not be difficult.
With your right hand, reach into your trouser pocket,
deposit the stolen piece, and remove another billet from You now have the other two pieces of information and
your pocket. Pick up a pen and write down the number it's up to you to determine how to reveal them.
that you committed to memory. Place the paper face
down onto the table. Pick up the folded billet from the
table and unfold it . Be casual about it but make sure no
one else can see what's written on it. This is how you
discover the second unknown piece of information .
Let's assume you see a drawing of a flower. Pretend you
are reading the billet with the number and say
something like, "So why {.1 [45] JztJnificant to your
You need to destroy this billet, otherwise your audience
could discover the fact that the information on it doesn't
match your divination. So tear it into small pieces and
drop them onto the rest of the torn billets as you say,
aOf course, you couLd bave cbosen to deJtlYly thi! one} and keep
anotber:" Turn over y ou r written divination; in our
example, it would read "45". Your initial claim was that
you are only going to try to reveal one of these billets,
so you should act as if the demonstration is over.
The strongest magic you can perform is the kind of
magic that people challenge you to do, like: make my
wife disappear, or tell me the lottery numbers. Although
I don't yet have impromptu solutions to those requests,
with this routine you are setting up your audience to

4 5
 Double Digits Force

This was inspired by Chan Canasta's psychological

riffle force.! This is not a card force, but a method that
will enable you to force two one-digit numbers. It is a
very useful tool that can be used in various ways. You
can use it for tricks like ACAAN, Book Tests, a Magic
Square, or any routine that requires a force of a two-
digit number. I am not offering a full routine here, just a
description of the force itself.

EFFECT: You riffle the deck of cards with the faces

toward a spectator, and ask him to choose two random
numbers (card values) that he sees. The two numbers
he chooses are your force numbers. What's interesting
is that the participant genuinely sees many different

1 Chan Canasta: A Remarkable Man (2000) by David

-Br itla nd , page 75.

6 7
cards rime past, and therefore the procedure looks as recommend looking away during this procedure to
fair to him as it does to the audience. make it seem even fairer than it already is. When you
have finished riffling the cards, say, "Do you have two
numbers in mind?"
SETUP: Let's assume you want to force the numbers
Because you rimed through almost half the deck, the
two and five. Remove the four Twos and the four Fives,
illusion is that he had many options to choose from, but
along with all twelve court cards. Shume the court
in reality, because the Twos and Fives alternate with
cards and arrange these twenty cards as follows from
random court cards, the only two numbers he could
the top down: Three court cards, a Two, a court card, a
possibly have seen are two and five, and therefore he
Five, a court card, a Two, and so forth, until you run
ends up with those in mind.
out of cards. (There will be two court cards together at
the end.) Place this stack on top of the remainder of the "Please arrange the two numbers you have in mind to form a
(shuttled) deck and put them inside the box. You are two-digit number; for example, ?fthe numbers you have in mind
now ready for the force. are eight and six, you can make it eighty-dix or dlxty-eight. "
Since you don't know which combination he made, for
some tricks, you would need to do a bit of fishing to
PERFORMANCE: Remove the cards from the case know which number he created. For example, you can
and casually false shulfle the deck; it's important the ask, "Did you end up with an even number or an odd number?"
audience thinks the cards are shuffled to eliminate the or "LOU can arrange the numbers where one if Lower than the
thought that the cards are stacked. Hand the deck to a otbet; which do you prefer; the higher number or the Lower
spectator and ask him to go through them as you say, number?"
"LOU can dee the card« are thoroughLy dh4jled and are aLL
d?fferent, correct?" Even though the top portion of the For some tricks, you don't need to know which of the
deck is stacked, it's very hard to spot a suspicious two-digit numbers he chose because you have outs for
pattern when examined casually. both outcomes. For example, for a Book Test, you can
hand him the book and say, "Open the book to the page
Take back the deck, and hold it in your left hand with number you have in mind." It's very easy to figure out if he
the face toward the spectator. Say, "I'm going to riffle chose twenty-five or fifty-two just from glancing where
tbrouob the cardd, and a» they.'1o by, 1 want you to remember he opens the book, or if he is looking at an even-
any two d{(ferent numbers that you dee" I'LL go through them numbered page or an odd-numbered page.
dLowLy, dO you have enough time to dee two d?fferent numbers. "
The stack consists of twenty cards, so with your right
fingers at the upper ends of the cards, start riming
about twenty cards from the top of the deck. I

8 9
 Noah

Over the years, many magIcIans have tinkered with

Marlo's famous "A Matching Routine"2~Martin Nash,
Denis Behr, Justin Higham, and Allan Ackerman, to
name a few. I have also dedicated many years to
exploring this plot. I would like to share with you where
it stands today, as I am sure I will make more changes
and tweaks to it in the future .

