Guy Hollingworth Drawing Room Deceptions Al Ims
Guy Hollingworth
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PalmPassOil And WaterMisdirectionForceTriumph
G.W.R. HOLLINGWORTH
DRAWING ROOM
DECEPTIONS
OR
THE ETIQUETTE OF DECEPTION
BY
G. W. R. HOLLINGWORTH
India Magic Store
[email protected]
LIST OF CONTENTS
PUBLISHER’S NOTE 7
PROLOGUE 11
with regard to difficulties facing the author and the
validity of prologues.
ONE 18
concerning cards that turn over, move position, sepa
rate in colour and generally perform amusing feats;
including:
Waving the Aces 21
A second version thereof 31
Oil and Water 39
Cherchez la Femme 43
The Hofsinzer Problem 44
Other Thoughts 45
TWO 47
pertaining to the difficulty of magic and the merits of
bespoke tailoring; including:
The Penetration of Cards through a Jacket 48
Travellers 62
An Ambidextrous Interchange 65
A “One Card” Routine 78
Other thoughts 83
THREE 87
regarding items of stationery and the significance
of good fortune; including:
The control of chosen cards 89
An Ace Assembly 96
The Homing Card 106
Cannibal Cards 114
Other thoughts 118
* * * INTERVAL * * * 121
including a variety of eccentricities; such
as:
The shift 122
Methods of controlling & palming 133
Switching cards 150
False dealing 159
False shuffling 169
FOUR 179
incorporating a number of dishonest
practices; including:
A Gambling Routine 181
A More Light-Hearted Routine 192
“Call to the Colours” 202
FIVE 217
in which an inspector calls, and we discuss
his deceit; including:
A Destroyed and Reproduced Card 219
A Card at Any Number 230
A Card Stab 237
SIX 243
containing an assortment of items, involv
ing boxes, unusual shuffling and the fall
of Troy; including:
Three Cards under a Box 243
A Triumph Routine 251
The Cassandra Quandary 264
EPILOGUE 275
during which a method for tearing and
restoring a card is discussed
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
“Those are not suspenders, they’re braces.
f you have seen Guy Hollingworth perform live, then
you may have purchased this book simply to find
out how his tricks work. Believe me, there’s no
shame in that. That’s the real reason why I agreed to publish
Guy’s book; so I could be the first to read the manuscript
and learn how on earth these miracles were accomplished.
It is readily apparent to anyone witnessing a performance
by young Mr. Hollingworth that his skill with a pack of
playing cards is nothing less than astonishing. But, armed
as he is with an impressive arsenal of skills, he doesn’t hesi-
tate to employ the simplest subtlety to help bring about a
desired effect. The problem for the viewer is, you can never
be sure if you’re being duped by a perfectly executed sleight,
or if the bulk of the work is being handled by a double-faced
card that has been surreptitiously rung into play.
8 DRAWING ROOM DECEPTIONS
But this talk of methodology I shall leave to the author.
Through his own words and pictures, Guy has clearly
explained how each of his effects was created, the methods
by which they are accomplished and the thinking that
complements each performance. What I would like to dis
cuss here is a bit about Guy Hollingworth the person.
If you had never seen the author, reading this book
might convince you that Guy is a college professor. The truth
is that this book was written by a college student. A very
British student at that but I don’t want you to get the wrong
idea. Perhaps I can explain it this way. Think back to when
you were in college and finally got around to writing that
paper in your dorm room. Now hold that image in your mind
as I describe how this book was written. Guy would arise in
the morning and if he could spare a few hours from his
studies, he would put on a coat and tie, then slip into a pair
of sharply creased trousers and leather shoes. Then, and
only then, would he sit down at the computer and commence
working. The reason for this, he said, was that the clothes
made him feel like he was at work, and they served as a
constant reminder of the importance of the task at hand.
His interests outside of magic are as varied as they are
interesting. He plays the piano every day on an instrument
that has been handed down through several generations of
Hollingworths. He is an expert fencer and quite enjoys the
finer points of good manners and formal clothes. Once during
a conversation about tuxedos, I revealed my encyclopedic
ignorance by asking, “Is it proper to clip the suspenders to
your pants under your vest?” To my ugly-American ears, it
sounded like a perfectly legitimate question. How stupid
was it... let me count the ways. Guy wrinkled his brow and
PUBLISHERS NOTE 9
said, “Well actually, those are not suspenders they’re braces,
and those are not pants they’re trousers and that’s not a
vest, it’s a waistcoat. And ideally, braces are buttoned, not
clipped.” Yes, of course. That’s what I meant.
Whether the magic world can maintain Guy’s interest
on a full-time basis, now appears uncertain. Having earned
a college degree in Industrial Design, he has spent the past
year working exclusively as a magician. While acknowledging
that this life-style does offer certain advantages, he has
recently decided to return to University to earn a law degree.
The term lawyer seems as unsuited to Guy Hollingworth as
the term barrister seems appropriate. Whatever life he
chooses for himself, we can only hope that his fascination
for magic remains. After reading this book, see if you don’t
agree that we need him a lot more than he needs us.
Mike Caveney
April 1,1999
PROLOGUE
with regard to difficulties facing the author and the
validity of prologues.
he rain pouring on to the muddy east playing fields
and the clusters of drenched, depressed young boys
practising their rugby skills on various pitches as I
stared out of the relatively luxurious classroom of St Paul’s
School (where later in the same day I would be having a
double mathematics lesson), provided a vivid reminder of
why I had become involved with conjuring in the first place.
It was through no inner desire to become a performer, nor
because of some wish to entertain and amuse my peers, but
simply as a hugely preferable alternative to the intolerable
torture that my colleagues were suffering out of the window.
