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One of your biggest tools as a magician is misdirection. But it’s not
enough to make someone look away. You have to give them something else
to look at. Right now we’re going to go over a few basic pointers to
help maximize your misdirection with your audience.

One of the biggest things is eye contact. Humans are social creatures. We’re naturally drawn to following each other’s eyes. If you don’t want someone to look at your left hand, look at your right. They’ll follow right along.

Another great tool you have in terms of misdirection is confidence. You
can sell almost anything if you do it with confidence. Remember, the
audience doesn’t know what’s going to happen next, which means even if
you fumble a little bit, by sticking to the script and making sure that
you don’t act like you’ve messed up the effect, the audience isn’t going
to know otherwise unless you tell them.

Remember, a big action always covers a little action. If you don’t want someone to notice what your doing with your right hand, do something more dramatic with your left hand. That’s what wands are good for. Big dramatic jesters, things
like that. In fact, it’s one of the key reasons magicians use flourishes, which we’re going to show you today.

Your biggest asset though, as a magician, is your ability to tell a story. Remember, if your audience is captivated and really engaged in what it is you’re
saying, they’re not going to have time to follow your hands.

Remember, make the sneaky moments insignificant and make the insignificant moments as memorable as possible.

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This next move here is called the Spring Flourish. It’s a great move. Looks just like this. Right? Just like that. Now, it doesn’t really do anything. It doesn’t shuffle the cards. But it’s great as a moment of misdirection. It’s great just as a fancy little thing to throw into your act. And it can really help kind of spice up an effect. Now, we’re going to break it down for you. You’re going to want to start, right, in this position right here. You want your thumb right there on the back. Just like that. And you want your three fingers, your second, third, and fourth fingers, those aren’t the right. Those aren’t things. First, second, and third. I hope I haven’t been saying that. You’re going to want your thumb right back here. Right? And you’re going to want your first, second, and third fingers right here on top. Right?

And all you’re doing is you’re flexing the cards, just like that. What’s going to happen is as you push in, the cards are going to begin to release themselves. You don’t even really have to think about it. If you just keep squeezing, the cards will actually just kind of keep launching themselves. One after one into your hand. Just like that. Now, the better you get, the bigger of spring you can actually do, obviously. But if you want to start practicing, I recommend you just kind of start in this position. Right? You start nice and low. And you just practice getting them to all kind of land up square.

Now, if you want to kind of go bigger, just like that, you can increase it just by little by little. Right? And what you want to do is as you’re coming down, you just want to kind of land your hand there so you can square up the cards real quick. In an ideal world, they’ll land as flush as possible, but it doesn’t always work out that way. Just like that. And it’s a great little move. You can start practicing it right away. And that’s how you do the Spring Flourish.

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So this is the ribbon spread. it’s a great way to kind of enhance your card magic and really add a nice presentational flair to it. The way it works is you just set your cards down right on the table and you just give it a nice little spread. Just like that. This is kind of an arched version of it. You can also just do it horizontally and you get kind of this nice lateral version.

Now, basically all you’re gonna do to do that is you lay the cards down, your hand goes right on top of your deck. Right? And just with a little bit of pressure, you don’t need much. You honestly don’t. That’s actually gonna hurt your spread. But you want to make sure that you’re getting all the cards, because you don’t want this. You don’t want to be missing half the deck. So, again, you set it down. Your palm goes right on top just like that. And you use your fingers and you just.

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Magic is just like anything else. It requires practice, practice, and more practice. There’s just no way around it. Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t start getting things right away. Some of this stuff takes time and some of it is just about building up muscle memory. Some ways you can maximize your practice time though included a few little tips that we’re going to go over.

One, use a mirror. Better yet, tape yourself. You’ve got to remember that when you’re practicing a slight or when you’re practicing any maneuver really, with cards or coins, the angle you have from top down, isn’t necessarily the same angle that your spectator is going to have standing across from you. So it’s really important to manage those sight lines and make sure that everything is clean by practicing in a mirror or by watching yourself on tape over and over again until it’s flawless.

Another great way to practice is to practice the real version of whatever move you’re trying to fake. If you’re trying to make it look like a coin is going from one hand to the other but it’s really not, practice moving a coin from one hand to the other. It’s the only way you’re going to know what it actually feels like.

Also when you’re practicing, try to think about what it would be like if you actually had those powers. What would it look like if you could actually make a card float into the air? What would it really look like if you could really snap your fingers and bring a card straight to the top?

If you think about those kinds of things you’ll find that the effect will start coming closer and closer to simulating that. You don’t want it to be a trick; you want it to be amazing.

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Alright. Now one really cool move you can do when learning to handle a pack of cards is called the Packet Toss. Now you can use this move to cut a deck of cards, or you can do it just to look fancy. It’s not that hard. Here’s what you do. Basically, you’re going to start with the Kick Cut. Now the best way to learn the Kick Cut, which is just this, right, is to watch the video on how to do that move. Once you do though, you’re just going to do this little Kick Cut. Right? And you’re going to take this bottom packet right here, and you’re going to rotate it. So it’s right here. You’re pinching it right there with your third and fourth finger, and your thumb on the other side. But what you can’t see that’s really important, is my index finger is curled behind the deck. Just like that. Right?

