'll start this book the same way I start my close-up show, with

a strong coincidence effect that gets the two people sitting at

the table involved from the very beginning. While my goal is
to entertain and fool regular people, I often find magicians
in my audiences. Therefore, this trick works as a perfect opener
because it will fool magicians, as well as laypeople.

3
 My starting point was an Any Card At Any Number effect
published by Al Baker in 1933 that used two decks of cards. 1
Both decks start in a memorized order, one of which is placed
aside and the other shuffied. A number is named, and the card
at that stack number in the shuffied deck is found, then forced
on the spectator. The named number is then dealt down to in
the still-stacked deck. The named card is found at that number.
Boom, classic.

However, the fact that the spectator named a number before

you ever commit to a card telegraphs the method. I also wanted
to take the memorized deck out of play. With the memorized
deck becoming so prevalent with the ACAAN plot, using other
methods added to the deceptive nature of this version.

I saw an opportunity to use Al Baker's routine and build upon

it. Over the years of performing it, I changed the plot slightly.
Instead of the spectator naming a card, one is apparently
randomly selected, then set aside without revealing its identity.
What this allows for is a card being determined before the
spectator ever names their number. Only after the spectator
names their number and deals to it do you cleanly reveal
the card and show they match. I believe these changes have
amplified the deceptiveness of the routine.

1. The Secret Ways ofAl Baker (1933), p.76.

4 -------
Effect
Two decks sit out on the table: a red and a blue. A spectator
is invited to take a deck (let's suppose she takes the red deck)
and mixes it up by washing the cards on the table. Another
spectator is asked to take the remaining blue deck and place
it on the table in front of him. He is then asked to think of a
number between one and fifty-two. You tell him you will do
the same.

You very cleanly count down to your thought-of number, face

down in the red deck. Let's say that number is 10. The 10th
card from the red deck is placed aside. You then ask the second
spectator to name their number. Let's say that it's 24. The
spectator removes the cards from the box himself and deals
down to the 24th card, and then sets it next to your card.

W hen both cards are turned face up they are both the Jack of
Spades. A perfect match.

Method Overview
'TI1e method is actually rather simple: it's a bluff and a force. The
rest is all theater.

The red deck has a few simple markings on a card, which you
will force. The blue deck has four duplicate cards distributed
evenly throughout the deck, allowing you easy access to one of
the duplicates no matter what number the spectator chooses.
You will never need to displace more than three cards in either
direction in order to show a perfect match.

5
 Moves
There are no real moves in this routine, which is by design. The
more I can do out in the open, the less I have to accomplish
using sleight of hand.

Props Needed
• A red Bicycle deck
• A blue Bicycle deck
• A fine-point red Sharpie
• A fine-point blue Sharpie
• A fine-point pencil
• Three extra, blue-backed,Jacks of Spades

Preparing the Red Deck

The red deck is unprepared with the exception of marking the
Jack of Spades, which allows you to find it after the deck has
been genuinely shuffled by the spectator.

With the fine-point pencil, add

a small marking on the top left
edge and bottom right edge of
the card, about an inch down
from the corners. Figure 1.

This edge mark will help you

track down the card and put it
into position at the right time.
You can locate the edge-marked
card by slightly beveling the
pack. During the effect, the card
6
should end roughly 15-20 cards from the top, so if it's not in
that range, casually cut the pack to relocate the card.

rn addition to being edge marked, you'll add another mark,

to tell you when you've reached it. This mark allows you to
find the card when you are dealing down to your "thought-of"
number. There are two ways to achieve this: a visual way and a
tactile way.

Visual Option
With the fine-point red Sharpie, find the pattern on the back of
the Bicycle deck that looks like a flower petal. Figure 2. Fill in
the inner circle of the pattern in all four spots where it appears.
J:-"'i gure 3.

'W hen you see the mark as you deal the cards, it will let you
know it's time to start bluffing.

7
 Tactile Option
If you find the visual marking system to be a little obvious for
your tastes, there is a sneakier option. For those who are familiar
with punch work, it is a simple task to punch the card in a spot
where you will feel it as you deal it, allowing you to stop on the
correct card without needing to look.

Using a needle, or a punching

tool (also known as a pegger,
Figure 4), poke the upper left
and bottom right corners of the
face up Jack of Spades, creating
a small raised bump on the back
of the card that you can feel.
Creating the correct-sized bump
takes some practice, but is well
worth the effort. If you want to
go crazy and combine both types
of markings, by all means, go
ahead.

The red deck is now ready to roll. Give it a thorough shuffie and
slip it back in its case.