Whilst the Junior Classics Society would also have sufficed
as a valid way to be seen to be making the most of one’s two
hour lunch break, the discovery of this magic club, The
Prestige Society, seemed like something of a triumph to
myself and its sole other member, Ben Cotterell. Not only
12 DRAWING ROOM DECEPTIONS
would it be more than adequate to write on the dreaded end
of year form of “things you have done during the lunch
breaks that demonstrate a constructive and valuable use of
time”, but the fact that we were by default president and
secretary (although we never formally decided who was
which) would only serve to increase the vast responsibility
that we had taken on in our first year of school in the eyes
of the masters.
Magic was a considerable way down the agenda of
the Prestige Society as far as we were concerned; we would
sit in the classroom that had been designated for the soci
ety during our lunch breaks, and chat about the great
injustice of the school system, or the frightful state of the
catering that was provided, or any one of a number of topics
that seemed far more important than magic. Our initial
sense of guilt that we may have been taking advantage of
the system was quickly quelled when Ben brought in a pack
of playing cards and showed me what I later learnt was
called a key card trick; thereafter they would occasionally
be taken out as a token gesture, although they held rela
tively little interest for either of us. This cunning ruse
seemed faultless until the end of the year, when it became
apparent that all active clubs and societies were required
to give a presentation at Open Day, when parents and
pupils alike would pass judgement on the validity of the
year’s endeavours. I was struck by the sort of sickening feel
ing that one got when one of the masters announced that he
would spring a surprise test the following day, when one
knew that one was woefully behind hand, and was fighting
a lost cause in any last minute revision.
At that time, even the sight of the mud-covered
THE PROLOGUE 13
wretches returning from their lunch time rugger practice
did not provide any real solace. Thumbing hopelessly
through the pages of Norman Hunter’s Puffin Book of Magic,
in the hope that it might hold a few basic tricks that could
be constructed, learnt, practised and perfected in a matter
of days, Ben and I knew that we were likely to be joining
the rugby team the following year.
However, unlike most performing arts, it is often
relatively difficult for someone who is not an experienced
conjuror to appreciate whether an effect has required years
of practice or has been recently purchased from a shop. In
the following few years I found it extremely unfair that
having muddled through a technical monstrosity of a trick,
involving shifts, palms, false deals and the like, I could be
upstaged by a novice with a Svengali pack. However, at the
Open Day, this proved to be our secret weapon. Amidst the
thunderous applause and standing ovations (which is how
it felt at the time to the two cowering thirteen year olds,
fully expecting to be chastised for letting the school down),
the sudden realization that our audience actually thought
that we had been doing magic for a whole year, and that we
really were passionate about it, swept joyfully across us.
We were indeed exemplary students, who had taken a
dying society and resurrected it to its highest moment of
glory; we provided inspiration for future generations of new-
boys; we also provided a valid excuse for many others in
following years to be excused from rugby practice.
14 DRAWING ROOM DECEPTIONS
It is often said that the most useful content of a magic
book is to be found in the preface: this is where the author
expounds his theories and ideas on the art of magic; where
he passes on his secrets of performance and misdirection.
Undoubtedly this is often the case, but one would be more
inclined to believe it were it not so often said with a smug
sense of superiority by those enlightened people who have
realized that in fact the tricks are not important; it is only
the psychology and presentation that really matter. Whilst
this is also usually true, surely we should not lose sight of
the fact that many amateurs and hobbyists (myself often
included) buy books to read the tricks, and surely there is
nothing wrong with that. Indeed this is what drew most of
us to magic in the first place.
Furthermore, if this is meant to be the meaningful
section of the book, I am faced with a problem: what can I,
an inexperienced 24 year old, possibly say that has not
already been said before? I am unlikely to be able to explain
any deeper inner meaning of magic that has not already
been discovered, and I have certainly not devoted the time
and energy that many others have to provide new ideas on
the principles of misdirection. Equally, why should you have
any interest in self-indulgent stories of how or why I became
interested in magic? For this reason, I think that I could
best service those of you who have battled this far through
my preface, by using it to explain a trick; at least this way
you can indeed say that you have gained something from
this book that those less virtuous souls who have leapt to
the first chapter will have missed.
For this endeavour, the subject of voodoo is discussed;
it is explained that a witchdoctor will create an effigy of the
THE PROLOGUE 15
thing or person whom he wishes to affect, and whatever is
done to the effigy in turn happens to the subject. This will
be recreated with a pack of cards, each card conveniently
having an effigy: the card of the same value and colour.
Accordingly, terrible things done to a chosen card are seen
to be happening to its mate. (I should mention that the idea
of the voodoo card came from reading Steranko’s book, in
which there is a triumph-style routine based on a voodoo
presentation.)
To prepare for this effect, it is necessary to remove
two mates from the pack; the 2 of diamonds and hearts for
example. One of them must be damaged in two ways: firstly
it must be scorched on the back, so that there is a black
bum mark in the centre, although care must be taken not
to heat the card to such an extent that the face also becomes
discoloured. (A candle seems to me to work best for this.)
Then one of the two indexes must be torn off; no finesse or
neatness is required here. This mutilated card is then placed
face up on the bottom of the pack with the torn corner at the
top left. Its undamaged mate is placed face down below it.
At the commencement of the trick, after the discussion of
the horrors of voodoo, a spectator is assigned to be the
witchdoctor. The cards are casually spread in the hands
during this discourse, taking care not to expose the reversed
card; they are then nonchalantly cut, centralizing the
prepared card.