EFFECT: In the first phase of this routine, a spectator

cuts to a random card in the deck, and another
spectator, coincidently, selects the mate of that card (the
same value and color). The effect is repeated. Then,
three randomly chosen cards are turned face up in the
face-down deck, and the deck is shuffled; amazingly,
each of the three selections lands right next to its

2 This was published in Ed Marlo 's Faro ControLLeJ Miracle" (1964) ,

page 31.

10 11
 respective mate. In the last phasev--after the cards have right, you'll be doing the Hofzinser cull twenty-six
been shuffled many times during the previous phases ~ times .f You can justify this procedure by commenting
every card in the deck ends up paired next to its mate. about how well-shuffled the cards are and removing the
This trick is suitable for a formal close-up show and Jokers in the process. At the end of the culling
requires a full-deck setup. However, I will also share procedure, turn the deck face down; the Diamonds and
with you a trick that you can perform immediately prior Spades will occupy the top half of the deck and the
to this routine, during which you can secretly set up the Clubs and Hearts will be in the bottom half.
entire deck for this routine. This, of course, is optional ((! woul() now like to present the /airedt trick in the world."
and you can simply set up the deck in advance. Ironically, this trick is far from fair, because during the
course of it, you will be stacking the entire deck for the
trick that follows. Execute a Jordan red-black
SETUP: Set up the deck in stay-stack order (this is also overhand shuffle, as follows: shuffle off batches of cards
known as a mirror stack); that is, the top card of the until you are near the middle, then start to run off cards
deck is the mate of the bottom card, the second card is singly; once you have passed the center, go back to
the mate of the second card from the bottom, the third shuffling groups of cards until you have gone through
card is the mate of the third from the bottom, and so on the whole deck.t This shuffle will maintain the
throughout the entire deck; there will be a pair of mates separation of the suits ~ Diamonds and Spades will now
together at the center of the deck. Note, however that be the bottom half and Clubs and Hearts will be the
for this trick, the stack must look random; new deck upper half.
order is technically a stay stack, but it does not look
random. The cover illustration shows an example of a Turn your head away and ask a spectator to remove a
stay stack. card as you run the cards from your left hand to your
right; only allow him to take a card from the upper half
of the deck, as the chosen card must be a Club or a
PERFORMANCE: If you do not have the opportunity Heart (even with your head turned away it's easy to
or desire to preset your deck, here is the preliminary restrict his choice) . With your head still turned away,
trick you can perform that will enable you to set up the continue running cards from your left hand to your
deck in front of your audience. Obviously, if your deck
is already stacked, you will skip this preliminary trick. 3 A good resource for learning the cull is Koysta Kimlat's DVD,
Let's assume you have just finished a card trick and The Roadrunner edt.

your deck is shuffled. As you thumb through the face- 4 This is Charles T. Jordan's red-black overhand sh uHle from his

. Diamonds and Spades~that's

up deck, cull all of the . book Thirty Card MyJteried. (1919), page 13. Alternatively, you can
do any false shuffle that doesn't intermix the halves.

