_p ab o ut t r icks \

but it adds a bit of credibility, and makes the routine slightly more
theatrical. Two good sources of mucks arc Steve Forte's Gambling
Protection Series and George Joseph's The Art of Hand M11cki11g.
"However, I asked if you ever wondered what it's like to cheat at
cards. I've done this be(ore. Why don't you give it a go?" At this
point the duplicate Six is on top of the deck and the Ace, Ten, Six
arc on the table. You now perform a slight variation of John
Carney's versa switch (but under just one card). The left little finger
pulls down and to the right on the top card (the Six). It applies pres-
sure until the left side of the card levers upward. This happens as
both hands approach the table to scoop up the tabled cards. With
your right hand, scoop up the three tabled cards. The palm-down left
hand reaches the tabled cards just as the right hand is grabbing them.
The right hand scoops the three cards right on top of the Six that is
levered away from the top of the deck (Photo 3). Immediately, the
two hands rotate palms toward you bringing the outer ends of the
cards upward. The hands are brought together and the four cards
(supposedly three) are tapped against the table to square them.
The right hand retains the four-card packet and puts it face up on
top of the deck, and you keep a break under the four cards. Deal the
top Six face up onto the table. Place the Ten face up underneath it.
"Do me a favor and hold out your hand. I'm gonna let you do all
the work here." Turn the double card face down on top of the deck,
and place the Six (supposedly the Ace) up the spectator's sleeve.
"You're ready to go." Tum the Six face down and use it to scoop
up the Ten. Raise the right hand up and flash the face of the Six under-
neath the Ten, then rotate your hand again so the Six is face down.
"Go ahead and get your flat palm ready." With the Ten side-
tend to muck out one card. Simply place your flat palm on the two jogged to the right, top change the face-down Six with the Ace on
tabled cards and make a slight fidget, then take your hand away top of the deck as you gesture to the spectator. The mechanics are
(Photo 2). Tum the face-down card over to reveal the Ace. Leave it the same as a regular top change, even though you are holding two
face up, but tucked under the Ten. cards in your right hand. The side-jogged Ten does not interfere with
"Actually, the Six is mucked 011t and the Ace that was 11p my the move. Set the two cards on the table.
sleeve is m11cked in." With your left hand remove the Six from your "Cover the cards with your hand and make your move." Have him
sleeve, and place it on top of the Ten. The three cards are spread in a place his flat hand on top of the cards, the same way you did when
small fan: Ace, Ten, Six from the bottom up. you pretended to muck during the first phase. Compliment him on his
"Let me show yo11 how that works." At this point I actually give a mucking. Tum over the face-down card to reveal he has successfully
demonstration of one or two legitimate mucks, conveying the concept switched out the Six on the table for the Ace up his sleeve, giving him
further. It's not necessary - you can jump right to the next phase - a winning hand. Have him remove the Six from his sleeve.

THE l OQTH DOLLAR

BI LL C HA N G E_____ _.i...J.cC..l::....Ue e
0-1.J::..Jl r i..n.ebe~d.D...¥-6
dL....l.ld...fLS.e5.c.LJC
John Lovick
y

IUUSTRATIONS: TONY DUNN AND JOHN LOVICK

I 5

This bill change differs from the $100 Bill Switch in two signifi- After studying countless bill changes for the last six years, this is
cant _ways. It is a tip less change, i.e., it does not use a thumb tip; still the way I perform the bill change.
and it only uses three folds, instead of four. Folding the bill only
tbhree tlI?es offers some big advantages. The final packet is twice as NEEDED: A dollar (may be borrowed) and a hundred dollar bill.
1g'. which
. mak es 11· more v1s1· ·bt e m
· 1arger venues and the transfor-
mation
. 1s. more
d maoi
. ,,.ca I, because a Iarger packet generates
' less suspi- SETUP: Hold the Hundred with the back facing you. All folds will
cion - 11 1en s itself Iess eas1·1 y to mampulat1on
· • and subterfuge. be away from you. Fold the left side to the right. Fold the left side
80 MAG IC . M Ay 2 0 0 6
 * M m-e%.#>

