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TWO PETS

These two pets of mine are the best method of card control which I have in my repertoire. It
is impossible for anyone to follow the control of the card even though the card is dealt with
as desired. Reason? – There is no control!

The return of the selected card to the deck is strikingly convincing, as it is seemingly impos-
sible (from the spectator’s viewpoint) for the performer to locate the “lost” card.

A. FIRST PET

Any standard deck of cards, old or new, can be used successfully. The control is based on an
old principle – in which the selected card is the only straight one in the entire deck. The oth-
ers are slightly curved. Brushing off the dust of age from this principle, it becomes invaluable
when applied to this novel presentation.

Have someone select a card from the deck. While the card is being contemplated by the
selector, spring the cards once. Springing the cards is simpler and less conspicuous than just
bending them. After picking up the pack, spring them again, while saying: “I want you to
drop the card into the deck when I drop them like this!” Spring the cards again while demon-
strating this action. Then, “of course, I don’t want you to think that handling of the cards
prepares me for my trick, therefore, as I drop the cards to the table, you drop in your card
anytime you wish.”

Spring the cards on the table while the spectator throws in his card. The card is now com-
pletely lost. Pick up the deck, making sure not to take out the bend from the cards and mix
with an overhand shuffle. At this stage be careful not to straighten the deck, however, do not
worry or try to locate the card because in the course of the shuffle it will, in most cases, land
on the top or bottom of the deck. You will notice this immediately because the card will stand
out whether it is on the top or the bottom as in figures l & 2.

When you have the card in either of these two positions, straighten out the cards and by using
a riffle shuffle, the selected card can be kept in place at your disposal.
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Should the card not land at either of these two positions, it can by relaxing your hold on the
cards and cutting or shuffling at the selected point. Figure 3 shown here illustrates the select-
ed card in a relaxed hold.

Remember not to hurry when trying to locate the card because it is under perfect control.
With a little practice you will be able to cut down on the amount of bend in the cards so that
the curve of the cards is imperceptible.

B. SECOND PET

This method is good when using a delayed pass or a shuffle of any kind. There is no break
held but the point where the selected card is returned is perceptible to both sight and touch.
The deck may be placed upon a table and yet, upon picking it up, the card may be brought to
the top by an overhand shuffle or the pass. I prefer the overhand shuffle and I think you will,
too.

The card is selected from a straight deck. While the card is being scrutinized, spring the cards
once. When the card is returned, cut off the top half of the deck and at the same time straight-
en out the cards in this half. The selected card is placed on top and to all appearances buried
in the center. However, the true situation is as in figure 4. Press down a little so as to hide
the crimp. The selected card being straight will join the upper portion of the deck; therefore,
when you make the pass it will be the bottom card. In case you decide to shuffle, you will
discover that you do not have to be an Erdnase expert to locate the “break.” Straighten out
the whole deck and your selected card which is now on the top of the deck can be handled at
your will.

MARLO’S ROSINI

I call this effect by the above title because it is my way of doing a favorite of Rosini’s. He
took a deck of cards, shuffled them and asked a spectator to peek at a card. There was no
break held. The deck was squared on all sides. It was cut once and the name of the card was
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asked. It was then spelled out. The effect did not seem to work every time for him, but in my
method it is a 100% sure fire effect. A card is peeked at – no break held and no glimpse –
deck cut once – card is named and then spelled out.

Go back a little in this book and read over what I called my “Two Pets,” and you will get the
principle employed in accomplishing this effect. The bent card principle simplifies this ef-
fect. When the card is peeked at, the deck is held rather low so that the spectator, in peeking
at his card, unknowingly bends the card in the opposite direction. When he releases the cards,
drop the deck low, and square them up so that both parts are flush for the moment – but do
not straighten out the deck. Show the deck on all sides.

Now release your grip on the cards and they will break at the point of the peeked card. Cut
the cards so that about thirteen cards will be above the selected card. Juggle your spelling
and see whether you have enough cards left to spell the “of” or not. At any rate you will
know when you come to the card because it is the last straight card and there is no hesitation
in turning it up. Sometimes you will have to start the spelling by including the “the” and in
ending it will sometimes be necessary to end in “s”. I’ve never had any trouble on this score.
Should you want to use this as a location method you can because all you have to do is to
shuffle to the break or by feeling the edges with the thumb, insert the little finger and make
the pass. The card will have in this case be put at the bottom. A little practice and you will
have a method of card control that is superior to the use of the finger break. Note: The cards
are bent downward before the spectator is allowed to make his peek. The result after the peek
will be shown as in figure 4.

THE FIRST MIRACLE

(Soft bridge sized cards are very unsuitable for this effect. If they are fairly new, they can be
successfully used. The regular sized playing cards are usually stiffer and work better even
when they become fairly old and worn.)

