Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CONTENTS.
Rogers
Incomprehensibility;
the
Key
Card;
the
FOREWORD.
In presenting this, my third handbook, to the con
juring fraternity, I wish to thank the many good friends
who, by their advice and patronage, have made this series
possible. I am especially indebted to my friend, Ford B.
Rogers, of Kansas City, Missouri, for his generous per
mission to include herein the secrets of several of his latest
and best creations in card magic.
Tricks performed by the aid of prepared cards ap
peal to the amateur conjurer by reason of the minimum
of skill required in presentation. As a rule, professionals,
as well as many advanced amateurs, avoid the use of pre
pared or faked cards; but I am inclined to think they
are missing a lot of good things in the grand old art of
Magic when they refuse to use anything but an ordinary
pack of cards.
A careful study of the principles embodied in this
book will enable any aspiring amateur to perform the
most astounding tricks with cards with very little prac
tice, other than learning the necessary conversation, or
patter, for the accompaniment of each trick. At the
same time, several of the tricks described are of such a
character that the most advanced conjurer, professional
or amateur, need not hesitate to add them to his reper
toire, even though they involve the use of prepared cards.
DONALD HOLMES.
Kansas City, Mo., August, 1913.
Fig. 4
Fig. 3
Fig. 5
bring the drawn card to the top, the bulk of the pack may
be thoroughly shuffled, care being taken to retain the
drawn card at top. In the case of the removable clip,
after the drawn card is cut to the top of the pack, the
key card naturally has passed to the bottom, where the
fingers of the left hand easily push the tiny clip off the
end of the card into the palm, thereby leaving every card
in the pack unprepared.
The above procedure illustrates the use of the key
card for secretly bringing a drawn card to the top of the
pack, without resorting to sleight-of-hand.
TO FORCE the selection of one or more cards, prac
tically the same routine is followed. Say it is desired
to force the Ace of Spades and the Ten of Hearts. Be
forehand, these two cards are placed together in the pack,
with the key card next above them. The performer ad
vances with the pack, carelessly cutting the cards, which
gives the impression of mixing them. He may or may not
cut at the key card; that is immaterial. He requests a
spectator to take a card, opening the pack, apparently, in
a haphazard fashion, but really at the key card. Spec
tator No. 1 therefore takes the top card of the lower por
tion, the Ace of Spades. Performer drops the upper por
tion on the lower; again cuts the pack several times, and
asks Spectator No. 2 to select a card. Needless to say the
magician again opens at the key card, and the Ten of
Hearts is removed, after which performer again opens
pack at key card for its return; closes pack upon it, and
cuts around the key card several times to give the impres
sion of the drawn card being lost sight of. He then opens
at key card and the first drawn card (the Ace of Spades)
is returned to the pack (really on top of the Ten of
Hearts).
EFFECT No. 1.
drawn card will pass to the top of pack; but if the large
leaf appears, the duplicate will pass to the bottom. Of
course, as soon as spectator removes his card, all those
cards above the break are carelessly transferred to the
bottom, as in the First Method. It does not take much
skill on the pai't of the performer to induce a spectator to
select a card with the large leaf exposed in upper corner,
thereby causing the duplicate to pass to the top.
This pack may be ruffled to show cards all different,
precisely the same as the long and short pack, it being
a curious fact that the duplicate pairs, passing in rapid
rotation before the eye, blend as one card.
SUGGESTIONS. The uses to which the self-shifting
pack may be put are practically limitless. If performer is
careful not to show the faces of the cards too freely, it
can be used for almost any trick where the regulation
pass is employed for secretly bringing the drawn card
to the top, it being unnecessary to retain the original
order of the pack after card is drawn.
It is quite as easy to have two or three cards drawn
from this pack, as one, duplicates of same being brought
successively to the top of pack, for subsequent use, as fol
lows: First spectator draws a card, duplicate passing to
top. Second spectator draws card, and again all cards
above it are passed to bottom, but just as upper packet
passes the lower, the left thumb is extended onto the
cards in right hand, drawing over on top of left hand
packet the duplicate of first drawn card. A third specta
tor draws card, but this time the duplicate is pushed from
the bottom packet on top of upper packet, and the latter
merely replaced on the lower packet. Thus, the duplicate
of the third drawn card is now on top of pack; duplicate
of first drawn card is second from top; while duplicate of
second drawn card is third from top. It is essential, in
some cases, to know this order of the duplicate cards. If
there is risk of detection in slipping the cards, the performer may, after the removal of each drawn card, request
the spectator to show his card to those present, while he
(performer) obligingly turns his back. This momentary
turn enables him to slip the cards as above explained. The
selection of two or more different cards goes far in con
vincing spectators, indirectly, that the pack is an ordinary
one.
The self-shifting pack is particularly adapted to my
Perfection Rising Cards, (Serial No. 2, NEW CARD
TRICKS), as duplicates of the three drawn cards may be
hole in the rear side, also at the open end; thence passes
down the back of the envelope card to a second hole, and
the thread passes out at the bottom, between the two
sides of the envelope. The arrangement, it will be noted,
is similar to that obtained in Rogers Rising Cards. There
fore. when the Jack of Spades is pushed into the pocket
card, it carries the thread down with it. The free end of
the thread ends in a loop, which is slipped over one of
the lower three vest buttons; and the envelope card, con
taining the Jack of Spades, is carried in the left hand
lower vest pocket until required.
When the conjurer comes forward with the Ever
Ready Forcing Pack, he may, if he desires, have the en
velope card already added to the pack. With very little
care in the shuffling of the cards, the feke will not inter
fere with any of his operations, and the thread is absolutely
invisible against the clothing. After shuffling the pack in
such a manner that the spectators note that all the cards
are different, performer squares up the pack and forces the
Jack of Spades in the manner now familiar to the reader.
The pack is again shuffled, and, after due dramatic effect,
performer names the chosen card, apparently by mind
reading. Or he may have the name of the card appear on
the Spirit Slates, or the trick may be further enhanced by
having a Spirit Hand rap the desired information. The
Jack of Spades is then caused to rise from the pack.
mit all to see that this card is actually taken off the top
of the pack.
Laying aside your own pack, but retaining the Three
of Spades in your hand, request your assistant to take
his cards off the glass and count down from top of pack
the same number of cards he directed you to count. When
he has complied, request him to turn up the card next
following on top of his pack, and he will be amazed to
find the Three of Spades occupying the identical position
in his pack as the card of the same suit and value occu
pied in your own pack.
It is to be understood, in both cases, when the number
of cards corresponding with the number mentally chosen
by spectator have been counted off the packs, it is the next
card exceeding this number that is turned up.
PRICE, complete,
EVER READY FORCING DECK.
PRICE, complete deck
$1.25
Correspondence solicited.
Address,
FORD B. ROGERS,
No. 3041 Park Avenue,
H O L M E S C O N JU R IN G S E R IA L N o. 1
By Donald Holmes.
Containing new versions of old-time favorites, involv
ing the use of handkerchiefs, flags, dice, etc. Not de
voted to any special branch of the art, but a series of
practical tricks, lucidly explained. About 77 pages, with
many half-tone cuts, printed on fine book paper, in art
covers.
A FEW SPECIAL FEATURES:
DONALD HOLMES,
No. 3709 Olive St.,