The card below the tom card will be forced by means
of a riffle force; some logic is afforded to this procedure by
explaining that as soon as the spectator-cum-witchdoctor
touches a card, some terrible catastrophe will befall its
effigy, and thus the cards must not be touched until after
16 DRAWING ROOM DECEPTIONS
the spectator has made his decision.
The tom corner of the damaged card provides a short
corner by which to force the card. With the cards in dealing
grip, the left thumb riffles down the side of the pack, and
the spectator is asked to call “stop”; the riffling is timed,
such that he will call “stop” at about the middle of the pack,
and the thumb instantly riffles down to the short corner,
where the riffling naturally stops. By lifting off the upper
portion and thumbing off the card below, the undamaged of
the two mates has been forced in a seemingly fair way. This
apparent fairness is important, as the presumption by the
spectator that his choice was random is the key to making
this relatively simple trick effective. The top half is replaced
and the cards are turned end for end in a squaring motion
and put on the table, so that the tom corner is now facing
towards yourself.
The spectator is asked to turn over the card on the
table, to reveal its identity; this simple action of turning the
card face up, you explain, begins the voodooism, as the mate
of the card will behave in a similar way. Spreading the cards
out from left to right on the table shows that one card, the
mate of the selection, has indeed acted similarly and turned
itself over in a mysterious manner. (The torn comer of this
card is hidden below the spread, so that it appears to be a
normal card at the moment.) This in itself is a powerful
effect, assuming that the force was not suspected.
The spread cards are gathered up and again turned
end for end, whilst you mention that of course voodoo is
generally used to inflict damage. “What sort of damage shall
we inflict on this hapless card?” you enquire. The number of
responses that can be given is somewhat limited to: tear it;
THE PROLOGUE 17
bum it; fold it or possibly mark it, the last two being the
least common. You are trying to force them to suggest tear
ing it, as this is the first part of the effect. If “mark it” is
called, suggest that it could be marked by tearing off a
corner. If “fold it” is called, suggest that one of the corners is
folded down; then continue that the corner could actually
be tom off to take it one step further. If “burn it” is called,
suggest this is a little too drastic to start off with, but that
we will try it in a moment. If “tear it” is called, as it
frequently is, then all is well and good. (These ideas were
given to me by Bob Stencel, and then expanded by Paul
Harris in his fine Art of Astonishment books.) Once the
decision has been made that the card will be torn, your
witchdoctor is instructed to tear off a corner; perhaps, you
helpfully add, a corner with an index should be torn off,
thereby removing a part of the card’s identity. When done,
the recently torn card may be put face up on the table, and
the pack is again spread from left to right, revealing that
the same corner of the reversed card has now also been
mysteriously torn off; the second effect.
A small subtlety is now used, apparently to show the
backs of both of the cards. Remove the reversed card from
the spread with the right hand; pick up the other card and
place it below that card, so that both cards are held in the
right hand, spread a little, as if to compare them. Have
another spectator hold out a hand, and casually turn the
right hand over, flashing the backs of the cards (as the bum
is hidden behind the unburned card). Turn the hand back
so that the faces of the cards are seen and push off the top
card on to the spectator’s hand. This little “flushtrationesque”
move simply implies that there is nothing on the back of
18 DRAWING ROOM DECEPTIONS
the card on the spectator’s hand, when in fact it is already
burnt.
Finally, the card that you are left holding will be burnt
on the back. Giving your witchdoctor a match which he
should light, hold the back of the card over it, thereby burn
ing it in a similar place to the prepared card, playing up the
possibility that the other spectator could feel heat on his
hand as this is done (which he often will agreeably do). All
that remains is to show that this card is now also burnt to
conclude the effect. The level of drama that you give to this
effect is up to you, but it has been taken surprisingly
seriously when I have performed it in the past, no matter
how jocular my manner.
Having cunningly explained this effect without the
aid of illustration, which would have aroused suspicion
amongst those boorish folk who have ignored this preface,
let us now rejoin our foolish friends and commence the book
properly.
ONE
concerning cards that turn over, move position, separate in
colour and generally perform amusing feats.
t is not unreasonable to assume that a book on
card conjuring should contain predominantly close
up material. I would, however, contest that there
is in reality very little opportunity to perform what could
actually be termed “close-up” magic. At a small table in a
restaurant, or for a couple of people at a reception, it is
feasible, but in most other circumstances (a table that seats
perhaps six or more people, or a larger group at a recep
tion, even the supposed formal close-up show), close-up
magic performed on a table top or at waist level cannot be
seen by everyone present.
This point became particularly clear to me when I
was first asked to give a lecture; I wanted to show and
explain the following effect, but realized that not only was
it impossible for anyone at any distance to see the effect,
but ironically they would actually be able to see the method
20 DRAWING ROOM DECEPTIONS
quite easily, because it used a half pass which although
covered when seen from above, is completely obvious to a
larger audience watching from the front. It was then that I
discovered that only a slight change in the handling was
required to elevate the trick so that it could be performed at
chest height. It soon became apparent that I could change a
lot of my routines so that they too could be performed in
this way.
The advantages of this are considerable. You are in
meaning that more people are able to see the effect without
making any effort, which is valuable even when only
performing for a relatively small group. It also opens up
many more possibilities for moves and misdirection, as one
is operating in a much larger performing space: rather than
being huddled over a pack of cards, where both hands are
under constant scrutiny, by standing upright and performing
in a more open manner, broader gestures and movements can
be used to cover sleights and provide misdirection.
This discovery (albeit a rather obvious one) had a
considerable effect on the type of magic that I do. With
profound apologies for beginning the book with such a
boring few paragraphs, I should like to start with the trick
that initially made me think in this way. The stand-up
handling that I now use is explained first, and the original
close-up method follows. The latter still has its merits, and
I perform it in certain situations, but I think you will see that
the first method is much more versatile and, conveniently,
also much easier.
