Royal Road to Card Magic The

your assistant to take the other hat and collect the written slips after they have been folded or crumpled. Next invite him to reach into the hat and mix them thoroughly, pick one at random and hand it to you. Casually open it and, regardless of what is written on it, ask, 'Will the gentleman who wrote the three of hearts [or whatever your glimpsed card may be] step up and take the envelope?'
Do not add to or change the wording in any way
.
    Without showing the slip to the spectator (unless by chance it bears the name of the card you glimpsed), direct him to take the envelope and open it. As he does this, unhurriedly and absently put the slip in your pocket, concentrating all your attention on the spectator.
    6. Ask him to take the five cards from the envelope and call their names. He finds only four cards - the three of hearts is missing.
    7. You look at him, smiling, then turn to the audience and say, 'The card has vanished!' Turn back to the spectator, saying, 'Perhaps it's under the hat.' He lifts the hat and finds the missing card!
    By the law of averages, once in five times the name of the glimpsed card and the name written on the slip will coincide. When this happens, hand the slip to the spectator when he comes forwards, saying, 'That is your handwriting?' and when he confirms this, continue with the trick. The feat is strengthened immeasurably when this occurs.

CHAPTER 9

The Overhand Shuffle (2)

    Injog and Break
    The drawback to the undercut and throw, after jogging a card in the overhand shuffle, is that frequent repetition would reveal to a keen observer the fact that only half of the deck is being shuffled. To overcome this difficulty, recourse is had to the formation of a division between the jogged card and the cards below it, which are to be kept intact and returned to the top of the pack. This division is termed a break.
    1. Undercut half the cards, injog the first card and shuffle off in a manner already explained.
    2. Preparing for a second overhand shuffle, pat the upper side of the deck square with the flat right fingers, then place the right thumb against the end of the jogged card and the right middle finger against the outer end. Press the thumb upwards and inwards, bending the protruding end of the jogged card upwards as it enters the pack, thus making a division or break between it and the cards below it.
    3. Grip the whole pack firmly between the right thumb and middle finger, lift it and begin another overhand shuffle in the usual fashion. Shuffle freely until the break held by the thumb is reached, then throw the whole of the packet below it on the top in one block.
    Thus the same result follows as that obtained by the undercut; apparently the deck has been freely shuffled twice.
    We have found that most beginners cannot learn this sleight from a printed explanation, whereas a demonstration enables them to do it in a few minutes. The difficulty seems to be in understanding the action of the thumb on the jogged card, with the result that it is pushed flush with the other cards and so lost. To avoid this fatal error, let the tip of your thumb touch the end of the jogged card and rest it there for a fraction of a second. Then, as you press your middle finger against the outer end of the deck, push the end of the jogged card upwards and inwards, and the break will be formed automatically under the thumb as it presses firmly against its end of the pack.
    Overhand Break Control
    This method of controlling a card returned to the pack is the same as the overhand shuffle control already given, save that in this case the injog and break is used in place of the undercut.
    1. After a card has been selected, begin an overhand shuffle and, when about half the cards are in the left hand, extend that hand and have the chosen card placed on top of those you hold.
    2. Run three cards flush on top of the chosen card, injog the next card and shuffle off.
    3. Perform the action described in step 2 of the injog and break; that is, form a break under the jogged card with the right thumb, by bending the protruding end of the card upwards as the right hand takes the pack.
    4. Shuffle off the cards above the break and drop the cards below it on top. The chosen card is four from the top.
    5. If your trick requires the placement of the chosen card at the top, you can shuffle the four top cards to the bottom, injog, shuffle down to it and throw the four bottom cards on top - in other words, repeat the overhand