And what that’s going to allow me to do is a move called the Packet Toss. Just like that. So you’re probably noticing I’m going under my arm. That’s a little bit fancier. It’s not much harder to do than just, that. But basically, what’s happening here with this move is I’m swinging the cards. Right? Just like that. But because my index finger is here, it’s actually causing the cards to stay together in a nice, squared up little packet. Right? So again, I’ll do it nice and slow for you. Kick, cut. Right? You’re doing the Kick Cut. And then you’re rotating it. Right? And the rotation is really easy. From here, this is where you are after the Kick Cut, and you can watch the video on how to do that. I put my middle finger here. And I use it to balance, just like that. Right? So my middle finger’s right there, my fourth finger’s right there, and I balance it right there with my thumb. Just like that.

And then I switch and I put my middle finger right over on this side. That transfer is probably the trickiest part you’re going to have. You don’t have to do it. You could also just take half the cards, swing them and toss them. But if you wanted to do it, you can do it just like that. And that’s the Packet Toss. And if you’ll notice, it is actually cutting the cards. So that’s a nice little advantage of it. So.

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Everything I’m showing you today is stuff you could pick up a deck of cards and start practicing right now. There’s no substitute for going online, looking up your local magic store and heading over there. You’ll find tons of books there, great resources, DVDs and most importantly, you’ll find other magicians who’ll be willing to maybe watch you, tell you what you’re doing wrong and help you along the way. There’s no substitute for that. Some great places to start are Joshua Jay”s Complete Course to Magic, which is a fantastic book if you’re interested in learning about maybe different kinds of magic and you’re just starting out. Some other great resources on card magic are Royal Road to Card Magic, which is a bible of basic sleights and shuffles. If you’re here in New York City, head over to Tannen’s Magic shop on 34th Street and Broadway. Go up and tell them you’re interested in maybe learning a little but more. There are tons of people there that will be happy to help. There is no better way to learn than by talking to other people who’ve spent their lives mastering this craft.

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The famous magician, Howard Thurston, once said, ‘A magician is just an actor playing the part of a magician.’

Your tricks and your effects can be spectacular, but what audiences are going to remember is you. One of the things to start thinking about once you’ve started to acquire an array of effects to perform is what kind of magician are you? What kind of powers are you claiming to have? What story are you really telling? That’s what’s going to stick with your audience.

Remember, there are all sorts of different magicians. Playing the part means figuring out who you are as a character. What works for someone, isn’t going to necessarily work for you.

For me, I think playing the part of a magician is all about figuring out what experience you want your audience to walk away with. What kind of experience do you want the audience to walk away with and who do you want them to remember you as? Are you the mysterious stranger in the bar? Are you the strange and unusual magician who’s traveled all throughout the world learning secrets as he’s traveled? There are all sorts of different things you can do. More than anything, it’s going to be about figuring out what works for you.

For me, my biggest interest is the mysteries of the mind. The things it’s capable of when we least expect it and the things we never thought it was capable of. That, to me, is the most interesting, but that might not work for you, at home.

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What we’re going to do right now, it’s called coin rolling. It’s a nice little flourish that you can do with pretty much any coin that fits your hand well. I’m using a little half dollar here because it’s a little bit easier to see on camera, but you can do this with a quarter or, if you prefer, you can actually go up and use the big silver dollars. Those work too. But I prefer these.

All you’re doing is you’re just rolling the coin. Right along your knuckles. Gravity kind of helps you along, just like that.

We’ll break it down now. You’re going to want to start, you’re going to want to find your coin right there and you’re going to want to start with it pinched right there between your thumb and first finger. What’s going to happen is you’re actually going to just release it and it’s just going to fall. You’re going to want your hand in a fist like that. It’s just going to fall right there onto your finger.

Then what you’re going to do is you’re going to pick it up. You’re literally going to use this… I’ll turn it so you guys can see it a little bit better. You’re going to want to use your second finger and pull so that it goes back vertically. Then you just let it fall again.

Then, this is probably the hardest part of the move, you’re going to use your third finger right here, and you’re going to push up with your first finger. So my index is pushing up while my third finger is pulling down right there onto the vertical. And it falls just like that. Same with pinkie. And then once you’re at the pinkie all you’re going to do is you’re going to flatten out your hand so you get this little ledge. You’re going to pick it up with the print of your thumb and you’re going to pass it right back.

And that is how you roll a coin.

Some quick pointers on this. What happens to a lot of people when they’re starting out, and it happened to me as well, you kind of will have this tendency to flatten out your hand as you’re rolling. It will make it a little easier. See how my fingers are kind of spreading? They’re flattening out like that. You don’t want to do that. You want to resist that urge. You want to keep your hand as much, I’ll turn it this way so you can see, in a fist as possible while doing this move. It will actually help you a lot in the long run. Just like that.

