More Card Manipulations - Series No. 2

Jean Hugard

Description

This book contains the first in the series of handbooks on card manipulation by master magician Jean Hugard. Card manipulation is an element of magical illusion concerning the creation of effects through sleight of hand techniques that involve playing cards. It is commonly employed in magical performances, particularly in street magic. Jean Hugard's fantastic series “More Card Manipulations” includes simple instructions for a variety of fantastic card tricks, making it ideal for novice illusionists or related collections of literature. Contents include: The Faced Deck”, “The Gambler's Table Change”, “The Spread Pass”, “The Thumb Side”, “New Method of Picking up an Arranged Pack”, “An Easy Force”, “Reversing the Bottom Card”, etc. Jean Hugard was an Australian professional magician. By the end of his life he had gone blind, having lost sight in both eyes as a result of cataract-removal operations. Despite his handicap he continued his work with magic at his home in Brooklyn, New York. Other notable works by this author include: “Show Stoppers with Cards” (1948), “Royal Road to Card Magic” (1948), and “Houdini's 'Unmasking': Fact Vs. Fiction” (1957). Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this classic volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new introduction on card manipulation.

Sujets

• Card manipulation
• Sleight of hand

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 22 mars 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528768177
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

MORE CARD --- MANIPULATIONS
Series No. 2
by
JEAN HUGARD

ILLUSTRATIONS BY NELSON HAHNE
Copyright 2018 Read Books Ltd.
This book is copyright and may not be reproduced or copied in any way without the express permission of the publisher in writing
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Card Manipulation
Card manipulation is the branch of magical illusion that deals with creating effects using sleight of hand techniques involving playing cards. Card manipulation is often used in magical performances, to great effect, especially in close-up, parlour and street magic. Some of the most recognised names in this field include Dai Vernon, a Canadian magician with considerable influence, specialising in sleight of hand, Ed Marlo, an American born magician who referred to himself as a cardician , and Alex Elmsley, a Scot who was notable for his invention of the Ghost Count or Elmsley Count , creating various mathematical card tricks, and for publishing the mathematics of card shuffling. Before becoming world famous for his escapology act, Houdini billed himself as The King of Cards .
Cards have a long and illustrious history, they were first invented in Imperial China, and specimens have been found dating back as early the ninth century, during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Female players were some of the most frequent participants, and the first known book on cards, called Yezi Gexi (presumably written in the 860s) was originally written by a Tang era woman, subsequently undergoing additions by other Chinese scholars. By the eleventh century, playing cards could be found throughout the Asian continent. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), characters from novels such as the Water Margin were widely featured on the faces of playing cards. Playing cards first entered Europe in the early fourteenth century, probably from Egypt, with suits (sets of cards with matching designs) very similar to the tarot suits of Swords, Staves, Cups and Coins (also known as disks or pentacles). These latter markings are still used in traditional Italian, Spanish and Portuguese decks. Playing cards were first formalised into something closely resembling our modern deck in the seventeenth century, but the joker was only introduced by the USA in the 1870s.
As props, playing cards have only become popular with magicians in the last century or so, largely due to their inexpensive nature, versatility and easy availability. Although magicians have created and presented myriad of illusions with cards (sometimes referred to as tr cks ), most of these illusions are generally considered to be built upon one hundred or so basic principles and techniques. Presentation and context (including patter , the conjurer s misleading account of what he is doing) account for many of the variations. Card magic, in one form or another, likely dates from the time playing cards became commonly known, towards the second half of the fourteenth century, but its history in this period is largely undocumented. Compared to sleight of hand magic in general and to cups and balls, it is a relatively new form of magic. Common manipulation techniques include lifts , where one or more cards (normally known to the audience) are selected and identified as part of the illusion, false deals , which appear to deliver cards fairly, when actually the cards are predetermined or known to the performer, and side slips , a technique generally used to bring a predetermined card to the top of a deck. Passes, Palming, False Shuffles, False Cuts, Changes, Crimps, Jogs and Reverses are also commonly utilised manipulations.
MORE CARD MANIPULATIONS
No. 2.
CONTENTS
Part I.-SLEIGHTS
Curry Turn Over Change
Carlyle Snap Double Lift
Jamison Double Lift
Riffle Shuffle Control
Riffle Location
Easy Bottom Deal
Never Fail Force
Replacement of Palmed Cards
Vertical Palm
New Packet Change
Part II.-POKER
Setting up Poker Hand (Two Set ups with Riffle Shuffle)
The Barnyard Shuffle
Part III.-TRICKS
New Top Card Production
Silas and the Slicker
Another Spell
To Flourish or not to Flourish
Poker Hand Repeat
Mene, Tekel, Upharsin
Lost and Found
Two Pile Mystery
Name Your Number
Simultaneous Magic
Last Word Location
Again the Infallible Prediction
Part IV.-MANIPULATIONS
The Cottone Squeeze Production
The Cottone Snap Production
MORE CARD MANIPULATIONS No. 2.