CHAPTER ONE 21
Waving the Aces'.
This version of Dai Vernon’s Twisting the Aces uses
a sleight which I should like to explain before discussing its
use in the trick. If you would, remove five cards from a
pack. They might as well be four kings and a queen, as
these are what will be used in the routine shortly. Now kindly
arrange them in the following order: deal the queen face up
on to the table; on top of that deal two face-up kings, then a
face-down king and then a face-up king. Hold them in the
left hand dealing grip, so that all the cards are face up,
except for the second one. Now get a left little finger break
above the bottom two cards. (For now this may be done
simply by spreading out the cards and collecting the break.)
Bring the left hand up to chest height, so that the back of
the hand (and the backs of the cards) would face an audi
ence, although it is assumed that at this stage no audience
is present. The left hand remains at chest height for the
duration of the move. You will now spread the cards out
into the right hand in the following manner: thumb off the
top card (the one nearest you) and take it with the right
hand. Now bring the right hand back to the left, and allow
the right fingers to slip into the break; take both cards that
are above that break, as one, so that from your view they go
behind the first card, spread to the left. Then take the next
card with the right hand, behind those already there, again
spread to the left and finally take the last one, so that they
are spread out in a small fan. From the audience’s side, the
backs of four cards are seen, the reversed card being
concealed.
Now replace them into the left hand, still spread, but
bearing the following crucial points in mind: the cards are
22 DRAWING ROOM DECEPTIONS
spread out in a straight line, not in an arc or fan; the leftmost
card (the queen) is positioned as far to the left as it will go
(in other words it is pushed right into the fleshy fork
between the thumb and fingers); the little finger is resting
along the bottom of the cards, and will aid in keeping them
squared in a moment; the thumb is contacting only two
cards, the king at the face and the reversed king; finally the
second and ring fingers are contacting only the middle two
cards of the spread at the front. Figs 1 & 2 should be
carefully consulted to ensure that these aspects have all
been fully appreciated. Provided that the fingers are as
described, the move itself is not difficult.
With a light touch, slowly curl the second and middle
fingers inwards, pulling the two cards which they contact
to the left. This will separate the double card, and begin to
expose the reversed card, as, since the thumb is contacting
the two cards nearest you, they cannot move; the little
finger should be keeping the cards sliding along in a straight
line, acting rather like a train track (fig. 3). As the fingers
continue to curl, the second card (from the audience’s side)
will slide behind the front card, until it can slide no more,
being stopped by the flesh between the fingers and thumb.
It should be in perfect alignment with the front card since it
has been stopped at the left by the fold at the base of the
fingers and thumb, and been prevented from slipping down
wards by the little finger. The first finger can be useful in
aiding the final squaring at the front.
If all has gone well, you should now apparently be
holding only four cards, the second of which is reversed when
seen from the front, and the bottom card of which is in fact
two cards squared up as one. This move need not be done
CHAPTER ONE 23
fast, as if it is combined with a swaying of the left arm, the
small finger movement is completely covered, and it should
appear as if the second card has magically turned over. I
think you will find that if you try this a few times, it is
really not difficult.
Having stressed the importance of having the cards
in a straight spread and not in a fan or arc, once the tech
nique has been mastered, an alternative handling is in fact
to spread the cards in just such a manner, in which case the
little finger is positioned as a pivot point around which the
cards are spread; the action of the move is the same, but
rather than the cards sliding in a straight line, they pivot
around that finger (fig. 4).
On reflection, this move, although used in entirely
different contexts, bears a similarity to the Jennings Optical
Toss. For this reason when it is referred to in the following
routines, in which it is used, it will be called the Optical
Alignment.
Let us now examine the use of this sleight in the
context of the effect. Because of a slight discrepancy, it is
preferable to use court cards rather than aces, and I
personally tend to use the kings (and for the following
explanation, I will assume that you will be too). In addition
to the four kings, an extra card is required, as you now
know. This may be added in a number of ways, the most
obvious being the Vernon Addition. It is not my intention to
explain this well-known move in detail, but briefly a pack is
spread face up and each of the kings is up-jogged when it is
reached; as the spread is squared up, leaving those cards
up-jogged, a break is obtained above the bottom card with
the left little finger; whilst the right hand holds the rest of
the pack in place, the left hand moves forward to strip out
the protruding kings, and at the same time carries the
bottom card forward underneath the kings which conceal
it, so that when they are removed from the pack, that extra
card has been loaded secretly below them.
An alternative which I often use has the advantage
that the kings have already been removed from the pack,
and hence could have been used in previous routines: the
kings are held in the right hand, and since the rest of the
pack is not needed for the trick, it is put face up into your
pocket with the left hand, the little finger of which is
holding a break above the bottom card; the left hand then
simply retains that lowermost card when it is removed from
the pocket. The hands are then brought together, so that the
left hand loads the extra card underneath the kings (fig. 5),
in much the same way as it might load a lemon or large ball
26 DRAWING ROOM DECEPTIONS
under a cup. Like this fruit-loading move, the timing is more
important than a full concealment of the card in the palm.
Having obtained the extra card however you choose,
the four kings must be arranged in an order of alternating
colour, whilst not exposing the extra card. Since it does not
matter whether they alternate red/black or black/red, it is
as well to spread the cards out face up one at a time, keeping
the last two as one, thus concealing the extra card; then the
order of only the top three cards need be altered, thereby
not disturbing the double. Having done this, the left fingers
are used to pull down on the right long side of the double
card, putting a very strong bend down the middle. This not
only helps to keep them aligned, but also provides an auto
matic break above those two cards, which you will recall is
required for the optical alignment.
