Royal Road to Card Magic The

packet it holds. Turn the right hand with its back upwards, and take another packet with the right thumb. Again turn the hand, this time palm upwards and take some more cards with the fingers. Do this rather rapidly.
    8. Continue these actions until one card only, the chosen card, remains in the left hand. Slap this card face down on the top card in the right hand, which will be face upwards. Throughout these movements simulate the actions of a slightly tipsy individual. Handle the cards sloppily and keep talking, 'I'll migsh 'em up. Fash up, fash down, fash up, fash down, thash the way to migsh the cards,' and so on.
    9. 'Finally, he tried to square the deck.' Do so, holding it in your left hand, the outer end between the thumb and middle finger towards the onlookers. The result of all the apparently higgledy-piggledy mixing has been simply to divide the deck into two portions, one face upwards and one face downwards; thanks to the bend given to the cards by the spring flourish, there will be a break between them at the inner end of the deck.
    10. Seize the lower half by the end with your right hand, between the thumb and middle finger; draw it out with a little upward flourish and hold it face downwards against the table top. Follow this action with your gaze. Immediately move the left hand towards the right, turning it back upwards in the action, and place it beside the right hand in position for making a riffle shuffle. Both packets are now face downwards, whereas the chosen card is face upwards at the bottom of the left-hand packet. Riffle shuffle, dropping the chosen card first, and cover the shuffle with your hands so that no one can see that the cards are all turned one way.
    11. Square the deck, turn it over so that the single face-down card is uppermost, then cut at about the middle and complete the cut. The audience will be convinced that the cards are really face up or face down indiscriminately. '“There,” he said as he handed the deck back. “The cards are migshed. Lash shee what you can do with 'em.” Well, he had me in a fix. The most skilful card conjuror living could not have followed the movements of the chosen card. Luckily I called to mind an emergency spell. “Arbadacarba,” I muttered. That's abracadabra backwards and the most powerful incantation we have. Be very careful how you use it. If it has worked for me, all the cards will have righted themselves, face upwards, while the chosen card will remain
face downwards. What was your card? The seven of diamonds? Let's see.'
    12. Spread the cards ribbonwise with a flourish, and they are seen to be all face upwards except one card in the middle, which is face downwards. With the tip of your right forefinger push this card forwards out of line. Turn it slowly face upwards. It is the selected card!
    This feat is one of the most amusingly effective tricks that can be performed for an intimate group.
    Double Reverse
    You will get great satisfaction from this trick, because its simplicity, ease of execution and strong climax make it one of the best of the self-working tricks.
    1. Secretly note the bottom card and reverse it, so that it is face upwards in the face-down pack. Let us say that it is the ace of diamonds. Spread the cards between your hands as if to have one drawn, then change your mind and square the pack. This shows that all the cards are face downwards without your stressing the fact.
    2. Invite someone to cut off the top half of the pack and retain it (figure 107). Hold the lower portion in your left hand, being careful not to expose the reversed card at the bottom. Have the spectator remove a card from the centre of his portion, look at it and remember it. You do the same thing, but actually you only pretend to remember the card.

    3. Say, 'Let me put my card in your packet,' and do so, pushing it flush into the centre of the cards he holds. As you do this, drop your left hand with its packet and turn it over, so that the single reversed card is at the top. Everyone is watching you insert your card in the spectator's packet and the reversal goes unnoticed.
    4. Take the spectator's card and without showing it say, 'That's fair play, isn't it?' Thrust his card, face downwards, into your half of the pack. Do not spread the cards when you do this. Because of the reversed card at the top, your packet appears to be face downwards and the audience will be satisfied that his card is lost in your packet.
    5. Reach for his packet, saying,