12 13
 right and say, "Look at the card, dhow it around, and return. it card that belongs to the Clubs/Hearts portion; that card
to the deck. J7 By the time he is ready to put his card back is the chosen one. Remove that card and place it face
in the deck you will have gone past the center of the down onto the table and ask, "What Wad the card you
deck, and he will only have access to the lower half of chose?" The card he names will be the card you just
the deck; therefore his card will be the only Club or placed face down; turn it over and conclude the trick.
Heart amongst the Spades and Diamonds. With your
Place the final few cards onto the face of the spread in
head still turned away, execute another Jordan red-
the order that mirrors the last few cards on the other
black overhand shuffle, as described above, which
end of the spread, placing the mate of the chosen card
makes this demonstration truly diabolical.
last (so it is on top). Place the chosen card under the
Turn the deck face up and say, '7'IL remove aIL the cardd I last card of the spread on the left (and use it to scoop up
think you Jidn't choose. J7 As you thumb through the deck, the deck if you'd like), and you will have arranged the
remove bunches of cards from the Clubs/Hearts portion deck into stay-stack order.f Although it's unlikely that
and place them scattered face up onto the table. anyone would ever notice that the cards are separated
Continue pulling cards out of the deck until you have by suit, Clubs and Hearts on the left and Diamonds and
removed the entire bottom half Square up the cards on Spades on the right, pick up the cards, cut exactly
the table and ribbon spread them from left to right so between the pair at the center (the red Nines, in our
that all the indices are visible and ask, "So, none 0( tbese example) and perform a faro shuffle (out or in) and the
card.} if yOUI'd, right?J7 . deck will still be in stay-stack order, but with all four
Under the guise of continuing to eliminate cards that suits alternating.
you think are not the chosen card, you are now going to This trick is a very powerful demonstration on its own,
put the deck into stay-stack order. Let's assume that the but it's also a great way to set up for the next routine.
card at the face of the tabled spread is the Nine of However, you can omit this trick, and just perform the
Hearts. Go through the cards, remove the Nine of following effect, if you have the opportunity (and
Diamonds, and place it on the right end of the spread desire) to preset your deck in stay-stack order.
(on top of its mate) as you say, '7 don't think thatd your
Now that the cards are stacked, you can execute a few
car~ eithe!: J7 Note the card in the spread to the left of the
full-deck false shuffles as you ask a spectator to your
Nine of Hearts and pull out its mate from the cards in
right to help you, "Please, place the deck under the table and
your hands and place it on the right end of the spread.
cut off a small packet of cardd from the top of the deck. J7 It's a
(To make this process a bit faster, pull out a few cards at
good idea to demonstrate cutting a small packet of cards
a time and lay them down, rather than handling each
card individually.) Once you are l~ft with only a few
5 The idea of surreptitiously stacking cards in this manner was
cards in your hand you'll notice that there's only' one
inspired by the maestro, Juan Tamariz.

14 15
as you give these instructions to prevent confusion. With the cards in right-hand end grip, keep your right
After he takes the cards under the table and cuts off a thumb on the inner left corner of the angle-jogged card
small portion of cards from the top, say, "Leave the small and the right ring finger on the outer right corner of the
packet under the table and Dring up the rest." Retrieve the jogged card (your right hand prevents the angled card
rest of the cards from him, spread them face up, and from showing). The angled card will act as a long card
address someone who is sitting across from the first and will allow you to do the dribble force without
spectator. Say, . (7 want you to «elect a card at random) )) as having any visible break in the deck." Start dribbling
you note the lowermost card in the pack; let's say it's the cards onto the table as you say, "Please callout) (Stop)
Five of Hearts. Go through the cards and look for its anytime." Time it so that as soon the spectator starts
mate, the Five of Diamonds. moving his lips you are ready to stop exactly between
Injog the second card above the Five of Diamonds, and the angled card and the card below it.
as you square the deck, angle the injogged card by If the card at the face of the dribbled cards is the Queen
sliding the inner left corner half an inch to the right of Clubs, ask, "Whatd the cLodedt card to the Queen 0/GIUDd)
with your right thumb; all corners of the card should u it the Kin.tJ of GlUDd) the Jack 0/ GlUDd) or the other black
protrude with the exception of the outer left corner Queen?" Most likely they will reply, "The other black
(figure 1). Queen". This is a great opportunity to say, "Great) so you
prefer the Queen 0/ Spaded and not the Jack or Kin.tJ of Club», ))
If they answered the question any other way, I would
respond with, "ll7ell the closest card to the Queen 0/ GluDd U
1.
her twin card) the Queen 0/ Spaded." Depending on their
reply, you decide how to respond; in one case you treat
it as if you were giving them a choice and in the other
case you inform them about mates.
A quick recap: one spectator is holding a packet of
cards under the table; another packet is face up on the
table with the stopped-at card on top; the rest of the
cards are in your right hand. Ask the first spectator,
"Can you dhow lld where you cut the deck?" Once he brings
/
6 Th is handling of the dribble force can be found in The Vernon
Chronicle), VoLume One: The Lo,}f Inner Secret» (1987) by Stephen
M inch, page 94.