What I did that helped a lot, I actually started putting my hand, I noticed my friends were calling me out on it a lot, my fingers were coming out like that. I actually used my left hand as kind of a barrier until I stopped doing that, because it’s a hard reflex to break.

So start doing that, pick up a coin. I really recommend practicing on a couch or bed so you won’t have that kind of mental fear of dropping it while you’re walking around or dropping it on the floor. Because once that mental block is gone it actually gets a lot easier to do, because you’re not worrying about it.

So just while you’re watching TV, next time you’re on the couch, pick up a coin and just start rolling it.

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So right now we’re going to learn how to throw some cards. I don’t know if anybody was like me growing up watching X Men wanting to be Gambit. I thought this was the coolest thing. It basically works just like this. You just take a card, right? You hold it right between these two fingers, right between your second and third finger and you just.

Now, the way you throw a card, you start with the grip. Right? And the grip is basically just right here between the second and third finger. You want to pinch it just like that. Not too hard because what’s going to happen if you pinch it too hard is when you go to release it’s not going to get its full spin out of itself. If you hold it just loose enough what’s going to happen is the momentum, if you’re not stopping it by pinching it too hard, it’s actually just going to pull itself out of your hand and that’s where a lot of the energy is going to come from.

Now, there’s two things that you want to think about when you’re throwing cards. The first is obviously spin. And the other is penetrating power. Right? The more spin the card has the farther it’s going to go and the straighter, you know, the shot’s going to be. So what you’re doing, you’re pinching it right here, just like we talked about, you’re bringing it up right here. I like to kind of, you don’t necessarily have to, you can start here. I like to come up on an angle and then as I come down I straighten out horizontally, right? So it just rolls right off.

So hopefully what you get is this thing. Boom! Just like that!

Now, one really important tip for when you’re practicing throwing cards, the wrist. Momentum. You’re going to generate a lot of momentum coming down right there, right? But what’s really going to send the card into that spin is this flicking motion that I’m doing with my wrist here. Right? You can actually throw a card without the arm at all if you really wanted to, right? You’ll won’t get quite as much momentum but the wrist is really what’s going to carry that into its spin.

A great way to practice this, now you’re going to make a mess obviously. A great way to practice this is start, you know, at close distances. Start about you know, maybe about three, four feet away from a door and just start making sure you’re getting the hang so that it’s not just, you know, flapping around in the wind. As you’re getting better, start moving further and further back. And what you’re going to find over time is you’re just going to kind of keep getting better at it and eventually you can start shrinking the targets as well.

And that’s how you throw a card.

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Magician: So you’ve got a quarter there. You can check it out if you want to, nothing, nothing, nothing going on. Do you like it? Shiny? Alright we’re going to try something really cool with this. This is one of my favorite things to do with a quarter.

You take a quarter and you just put it right through the table. What do you guys think of that?

Child: I feel weird that…

Magician: Well there’s no hole in the table.

Child: There has to be.

Magician: You take the quarter, right? And you just put it right through the table.

Child: There’s a hole or you can’t do that.

Magician: There are no holes in the table except for the one that we just made and fixed. It was that quick. I’ll show you again, alright? You just take the quarter and you just put it right through. Yeah?

Alright, we’re going to show you how to do this now. You ready? Now, when I drop the quarter I have to pick it back up, right? So what I do is I bring it towards me, like so, right? And I cover it with my hand and as I’m bringing it off the table I’m actually dropping it into my left hand, right? Just like that. But I act like it’s still in this hand. That’s really the important thing is you have to sell it. You don’t want to show, you don’t want to show the inside of your hand so they will see it, but you do want to have your hand just like that, real quickly, and just bring your hand here and it drops, right. Just like that. I’ll do that again so you can see it. You don’t want to drop it like I just did.

So what you’re going to do is you’re going to take the quarter and you’re going bring your hand over it, you’re going to drag it towards off the table and you’re going to pick it up and send it right through.

Child: I can hear it. It’s like it is going through something.

Magician: Yeah, you can hear it and part of what’s doing that is right on the moment when I’m doing the slam with my hand, I’m actually. I’m pressing the coin into the table. I’m just kind of going like that and I do it just a fraction of a second after I do this one so that all you hear is. So it sounds and looks like the coin is going right through the table. One more time nice and slow.

You take the coin and you bring it right through. Now you don’t want to bring this hand up when you’re catching the coin, the coin will fall right into your hand. Right? But you do just want to kind of pick it up and bring it through.

And that’s how you pass a coin through a table.

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For me, the cool thing about magic is that it challenges the audience to rethink kind of the world around them. It’s about storytelling but it’s also about showing something they thought was impossible or that, you know, they might not have ever imagined before this. And to me, that’s one of the most amazing gifts you can give an audience.

Hi. My name’s Jason Suran and I am a professional actor and magician. I’ve been doing magic all my life and I perform and teach magic all over New York City.

