Royal Road to Card Magic The

doing which he is to think of any small number and silently transfer that number of cards one by one from top to bottom.
    2. Turn around, take the cards and point out that you cannot know which card he has chosen; at the same time study the faces of the cards. Thumb them off, face upwards, into the right hand one by one, reversing their order. Scrutinise the cards closely and glance at the spectator occasionally, as though plumbing his thoughts.
    Shake you head and, still holding the cards with their faces towards yourself, take the five bottom cards in the right hand. Glance at them, then at those in the left hand, holding them well apart. Again shake your head disconsolately, saying, 'I'm having trouble with you!' Bring the hands together and place the right-hand cards above the others, at the top of the packet.
    By this means you have, first, reversed the order of the ten cards, and, second, placed the first five cards below the second five.
    3. Return the cards to the spectator, turn your back and instruct him to transfer silently as many cards from top to bottom as he did in the first case, and then one card more.
    4. Take the ten cards and fan them between your hands, face outwards, as you request the spectator to concentrate on his card. Peek at the fourth card from the top, using the fan peek, and remember this card; it is the chosen card.
    5. Give the spectator the cards and have him place the top card on the table, the next card at the bottom of the packet, the next card on the table, the next at the bottom, and so on until he holds only one card.
    Say to him, 'You took the ace of hearts, didn't you?' naming whatever card you peeked, and when he agrees ask him, 'Do you know how I knew?' 'No.' 'Look at the card in your hand.' He does and finds that it is his card.

CHAPTER 6

The Key Card

    Centuries ago, when playing cards were rare and valuable objects owned only by the rich and powerful, the first tricks of legerdemain with cards were made possible through the use of the key card. The principle is so obvious that there are few card magicians who are not familiar with it, and yet some of the finest and most deceptive card tricks, which have puzzled and entertained hundreds of thousands of people, are made possible by the lowly key card.
    We speak of the key card as lowly because it has fallen into disrepute on account of its being so widely known. Using it inartistically is a gaucherie, yet if used with finesse it is one of the most potent artifices in the whole realm of conjuring with cards. In this, as in many other things, it is not the tool that is important but the personality, character and intelligence of the person using the tool. Using the same tools, one artist produces an exquisite portrait; another, a meaningless daub. So it is with the key card; the dabbler performs a colourless trick, the competent conjuror presents a brilliant tour de force.
    Perhaps even before opening this book, you were familiar with the principle that if you know the name of one card in the pack, and contrive to have an unknown card replaced either above or below it, you can unfailingly find the unknown card, no matter how many times the pack may be cut. This is the manner in which the dabbler at card tricks uses this principle.
    But we shall show you how this same principle may be used in such a manner that even those familiar with it will be completely deceived. We shall give you the mechanics of tricks with the key card that make use of the principle in new and ingenious ways, and shall show you how the old methods may be used so that they appear new and different. Finally, we shall show you that use of the key card will enhance your reputation as a clever sleight of hand performer with cards, whose deceptions are entertaining and unsolvable.
    First, however, we must explain the key undercut and key undercut shuffle, two useful sleights which have been described, but not by name, in Gray's Spelling Trick.
    The Key Undercut
    This method of undercutting a pack is often used to place a key card above a chosen card, and we give it the above title to distinguish it from the regular undercut used in the overhand shuffle, with which it must not be confused.
    1. Let us say that you have glimpsed the card at the bottom of the pack for use as a key card. Hold the deck by its sides at the tips of your left thumb and your middle and ring fingers. Draw out the lower half with your right thumb and your middle finger by grasping it