,~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1 talk about tricks I

to the right again, but slightly off-center. The creased edge on the
side away from you should extend approximately 1/8-inch (half
the border width) beyond the two edges closest to you. Fold the 4
bottom half up (Figure 1). Finger palm the bill in the right hand in
this orientation.
lHE ADD-ON: Borrow a dollar. Take it with your left hand and
bring it back toward your right hand. As you do, orient it so that it
is right side up and the back is facing you. As your right hand
moves to grab the bill, your right thumb contacts the outer (left)
end of the finger-palmed bill and levers it away from the fingers -
the right end of the Hundred is pressed against the base of the right
fingers (Figure 2). The dollar is then fed between the fingers and
the Hundred (Figure 3). This is the standard add-on, the most com-
mon way to load the folded bill behind the borrowed dollar. When
using the standard add-on, I recommend simultaneously grabbing
the Single with the right fingers (letting go with the left hand) and
gesturing with the bill (Figure 4). The larger action of gesturing 5
with the dollar helps disguise the smaller action of placing the dol-
lar in front of the hidden bill.
Place your right thumb firmly onto the Hundred and push it to
the left so that it is entirely behind the Single. Hold the Single in dis-
play position, i.e., between your hands, using just your thumbs and
index fingers (or middle fingers, if you'd rather), your right thumb
pinching the Hundred against the Single (Figure 5). Give the audi-
ence a good, clean display of the bill. Get your other fingers out of
the way so your hands are seen otherwise empty.

DISPlAY SUBTLETY: This great display subtlety belongs to Joel

Givens, and I learned about it just after the book went to press. I
adopted it immediately after seeing it, and I think it is priceless. It
is seeing print here for the first time. This allows you to display
both hands, one at a time, without having to transfer the hidden
MAG IC ·
 .J

rolk about tricks

/_

6 7

bill from hand to hand. Start with the bills in display position. Let
go of the bill with your left hand and show the hand empty
(Figure 6). Re-grip the bill with your left hand, and give the bill a
slight longitudinal crimp by pushing out with your left thumb and
pushing the top and bottom of the dollar inward with your fin-
gers. This stiffens the bill and makes the next moment possible.
Keep your right thumb against the back of the folded bill, pressing
it against the display bill as you let go with your fingers and
spread them out to show your right hand empty (Figure 7). The
folded bill is trapped between your thumb and the dollar and does
not fall; this is a very convincing display. Re-grip the dollar with
your right fingers.
lHE FOlDING: With your left fingers push the left half of the bill for-
ward and to the right to fold it (Figure 8), then crease the left edge,
ensuring the fold is even. After creasing the bill, pinch the hidden
Hundred with your left thumb, so that (as you make an appropriate
comment) your right hand can gesture and be seen empty.
Re-grip the bills with your right hand and with your right
thumb carefully move the Hundred to the right, so that the right
edges of the bills are perfectly lined up, in preparation for the sec-
ond fold. With your left fingers fold the left side of the Single for-
ward and to the right (Figure 9), and crease the left edge. Fold it
slightly off-center, so it is the same width as the folded Hundred.
Continue using only your thumbs and middle (or index) fingers to
hold the bills. Don't try to hide the hidden bill with your fingers, as
using all ten of your fingers to hold the bills would only look suspi-
cious. However, you must also be careful not to move the Hundred 1O
to either side, or it will be seen.
Use your thumbs to adjust the Hundred so that its bottom edge is
aligned with the bottom edge of the Single. For the third (and final)
fold, with your index fingers push forward on the top of the Single,
folding it downward (Figure 10). Your middle fingers at the center of
the bill act as fulcrums, and the bill folds neatly in half over them. As
it is folding, pinching the top fold between your index fingers and
thumbs will give it a good crease. As you are creasing it, slip your
middle fingers out of the fold and around to the front of the bill,
being careful not to let the Hundred slip out from behind the Single.
After the third fold the bills are the same size, so they need to
be perfectly aligned. Hold the packet at your fingertips by the
edges and keep your other fingers out of the way, to let your
hands be seen empty. At this point, you can hold the packet with
your left ~and and _snap your right fingers to effect a "magic
moment. Alternat1vely, you can create the magic moment during
the first unfold.
82 M~ G I C MAY 2 0 O 6
 ~ - - - -- - - - - - - - - -- - __:
/ tal k about tri cks I

11 12

13
THE SWITCHING ACTION: With your left index and middle fin-
gers reach into the open edge of the Hundred at the upper left
comer and unfold the Hundred by moving the front half forward
and down (Figure 11). The Single moves with this front half and
ends up on your side of the Hundred. It remains folded, so it is
now half the size of the Hundred. Again, you must be careful to
keep it aligned.