Different audiences want different things, you know, certainly. Kids are actually some of the hardest audiences to fool, when you think about it. Because, as magicians, one of the biggest things we have at our disposal is the notions you walk in with. The conventions you’re used to which we use to misdirect you. Children don’t always have those notions. Just because you hold your hand like this, they don’t necessarily assume that means that there’s something in it. Kids are actually some of the hardest audiences to please. You know, they’ll be honest with you.

But different people like different things. Some audiences like mind reading. Some audiences like to be visually amazed. Some like to see you pull something out of thin air.

So it’s all about, it’s all about the crowd and working the crowd and getting a, getting a feel for what, for what it is that’s going to leave the biggest impression on them.

For me, card magic is special because it’s one of the first forms of magic I ever started doing. And I think it’s the basis for a lot of other forms of magic, as well. You know, there’s Mentalism. There’s coin magic. There’s, there’s all sorts of different options. But I think the basics and the principles that you learn from card magic, whether it’s the slight of hand or just the understanding of how to control a spectator’s attention, are invaluable, no matter where you’re going with your art.

If you want to learn more about me or contact me for an event you can find me at Jasonsuran.com.

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Another really cool way that you can fan out these cards is called the one handed fan. It is exactly like it sounds; it is a fan with one hand.

Now the way that it is going to work, here I will show it to you guys really quick. It is just that. It is really easy, it just looks like that. Right. It is a great way to offer someone a card. It is a great way to do it you know while you’re looking away, cover your eyes, whatever. Now it is surprisingly easy to learn. The position is really simple. All you to do, is you want your thumb to be right about there. Right, just a third of the way up on the card. And you want these three fingers right there.

About a third of the way up on the other side. And what happens is as the thumb pushes one way, these fingers actually pull the other way. Which causes the fan. Right. So real slow it just looks like that. The farther you push your thumb, the wider the spread is going to be. It is a really cool fan; I like it just like that. Alright. I will show it to you with the faces, boom. It is great, it is nice, it is easy to learn. And you can do it with just one hand.

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You know, I think it’s important that there always be a little bit of magic out there, that people can just kind of, you know, go out there and do a search and learn for themselves. I think that’s how to get a new generation of magicians. You know every time I think there has to be a little bit of that out there in the world so that people can find out about it and be excited about it.

A lot of people ask, you know, why magicians keep their secrets so closely guarded. For me, I think the biggest reason that that is important and will always be important, you know it’s got to do with you know the audiences, it’s got to do with you know the fact you know that this is your craft. But I think more than anything, it has to do with respect for the effect, respect for the illusion. I think a lot of people when they get told the secret, you know, that there were two cards, or it was in the other hand the whole time, there’s a dismissal that goes on. When the truth is, that’s just how the trick works, it’s not why it’s a great effect, and I think that’s a really important reason for why these things are so closely guarded is because you can’t really do them justice.

So I hope everything that you’re learning today, I hope you take the time to really master. You know do more research on it, practice it over and over, and don’t perform it until you’re confident that you can kind of preserve that illusion for the people you give it to, and the people you perform it for, because I think that’s how magic stays sacred. But more importantly, I think that’s how magic stays magical.

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Alright, next thing we’re going to learn is the kick cut. It’s really easy to do. It’s a great move, and it’s just a nice, quick way to cut the cards. You can do it while you’re talking to the spectator, while your explaining a trick, and this is how it’s going to look, just like that. You can do it as many times as you can, kind of, fit cards into it.

Basically what happens is, you start with your thumb. Right there, on the back of the deck, right? Closest side to you. You start with your middle finger, right there, on the outer side of the deck.

And all your going to do is, you’re literally going to kick the top portion of the cards, out a little packet, with your index finger. Your index finger’s going to literally just kick them out. As you do that, you’re going to take the cards, right there, into this grip. See how my index finger’s on top there?

And you’re just going to literally do that over again. You could do this with just two quick cuts, just like that, or you could do three to four, or you could do three to four.
Just like so. It’s all going to depend on how many cards you kick off each time, but it’s a great move.

There’s a couple of nice things you can do with it, then I’ll show you in some of these tricks we’ll be learning, and if you just give it a little bit of practice, you should be able to pick this one up fairly quickly.

Again, middle finger right there on top, thumb right there on the back, and all you’re going to do is kick the cards one by one, and it’s a quick way to cut up a deck.

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You might not always have a table. You might not necessarily wanna do a standard bridge shuffle. A really great way to shuffle the cards up nice and quickly is what’s called the overhand shuffle. I’m gonna show it you right now. It’s really easy. It’s just [card shuffling sounds] that. That’s the whole move.

Now this particular shuffle actually has a few advantages that you might not necessarily notice at first. One of which is it allows you to control certain cards around the deck. For instance, if you wanted to control the top card to the bottom of the deck, all you do is you do the same move. And remember, all you’re doing with this shuffle is you’re, [shuffling sound] you’re doing that. Right? You’re taking a bit of the packet off the back off the deck. Right? You’re taking a packet right here and you’re just putting right off the top. You’re putting on top, and on top, and on top, until you’re at the end of the deck.

