Royal Road to Card Magic The

into the deck. When he does this and the card is partially inserted, drop your left thumb on it, hold it and the cards in your left hand, and with your right hand remove all the cards to the right of it, including the key card. Thus the key card becomes the bottom card of the packet in your right hand.
    5. Drop the right-hand packet on those in the left hand and you have your key card above the selected card. Square the deck, and the most critical observer will be satisfied that he has replaced his card fairly and that you cannot know its position among the others.

CHAPTER 7

The Palm

    To palm a card, in conjuror's language, means to take a card in the hand - generally the right hand - and hold it concealed there without its presence being suspected by the onlookers. The principle is a very important one in card magic, because many of the finest feats possible depend upon it. The best methods of palming cards are not difficult to learn. The reason that palming is often neglected or badly done is because of lack of confidence. The first thing beginners are likely to say is that their hands are too small; they cannot conceive that they should hold so large an object as a playing card in one hand secretly. To show what a mistaken notion this is, test it in this way.
    Take a card and lay it on your hand with the fingers extended in such a way that its outer left corner is at the outer phalanx of the little finger and its inner right corner against the ball of the thumb. Flex the fingers slightly and turn your hand over. You will find that the card is held (that is, palmed) securely, and so long as the fingers are pressed together it is completely hidden. Since a hand always has a half-closed appearance when in repose, the position of the hand will appear to be a perfectly natural one.
    At first you will be so conscious of the presence of the card in your hand that you will want to drop it to your side or even put it behind your back. To overcome this self-consciousness the best thing to do is to become so accustomed to having a card in your hand that you no longer take any notice of it. When you are reading a book or listening to the radio, place a card in your hand in the proper position, bend the fingers slightly, and then try to forget all about it. In a very short time you will become so used to it that you will be able to move your hand freely and naturally, always remembering, of course, that the back of your hand must always be facing outwards. Do not be afraid to bend the card; you cannot palm it naturally unless you do.
    Practically everyone, when beginning to practise the palming of cards, will be careful to keep the fingers curved naturally but will overlook the importance of having the thumb lie in its natural position along the side of the hand. When the thumb extends at a right angle from the hand, a reflex action that must be overcome, its unnatural appearance at once attracts attention to the hand and arouses suspicion.
    Top Palm 1 - Single Card
    1. Hold the deck in your left hand by the sides between the middle, third and little fingers, the tips of which are flush with the top of the deck, pressing the left side of the deck against the ball of the thumb. Bend the thumb at the outermost phalanx on the top card, with the tip resting a little below its middle, and place the tip of the index finger against the outer right corner (figure 51).

    2. Bring the right hand over the pack as if merely to square it, the hand being well arched. Place the fingers, held close together, against the outer end, with the third (outermost) phalanxes pressing against the outer end. Rest the tip of the thumb against the left inner corner (figure 52).

    3. Straighten the left thumb pressing it on the top card and so push the card into the position shown in figure 53.

    4. The outer right corner of the top card is thus brought against the tip of the little finger. Press lightly downwards with the right little finger and lever the card upwards, at the same time bending the left thumb inward to its original position, and the card will be tilted upwards against the palm and the fingers (figure 54).

    5. Draw the right fingers and thumb along the ends of the deck, squaring the cards. Grip the outer corners between the thumb at the inner end and the index and middle fingers at the outer end, at the same time flexing the ring and little fingers (figure 55).

    6. When the palm is complete, the thumb lies along the forefinger. Your