THE UNFOLDING: This is the one time where you will use all
your fingers to hold the bills, but only for a second. With your
left fingers grab the bills on the left side as your right thumb
pushes the hidden Single about a quarter-inch to the left, so that a
bit of the left edge is behind your hand (Figure 12). Insert your
right index finger into the open fold on the right side of the 14
Hundred and use your right middle finger to push the front
' (creased) portion forward to the left (Figure 13). Simultaneously,
pinch the hidden One against the back layers of the Hundred
with your right thumb and index finger. Your left fingers tem-
porarily let go of the bills and come around to the front to finish
unfolding the Hundred (Figure 14). As this happens, the left side
of the One that was hidden by the left fingers is concealed by the
left side of the Hundred as it unfolds.
The Hundred is now folded in half. Re-grip the bills with the
left middle finger and thumb, letting go with your right hand, so it

Area below left blank for special bill printed on reverse.

/ ;olk abou;t~tr:icJk~s~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - -

2. This switch looks most convincing if your hands take turns

can gesture_. Push up with your left thumb and down with your left secretly clipping the hidden bill, and immediately after every fold, the
fing~rs. This slow~y angles the Hundred into a "<" (Figure 15), hand not holding the hidden bill lets go to gesture. This way both
makin? the ~andlmg seem very clean and convincing. Now, with hands are alternately seen empty in a sort of back-and-forth ballet.
your nght nuddle finger, grab the Hundred, putting your right 3. Remember that you are handling a piece of paper. Your manip-
thumb squarely onto the folded Single (Figure 16). Use your left ulating of the bills should be light, smooth, and soft. Learn to do the
fingers to pull the left side of the bill to the left, unfolding it com- folding in a casual manner, not belabored.
pletely. Pause and hold this for several beats so the audience can 4. Never hold your fingers together as if you are finger-palming
appreciate that it is a hundred-dollar bill! Hold it with only two coins. It only requires two fingers to hold a bill, not five or ten -
fingers of each hand, get all the other fingers out of the way - let keep your other fingers out of the way.
your hands be seen empty. Since the right hand just gestured, I 5. Don't stare intently at the bill, as if you are doing something
sometimes let go with my left hand at this point, so it can now be technically demanding. Looking with great concentration is incon-
seen empty, as well. gruous with the simple actions you are performing. You shouldn't
have to look at the bill at all, your fingers will tell you if the extra
lHE ClfAN-UP: From display position, put the right side of the bill bill is where it should be - hidden.
into the left hand, placing the hidden bill directly into left-hand fin- 6. Never let the display bill out of the audience's sight - your fin-
ger palm. Now hand out the bill for examination with your left gers should never obscure more than a small percentage of the bill.
hand palm up, thumb on top and fingers below. When the specta- Hold the bill by the edges and let them see almost the entire surface at
tor talces it from you, turn your palm inward and let your hand all times. This is much easier to do without a thumb tip than with one.
drop to your side. Ditch the extra bill at your earliest convenience, 7. There is a discrepancy in the switching action, but I do it this
but don't rush it. way for two reasons. One, after thousands of performances I know
that the audience does not notice the discrepancy. Two, this leaves
COMMENTARY: Here are seven important points to consider as you the bills in the proper orientation to immediately repeat the change.
learn this, and most of these are applicable to the standard $100 Bill If only doing one transformation, as in the following routine, I fold
Switch, as well: the bottom of the bill up on the third fold, instead of folding the top
1. The hidden bill is not stationary, it moves as necessary to stay
down; this eliminates the discrepancy.
concealed behind the other bill and away from the edges.