FIRST TRICK

The following card trick is one of the first I ever learned. It is completely self-working, requiring absolutely no skill or pre-arrangement of the cards and offers many possibilities for introducing some fun while you perform it. Have fun with this and hopefully, it will encourage you to find out more about the art of Magic.

Effect...
It is explained that given the chance, approximately one in every three people has the ability to perform magic. The cards are handed out to be shuffled and returned. The cards are fanned to demonstrate how a magician would normally have a card selected and the cards are handed to a spectator prompting him to fan the cards to you so that you can freely select a card from the centre. This you do and return the card back into the middle of the pack.

The spectator is prompted to ask any other spectator for a number between say ten and thirty. On receipt of the number, he is asked to deal the indicated number of cards face down and to then reveal that the next card on top of the pack is the selection. This he does and fails. The card is turned back face down and the tabled cards are dropped back on top. A second spectator is asked to try this time using a higher number since the last one appears to have been too low. This he does and also fails. Recall that one out of three people are able to perform magic so, as the two spectators had failed, you had better take over (groan).

Taking the lower number supplied from the higher number, the resulting number of cards are dealt and the next card is revealed to be the selection.

The secret...
Before passing the cards to the first spectator, glimpse the top card. When you take a card, keep it to yourself but later miscall it as the glimpsed card. That's it, have fun!

Remember...
Magicians never tell!!