Royal Road to Card Magic The

mastered, the trick itself is practically self-working.

CHAPTER 14

The Reverses

    The revelation of a card face upwards in a face-down deck is a favourite feat with the card conjuror, and a few of these tricks have already been explained. A card reversed in the pack is also used as a secret artifice which makes possible many puzzling feats. There is one cardinal condition that applies to all the tricks in which a card is reversed in the pack - the fact that the principle must never be used with cards having an overall back pattern. The reason is obvious, for with such decks the slightest spreading of the cards reveals part of the white face of the reversed card.
    Cards with a white margin on the back allow for a spread of about 9 mm (3/8 in) between cards without exposing any part of the back patterns. In fact, with a card face upwards in the deck, the cards can be spread in a fairly large fan without any risk of exposure.
    We have already discussed methods of reversing a chosen card under the double lift. Before explaining the best feats in which reversed cards play the leading role, other ways of secretly reversing a card or cards at the top or bottom of the deck must be considered.
    First Method
    This is one of the best and easiest ways of reversing a single card either at the top or bottom of the deck.
    1. Hold the deck in the left hand, turn half left and at the same time let the left hand drop to the side.
    2. Push off the top card with the left thumb so that its side strikes against the side of your leg (figure 104). Move the hand downwards, the thumb still pressing on the back of the card which will make a half revolution. With the fingers press it flush with the other cards and replace the thumb on the top of the pack (figures 105 and 106).

    The whole action takes only a second, and the fact that the left hand is out of sight momentarily will never be noticed.
    Second Method
    1. Under cover of squaring the pack, palm the top card.
    2. Keep the grip of the first phalanxes of the right thumb and forefinger on the right-hand corners of the deck, and turn the hand to a vertical position.
    3. Extend the left fingers and insert their tips under the lower side of the palmed card. Flex them and thus draw the card flush against the bottom of the deck, back downwards.
    The action is masked by the back of the right hand, which then squares the cards again and is removed.
    Third Method
    This method makes use of the artifice already mentioned in
'Throughth' and Consequences
.
    1. Hold the pack in the left hand and secure a break under the top card with the left little finger, conversing as you do so.
    2. Withdraw the bottom card and place it face upwards at the top. Give the impression that you are toying with the cards.
    3. With the right thumb and middle finger at the ends, lift the two top cards as one, about 25 mm (1 in) above the pack. Drop the left thumb under the pack and turn it face upwards on the left palm.
    4. Place the two cards held by the right hand on the face of the pack. Turn the pack face downwards, withdraw the bottom card and thrust it into the centre of the pack.
    The card at the bottom is now face upwards.
    Fourth Method
    This method may be used to reverse a chosen card in the centre of the pack, or to reverse any card at the bottom.
    1. Let us say that you have a chosen card at the top of the pack and wish to reveal it reversed at the centre. Hold the pack face downwards in your left hand. Place the right hand over it, thumb and fingers at the ends, and lift the inner end of the top card, holding a break under it by pressing inwards with the ball of the thumb.
    2. Cut off the top half of the pack with the right hand, still holding the break with the thumb.
    3. Drop the left thumb under the packet remaining in that hand, flip it face upwards and place it on top of the cards held in the right hand.
    4. Place the left hand under the deck and drop into it all the cards below the break held by the right thumb. Move the left hand away, drop the thumb under this packet and flip it over, face upwards, on the palm.
    5. You now hold a packet face upwards in each hand. Ask if either of the face cards is the chosen card. Receiving a denial, place the left-hand packet
under
that in your right hand and square the pack.
    6. Ribbon spread the cards on the table and show the reversed card.
    To reverse a card at the bottom for use in a reversed-pack trick, hold the pack face upwards and follow the above through