Chapter 21

#
THE DOUBLE LIFT, PART 2

"Of of what one can't make sense, one may make art."
John Barth

In this chapter a somewhat more difficult double turnover technique than that taught in Volume 1 will be explained; but one that is so disarmingly natural that even experts will not be able to tell whether you have turned over a single card or more. Of course, a prerequisite is that you always turn over the cards, whether a single or multiple, in exactly the same manner.

###
Another Double Turnover

| Hold the deck face down in left-hand dealing position and obtain a left little-finger break under the top two cards. One way to accomplish this (one recommended in 1856 by no less a performer than Robert-Houdin) would be to remove the top card and gesture with it in your right hand as you speak, while your left thumb pushes the new top card of the deck slightly inward and to the right, allowing the left little finger to obtain a break beneath it. You then replace the right hand's card on the deck, freeing this hand to gesture further. Another easy method to obtain such a break is explained Volume 1: little finger break with two hands, little finger break with one hand and double lift. Somewhat more demanding techniques to do the job: thumb count, the little-finger count and the double push-over.
| After an appropriate interval has passed, bring your right hand, turned palm up, to the deck and insert its index and middle fingers into the break, grasping the double card between your right thumb and the pads of these fingers. Light pressure applied by the left thumb near the outer left corner of the deck keeps the double card and the deck squared. As usual, the tip of the left index finger projects slightly over the top edge of the deck near the outer right corner and helps keep the top two cards from separating at the outer end.
| Gripping the right side of the double card firmly with your right hand (cf. "The Elmsley Count") pull it to the right. The left side of the double card remains in contact with the top of the deck and your left thumb moves in contact with it, giving the impression that the thumb is pushing it, though its motion is actually under control of the right hand. The illustration shows the moment when this rightward motion ends. With your right hand push lightly downward on the ride side of the double card. By keeping the left side of the card in check with your left thumb and pushing lightly upward on the face of the card with the tips of your left middle, ring and little fingers, the card will bow slightly convex lengthwise subtly conveying the impression of being a single card.
| As soon as the left side of the double card reaches the right side of the deck, use your right fingers to flip the double card over sidewise and face up onto the deck. As this happens, move your left thumb briefly aside to allow the double card to pass without interruption. The tip of your right index finger "accompanies" the double card during the turnover onto the deck. This keeps the two cards under control at all times, although this should not appear to be the case to an observer. It is precisely the free appearance of the turnover that makes this technique appear so casual and fair.
| The card should land projecting about half an inch beyond the outer end of the deck. As soon as it comes to rest, bring your left thumb back to its original position, securing the cards. The thumb is aided in this by your left index finger, which contacts the outer end of the double card and presses lightly downward on it. Since your left thumb holds it along the left side, the double card will buckle slightly and its inner right corner will raise a sixteenth to an eighth of an inch off the deck.
| Push inward with your left index finger as you relax the left thumb's pressure. This permits the double card to slide back square with the deck, while you catch a left little-finger break under it. Move your left thumb to the left side of the deck to give the spectators a better view of the face of the card just turned over. The card is now turned face down and squared onto the deck using precisely the same handling. Finally, place the top card of the deck face down on the table.
| This technique can also be used if you are standing, performing for a larger group, such as in a living room or even on a stage. Turn the double card over as described above, but as soon as it is face up on the deck, tip the outer end of the deck down and hold the cards so that their upper surface makes an angle of roughly forty-five degrees with the floor. This posture is well suited for a living-room performance.
| If you are standing on a raised platform or stage, hold the deck at your left side, raising it to a perpendicular position. As you do this you may wish to shift the little finger to the lower end of the deck to support the cards. This releases the break, but it can be easily formed again as you bring the deck back to a horizontal position, thanks to the opposed natural curvature between the face-down deck and the two face-up cards.