The cards have been held thus far at waist height.
Now, with the right hand the top king is taken and raised
up to chest height. It is turned over to face the audience, as
you explain that the cards will turn over one by one. As this
is happening, the left hand drops to the side, and takes
advantage of the fact that attention is drawn to the right
hand, by secretly turning over the top card of the packet.
This is an old idea of Hugard that is very under-used,
considering how useful it is. All that happens is that the
thumb pushes over the card to the right as far as possible,
and the fingers flip it over, so that it falls face up back on
top of the packet (figs 6 & 7). You may wish to use the side of
the leg to balance the card as it falls over. (Incidentally, this
is also a very useful move in an ambitious card routine, to
turn over the top card of the pack, whilst gesturing with the
chosen card, so that you are ready to replace the chosen
CHAPTER ONE 27
card face up on top, ready for a double lift.) Having success
fully reversed the card, the left hand moves up to join the
right, which turns its card back over and replaces it, face
up, as it was, on to the packet, taking care not to expose the
reversed card. The cards are now in the correct order for
the move.
With this accomplished, the cards are spread out at
chest height, just as explained earlier. Because of the bend
in the bottom two cards, you should automatically be able
to obtain a little finger break above them. The first card is
taken into the right hand, then the double, then the last
two as singles, exactly as before, so that they are spread out
in a small fan, and then replaced in the left hand. You are, of
course, now in the correct position for the optical alignment,
but I prefer not to do it at this point; to repeat the same
move four times would seem boring even to the most atten
tive of audiences, so I tend at this early stage of the routine
simply to square up the cards, make some sort of magical
gesture, and spread them out into the right hand, one by
28 DRAWING ROOM DECEPTIONS
one this time, leaving the last two cards as one. This still
provides the effect of the second card having turned over,
but not visibly this first time. It establishes the nature of
the trick, but leaves room for improvement on the subse
quent three occasions.
With the cards held still spread in the left hand, the
right hand removes the card which has just turned over,
allowing the left hand to drop to the side, squaring up the
remaining cards as it falls. Whilst you show this card with
the right hand, again the left hand reverses the next card of
the packet. Although this may seem bold, in fact it is quite
effective and is used each time to prepare the following card.
The left hand comes up to meet the right again, and the
right’s card is replaced, this time leaving it facing the
audience, as it has already turned over. The cards are spread
out in the same manner as before: single, double, single,
single, again making use of the bend to obtain the break for
the double. Once more they are put back into the left hand
in the previous position.
This time I do use the optical alignment, but I do it on
the so-called “offbeat”, saying something like “This time, if
I were to leave the cards spread out in a little fan like this,
if one of the cards were to turn over, you would of course see
it, would you not?” With a shrugging gesture, as I say this,
I perform the move, in such a way that it should take the
audience by surprise when they realize that the second card
has indeed turned over without them noticing. This is some
what more impressive than the first time.
The right hand removes both of the cards which are
facing the audience (the top two, of course) and gestures
with these, whilst the left hand drops to the side and turns
CHAPTER ONE 29
over the next card, courtesy of Mr Hugard. Again the hands
are brought together and the two cards are replaced facing
the audience and squared up. The same spread is performed
again: single, double, single, single. (It will be noted that a
minor discrepancy has taken place here: by spreading the
cards in this way, the second of the cards facing the audi
ence is a double, and therefore has apparently changed suit.
This is a minor point, but it is the reason that I make sure
that the cards are alternating in colour at the start, to
ensure that there is only a change in suit, but not in colour
which would be far more noticeable.)
Again the optical alignment is performed, this time
so as to make it still more engaging than the last time, I
draw attention to the hand, as it makes a wide waving move
ment to cover the finger movement. When the movement
stops, the third card is seen to have turned.
Finally, all three cards that have now turned over are
taken by the right hand, but one at a time, starting with
the rightmost one, hence reversing their order. This will
cover another minor discrepancy. Whilst gesturing with
them, the next card is again reversed with the left hand at
the side; the move is unchanged even though only two cards
are used. The left hand once more moves back to the right
hand which replaces its three cards facing the audience.
They are squared up, but this time there is a slight change
in procedure: a buckle or pull-down count is performed in
place of the usual one. In other words, with the hands still
at chest height, the first card is taken into the right hand,
then another single, and now the bottom card is either
buckled with the left fingers, or pulled down with the left
little finger. The other two cards are therefore clear of the
30 DRAWING ROOM DECEPTIONS
bottom one and can be taken with the right fingers as one.
Finally the last card is taken. Needless to say this should
appear to the onlookers the same as the previous counts.
The cards are replaced in the left hand, ready for the optical
alignment, although this move is of course impossible in
this condition. Just as the audience thinks that you are
about to make the last card turn over, you stop and suggest
the following: “Perhaps you think that it is easier as the
last card is on the bottom; you may think that I am simply
flipping the cards around with my thumb for example. To
make it just as difficult as the previous times, I will sandwich
it between two other cards, thereby making it seemingly
impossible for it to turn over.”
CHAPTER ONE 31
The cards are taken back into the right hand, but
this time held from below by the finger tips (as shown in fig.
8); the left hand reaches over and removes the rightmost
card from the spread, replacing it on the face, such that the
last remaining reversed card is indeed sandwiched between
two others. This procedure seems to make things extremely
fair, but in fact it has put the cards in the correct position to
perform the optical alignment one final time. The cards are
replaced for the last time into the left hand, and the move is
performed. I do it quite quickly this time, with less arm
motion, as it is the end of the routine and should therefore
be the most impressive spectacle.