16 17
the cards up from under the table, ask him to turn them reason you held the piles above the table vertically is
face up, and the card at the face will be the mate of the because you want the spectators holding the cards
stopped-at card. Place the cut-off packet to the right of under the table to assume that they both received the
the tabled portion, and allow the audience enough time packets in the same orientation, and if you held both
to digest the first climax. Then spread both packets to piles above the table face down, they would both
display that none of the other cards match. ('If you had assume them to be face down. ('I want both of you to choode
cut the packet anywhere e&e, it wouldn': be a match. " a number between one and ten, but you must agree on the
After the first climax, you will need to reassemble the number; dO feeL free to negotiate until you agree on a number:"
deck back into stay-stack order. Place the cards in your Once they have agreed on a number (let's say it's four),
hand face up on top of the left pile, then pick up the ask them both to take the top card of their packet and
combined pile and place them on the pile on the right. move it to the bottom and continue one card at a time,
You are now back in stay-stack order. until they get to the fourth card (the number they
chose).
Spread through the face -up deck as you say, "YOu couLd
have chosen anyone of thede card«. " Look for the only two
With both hands, reach under the table to retrieve the
cards in the middle that are mates (the red Nines, in our two packets from them. "Please hand me the packet», but
example). Injog the upper card of the pair and square keep the fourth card under the table. As you bring the
J)

the deck while angling the injogged card, preparing for packets up, turn the left pile face up.
another dribble force. Start dribbling cards into a pile Execute ribbon spreads of the packets in two parallel
on the table and ask a spectator to stop you anywhere. columns, spreading them from near the spectators
Of course, you will time it so he stops you at the toward you, and say, "Of course, you coul2 have puLLed any
midpoint (right at the angled card). Ask him if he is two cardd you wanted. The order of the cards in each
J)

happy with where he stopped you. Most likely he'll be spread will look completely random to anyone who
satisfied and if not, you will pick up the cards on the compares the two spreads.
table and place them face up on top of the cards in your
"Please take a Look at the cardd you have under the table and
hand, and you will repeat this sequence. (Since you
place them face down onto the table. This specific wording
J)

gave the deck a complete cut, the middle pair will be

will help reinforce their belief that they are both holding
difJerent than before.)
the cards in the same orientation. (One of them will see
Take one half in each hand and hold them vertically the card face up, and the other will have to turn it over,
(why this is important will make sense in a second). which will make sense to them.)
Take both under the table and hand the right-hand
Once they each have placed their c-ard face down onto
packet face up to a spectator to your right. Hand the
the table, ask the spectator on your right to flip his card
other packet face down to a spectator on your left. The

18 19
 over; let's say it's the Three of Clubs . Turn to the other down, as you comment, 'If you dtopped me anywhere elde
spectator and say, "So the mate 0/the Three 0/ Clubd M the you would hare chosen different card«. " Keep doing that until
Three of Spaded, "and have him turn his card over. You you see the first of the two mates from the previous
don 't want them to flip their cards simultaneously, climax (the black Threes in our example; once you see
because that leaves no room for build up and kills the the first one, you have dealt exactly twenty-six cards.)
suspense.
Place the undealt cards face down onto the table
Square up both spreads and combine the two (it doesn't momentarily, square up the spread of cards (with the
matter which one goes on top), obtaining a little-finger three selections reversed in the middle) , and flip the pile
break between the packets. Pick up the two selections over. Note the bottom card in that pile (let's assume it is
and push both into the break between the two halves. the Six of Hearts). Remember that card and perform a
Flip the deck face down and start dealing cards from few false overhand shuffles (or any other false shuffle),
the top of the deck face down onto the table, each card and comment, "Erery time I dhllffle the cardd, the pOditiorM 0/
slightly to the right of the other, creating a spread of the three selection» cbanqe locations." After a few shuffles,
cards. Ask a spectator to call out, 'Stop.' Once he does, turn the cards face down and spread them onto the
turn face up the last card you dealt, and continue table . '~d you can dee, the three face-up cardd are now in
dealing cards on top of the face-up card, while you ask d?fferent locations." Actually, this is not true, but it will be
another person to call out, 'Stop.' Once he does, again perceived as true.
turn face up the last card you dealt. Repeat this Ask someone to cut the cards a few times, then do
procedure once more, so that three cards are face up another false shuffle and turn the cards face up and say,
within the spread. The only restriction is that you can't "So thNe cardd hare been thoroughly dhuffled and cut by me and
deal past twenty-six cards, but that's quite a big bank of by you." Spot the Six of Hearts and cut it to the face.
cards . Of course, on the very rare occasions where you Hold these face-up cards in the right hand from above.
see that after the second selection you might run the Pick up the other pile with your left hand, turn it face
risk of passing the midpoint of the deck, you can stop up, in dealing grip, and execute a weave shuffle of this
after having only two cards selected, instead of half into the right-hand half (the Six of Hearts should
proceeding onto a third. remain on top), but do not square the packets into each
During this process you have had three volunteers other yet.
select cards, but you have also managed to reverse the Push the interlaced outer half of the deck halfway into
order of the cards . However, you need to keep reversing the inner half. Push the outer portion farther into the
cards until you have reversed the top twenty-six cards. inner portion, pushing predominantly with your right
So after the third selection, keep dealing cards but this forefinger so that the outer portion shifts and is angled
time display each of them before placing them face to the left (figure 2).

