Shades of Wow

Elucidations of a classic card trick: The Biddle Trick

The basic plot is fairly straightforward: A card is selected and in the process of determining its identity it is winnowed down to five possibilities. Then, in a surprising act of differentiation, the selection disappears from this five–card packet and reappears elsewhere. In most cases, the selection ends up face up in the middle of a spread deck. This trick has been variously named but ultimately it was christened "The Biddle Trick", named after Elmer Biddle who published the trick in Genii magazine in 1947. It marks the first appearance of the well-known "Biddle Move" in print.

• BACKGROUND: What Is The Basic Trick Addressed In This Manuscript?
• MY INITIATION
• FOURTEEN PIECES OF THE PUZZLE
• TRANSCENDENT (Elmer Biddle)
• THE BIDDLE CARD VANISH (Elmer Biddle)
• WOW! (Pvt. Richard Bruce, The Biddle Vanish)
• TRANSCENDENCE (Bert Allerton)
• TRANSCENDENT (Rufus Steele)
• MENTAL REVERSE (Edward Marlo)
• ATFUS & MENTAL REVERSE III (Edward Marlo)
• MENTAL REVERSE PLUS (Jon Racherbaumer)
• BOLD ATFUS (Edward Marlo)
• SUBTLE MENTAL REVERSE (Jon Racherbaumer)
• BLUFF MENTAL REVERSE (Ian Baxter)
• WOW x FOUR (Jon Racherbaumer)
• THE BIDDLE TRICK (Johnny Thompson)
• WOW - THAT'S DIFFERENT (Tom Gagnon)
• GAGNON BIDDLE CARD VANISH (Tom Gagnon)
• BIBLIOGRAPHY