Royal Road to Card Magic The

to make a ten of hearts (or whatever the card was)? No? Very simple. Just blow on your pocket.' He does so and of course finds the card there. Seize the moment of surprise at this discovery to put your left hand in your left jacket pocket and add the second deck to the one you hold. Cover the extra thickness with your right hand and palm off about twenty cards.
    11. 'Unfortunately you blew a little too hard. You made quite a lot of cards.' With your right hand, still holding the palmed cards, seize his right lapel, pulling his jacket open, and then grasp the lapel with your left hand. Dive your right hand into the pocket and bring out six or eight cards, fanning them, and leave the rest behind. 'Perhaps you had better take them out yourself.' As he does so, palm another large packet of cards, thrust your hand under his waistcoat, and bring out one card, leaving the others. Pull out four or five more singly, then lift the edge of his waistcoat so that the rest of the cards will drop out in a stream. Don't let them fall in a bunch; regulate the flow by the pressure of your hand holding the edge of the waistcoat. As the last cards fall, palm the cards remaining in your left hand. Place your right hand just above his nose, and squeeze the cards as in the spring flourish, so that a stream of cards appear to issue from his nose. As you do this, say to him sotto voce, 'I hope you don't mind this little fun. You've helped me splendidly.'
    All that remains to be done is to shake hands with your assistant, thank him and usher him off stage.
    Such is the trick with which Herrmann always created a sensation. As we have said, the technical work is of the simplest character and allows the performer to give his whole attention to the presentation. With good acting, the feat cannot fail.
    Cards to the Pocket
    This trick is a favourite with conjurors, who have found that it has a fascination for audiences. A number of cards vanish from the left hand and one by one find their way into an empty pocket. The trick is unusual in that it is equally suitable for large or small audiences.
    It has been said that a performer's worth can be determined by his presentation of this feat, since it calls for a skilled technique, an interesting presentation and the ability to make credible a feat that logic rejects as impossible. Perhaps more than any other card trick, it is a feat which must be lived with and performed over a period of years before it will yield all its riches.
    1. Make a brief introductory statement along the lines, 'I should like at this time to present one of the great feats of card magic.' Hold the pack in the left hand at arm's length, gesture towards it with the right hand, and make the Charlier cut, which audiences mistakenly believe to be a most difficult manipulation.
    Fan the pack gracefully, with the card faces to the audience, saying, 'A pack of fifty-two cards. I shall ask one of you to take the deck in his own hands and give me any ten cards taken from the top, the bottom or the middle, as he chooses. I want you to be satisfied that I could not know beforehand which ten cards would be given to me.'
    If you are performing on a platform, you should walk into the audience as you say this, thus shortening the interval spent away from the stage.
    2. Approach a gentleman, hand him the pack and extend your left hand. 'Ten cards, please.' If he removes some from the bottom or the middle, you say, 'A card from the bottom,
one
. A card from the middle,
two
. One from the top,
three
,' and so on to ten. You do this because one of the most important factors in making this trick incomprehensible is to convince your audience that you do not know which cards you will use in performing it. Never under any circumstances remove the cards from the pack yourself, because presently you will make these cards leave your left hand and appear in your right trouser-pocket. You must not give the audience reason to think afterwards, 'Ah, but he had duplicates of the cards in a secret pocket in his trousers. That's how he did it!'
    3. Leave the remainder of the pack with the spectator, saying earnestly, 'If you will take the rest of the pack, place it under your pillow when you retire tonight, and make a wish, I promise you that when you awaken tomorrow morning & the cards will still be there.' Transfer the ten cards from your left to your right hand and hold them aloft, well over your head, as you return to the platform.
    4. 'Ten cards!' you