20 21
 Keeping your left little fmger in the vertex where the
two halves meet will help keep the two packets
separated (figure 4, right hand omitted for clarity).

4·

With your left thumb, square the protruding corners of

the upper half (figure 3) so that they emerge at the
inner right corner.
The goal is to get the angled portion sidejogged, and
currently only the inner end is sticking out. The
following action will be easier if you do not apply too
much pressure on the deck so that there is less friction.
With your right little finger (figure 5, from below, left
hand omitted for clarity), pivot the outer right corner of
the angled portion to the right until it is sidejogged
(figure 6, right hand omitted for clarity) .
Spread the cards face up onto the table; three cards will
be seen reversed. Say, "Three cardrf ended up randomly in
d~fferent locations. Very carefully, slide each reversed
JJ

card to the right to reveal the card under it. Then slide
both the reversed card and the card underneath it out of

22 23
 completely shuffled, because half the cards are
sidejogged and therefore hidden from view." Remark,
'Thede cardd are thoroughly dhuffled but maybe we can do
J

domething about that." Square the deck. A few false

shuffles and cuts will convey the premise of the grand
finale, that you are controlling every card into position,
next to its mate. You will now handle the climax as
Marlo did. Dramatically deal pairs of cards from the
tace of the deck onto the table, gradually building
speed, until the entire table is covered with matching
paIrs.

the spread. Once all three pairs are out the spread, turn
up each of the face down cards to show that all three
cards have landed right next to their mates.
Although all the cards in the deck are now arranged in
pairs, the face-up spread or cards should look like it's 7 This is the ribbon spread hideout, which Dr. Jacob Daley
attributed to Dai Vernon.

24 25
 Gang of Four

With the kind permission of Dani DaOrtiz, I share with

you my take on one of his mighty tricks, "Twin Souls"
from the DVDQue Ram, which Dani made with
Christian Engblom.

EFFECT: The performer ribbon spreads a deck of

cards face down on the table and then, from one end of
the spread, he turns one card at a time face up, one on
top of the other. He asks a spectator to call out, 'Stop' at
any point. Let's assume the stopped-at card is the Ten of
Spades. The performer places that card face up onto the
top card of the spread, and the rest of the dealt cards
face down on top of the Ten of Spades. Right now the
only card facing up in the spread is the Ten of Spades.
After squaring and respreading the cards, mystically, all
four Tens are all face up.

26 27
 On the DVD, Dani includes two methods for the get-
ready to this miracle (one of them by Engblom). I
performed the trick quite often but wanted to find a
way to do the get-ready in the course of a previous
trick. My get-ready happens during a slop-shuffle
sequence, which acts as a prelude to this trick. I find
these two tricks complement each other nicely when
performed back to back.

PERFORMANCE: Have a spectator shuffle the cards.