To conclude you may wish to take the cards into the
right hand one by one, so that the last (double) card is placed
at the back of the spread, from where the extra card may be
palmed out; alternatively in this condition, the entire packet
could be dropped face up on to a face-down pack, so that the
extra card is lost on the top.
Waving the Aces II:
One of the redeeming features of North America’s
Amtrak train service is the hot chicken sandwich which
they serve in their snack bars. I had discovered this on my
first visit to America, when I had been travelling exten
sively across the country, making frequent use of the rail
service; the following year as I made the brief journey from
Orlando, where I had been attending a rather disappointing
IBM convention, to visit friends in Daytona, I was pleased
to discover that they had not changed. (Incidentally, should
32 DRAWING ROOM DECEPTIONS
you ever consider trying one, it is worth asking for the
sachet of sauce to be removed from the box before it is put
in the microwave, as it has a habit of exploding over the
sandwich otherwise.)
At the convention, I had been discussing “visual
magic” with my friend Paul Cowling, and the possibility of
coming up with a visible method for Twisting the Aces
cropped up. We came up with a few methods all of which
were totally unsatisfactory, although the notion of an extra
card seemed to be of the essence. It was on this fateful train
journey with four aces and an extra card in one hand and a
hot chicken sandwich in the other, that the move which I
have just explained came about (although at this time it
was informally referred to as the “hot chicken alignment”;
perhaps it is fortunate that the similarity to the Jennings
move was later pointed out, or this distressing name might
have stuck). At this stage in its life, Waving the Aces was
strictly a close-up effect, and the explanation of this original
version, which has confusingly been called Waving the Aces
II is what now follows.
The starting requirements are similar to those for
the previous method; an extra card must have been secretly
loaded on to the four kings, but rather than alternating in
colour, this time both the red kings must be on top of both
the black kings or vice versa.
With the packet face up, and the extra card below the
four kings, the cards are taken by the right hand at the
right long edge so that they can be peeled off one by one into
the left hand, rather like an Elmsley Count: the first king is
peeled off in just such a way, the left thumb pulling it into
the left hand dealing position; the second and the third are
CHAPTER ONE 33
taken in the same manner, above their predecessors, leaving
a double card in the right hand which is put on top of the
other three, all of which are then squared up. This has
apparently just shown the four kings whilst casually
counting them from hand to hand.
The packet must then be turned over and the bottom
card secretly reversed so that it is face up. A normal half
pass may be used for this, or alternatively while the cards
are still face up, a left little finger break may be obtained
under the top card and retained whilst the cards are turned
over, leaving you in the correct position for the Krenzel
Mechanical Reverse; this second method seems preferable
to me, but if you are not familiar with the Mechanical
Reverse, then the standard half-pass is perfectly acceptable.
(As it happens, the Mechanical Reverse is explained briefly
in chapter six, but we need not trouble ourselves with that
just yet.)
Whatever you decide, the cards should all be face down
in your left hand except for one king face up on the bottom.
Finally the top card must be put to the bottom of the packet;
I tend simply to take the top card and show it, whilst I
explain that one by one the cards are going to turn face up,
during which I casually replace it on the bottom. This process
has simply arranged the cards into the correct order for the
routine. From now on the same procedure is used for each
king.
The cards are taken face down at the right long edge
with the right hand, and peeled off one by one into the left
hand: the first is taken normally, after which the second is
peeled on top of it, although it is left spread half an inch or
so to the right of the first. A double card is then taken on top
34 DRAWING ROOM DECEPTIONS
of these, which is made possible by a block push off: to
ensure the success of this move, the right thumb must be at
least partly on the right edge of the cards as shown in fig. 9.
By squeezing the fingers and thumb together and then push
ing the thumb to the left, all the cards except the bottom
one (in this case two) are pushed off, still in alignment. This
double card is placed on top of the other two, so that it is
spread to the right of the first two, and held there by the
left thumb. The last card is then put on the top, completing
the spread of four cards.
The exact position of the cards may need to be adjusted
whilst learning the routine, as they are held slightly differ
ently for the close-up handling of the optical alignment. The
leftmost card is still as far to the left as possible, in the
fleshy fold between the fingers and thumb; the left thumb
is still contacting the backs of the top two cards only; the
left second and third fingers are still contacting the middle
two cards of the spread from below only. However, this time
the first finger is curled around the front of the packet,
keeping the fronts of the cards in alignment rather than
CHAPTER ONE 35
using the little finger at the bottom (fig. 10). Otherwise the
move is the same: the left hand stays absolutely still,
except for the second and third fingers which curl, thereby
pulling the two cards which they are in contact with to
the left. The top two cards cannot move as they are held
in place by the thumb; as the fingers continue to curl,
the face-up card becomes exposed, and the card below it
slides to the left.
Eventually that card will slide on top of the bottom
card, and it should come to rest in perfect alignment,
because it is stopped by the fold of the hand at the left, and
kept in alignment at the front by the first finger. Keeping
the hand tilted slightly downwards at the front helps to
ensure that this is the case, as any gravity that may
interfere with matters will only serve to pull the cards
towards the first finger, keeping them squared nicely. A
slight waving motion of the arm will cover the move as
before. It should appear as if, during the waving motion,
the card which is second from the bottom has mysteriously
turned over.