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If you want to add some flare to your card magic, one great way to do it is with a little move called the Charlie Cut. The way it works it’s just basically a one handed cut. And it looks just like that. You can do it over and over. You can speed it up a little bit if you want. And it’s a great move. It’s a great way to cut the cards and it just kind of looks nice.

Now we’re going to break it down for you. The way this works is basically you’re going to hold it just like this. Two fingers. Your ring finger and your second finger right here on the outer side of the card and your thumb right there on the back. You’re going to want to hold it as close to the finger tips as possible because what’s going to happen here is you’re going to drop half the packet, just like that.

And you’re going to want to make sure, what’s going to happen to you probably when you’re first starting this move out is it’s going to kind of hit right there and you’re not going to have enough room to sort of swing it over the deck. So you’re going to want to practice getting your thumb as much out of the way as possible. You’ve got these two fingers here, right? And these, your pinky and your index are going to actually support the card on the outside just like that, very lightly. So you’re going to drop it, it’s going to fall right there, into your palm, just like that, right by your thumb. And your index, while the pinky supports this half right here, the upper portion, the index is going to push this just like that and the cards are just going to fall on top of themselves.

It’s a frustrating move to learn. It can take time. If you have smaller hands like me it can be a little bit tricky. All that means though is you’re going to have to sort of find you know the sweet spots for yourself. But it’s not impossible. Anybody can learn to do this and it looks great once you’ve mastered it.

Some pointers for this. Just remember, the closer you are to the tips the easier this is going to be for you because it’s going to give you more room down here, which is really what it’s all about. And remember, keep the pinky right there on that side to support the deck. So all it does is you push, it falls through and you lay it right back down. And you just repeat, and repeat and repeat.

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I only have a joker; a joker.

Okay, cameras rolling. This is the 3-card Monte.

All right; you guys ready?

Action.

And how long have you lived in New York City?

Six to seven years.

So you’ve been here a little bit. Have you ever seen anybody on the street every playing a game called 3-card Monte? You may have seen them with little cardboard tables they often have set up. This is probably one of the oldest scams in the entire city. It’s a really simple game to describe; because all it is, is you start with two jokers, and one queen. And all you have to do to win is follow the queen. Do you think you can do it, Ann? Do you want to give it a shot?

All right, are you ready? Two jokers, one queen. This game is also known as follow the lady, so follow the lady. Right? Do you know where the queen is? Go ahead and take a guess. Not bad; one more time. Do you know where the queen is? Ah, you got me again. All right, I’ll tell you what; if you want to really put some money on it you can put some money on it.

All right, so now we’ll play one more round, and this time with a quarter on the table. Right? We’ll bet a quarter. All you’ve got to do; we’ll do this nice and slow, just follow the queen. Got her? You know where she is; she’s right there. All you’ve got to do is follow the queen. Where’s the queen? Ah, I guess you owe me a quarter. And that’s how the 3-card Monte scam looks when it’s done on the street, more or less.

The move itself, and I like teaching this one, because I think it’s important for people to know, because I do see people get scammed on this all the time. My advice is don’t ever play; you will not win. And the reason you’ll never win is because they’ll let you follow the queen for maybe the first one, maybe the second run, but by the time you put money on the table that queen’s going to be somewhere else.

So why don’t we play with you guys at home, right. Follow the queen; she’s right there. So where is she? If you said right over here you’d be right, but the moment you put money on it, I’ll show you the queen right there. If you said over here you’d be a few bucks short.

Now the way the move works is the moment I feel like cheating as I pick up the queen, right, I’m actually picking it up, right, I’ve got the joker here between my index finger and thumb. And I’m picking up the queen with my middle finger and thumb, so it looks just like that. Now what you think is happening and what is happening when I’m playing fair is I’m tossing the queen, so she ends up here. But in order to deceive the eye and of course steal your money, what a lot of Monte scams will do is they’ll take the card and they’ll do what’s called the Monte throw, where instead of tossing the queen down they’ll actually toss the top card. Now the reason this is so effective is because it’s almost impossible to distinguish from the real version of the move.

So again, you’ll take the queen; we know she’s right there, take the queen again. And of course she has to be here, until she’s not. So never play 3-card Monte; it’s a scam and even if you pick the right card there are all sorts of moves that we’re not going to go into right now, but moves like the turnover, which involves switching out a card. So even if you guess right you’re still not going to win unless they want you to.

So, be careful; keep your money in your pocket, and remember; only a sucker plays 3-card Monte.

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Alright, you guys want to see a really cool magic trick? Yeah? Alright, let’s try it. Go ahead and take any card you want. I don’t care which. Okay. Got it? Take a look at it. Show it to the camera. Alright, good. Alright. May I? Alright, we’re going to take this back, and we’re just going to put all the cards back in my little box. Good?

Mhmm.

Now, what I want you to do is I want you to focus. I want you to focus as hard as you can on your card, and I want you to start going like that? Could you do that for me? And hopefully, just…

Whoa.

…with a little bit of magic, your card comes right out from the center. Is that pretty cool?

Yeah.

And that is the amazing rising card effect. You guys want to know how it’s done?

Yeah.