Take them back, and execute a ribbon spread of the With your left thumb} push a few more face-up cards
cards face up, to display their mixed condition. As you underneath the right-hand packet. Turn your right hand
say, {i1J you can dee} you dhl~fIled the cardd very well,}} scan palm up and in standard slop shuffle fashion, you will
t,he de~k a~d note the positions of the four Tens (or any continue to turn the right hand up and then down,
Iour-of-a-kind you wish to perform this trick with). The thumbing cards underneath the right-hand packet until
four Tens need to be distributed throughout the deck, y ou come to the second Ten. (How many groups of
and none can be next to each other. More often than cards you thumb over and how many times you invert
not, your four-of-a-kind will be scattered throughout y ou r right hand will vary, depending on how far apart
the spread. If you see that two or more of the Tens are the first two Tens are.) Once you see the second Ten,
ri~ht ne:ct to each other, remove one of the Tens, along rotate the right hand palm down, and insert the second
with a few random cards next to it, and replace them Ten face up within the bottom half of the upper, face-
somewhere else in the spread as you say, {{we can dhulile down cards (figure 2). Continue by thumbing off more
the cardd M much rul we want. }} cards underneath the right-hand packet.
Square the deck and hold it face up in left-hand dealing
position. Thumb off cards from the top of the deck into
your right hand until you come to the first Ten. Once
you have thumbed off all the cards above the first Ten
into the right hand, turn the right hand palm down and
insert the first Ten face up into the face-down, right-
hand packet (figure 1).

28 29
 Keep repeating the slop shuffle actions until thre e Tens right-hand portion face up; if there's a card face up on
are face up w ith in the fa ce-d ow n cards in your right each packet (and neither are Tens) then you have
hand ~again, y ou ideally want the three Tens to be in successfully cut the deck at the right place.
the lower portion of the face-down packet closer to
Place the right-hand cards face down onto the table and
where the two halves are face-to-face. Continue with
the slop shuffle sequence; that is, rotating the right hand immediately place the left-hand cards face down on top
of the tabled packet. Right now one Ten is face down on
palm up and -palm down, and thumbing ofT cards with
y ou r left thumb, underneath the right-hand packet. top of the deck, the rest of the cards are face down,
ex cep t for the three face-up Tens somewhere in the
Once you get to the last Ten, turn your right-hand palm bottom quarter of the deck.
down and then thumb off the last Ten onto the bottom
of the cards in the right hand. Turn your hand palm up By now, the audience is convinced that the cards are
sh uffled in different orientations. Spread the cards face
again and place the rest of the cards on the underside of
the right-hand packet. d ow n between your hands without spreading the
bottom portion of the deck; it will look as if all the cards
Turn over the entire deck. As a position check, the a re now facing down. This first effect could be
order of the cards now should be: the top half is face p resent ed as a stand-alone piece or routined with the
down, except for three face-up Tens distributed in the nex t efTect. Mter all, both effects are about controlling
lower portion of this half; the bottom half is face up, and the orientations of the cards.
the fourth Ten is face-up on the bottom.
Square the deck and thumb ofT two groups of three
Hold the cards in dealing position with your left hand. cards with your left thumb into the right hand and one
With your right hand, cut off about a quarter of the more card, for a total of seven cards, as you remind
deck and turn this packet over as you comment, "S ome y ou r audience, "Rememba; we hoth thoroughly dhufJled thede
cardd are face down. rr Place these cards back on top. Cut' card«. " Square the deck while obtaining a little-finger
somewhere in the bottom half of the deck, turn the break beneath those seven cards.
packet over and say, '/1nd eome are face up. " Continue
With your right hand in end grip, lift the cards above
displaying the deck in this fashion a few times to
the break as your left thumb, placed on top of the deck,
demonstrate that the cards are mixed in a face-up / face-
down condition. slides off the top card (a Ten) onto the rest of the deck,
in slip-cut fashion. Rotate the cards in your right-hand
Finally, cut the deck in the middle, at the juncture face -up and say something along the lines of, '/1nd every
between the face-up and face-down portions. The one 4 thede cardd i.f facing the dame way." Replace this
natural bend in the deck should help here. Double packet face down on top of the deck, and the Ten is now
check that you've cut a t the right spot by turning the positioned seventh from the top.