Check Points

1. Even though you may doubt it at the beginning, the double card is securely under your control in all phases of the turnover. You place your left thumb on the face of the double card as soon as it lands on the deck, then square it with the rest of the cards a fraction of a second later as you obtain a little-finger break beneath it. Although these actions were described separately, in actual practice they flow together without interruption.
2. By extending the technique to include your gaze, you can make the double turnover particularly deceptive. Move your eyes from the audience to the back of the top card and point to it with your right index finger. Lift the index finger and your gaze to look beyond the finger at your audience again. Keeping your eyes on the audience, lower your right hand and turn the top two cards face up on the deck. Only now do you lower your eyes again and look at the face-up card, which you name. Shift your gaze to the spot on the tabletop where you will be placing the card. Now look at the audience as you turn the double card face down on the deck. Look back at the deck as you remove the top card and place it on the table. Naturally, you can alter the direction of the gaze according to the circumstances, but the principle remains the same. This type of attention management, using one's gaze, is based on the teachings of such masters as Juan Tamariz.
3. When you've mastered this double-turnover technique, you can try letting the double card snap off the left thumb just before your right hand turns it over. The snapping sound produced is the same for single, double and triple cards and reinforces the impression that you are handling a single card.
4. This double turnover displays the card square on the deck. This is not only very practical for the performer, but also safeguards against one of the main dangers of double-card handling: separation at the edges. In addition, this handling prevents spectators who are viewing the action from a lower level, like children do, or those persons seated farther away, from perceiving the double thickness of the cards.
5. Here are some thoughts on the timing of this technique, which can be applied to almost any double lift or turnover handling. Turning over a double card is an "in-transit" action (a concept we will explore in greater detail in the Timing section of Chapter 27). The in-transit action is a secondary action used to display the card, while the display itself is the primary action. Turning the double card face down again on the deck is another in-transit action, the primary action this time being to set the card on the table or to do whatever else is required by the trick. A clear understanding of the concept of primary and secondary actions will influence your rhythm and attitude when performing them.

#
MORE TRICKS WITH THE DOUBLE LIFT

#

###
Vanished without a Trace!

This trick lasts less than a minute, but has all the elements that make a presentation memorable and effective for the public. It is a trick that the magnificent Spanish magician Juan Tamariz constantly introduces into his spontaneous performances. The vanish employed here is often referred to in the literature as the "rub-a-dub-dub vanish" [36] and may be applied in many different ways within other tricks.

### Effect

An indifferent card changes into the spectator's freely chosen card. The performer offers to repeat the trick with any card named, but unfortunately the spectator reacts too slowly, and the card to be changed, to the surprise and astonishment of everyone, vanishes without a trace!

### Construction, Management and Script

1. Have a spectator freely choose and note a card. Then have it returned and control it to the top of the deck. Use one of the control methods described in Chapter 4 (Volume 1). "Now I will take a card that can't possibly be yours. "As you say this, execute a double turnover, turning the top two cards face up for display on the deck. Then turn the double card face down again.
2. With your left thumb, push the top card to the right for half its width. Extend your right hand with the intention of completely covering the card, which you contact with the outer phalanx of your right little finger near the outer right corner.
   Pivot your right hand palm down and to the left, pressing the sidejogged top card onto the table. As you do this, be sure to let the outer right corner of the card extend beyond the little finger for a brief moment.
   Keep your right hand stationary, smoothly turning your left hand palm down and moving it off to the left the instant your right hand presses the card against the table. This is at present merely a feint, but it will shortly strengthen the deceptiveness of the vanish to be executed. If no table is available, you can perform this on top of the right thigh. (Please use your own!)
   With your right hand, rub the card against the table for a few seconds as you ask the spectator to name the selection. When he does so, turn the card under your hand face up to reveal the freely selected card.
3. Once the reaction to the effect has died down, you continue: "Of course, this will work with any card. Name any card that comes to mind, any one at all." Display the spectator's selection again, and turn it over sidewise and face down on top of the deck. Be sure to use precisely the same actions employed for the earlier turnover of the double card. Now comes the actual vanish: Once again, use your left thumb to push the top card to the right, halfway off the deck. With the exact same handling as before, place the right hand over the card and apparently press it onto the table, making sure that the outer right corner of the card projects briefly beyond the right little finger. At the instant you turn the right hand palm down, use the left thumb to pull the card back onto the deck. Immediately turn your left hand back up and move it to the left.
   Pretend to rub the card against the table top with your right hand. As soon as the spectator complies with your request to name another card, look at her, then look at your right hand. "Sorry, it's too late." Raise your hand and show that the card has vanished. The spectators' reaction will be strong and immediate.
4. It is possible to palm the card at the moment of relaxation that occurs at the end of this effect and then produce the card from the pant pocket or jacket, thereby giving the effect a third and final phase.

###
The Ambitious Card

### Effect

A spectator freely chooses a card and the performer inserts it into the center of the deck. In response to a magical gesture, the card is seen to occupy the most important position in the deck the top. Even though the spectator now signs the card, it always returns to the top, under increasingly impossible conditions.