Just imagine this effect and see if you can find anything that compares with it. A deck of
cards is shuffled and spread on the table. The magician instructs a spectator to take a card
halfway out of the spread, peek at it, push it back with the rest of the cards and then push the
cards together in a pile. All this is done while the magician’s back is turned. He then picks
up the deck and gives them a shuffle and a cut. The face of the cards are never looked at. The
pack is held face down in the right hand and the name of the card is asked for. After getting
the name the deck is again ribbon spread face down and there, yes there, miraculously, is the
card named, face up in the spread.
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Now, please note these features from the performer’s view. The face of the cards is never
looked at, the performer really doesn’t know the name of the card until the spectator names it
and what’s more important, the deck is shuffled both times. This effect is entirely impromptu
because a borrowed deck is used. It is used by magicians who sometimes forget their daub
because there is no daubing of any kind – it is simpler than daub and works better in a case
like this because with this method you don’t have to look at the faces of the cards. The bent
card principle! And here’s how it’s done: Bend the cards and ribbon spread them with the flat
of the hand on the floor.

Tell a spectator to take a card only halfway out of the spread and peek at it. Demonstrate this
action. Then tell him to push it back into the same place, push the cards together (illustrate
with a motion but do not do so) and leave the deck on the floor in a pile. (Take out the card
you peeked at in demonstrating and throw it aside, saying “I saw this card so we’ll just put it
aside!” This gets rid of the card which you had straightened. Turn your back while he does
as you instructed him to. After he is finished, turn around, pick up the cards and in squaring
them up you will immediately spot the straight card. Cut it to the top and riffle shuffle the
cards to straighten them. Slip the top card to the bottom, reversing it in the action, cut the
deck bringing it to the center. The card is named and you ribbon spread the cards (orthodox
fashion) on the table face down and there, face up, is the card he peeked at.

Note: When I first started with this effect, I scattered the cards on the floor and many spec-
tators would disregard directions. Instead of peeking at the card, they would lift it up, look
at it, and put it back. I finally contrived to counteract this fault by having the card placed
against the back of my head. I then would tilt my head against the card, causing it to straight-
en out. The card was then placed back among the cards on the floor and the effect terminated
as before.

Some time later, a friend of mine, to whom I had showed the trick, suggested the ribbon
spread method that I am now using. Making the selector take the card only halfway out of the
spread prevents him from picking up the card and forces him to execute the peek you want
him to. Credit goes to Hank Nowoc of Chicago for making this a 100% sure fire effect.

ANOTHER ROSINI

Another effect used by Rosini and witnessed by my friend, Martin Gardner. The cards were
cut by Gardner. Rosini took the pack, saying: “If I tell you how many cards there are here,
will that be a good trick?” Receiving an affirmative reply, Rosini gave the correct count of
cards. I thought Rosini used a stacked deck but Gardner assured me that this was not the
case. He related that Rosini guessed very close to the number and utilized a false count to
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cover the possibility of a miss. At that time I demonstrated to Gardner that it was possible
to actually tell the number of cards cut off, and a false count would not be necessary. The
following method is the result of this research.

Secret: To do this effect, use a borrowed deck. Crimp the bottom four cards and in the course
of the shuffle, stack each card to the 10th, 20th, 30th, and 40th position respectively. Figure
5 shows cards in position. To stack the cards, run the top and bottom cards together, count-
ing two, then the top cards, counting 3, 4, etc., up to ten, then, the next top and bottom cards
counting two, then singly up to ten again.

The procedure is repeated until you have the four cards distributed throughout the deck. The
remaining cards which are left after the stacking are placed on the bottom of the deck. You
now have four markers in the deck. Have a spectator cut the deck and you will find by glanc-
ing at the side of the pack the number of crimped cards. This will give you the rough number
of cards held. You can easily determine the exact number of cards below the crimp.

Sometimes you will have to weigh the other pack because the spectator may have cut 17 or
18 cards. In this case it would be so difficult to calculate the number of cards therefore, when
lifting the other pack on pretense of weighing, count the number of cards above the crimp.
Deduct this amount from the total cards and you will have the total of his packet. A little
practice will show you how practical this method is.

Sometimes you will come across an old deck which is somewhat sticky and hard to stack. In
this case have a card selected and control by any method. Then apparently searching thru the
deck to discover the identity of the selected card, crimp every tenth card with the left thumb
as in figure 6. This sets you up, without stacking for this trick.
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Note: By using this crimp principle, and the bend principle, together you can be positive of
thirteen cards being above the card peeked at in Marlo’s Rosini. The bend will show where
the peeked at card is and the crimps show you how far down it is. All that remains to be done
is to cut off the cards leaving only thirteen above the break and juggle your spelling to equal
the card.

EVERYWHERE AND NOWHERE

(Using a borrowed deck and no duplicates.)