36 DRAWING ROOM DECEPTIONS
Whilst removing the card that has just turned over,
the following king is secretly turned over. To accomplish
this the face-up card is up-jogged almost its entire length,
whilst the cards are still spread out. Under cover of the
spread, the left little finger obtains a break above the
bottom card, by pulling down the lower of the two cards of
the double. A rough half-pass is performed with that bot
tom card, by pulling it down as far as possible with the little
finger, at which point the first finger curls around under
neath the card (fig. 11). In this position, it is relatively easy
to flip the card over by pushing to the right with the first
finger, so that it turns face up under the spread (fig. 12).
This is quite well covered by the other cards. The right
fingers hold on to the reversed card, whilst in a continuing
motion, the left hand moves forward, taking hold of the
out-jogged card and stripping it out from the other cards. It
is placed on the bottom, after which all the cards are squared
up in the left hand. As I mentioned at the beginning, this
relies on the audience watching the effect from above,
making it ideal for those occasions when all parties involved
are standing up; in this situation it is relatively easy to
cover the half-pass in the motion of removing the card,
whereas it is blatantly apparent when viewed head on.
This process is repeated for the next two cards as
follows: as before, the entire packet is taken in the right
hand by the right long edge, ready for a block push off. The
top card is peeled off into the left hand; then the next card
is peeled off, spread to the right of the first; then the right
thumb does the same double push off again, and the double
is taken to the right of the first two, and finally the last
card (the one which has just turned over), is placed on top.
CHAPTER ONE 37
These cards should be taken into the left hand in the
correct position for the optical alignment. With a little prac
tice, they will automatically go into the correct place. The
move is done again, so that the second card apparently turns
over. This card is again up-jogged, and the half-pass is made
with the bottom card, as the left hand removes that card,
exactly as before. It is placed on the bottom of the rest, and
then the top card (the other face-up one) is also transferred
to the bottom. This repositions the cards in the correct
order to repeat the actions. And indeed they are repeated
38 DRAWING ROOM DECEPTIONS
by taking the cards in the right hand, peeling the first into
the left hand, then the second, then performing the double
push off to take the third as a double, and then taking the
last. Once more the optical alignment is performed to make
the third card turn over, but after this there is a slight change
of procedure.
Rather than up-jogging the card that has just turned
over, the last card which has not yet turned is up-jogged;
this is in fact the double card in the left hand. The entire
left hand moves forward, taking with it the double card,
whilst the right hand holds the other cards in place. As it
moves forward, the left little finger pulls down on the bottom
card of the double, obtaining a break below it. Pulling down
on the newly acquired break allows the right fingers to slip
into it and hold the uppermost one of the double card in
place, up-jogged from the three face-up cards; the left hand
moves back underneath the rest of the cards, taking with it
the lower card of the double and flipping it over in the same
half-pass action as before. As soon as this is done, and
the card has been reversed underneath the spread, it is
held there with the right fingers, freeing the left hand to
move forward once more to take the up-jogged face-down
card. This time, however, it is placed on top of the other
cards.
Finally the packet is again taken by the right hand
and spread out into the left as before (single, single, double,
single) and the alignment is performed one more time to
make the last card, which is at the bottom of the spread,
turn over. Again the discrepancy of the changing suit is
minimised by the order of the cards at the beginning.
The bottom card can be palmed out if you choose, or
CHAPTER ONE 39
the entire packet can be dropped face up on to a face-down
pack, thereby losing the extra card. Alternatively a double
backed card could be used as the extra one, so that the hand
could be turned over to show the backs of the four cards as
soon as the last one has turned over. You may also like to
consider a presentational aspect of this version of the effect
which is similar to that of the first, wherein each turning
becomes progressively more impressive.
I firmly believe that on the odd occasion that one has
a good idea, one might as well make the most of it. Equally,
if one has taken the trouble to learn a move or technique, it
is convenient if there is more than one use for it. The effi
cient marriage of these two notions manifests itself in what
will form a brief section at the end of most chapters; that
being further ideas or uses for the technique described. It is
further hoped that this may inspire a modicum of thought
fulness or creativity in the reader, and it is for this reason
as well as the practicality of space, that these additional
ideas are somewhat brief, and sometimes not entirely
complete.
Oil and Water:
The optical alignment has possible applications as a
covert manoeuvre as well as its use in visual effects. Suppose
three red cards of similar value (perhaps a 9 and two 8s)
have been removed from the pack and dropped face down
on the table; three black cards of similar value have also
been removed, whilst secretly adding a further black card,
40 DRAWING ROOM DECEPTIONS
also of a similar value (by means of the Vernon Addition, for
example), so that there are in fact four; these are dropped
face down on top of the red ones. Picking the cards up and
spreading them face down from left to right, keeping the
last two as one, reveals a total of six cards, whilst also
allowing a break to be easily collected above the bottom two
cards when they are squared up in a moment. By taking the
top three cards in the right hand, still spread, in a position
similar to that required for the optical alignment, the left
hand may square up its cards, keeping the break above the
bottom two. The right hand, still holding its cards, can
assist in spreading out the remaining four cards in the left
hand as three: a double card is briefly taken by the right
fingers (which is made easy because of the break) and held
below the first three cards. The left thumb pushes over the
next card to the right, and then takes back the double card
from the right hand, so that it is spread to the right of the
other two. In this way a spread of three cards is displayed
in the left hand, the top card of which is a double. The right
hand may then move away, holding its three cards in a simi
lar position.
The right hand holds three black cards, which can be
shown to the audience, whilst the left hand can also be
turned to show three red cards (although a black card is
hidden behind the top one). The right hand turns back so
that the cards are face down, and drops the bottom card to
the table. As it is doing this, the left hand, which also turns
so that the cards are face down, performs the optical align
ment. There are only three cards this time, but the move is
the same: the middle two cards are slid to the left, so that
the bottom two cards are squared as one, and the top card is
CHAPTER ONE 41
now, unbeknownst to the audience, a black card (fig. 13).