Preparing the Blue Deck

Take the blue deck and discard the Jack of Hearts, Jack of
Clubs, and the Jack of Diamonds. You won't need them. Now
add the three duplicate, blue-backed, Jacks of Spades into the
deck.

8
TheseJacks are visually marked the
same as the Jack of Spades in the
red deck. Figure 5. The markings
aren't as important as they are
in the red deck, but I include
them to have another layer of
confirmation while performing.
If something goes wrong (and
with enough performances it
will), the markings provide me
plenty of time to find a way out
and fix it.

From the top to the face, the Jacks occupy every twelfth
position. Those locations are 12, 24, 36, 48. From the face to the
back, the positions are 5, 17, 29, 41. 2 Depending on whether
you deal from the top or the face of the deck, you will never be
more than three cards away from having the Jack of Spades at
the thought-of position. This works with any number between
3-50. If they name a number outside of this range it will still
work. You will just have to shift more cards to make it happen.

Once you have positioned the Jacks, put the deck back into the
box with the fa<::e of the pack closest to the flap.

Set both decks onto the table, leaning against each other as in
Figure 6, next page, and you are ready to begin.

2. O thers have used this spacing principle to force a card or cards; see Peter Nardi's
effect "The Holy Grail", and Shin Lim's effect "Think".
9
 Choreography
This is the opener to my formal close-up show, so I begin with
a man to my right and a woman to my left. Invite the woman
(we'll call her Spectator #1) to choose one of the decks. I've
found that people tend to choose the deck staring them in the
face, so I place the red deck closer to Spectator #1. This doesn't
guarantee she'll choose it, but I find it increases my odds of
success. If she picks up the blue deck, ask her to hold on to it,
and then ask the man (we'll call him Spectator #2) to pick up
the red deck.

Assuming Spectator #1 chooses the red deck, ask her to take the
cards out of the box and shuflle them. To make sure everyone
can see the cards being thoroughly shuflled, ask her to mix
them in a wash on the table. Figure 7. I have her do this for two

10
reasons: I want to destroy any thought of a memorized deck
and I want to cancel out the idea of a tapered or gimmicked
deck of any kind. The haphazard nature of this shuffle is very
disarming. Don't overlook it.

While Spectator #1 is shuffiing the pack, turn to Spectator #2,

who has the blue deck sitting in front of him.

'1 want to make sure we are on the same wavelength. I'm going to
have you think ofany number between 1 and 52. I'll do the same,
and at the end, we can see how close we got. "

At this point, Spectator #1 should be tired of shuffling the

cards and will have started to move them into a single pile. If
she hasn't, start squaring them up for her.

11
 This is the time to make sure your force card (the Jack of
Spades) is roughly 15-20 cards from the top of the red pack.
Do this by slightly beveling the deck and looking for the pencil
edge marking. If you find the card to be too high or too low in
the pack, simply cut the pack. Figure 8.

"Thank you for shuffling up my cards and keeping me honest. I have

my number in mind, so I'llgo ahead and count down to it, and we'll
get back to yours in a moment. Will you count with me?"

Now we set our bluff into motion.

The Performer's Number - The Bluff

The audience must believe that, no matter when you stop dealing,
it was determined in advance. Of course, this is not the case.
Instead you stop on the Jack of Spades, regardless of its position.

12
We could go to the trouble ofshifting the Jack to a predetermined
number every time, and there are certainly mathematically
based moves that do it automatically. However, if I have the
option of telling a lie or doing a move, I will always tell a lie.
It's much harder to catch a lie than a move.

Begin dealing from the top of the deck, counting out loud
as you go. If you count confidently and deliberately, no one
will question you when you stop. While you are dealing and
counting, keep your eyes on the left hand's packet and keep
a sharp lookout for the markings. By watching the stationary
left hand instead of the moving right, it's much easier to see
the marks, which will leave you enough time to end your count
with an emphasis. More clearly, the counting doesn't just stop,
it ends.

Once you see the marking on the card, place it near the front of
the table. Let's imagine that we stopped on number 17. Point
out that ifyou would have dealt one card further or stopped one
card earlier, you would have ended on a completely different
card.

'1 said this wasn't about the numbers themselves. It was about
what they stood far. I wanted to make sure we were on the same
wavelength, and I'm pretty sure this shows that we are a perfect
match."

This scripting accomplishes two things: by asking for their

number right after revealing yours, you have time to do the
mental math that might be required in the next part of the

13
 routine. And it allows you to reference the difference in numbers
to help clarify the plot. Gather the remaining red cards and
place them to the side.

The Spectator's Number - The Force

In order to force the Jack of Spades in the blue deck you first
need to mentally calculate how close to a hit the spectator's
number puts you.