### Construction, Management and Script

1. Have the cards shuffled by a spectator, then retrieve the deck and spread it face up between your hands while saying, "Every card in this deck has its own identity—and that includes a unique personality. Please touch any card that appeals to you." After spreading the first few cards, cull any card under the spread. This is accomplished by the spread cull. After spreading a few more cards, cull a second card. (An alternative to the spread cull is discussed in Final Note 2). When the spectator has touched a card, separate the spread at that point with the selected card—let's assume it is the Five of Spades—at the left end of the right hand's spread.
   While the Five is apparently the lowermost card of the right hand's spread cards, the two culled cards lie hidden below it under the spread. Using the right hand's cards, flip the left hand's packet sidewise and face down. Next, with your left thumb, touch the index of the Five of Spades, saying, "Of course, it's no coincidence that you happened to chose the Five of Spades, because it's a very ambitious card. It's true. I'll show you." Square the right hand's packet somewhat by tapping its left side against the top of the left hand's packet; then turn it face down onto the deck. Take the top card (apparently the Five) and insert it into the center of the deck from the outer end. Square the cards and prepare for a double turn-over by taking a left little-finger break under the top two cards. "Every time that card is placed in the center of the deck, it's not good enough for it. Because it's ambitious..." After the interval of time it takes to say this, turn the double card face up on the deck "... it always rises to the top."
2. "Every time the card is placed in the center, it wants to go to the most important spot in the deck." Turn the double card face down on the deck and insert the top card again into the center, then, a few seconds later, show that the Five has come back to the top.
3. "I know what you're thinking, sir. He must have several Fives of Spades; otherwise that wouldn't be possible. So that you won't be disturbed by that suspicion, please sign your name boldly across the face of the card." Hand the spectator a broad-tipped, permanent marker for the purpose. As the spectator signs the face of the card, you continue, "That will assure that there is no other card like this in the known universe." Look at the signature. "Now we know where the card gets its ambition—from you!" If the spectator is someone you know, you may add several amusing comments at this point, always without causing your helper embarrassment, of course.
4. Place the signed card face up on the deck, which you hold face down in left-hand dealing position. Secretly buckle the bottom card and take a left little-finger break above it as you say, "Of course you know it's all done with the sleeves." Display the Five of Spades and, using the "top-over addition" (Volume 1), flip the Five face down as you secretly add the indifferent bottom card over it. Next, make a "broad one-handed fan" (Volume 1) with the right hand's cards and use your left thumb to push the top card of the left hand's packet (apparently the Five of Spades) into the center of the right hand's fan.
   "I push the card through the sleeve..." Press the projecting card against the crook of the left arm, pushing the card completely into the fan. As all attention is focused on this action, obtain a left little-finger break under the top card of the left hand's packet, then push the card about half an inch forward. Next, place the pad of the left index finger on the back of the card. At the instant the card is pushed against your left arm and into the fan, press down with your left index finger, causing the Five of Spades to flip end over end and face up, finishing with it pressed against the bottom of its packet by the index finger. The illustration shows the audience's view. "...and it comes out again at the bottom." Reassemble the cards and square them in the left hand. In doing this, place the Five of Spades face up on top of the face-down deck. You should now be holding the deck in left-hand dealing position.
5. You will next perform a quite surprising sequence based on an Edward Marlo idea [36a]. The handling I will give is one I devised roughly ten years ago for the purpose of clarifying the effect in the minds of the spectators.
   Buckle the bottom two cards of the deck and take a left little-finger break above them. Then take the deck into right-hand end grip, transferring the break to the right thumb, and swing cut the top half into your left hand.
   Use the right hand's half to flip the Five of Spades sidewise and face down on the left hand's packet, then use the right middle and ring fingers to push the Five for about half its length over the outer end of the deck. This brings the right hand's packet directly over the left's. When the inner ends of the packets are in close alignment, it becomes easy for your left middle and ring fingers to catch the two cards below the right thumb's break and pull them down and square onto the left hand's packet.
   As soon as you have done this, turn your left hand palm down to display the face of the Five of Spades again.
   Extend your left index finger and use it to push the Five of Spades flush with the left hand's packet. (If the card projects to far for the index finger to reach, you can start to push it in with the bottom of the right hand's packet, then finish with the left index finger.) The instant the card is flush with the packet, turn your left hand palm up and, using your left thumb, push the top card— apparently the Five of Spades—to the right and insert it into the center of the right hand's packet. To aid in the insertion, use the pad of your right index finger to lift about half of the right hand's cards slightly at the outer left corner. Do not push the left hand's card completely into the right hand's packet. Instead, leave it projecting for half its length from the outer end of the packet.
   Properly executed, this sequence will leave the spectators convinced that the Five of Spades has never left their sight. Set the left hand's face-down packet to your left on the table as you position the right hand's packet forward on the table. Now slowly square the projecting card into the packet in the following fashion: Place your hands palm down at their respective sides of the deck, with the pads of the middle fingers contacting the sides, near the outer corners. The tips of your thumbs rest centered at the inner end of the deck, and your index fingers curl slightly to lie very lightly on the top of the deck.
   Now move the middle fingers and the thumbs simultaneously toward the inner corners of the deck, using the same actions you would to square the cards after a tabled riffle shuffle. But as you do this, exert firm pressure with the outer sides of the middle fingers against the sides of the deck. As the fingers move inward, they will draw the projecting card in with them, until it lies flush in the deck. This slightly mannered method of using just the ends of the fingers to square the card into the deck is neat and pleasing to watch.
   As you do this, you say, "I'll make it harder for me and easier for you—I'll just use half the deck. And yet the card still comes to the top." Turn the top card of the packet you've just squared face up—it is not the ambitious card. "Ah yes, that is not actually the top. This is the bottom half of the deck. The top of the tap half is over there." Pick up the packet on your left and, with the aid of the right thumb, quickly form a left little-finger break under the top two cards. To provide some time misdirection before executing a double turnover, point to the tabled packet "That would have been the top of the bottom." Now turn the double card face up on its packet and show that the Five of Spades has again reached the top.
6. Reassemble the deck and square it, keeping the face-up double card on top. "You signed the card on its face yourself—it is unmistakably your card. But as soon as the card is turned face down, all the cards took the same, and it might be switched for any other card. However, if I mark your card from the back, by bending it like this, then you'll be able to recognize it face up or face down."
   As you are saying this, turn the double card face down on the deck, catching a left little-finger break beneath it. Then execute a double lift (Volume 1), picking up the face-down double card in right-hand end grip and bow it sharply face-inward several times, keeping the card in motion as you display it both front and back. The constant motion prevents the double thickness of the cards from being apparent. This prepares you for the final ascension of the routine, Frederick Braue's classic pop-up card sequence [36b].
   "And if I place the card here on the table..." Act as if you have spotted a speck of dust on the table. Replace the double card face down on the deck, freeing your right hand, which then brushes away the imaginary speck. Then bring the right hand back to the deck as your left thumb pushes over the top card. Take this card into your right hand and set it down on the spot you have just cleaned. (The business of brushing away the speck provides an outward motivation for returning the card to the deck before you place it on the table.) As you remove the card from the deck and lay it on the table, the pronounced bend in the card is clearly obvious. Meanwhile, your left thumb keeps the signed selection pressed flat against the top of the deck.