The left hand thumbs off this top black card face down on to
the first card; the right hand again turns over to show its
black cards and drops its next one face down on to the pile,
so that the colours are seemingly alternating. The left does
the same, dealing off the next red, keeping the last two
cards squared as one. Whilst the right hand shows its last
card and deals it on to the pile, the left hand bends the double
sharply, to assist in keeping it squared as one, and then
shows its face and drops it on top of the rest.
When the cards are picked up and placed face up in
the left hand, the cards which have very slowly been laid
down in alternating colour, can be shown to have separated
out, like oil and water, as follows: the top three cards are
fairly spread out to the right, to show that they are all black;
42 DRAWING ROOM DECEPTIONS
they are then dropped to the table. Because of the bend in
the bottom two cards, it should be easy to obtain a break
above them, facilitating a double lift, which conceals the
other black card, on which are put the other two red cards
one by one. These four cards can be dropped on to the face
up black cards on the table, and the effect may be repeated.
An alternative visual ending, which makes a suitable
conclusion should you choose to repeat the effect (a choice
which I would recommend), is to continue as described above,
up until all the cards have been dealt on to the table except
for the last, double card in the left hand. Just as you are
about to deal this double card to the table you pause, and
take it, as one, with the right hand. “Really!” you say, invit
ing belief, “the cards are genuinely alternating”. To show
that this really is the case, should anyone doubt your word,
the double card in the right hand is lifted so that the audi
ence can see its face; the top card of the pile on the table is
picked up with the left hand, and positioned in the right
hand, below and stepped to the left of the double. The same
is done with the next card from the table, so that the right
hand contains apparently three cards, alternating in colour.
These cards are replaced, still keeping the double square,
into the left hand, in optical alignment position. The effect
is concluded by turning over the cards on the table, to show
three black cards, and whilst the attention is there, the
move is performed with the left hand, thereby hiding the
other black card. When attention returns there, three red
cards are now seen, as if the cards have separated out even
at a distance.
This effect can also be performed to great effect with
out the use of a table, by instead using the hand of a
CHAPTER ONE 43
willing spectator, who may be invited to turn the cards
over herself.
$ $ $ * :£
Cherchez la Femme:
Likewise, a red queen and two similar black spot cards
are removed, whilst secretly adding on a third black spot
card. By a means which I shall leave to your ingenuity, one
of the black cards should be concealed behind the queen in
the form of a double lift. By putting this double on top of
the other two black cards, so that they are all spread out
face down in the optical alignment position, the move can
be used either covertly or visually, to cause the queen to
move from the top to the centre of the spread.
The visual applications are obvious, but as an unseen
manoeuvre more subtle effects can be obtained. For exam
ple the move can be performed as the hand drops from chest
height, where the cards are displayed, to waist height, by
which time they are face down. If you carefully move the
cards around as if shuffling them, (taking care not to disturb
the double), the spectator may be invited to try to follow the
position of the queen but will be unable to do so, as it was
not in the starting position that he believed. Likewise the
close up handling of the move described in Waving the Aces
II can be used to cause the queen to jump from the middle
to the bottom of the spread in a similar way if the cards are
positioned face up in the hand, and the double consists of
two similar black cards.
As a finale, the queen could be made to disappear
from the spread visibly, leaving just three black cards, after
44 DRAWING ROOM DECEPTIONS
which the queen may be palmed out and produced from
elsewhere.
The Hofsinzer Problem (or so it has become known):
Gavin Ross suggested using a chosen card as the
extra card for the Twisting the Aces presentation. In such
an instance, this would be added face down, below four face
up kings. Then in the course of putting the cards into the
left hand, kings towards the audience, in the position for
the stand-up optical alignment, they are arranged such that
the king of the suit which matches the chosen card is
second from the face, and the chosen card is concealed
behind the king which is second from the top. Again,
determining the most efficient means to effect this is left to
the reader. When the move is performed, the king of the
suit matching the selection is seen to have turned over, but
in fact it has been switched for the selected card itself. By
taking the cards one by one, the hidden king is brought to
the back of the spread, from where it can be palmed out,
and added in a reversed condition to the rest of the pack,
which is thereupon cut or shifted, and spread to show this
reversed card in the centre. When turned over, it is seen
that this card, which was assumed to be the chosen card, is
in fact the king, and that the reversed king is rather the
chosen card, as per Mr Hofsinzer’s wishes.
CHAPTER ONE 45
Other Thoughts-.
Sandwich and Visitor effects would also seem to
extend possibilities to this manoeuvre. I shall not explore
these now for risk of boring the reader, whom I am sure is
ready to progress to other things.
TWO
pertaining to the difficulty of magic and the merits of
bespoke tailoring.
t is a constant source of irritation to me that de-
spite spending quite a considerable amount of time
playing the piano, I am not a good pianist. I would
go as far as to say that in total, considering that I started
playing the piano at the age of five, I have spent consider-
ably longer practising the piano than I have card tricks, and
yet in the world-wide scheme of things comparing myself to
others in the field, I am notably better at card tricks than
at playing the piano. There are a number of possible ex-
planations for this, ranging from the notion of natural apti-
tude, which I do not seem to possess for the piano, to the
suggestion that at least on a technical level, card tricks are
somewhat easier than even relatively simple piano pieces. I
suspect this to be nearer to the truth.
With this is mind, let us embark on what promises to
be the most difficult of the chapters in the book, which will
48 DRAWING ROOM DECEPTIONS
require, I suspect, a little practice, and, I am sure, a well-
fittingjacket.
The Penetration of Four Cards through a