Alright, something a little bit sneaky again. This time, the sneaky thing is something I do long before the trick. I’ve actually, and you can see it right here, cut a slit into the back of the box. What that allows me to do is to make the card literally rise out of the deck. Now, there are a couple of nice little subtleties to doing this one effectively, right? I don’t even use a key card for this one. I just care if she takes the card, and if she looks at it then, great, we’ll put it back. I just put it right on top. The spectator at this point doesn’t know what’s going to happen, so they’re not watching too carefully where you’re putting the card. And you just put the card…you pick the box up, and you want to make sure they never see that, right? So you keep the box face down. It’s not important right now. It’s an insignificant box, and you want to treat it as such. But you pick the box up, you slide the cards right in, right? Just like so. And you ask them to focus on it. I think that’s really important, you know – that they really have the card in mind – because then they feel like they’re really making the magic happen. So all you’re going to do is go like that for me again, and, oh my god, just like that. It’s pure magic.

Now, if you look closely you’ll see that that card is coming out from the top of the deck, but from their angle that’s actually almost impossible to tell. So what I do to add a little subtlety to it is I just mention it – “There your card comes right out of the middle.” And to sell that even more what I do is I slide it back into the middle when I’m putting it away, just so that when they remember it later on, in their memory that card will have both come from and returned to the middle of the pack. And that is how you sell that illusion. It’s a great effect. Did you guys like it?

Yeah.

And that is the magical rising card.

Transcript

Alright guys, we’re gonna do a card trick now. But I need your help. Would you guys like to help me out with this one? Alright. Who wants to be my helper? You wanna do it?

Alright. I’ll tell you what I want you to do, alright? I’m gonna fan out the deck, just like that, and I want you to just take any card you’d like. Look. Got it? Good? Alright, excellent.

What I’d like you to do is show it to her, show it to the camera. I’m gonna look away. Alright? I’m gonna look away. Tell me when you’re good. Alright. Slide it into the deck, face down. Just like so. Good.

Now, we’re gonna use some magic to find your card. Alright? But, we’re not gonna use traditional magic. Traditional magic let’s me find the card. Instead, what I want you to do is I want you to hold your hand above the deck. Snap your fingers, just like that. Because hopefully what’ll happen is instead of having to find your card. Your card will just find me. Was that your card?

Not bad, right? You guys wanna know how that’s done? Alright. This is a trick called the inverted card trick. It’s a great classic. Now, there’s something a little bit sneaky going on in this one. Alright? The sneaky thing is that one of the cards on the bottom of the deck is reversed the entire time. But you guys don’t know that. That’s the secret setup.

So what I do is I do the thumb fan, and there’s a video on how to do the thumb fan if you don’t know how to do it, and by doing the thumb fan I just kind of set my thumb a little bit higher than the bottom so that it doesn’t fan that card out. So that all you guys see is the normal spread of the deck, right?

Then I have you choose a card. Any card you’d like. Got it? And while they’re turned, while I’m turned around and she’s showing it to her and to the camera, I actually just literally flipped the deck over in my hand. So now it’s actually upside down. The whole deck is upside down, except for that one bottom card. But they don’t know that. They think it’s still in the same direction.

So as I turn back, you’ve seen the card. She’s seen the card. The camera’s seen the card. I have you slide it back into the deck and I hold the deck nice and loose, right, so it slides in without her seeing any of the cards in the deck. Right? Now I have to flip it back over to reveal the card.

Now, this is actually the really easy part but it’s really important. It’s the misdirection, right? When I’m talking on, explaining what we’re going to do next I’m just gesturing with my hands so you kind of forget the orientation of the deck. And all I do is, just like that.
From here to here as we’re talking. And the deck is already turned over.

Now, all I do is I move right through the cards, right? Right until I find hers. And just like that.

And that’s the famous Inverted Card Trick.

Transcript

Man: You guys want to see something cool with a coin?

Boy: Yeah.

Man: All right — my grandfather actually showed me this one, right? All you do is, you take a coin right? And you just rub it from one elbow to the other. This is a really cool trick that my grandfather showed me, all right? All you do is you take a quarter, and you just [popping sound] pop it into one elbow, and you pull it right through to the other. What do you guys think?

Boy: It’s very cool.

Man: Was that pretty cool?

Boy: Cool.

Man: Do you guys want to know how to do it? All right, let’s find out. This is a really easy one. All you’re going to do is, you’re going to do a move called the false transfer, which we have a video on. I recommend you watch it if you want to learn how to do that move properly. But in short, I’m making it look like the coin is travelling in the one hand, when really it’s actually staying in this one, right? That’s it. That’s the move, right there. I’m actually keeping this coin in finger palm position, which I also go over in the false transfer section. And I keep it hidden down here, and I don’t draw attention to it, right? I draw attention right here, and I just rub the coin [popping sound] into the elbow, and I pull it out right there. Now, the way you’re going to kind of sell this one is, as you’re going up to pull the coin out of your elbow, what you want to do is you want to push out with your thumb, so it appears right at the fingertips, right? So you start with the coin there, you put it into this hand. You pop it through to one elbow, and you pull it right through to the other. And that’s how you pull a coin from one elbow to the other. You start with the coin. You put it over here so you can roll up the sleeves. You do it over here, so you can roll up this sleeve, then you pop it into that elbow, and you pull it right out of this one. I’ll do it slow. Are you ready? Take the coin, put it right over there. [popping sound] Run it through there, and pull it right out.