Part I-SLEIGHTS
THE CURRY TURN-OVER CHANGE
PAUL CURRY
While the actual working of this change bears no resemblance to the Mexican Turn-over, the general effect of the change does; that is, the card may be changed either as it is turned face down on the table or as it is turned face up.
The principle behind the sleight is the changing of a card on the table for the bottom card of the deck. The change is made in the act of turning the card face up, or face down, with the hand that holds the deck. In other words, if the pack is held in the left hand and if the card is face up on the table, it would be turned face down by the fingers of the left hand and changed in the action. The card now face down on the table would be the card that was originally on the bottom of the deck, while the card originally face down on the table would become the bottom card of the deck.
METHOD: Hold the cards face down in the left hand as in Fig. 1 . Insert the top joint of the third finger above the bottom card and press the top joints of the second and fourth fingers against the ends of this card; thus the bottom card is firmly gripped by the ends of these three fingers and will be turned over by extending them.
The successful accomplishment of the change depends upon the correct position of the deck in the hand. It should be held well down to allow the forefinger to extend well over the outside end. The thumb plays no part in holding the deck, as this is done entirely by second, third and fourth fingers.
Place the card to be changed face up on the table. Bring the left hand to it and rest the tip of the thumb on its right side about half an inch from its outer end, at the same time slip the tip of the forefinger under its left side and raise that side from the table. Fig. 2 . Remove the thumb from the card and raise it to a vertical position on its side, holding it between the forefinger and the thumb. Move the hand slightly towards the right and lower the card, now face down, towards the table.
It is at this point that the change takes place. Press the left thumb against the card that is being turned and straighten out the third finger thus pushing out the original bottom card of the deck onto the table. In the meantime the thumb presses up against the original table card and retains it on the bottom of the deck. The entire sleight takes place as the hand moves to the right in the natural action of turning the card over. At first it may be found necessary to press the side of the card against the table to aid the third finger in drawing it from the deck, but with a little practice this help can be dispensed with.
It is hardly necessary to point out that practice will be required to develop the proper co-ordination of the movements. Properly performed the sleight simulates exactly the mere turning of the card.

FIG. 1

FIG. 2

FIG. 3
There would be no use for publishing this sleight if it did not have certain advantages over the standard changes now in use. Here are a few examples of how it may be used.
a. Shuffle the pack, then, holding it in the left hand, turn the two top cards as one. Call attention to the face card, say it is the Ace of Spades, turn the two cards face down and deal the top card onto the table. Make the double lift again, this time exposing, say, the Ace of Hearts. Turn these two cards face down and deal the top card, the Ace of Spades, onto the table at some distance to the right of the card (an indifferent card, supposed to be the Ace of Spades) already on the table. Command the cards to change places and with the right hand turn the card on the right face up. It proves to be the Ace of Spades. With the left hand turn the other card over, executing the change and it proves to be the Ace of Hearts. The cards have obeyed your command.
b. Again, spread the deck face up on the table and invite a spectator to push out any card from the line. Gather up the remainder of the cards and with the left hand turn the selected card face down executing the change for an indifferent card. Spread the pack face down and have the spectator push his card (really an indifferent card) amongst the others. Gather the cards and you have the chosen card on the bottom of the deck to deal with as you please.
c. One more example: Have a card selected, returned, and bring it to the top. After a false shuffle, retaining the card on the top, make the double lift and show, for example, the Ace of Spades, as being the chosen card. The spectator says that card is not his card. Turn the two cards face down and toss the top card carelessly to the table, face down. Shuffle the top card (A. S.) to the bottom and then look through the deck. Pretending to be puzzled about the error, ask the spectator to name his card. He does so and you tell him to turn the card on the table. He turns it face up and acknowledges that it is now his card. With your left hand turn the cards face down, executing the change for the Ace of Spades.
Pick this card up as though to put it in the pack, then pause and, as an after thought, ask the spectator what card he thought it was. He replies, The Ace o