The version here is performed without the use of duplicates as the cards are borrowed. It can
be performed anywhere and on any surface, thus being an advantage over another method
which relies chiefly on the ‘Mexican Turnover’. Not everyone will be able to do this because
it demands skill and more so as you go along. The self styled experts should have no trou-
ble at all. I can do it – and I don’t consider myself an expert – yet! This version depends on
changes, a form of double lift, the pass and the bottom palm.

Follow this explanation with cards in your hand:

First of all borrow the deck and have some one shuffle it and remove one card. Card is
replaced, controlled and glimpsed at in the course of the shuffle. After the card is glimpsed,
the remark is made that perhaps the spectator would rather shuffle the cards. Taking back the
deck after he shuffles, look for the glimpsed card and get it to the top. Keep on looking and
locate the three other cards of the same value. For example, if Ten of Diamonds is selected,
you would get the other three tens to the bottom. All this is done under pretense of trying to
find his card.

Make a double lift and ask him if the card is his. Apparently place it on the table but in reality
leave it on top. For the other two guesses reach into the center of the deck and remove or cut
an ace to the top. Make a double lift showing, not the ace, but an indifferent card and not the
one you had used in the changing for the selected card. Place it on the table with the selected
card but in reality the ace is put down. This same procedure is repeated with another ace. At
this stage you have, face down on the table, two aces and the selected card, but the spectator
thinks they are three indifferent cards. Now
while still apparently looking for the selected
card, get the other two aces to the top. Bend
the top ace at the sides, making it convex. Pick
up the cards on the table and in asking if the
spectator is positive none of the three cards is
his, give them the same bend. See figure 7.
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Place them back on the table with the selected card in the center. Now patter, “I had three
chances to find your card but I do not wish this effect to be a complete failure, therefore,
would it be all right if I make one of those cards look like yours? Of course I know that none
of these cards look like yours but I think I could make them appear like your card. What was
the name of your card? Ten of Diamonds? We’ll just use this one here.” Pick up the center
card which is the selected card, hold it face down and wave it saying: “This is the method
psychiatrists employ to confuse the optic nerve. Ah...there we are, the treatment is complete.
Your eyes will now imagine the card.”

Turn the card over and exhibit. (Note: A bit of psychology is employed here. In the event of
a free selection the spectator would usually select the center card. He also subconsciously
agrees to your selection of the center card). Now have him point to another card on the table
while you top change the card which you had shown him. Do not put this card on the table
but retain it in your right hand. Holding the card in your right hand gives you an excuse to
use the left hand for holding the deck or for picking or sliding the card off the table on to the
top of the deck. Drop the card you are holding in your right hand off to one side of the table.
Tap the top card of the deck and show it as changed to the selected card by using the same
move as you would in double lifting but, because of the bends in the cards, there is no hesita-
tion or fumbling. The greater the bend in the cards the easier it is to lift the cards. See figure
8.

This method showing the cards is used throughout the routine whether you are holding one,
or two cards. (The reason for retaining the card in the right hand is obvious – it suggest the
impossibility of lifting off the card on the table and conveys the idea of fairness because the
card in the hand at no time came near the card on the table.)

After showing this card, hold it, face down, in the same way and during your patter bring this
hand downward toward the deck and let the bottom card drop on the deck, retaining the top
one in your hand. This move is quite simple to master and is well covered by the hand hold-
ing the card. The original card is now back on top of the deck.

The card held in the right hand is touched to the remaining one on the table and then, the
same moves of picking the card on to the deck are followed. Lay the card held in the right
hand aside and show the remaining one by picking it off of the deck as explained. Carelessly
drop it back on top of the deck and deal off with the other two. Only the top card is dealt off,
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which leaves three aces on the table. Mention that the card they think they saw three times is
actually in the deck. (It is, of course, on top of the deck). Make a triple lift to avoid showing
the 4th ace and not looking at the card, say “Here it is!” The audience says you are wrong
and you retort: “Oh, I forgot the magic wave.”

Drop the cards back on the top of the deck, wave hand over it and take off the top card and
exhibit. Place it on top and slip it to the bottom by the pass and show that the card has trav-
eled to the bottom. Ask him what card was on the bottom and at the same time make the
pass, thus bringing it to the center, but holding the break and show different card on the
bottom. Cut to the break and show card in center. Replace this portion on bottom of the deck.
At this stage you will have the four tens at the bottom and one ace on top of the deck. Palm
off the tens by the bottom palm and hold the deck in the same hand covering the palmed
cards. Show all three aces by turning over the three cards on the table. Apparently reaching
into the center of the deck, throw out the 4th ace which is still on top of the deck. Give deck
to the spectator, and say: “I can’t imagine how you could have selected the Ten of Diamonds,
as a matter of fact, I can’t possibly see how you picked any ten because I have the four tens
here in my pocket.” Reach into the inside coat pocket with palmed cards and produce one at
a time.

