Royal Road to Card Magic The

right to left, with the back of the hand towards yourself (figure 44). Note the bottom card of the pack, which faces you, and instantly avert your gaze. Your eyes must not dwell on the card but flick it in passing.

    Replace the fanned cards on the deck in the left hand.
    Top-Card Glimpse 1
    Take the pack in the left hand, as for dealing, but with the index finger curled over the outer end and the thumb lying flat against the left-side edge.
    Gesture to someone, saying, 'Will you help me?' As you make this gesture, turn the back of the hand uppermost, bringing the deck face upwards. Push the top card to the right with the left fingertips; this will expose the inner index (figure 45). Return the hand to its original position.

    Riffle shuffle the pack, retaining the top card in position but making sure that the original bottom card is lost near the bottom of the pack in the event that someone may have noticed it and may be following it.
    Fan Peek
    This is a method of ascertaining which card a spectator chooses from among a number of cards.
    Hold the cards vertically and thumb them from the left into the right hand, inviting someone to touch any card and remember it. Place the left thumb against the lower edge of the card he touches, at the index corner, and drop the hands somewhat, never glancing at the cards.
    Raise the fan again, saying that you wish him to be sure to remember his card, and instantly raise the index corner with the thumb, glimpsing the index (figure 46), and remove the thumb. Close the pack and hand it for shuffling.

    Wherever possible a chosen card should be glimpsed by one or another of the methods given above as soon as possible after its replacement in the pack. In the event that the card is accidentally lost, or if a spectator insists on being allowed to shuffle the cards himself, knowledge of what the card is still leaves you master of the situation.
    For other methods of glimpsing, refer to the palm glimpse and the double-lift glimpse.
    To illustrate the usefulness of the glimpse there is no better trick depending on it than the one that follows.
    TRICKS WITH THE GLIMPSE
    Gray's Spelling Trick
    A spectator replaces a selected card in the pack, which is honestly squared and shuffled. The name of the card is then spelled mentally by the spectator, who applies one letter to each card dealt by the magician. On reaching the last letter the spectator calls 'Stop!' He names his card. The last card dealt is turned face upwards and proves to be the very card he selected.
    1. Hand the deck to a spectator and have him shuffle the cards thoroughly. Take the pack back, glimpsing the bottom card, and then shuffle overhand retaining the card on the bottom. Suppose the card is the five of spades.
    2. Spread the pack and have a card freely chosen, noted by the drawer and shown to several people nearby. This is a precaution it is wise to take, because it gets others interested and prevents any subsequent misnaming of the card, either by carelessness or by design. Close the deck.
    3. Holding the deck by its sides at the tips of your thumb and your middle and ring fingers, draw out the lower half with your right thumb and middle finger, making what is termed an undercut. Let the packet in your left hand fall on to the palm and hold out that hand for the replacement of the chosen card on top. Immediately drop the right-hand packet on it and square the deck openly.
    Be careful to hold the right-hand packet face downwards and do not glance at it. Some performers take the glimpse of the bottom card at this time, but this is a very bad practice, widely open to detection.
    4. The position now is that the chosen card is in the middle of the deck, with the glimpsed card, the five of spades, immediately above it. Shuffle overhand as follows. Lift the whole pack and freely shuffle off about one-third of the cards, let about another third of the cards fall in a block and then shuffle the remaining cards freely. Thus the two cards, the glimpsed card and the chosen card, must remain together in the middle. It is true that a casual shuffle is not likely to separate them, but it is best to be certain.
    5. Square the cards and say, 'Some people imagine that a magician can steal a card out of the pack without anyone seeing him do it. Let me show you that your card is still buried among the other cards.' Turn half left, hold the deck in your left hand, the bottom card facing the spectators, and push the cards off one by one,