   You continue: "...then this is the only bent card. All the other cards are straight." Grasp the deck in right-hand end grip and display it with one side turned toward the spectators. Use the right index finger, curled on the top of the deck, to prevent the top card from buckling upward. After exhibiting its straightness, replace the deck in left-hand dealing position and cut off the top half, holding it in right-hand end grip, continuing to subdue the bowed top card. Lower your left hand, with its packet, to the warped card on the table and, with your left thumb, draw the card onto the packet. Hold up the packet, clearly displaying the bent card on top, as you point out, "You can see clearly that your card goes into the center." Slowly and carefully place the right hand's packet onto the left's, visibly flattening the warped card in the center of the deck. |
   Lift the deck to the left fingertips and hold it so that most of the spectators can see its right side. Apply firm pressure with the left thumb and middle and ring fingers on their respective sides of the deck to prevent the center of the warped Five of Spades on top from springing up. |
   "Watch and see for yourself how the card comes to the top." Press against the bottom of the deck with your left index finger, creating a bit of tension in the deck. The instant you relax the thumb, middle and ring fingers' pressure, the signed selection pops up, apparently jumping visibly to the top. This looks absolutely astonishing! Slowly turn the card over to expose its signed face. The end. |

Final Thoughts

1. Always make sure to have the card signed. This gives the trick an extra dimension of impossibility.
2. You can eliminate the spread control at the start of the routine by having a card chosen, then control it to a position second from the top. Execute a double turnover and the action is underway.
3. At the conclusion, give the signed card to the spectator as lasting proof that this was not just a dream. You may want to date and sign the card.