30 31
Hold the cards with your right hand in end grip, and Execute a ribbon spread of the deck on the table From
swing cut three-quarters of the deck into your left hand. left to right. Since the side-jogged cards contain the
(The cards left in y ou r right hand should contain the three Tens, an even and consistent spread should
three reversed Tens.) prevent any of them from showing. This is the ribbon
spread hideout.
With the smaller packet in the right hand, place the
inner end of this packet against the outer end of the At this point you need to force the seventh card. I will
larger packet in your left hand, and execute a weave explain two methods with which you can achieve that.
shuffle (it doesn't have to be a perfect weave) of the
smaller packet into the lower part of the larger packet.
Method one. Ask a person to name a number up to ten.
The following actions are described in "Noah" and If the chosen number is low (like three or four) ask
consulting the illustrations there will give you an another person, "Can YOll gire me another «mal! number :"
understanding of following. Push the interlaced smaller Add them together, and you are going to be in one of
packet halfway into the larger packet, pushing th e scenarios below.
predominantly with your right forefinger so that the
smaller packet shifts and is angled to the left. If they choose five, remove five cards from the spread
and ask another person, "Do you prefer one or two more?" If
With your left thumb, square the protruding corners of they say "one more", slide one card to the side and the
the smaller packet, so that it emerges at the inner right next card is the force card, and if they choose "two
corner. Keeping your left little fmger in the vertex more," slide one card over (on the count of one) and on
where the two packets meet will help keep the packets the count of two, flip the second one over (the force
separated. card).
The goal is to get the smaller packet sidejogged, and If the number chosen is six, slide six cards off to the
currently only the inner end of the packet is sticking side and then flip over the next card (the force card) .
out. The following action will be easier .if y ou do not
apply too much pressure on the deck so that there is less If they say seven (as you know, seven is a common
friction. choice), count to the seventh card from the right end of
the spread and flip it over.
With your right little finger, pivot the outer right corner
of the smaller packet to the right until the packet is If they choose eight, pick up two cards at a time and
place each pair, one on top of the other, as you count,
sidejogged.
By holding the cards with your right hand in end grip,
the back of your hand will cover the sidejogged cards.

32 33
''Two} [oia; <fix} eight. This way of counting will bring the
J}
prematurely , or way after the force card, you 11 ' 1' ( It t I
seventh card (the force card) to the top of that pile.f resort to any equivoque techniques you are comfort " II
with. (Details of such techniques are beyond the Sl 't I II '
If they say nine, you do another version of the curious
of this description.)
count. Pick up three cards at a time, dropping each
group to the table as you count, "Three} <fix} nine; thald Once you have managed to force the Ten, place it 1:11'\'
ex actly nine card», }} This brings the force card to the top up onto the top card of the spread, and put the re st (I I
of the pile. the cards that you removed face down onto the face-III I
Ten, spread to the right, continuing the ribbon spr ' ,II I.
If they say ten, say, "A number up to ten. }} This is an excellent moment to recap the fairness 01' tilt'
select ion procedure . As y ou move y ou r fmger across t h .
sp read, say, "YOu couLd have ,!topped me Oil allY 4 tb«. I,'
Method two. My preferred way is to rely on a timing
card«." This statement also draws t h eir attention to th '
force, as follows: Turn one card at a time face up,
fac t that right now, there's only one card facing up,
dealing one on top of the other as you say, (~ you call
w it ho ut your having to say it explicitly .
«ee, lhe<fe are all different.}} By the end of this statement
you will have turned over four cards. Proceed by Sq u a re the deck carefully, without exposing any of the
saying, "If/e don }t Ileed many card.:!} .10 otop me whenever you hid de n face-up cards p rematurely . "Because you cbose the
Like. If you time your pacing right, you can anticipate
J1
Ten of [whichever suit], I wi11 try to make all the other Teru
when your spectator is about to call out, 'Stop' and time tum face up. A I a matter offact} I ba ve already done that. JJ

it so that he stops you after you have flipped the sixth or Spread the cards slowly to build up the suspense; all
the seventh card. Both scenarios are perfect because if four Tens are now face up.
he stops you on the sixth card, you could say, "WouLd
you Lilce one morel" If he says yes, flip over the next card ,
and the force card is the last card turned over. If he says
no, point toward the next card in the spread and say,
"YOu eltopped me here. Turn over the force card. Of course
JJ

with this kind of approach there 's more risk, but if you
nail it, the payoff is much stronger. If he stops you

8 This procedure was published under th e name "a cur ious count"
in The Pallbearers Review (October i968), page 210. While
contributed by Fred G . Taylor, he did not claim it and th e inventor
is unknown. I learned it from Juan Tamariz.

34 35