Transcript

Jason: Now Anne would you help me out with this one again, I guess these are all stand alone. Now Anne would you help me out with this one?

Anne: Sure.

Jason: Would you just go ahead and shuffle those cards, and as you do I’m just going to make a little bit of a guess on something. Let’s see. Do you feel good with that shuffle, is that about good. Anne, on this post it note I’ve made a prediction, alright? What I’m going to do with this prediction is I’m going to fold it up and I’m going to put it right here in the ID slot of my wallet. Does that sound good?

Anne: OK.

Jason: What I’d like you to do, I’m going to put this back here so there’s nothing, I can’t switch it out, I can’t do anything funny with it, it’s not even going into my back pocket, I’m going to put this into my back pocket so there’s nothing I can do, nothing fishy. What I’d like you to do is I’d like you to start dealing face down, just right here onto the mat, they don’t have to be in a nice pile, just toss them into a pile, and whenever you feel inclined to stop you get to stop. Right there? There’s no way I could have known you were going to do that right?

Anne: Yeah.

Jason: There’s no way I could have predicted that you were going to make that decision. But what I’d like you to do is I’d like you to open up my wallet, and I’d like you to take out that prediction. And please read what it says.

Anne: Seven of clubs.

Jason: And for the first time would you please flip over the card you chose to stop at.

Anne: Seven of clubs.

Jason: Is that a little bit weird?

Anne: Crazy.

Jason: Yeah, I think so. This is actually a really cool force, it’s known as the envelope force. It can be done with a wallet, it can be done with a wallet, whatever you choose to put your prediction in becomes the modus operandi of this effect. Now the way it works, the most crucial part of this entire effect in fact is that her pile is such a mess. So thank you for being disorganized for me. Before the trick I did write down seven of clubs there was nothing sneaky going on there. What she didn’t know was that the seven of clubs, wherever it is, right here, the seven of clubs was actually in my back pocket the entire time. Once the prediction has been written down, while she’s still shuffling the cards I do fold it up, I do slip it into my ID slot right there so there’s no way I can get to it.

And all I do is I slide it right on top of a card, now Anne, who was kind enough to deal in such a disorganized fashion for me, which of course I reminded her to do. Remember, you want to tell them, you don’t want to keep it in a neat little pile, just deal until you feel like stopping. Stops wherever she likes, and all I have to do then is reach into my back pocket pulling the card with the wallet, keeping it hidden from both the camera and Anne I place it firmly down on the pile.

I let her open it up, I let her take out the prediction, and sure enough her card is right on top.

Transcript

Hi. Would you guys like to see a really cool trick? Alright. This is one of
my favorites called The Two Detectives. I’ll show you why.

What I’d like you to do for me is I’m going to turn around, and I just want
you to take any card that you want. It doesn’t matter what. Got it?
Alright. Show it to your sister. Show it to the camera. Got it? Great. What
I want you to do is place it right there on top and just cut the deck in
half anywhere you like. I won’t even look. Great. Did you complete the cut?
Would you like to give it another cut or are you good? Your choice.
Alright. Great.

Now neither of us really know where your card is now, but I’m going to try
to find that card using only my powers of detection. Are you ready? Not it,
not it, not it, not it, not it, not it, not it. I’m not going to find it. I
was hoping I might be able to, but you know what? I don’t have to be able
to find it because I have the world’s two greatest detectives here to help
me. Do you guys think we should use them? Alright. Let’s try this out.
Ready?

We’re going to take one detective, and they’re both named Jack, go figure.
We’re going to put him right on top. We’re going to take the other
detective, the other Jack, and put him right on the bottom, right? And
between these two Jacks, one of them is going to help find your card. Are
you ready? We’re both, hopefully. Are you guys ready?

Alright. Let’s hope the Jacks can do their thing. One, two, and three. That
was it? Is that weird? Is that cool? And that is The Two Detectives trick.
We’re going to break it down now.

Now this is not actually that hard to learn, and it’s got a great ending
that really impresses people. Here’s how this one works. Now I always leave
these two out, but I don’t really talk about them yet. I just kind of like
them there so I can get people curious. She does have a totally free
selection of the cards. So go ahead and take a card. It doesn’t matter
which.

Now while she’s looking at her card and she has to look at some point, I
just take a quick glance at the bottom card of the deck. So it doesn’t
matter if they shuffle the deck beforehand because you can always do it
during this part of the effect. I know the bottom card now is the five of
diamonds. That’s going to be my key card. This is a really good technique
for finding your card called the key card so that when I put the deck down,
put your card right on top. Go ahead and give it a cut. Great. Complete the
cut.

