A foolproof card routine for fooling your magician friends.
The magician has the spectator cut a packet into three piles, just as he does, and remembers the cards they cut to. The magician turns his cut-to card face up and exchanges it with the spectator's card, placing them at their freely chosen cut positions. The spectator then shuffles the cards. The magician splits the deck into two packets and deals from both simultaneously. When he stops at the face-up card, the corresponding card in the other packet is the spectator's selection. Not only that, the cards stop at exactly the positions of the four Aces. And the cards that were freely cut and shuffled earlier have somehow returned to their original order.
No Force—the spectator has complete freedom to cut the deck.
Performance transcript:
- First, shuffle the deck.
- The spectator and I each take a packet.
- Next, the spectator and I will do the same thing.
- Since I'm alone, I'll handle the spectator's part myself.
- First, have the spectator cut a packet just as I do.
- Then cut another packet.
- Make the cut like this. This is the completely random cut position.
- Have the spectator and yourself remember the cut cards.
- But I'll let the spectator see mine.
- Mine is the Queen of Spades.
- Then touch my card to the spectator's card.
- This creates a special connection between the two cards.
- Place my card at the spectator's cut point.
- Place the spectator's card at my cut point.
- Then replace the remaining cards from both packets.
- Since both the spectator and I cut freely, the positions are completely random.
- The spectator can also cut freely.
- Since I don't have a spectator, I'll have to cut for them.
- But in a real performance, the spectator can do all the cutting.
- Next, I split the deck into two packets.
- The face-up Queen of Spades has a special connection with the spectator's card.
- Even after cutting the deck, the connection remains.
- Now I deal from both packets simultaneously.
- I deal toward the center and stop at the face-up Queen of Spades.
- The other packet stops on this card.
- My Queen of Spades has successfully located the freely cut 8 of Diamonds.
- That's the first phase.
- Let's recap.
- The spectator made a completely free cut.
- The 8 of Diamonds is a red card.
- At this position, we happen to have the two red Aces.
- The Queen of Spades is a black card.
- At this position, we happen to have the two black Aces.
- We just made completely free cuts.
- Here we have the Ace through King of Diamonds.
- Here we have the Ace through King of Hearts.
- Here we have the Ace through King of Clubs.
- And finally, the Ace through King of Spades.
1st edition 2026, video 8:30.