Remember, the four force cards are located at 12, 24, 36, and 48
when dealing from the top; and 5, 17, 29, and 41 when dealing
from the face. In my experience, without doing anything, it
is very likely you will have a perfect hit on your hands. The
math says that it will happen 15% of the time, but I find that it
happens much more often than that. If not, never fear, because
you will never have to displace more than three cards.

A Perfect Hit
L et's take a hypothetical example. Imagine that Spectator #2
names 24, a perfect hit when counting from the top ofthe pack.
Invite him to take the cards out of the box carefully and hold
them face down in his left hand. Ask him to deal cards one at a
time face up into a pile so that everyone can see that all of the
cards are different.

If the number named is greater than 12, then the spectator will
pass by one or more duplicate Jack of Spades as he deals. This
won't be noticed because the duplicates are 12 cards apart, plus
you haven't revealed your card yet, so they don't know what to
look for.

14
Once he has dealt 23 cards, ask him to deal the next card face up,
next to your card, at the front of the table. Show the audience
that if he had dealt one more card, he would have ended on a
different card.

'1 said this wasn't about the numbers themselves. It was about
what they stoodfor. I wanted to make sure we were on the same
wavelength, and I'm pretty sure this shows that you are the perfect
person for the job. "

Turn over your card and show that it is a perfect match, and
then figure out the tax benefits of starting your own religion.
Figure 9.

15
 In The Case of Subtraction
While you will frequently get a perfect hit, it doesn't always
happen. The second-best option is if the spectator's number is
close to but less than one of the target positions. When this
happens you will remove 1-3 cards from either the top or
bottom of the deck, as you take the cards from the box, leaving
the removed cards behind.

Here's how it works: Let's imagine that Spectator #2 thinks of

the number 15. The closest target number is 17 when counting
from the face of the pack. That means you must leave two cards
from the face of the deck inside the box in order for a Jack of
Spades to appear at the 15th position.

If he says 22, the closest number is 24 from the top, so you need
to leave 2 cards from the top of the deck inside the case.

If he says 27, the closest number is 29 from the face, so you

need to leave 2 cards from the face of the deck inside the case.

Going back to the first example of the spectator choosing 15,

pick up the deck in front of him and hold the box, flap side
down (the deck will come out face down). The rule of thumb is
that the side (top or face of the deck) that you need to subtract
cards from should be closest to the floor.

Open the box and pull the deck halfway out. Look up at the
spectator and ask him to confirm which number he named.
When he looks up at you, push the required number of cards
back into the box. Figure 10 is exposed for clarity. Once you've

16
pushed the cards back inside the box, remove the rest of the
deck and place the box to the side.

Ask the spectator to deal 14 cards from the face of the pack
into a pile on the table. Once he has finished counting, ask him
to deal the 15th card to the front of the table.

Reveal your card is also the Jack of Spades.

In The Case of Addition

This is the worst outcome, but it's still quite strong. In this
case you have to shift cards from one side of the pack to the
other. To do this you'll use the same action you learned in the
Subtraction section above and build on it.

17
 Let's imagine Spectator #2 chooses the number 38. Our closest
target to that number is 36th from the top of the pack, so two
cards must be moved from the face to the top to move the card
to the 38th position.

Again, the rule of thumb is that the side (top or face of the
deck) that you need to subtract cards from should be closest to
the floor. In this case we need to move cards from the face of
the deck again, so the box should be held flap side down. As
with the subtraction method, pull the deck halfway out of the
box and push two cards back into the box with your .fingers.
Remove the deck completely from the box and place it face
down into the spectator's hand. Then, as you place the box to
the side, pretend to notice the cards remaining inside the box.
Casually remove them and add them to the top of the deck in
the spectator's hands. This doesn't need a line or justification
because it's not a move. The force card is now 38 cards from the
top of the deck.

If he says 13, the closest number is 12 from the top, so you shift
1 card from the face to the top.

If he says 20, the closest number is 17 from the face, so you

shift 3 cards from the top to the face.

You could easily make this displacement into a move, but by

doing it off the cuff and as a casual mistake the audience will
not remember the moment.

18
As before, have them deal down to their named number and
show it is a perfect match to the Jack of Spades.

A Visual Crib Sheet

When first performing this routine, I wasn't completely
confident in the number intervals. I would often start counting
face down when I should have counted face up and the cards
wouldn't match at the end. This is no bueno.

As a safety measure, you can write the numbers on a blank-faced

card, and tape it underneath the back edge of the performance
surface. This will allow you easy access to the numbers if you
need them, but the audience won't have any idea that it's there.
Figure 11.

19