My key card, the five of diamonds, is always going to be right on top of
her chosen card. So all I have to do to find her card is, oh, I’m not going
to find the card. I don’t know where is it, la de da. But really what I’m
doing here is I’m looking for her card. Once I found it, I just kind of
separate them. So there’s the five of diamonds. There’s her card, I’m
guessing, the five of spades. Yeah? So now that I know where her card is, I
just separate the piles. I’m just like, I kind of look. I don’t know where
it is.

I just put the deck back together with her card now on top, if that makes
sense. So it’s real simple to do. Now I know where her card is, it’s right
there on top. So how do I pull it out of the deck? Well, that’s where The
Two Detectives comes in. I put one right there. I put it face up on the
bottom. I take the other, and I put it face up on the top.

Now what I do is I actually, as you can see, I leave a little room for my
index finger right there on her card which is this card right up here. So
I’ve got the deck sandwiched between the two Jacks. So all I have to do to
pull it out is I just literally throw the deck into this hand because by
putting pressure on the two Jacks and a little pressure on her card by my
index there they’ll actually stay in my right hand all by themselves. So
all I have to do is go one, two, and three.

And that is how you do The Two Detectives trick.

Transcript

The next thing we’re going to learn here, guys, it’s one of the oldest effects in magic. Everyone’s seen their grandfather do it at dinner. This is how to make a coin disappear.

It’s really easy. I’m going to show you how to do it. You’re going to use a move that we magicians call the false transfer. Here’s how it works. You’re going to start with the coin right here on your second and third finger. Just like that. You’re basically going to take your hand, turn it over, and pretend to put the coin into your left hand.

The way you’re going to sell that illusion is this. Your thumb is actually going to clip it just like that. So, it looks like the coin goes into this hand, but really it’s here the whole time in what’s called finger palm position. Because you’re palming it with your fingers just like so. Then, all you do is you make it disappear.

Now, you probably noticed I did something with my sleeves. That’s one of the key moments of misdirection for the effect. It’s a little bit suspicious to take a coin that you claim to have the power to vanish and have to move it to another hand to do it. That looks a little funny. To kind of get rid of that funniness I keep my sleeves just rolled down about halfway, and I justify the transfer of the coin by rolling up my sleeves. It’s an inconspicuous little motion, but it makes this moment look even less suspicious.

Jason Suran: Ann, would you help me out with this one?

Ann: Sure.

Jason: All right, great. Go ahead and select any card that you’d like from the entire deck. Got it?

Ann: Yes.

Jason: Memorize it and show it to the camera. Perfect. Go ahead and just place it right there on top and all I want you to do is cut the deck in half. Perfect and just complete the cut. Great. So now your card is lost in the deck. I don’t know where it is. You don’t know where it is. I’m going to try to just kind of sense out your card but, it doesn’t always work quite the way I want it to, it’s not going to happen. But, you know what? What’s in a name? But I’ll tell you what; I think your card might be a little bit more apt to try and find itself. I know that probably sounds weird but just bear with me. Could you tell me what your card was?

Ann: It was a ten of hearts.

Jason: It was a ten of hearts? And that’s the first time you’ve told me your card. I haven’t seen it. You put it away in the deck?

Ann: Yes.

Jason: T-E-N H-E-A-R-T-S. No. You know what? It’s your card. I wonder if, maybe this would work better for you. Would you give it a shot?

Ann: Sure. T-E-N H-E-A-R-T.

Jason: And flip it over for me.

Ann: S. Crazy.

Jason: What’s in a name? So this is another spelling trick. It’s a great little effect and here’s how this one works. First thing I have to do is I have to find her card. Now the way I find her card is really simple, it’s just a key card, right? I use the bottom card, the nine of clubs in this case so that when she selects her card I already know the bottom card. She selects a card, take whichever one you want. Right? Show it to the camera. Place it right on top. Cut the deck in half. And when she completes the cut the nine of clubs ends up right on top of her card. So all I have to do is as I’m trying to sense her card, going through the deck, I know that her card is always going to be right below the key card. All I do is cut it to the top. Now it’s a matter of finding it through its name. So I have her telling me the name as if I don’t know the card yet. What’s the name of the card?

Ann: It’s a six of…

Jason: A six of…

Ann: Spades.

Jason: Spades. A six of spades? Are you sure?

Ann: Six of clubs.

Jason: It’s a six of clubs?

Ann: Yes.

Jason: Great. It’s a six of clubs. Not that I know. So what’s your card again?

Ann: Six of clubs.

Jason: Perfect. S-I-X C-L-U-B and S. And of course I know that’s not it. But, by putting it right back on and actually placing the cards that I’ve just laid out here back on top of the deck, remember because I’ve been dealing them into a pile they’re now in reversed order, her card is actually at the bottom of the pile because it was originally on top.

So I place it right back on so now all I have to do is justify her spelling out the card. And I do that just by reminding her; well of course I’m not going to be able to find your card. It’s your card. It’s bound to you. So why don’t you try? We’ll use a little bit of magic right? And all I want you to do is spell out your card. S-I-X C-L-U-B and S.