The appearance of the four aces in place of the selected Ten of Diamonds is much better than
showing them again as indifferent cards as in most routines of ‘Everywhere and Nowhere’.
The production of four tens, or whatever the value of the selected card may be, is also much
more effective than just producing the single chosen card. The four ace appearance can also
be adapted to the standard routine with the three duplicates as also the production of the four
selected cards. This is the routine I use in my programs and as an impromptu trick whenever
one is called for.

FOUR ACES AGAIN

This effect first appeared in “Greater Magic.” As described therein, the four aces were
placed in different parts of the pack. The pack was then shuffled. The magician cut off a
small packet and dropping it from a height the packet hit the floor with one card turned face
up. This card proved to be an ace. This was rapidly followed by three more packets, with the
same astonishing results.

The above was truly a modern miracle being capable of execution with a borrowed pack.
However, it was not strictly impromptu in the true sense of the word, as it required the use
of daub. On occasion when one did have the daub, it did no good. If the cards happened to
have an all over back design, or if they were fairly worn and dirty at the edges. Since then,
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we have experimented with a one way back design which was fairly obvious. It gave good
results, but because was not impromptu, finally discarded. We next tried crimping the four
cards but the crimped corners stood out like sore thumbs when the aces lay face up after the
drop. Finally Hank Nowoc suggested that I use the bend principle and after experimenting
with all types of decks, both new and old, poker and bridge, we perfected the following
method which is entirely impromptu and can be done with any type of deck.

Begin by removing the four aces and place them face up, on the top of the deck. Now, bend
the whole deck downwards. Now, take each ace, turn it face down and insert into different
parts of the deck. The cards are bent with the aces face up on top so they can be easily locat-
ed. The deck is now shown squared on all sides. When you release pressure on the grip of the
cards they will take on an accordion shape as in figure 9.
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This makes it easy to cut one ace to the top. Now, cut off a packet of cards from the top in
such a manner as to bring the next ace to the top. Figure 9. While the ace of the top packet is
pushed over with the thumb so that it projects over the edge as in figure 10.

The packet is now dropped from a height and the top card, caught by a current of air will turn
over appearing face up. As the ace lies face up, you will note that the bend is not perceptible
because it now lies in the same bent direction as the other cards. This is the chief reason for
bending the cards with aces face up on the top of the deck. The first ace having appeared, it
now only remains for you to cut off the next packet so that the third ace is now on top. Re-
peat with the other aces in the packet until all four aces are face up on top of each of the four
piles of cards. In picking up the cards, straighten them back to normal.

THE AMBITIOUS CARD

This is the usual effect of showing the top card and apparently placing it in the center of
the deck and showing same card to have jumped back to the top. This is repeated about two
times more and then the routine is usually changed to prevent sameness of routine, I include
my opener for the simple reason that there is no hesitation in lifting and showing the card on
top each time. The illustration figure 11 clearly explains what has to be done beforehand to
accomplish this effect. I also make use of this idea of bending a number of cards in the next
routine.

GENERAL ACE TRICK

In this effect the aces are buried in the center of the pack. The conjuror taps the deck and
shows that an ace has appeared on top. This ace is dealt off, face down, on to the table.
Another tap and the second ace is shown but it proves to be the one previously shown. The
performer doesn’t seem to notice this and says: “Another ace, a different one!” This second
ace is then dealt face down followed by two more appearances of the same ace. The cards are
then turned over and shown to be all different aces just as the magician stated. This final bit
makes for a nice sucker finish.

To do this effect, it is necessary to bend the cards as shown in figure 11. Then add three cards
on to the aces by palming or any other method you prefer.
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The three aces are then apparently placed in different parts of the pack. The top single ace
is shown and the cards are cut several times terminating with the aces cut to the top. This is
easily accomplished because of the bend in the aces. The cards are tapped and the four aces
are lifted as one and the first ace shown to have arrived. The cards are replaced while the ace
just shown is apparently dealt off. In reality one of the other aces is dealt off. This is repeated
until all four aces are on the table. State that you have four aces on the table, all different, let
someone call you on it, then turn up the aces to prove yourself, a master.

Note: Contrive to have the Ace of Spades appear the four times as it is more noticeable than
any of the others. Some magicians can be fooled with some of this material. However, I ad-
vise you to try them on your average audience because these tricks were especially designed
for them.

Magicians will try to tell you that the first thing the average layman suspects in card manip-
ulation is that the cards are bent. This is an erroneous apprehension as my colleague and I
have proven by doing the effects in this book for the past several years before every type of
audience, including some magicians.

Those who have experimented with daub in trying to produce a similar effect to the First
Miracle will agree that the principle employed is more reliable than any daub yet advised.