PROBABLY there are extremely few people who handle cards in any way, either as card players or magicians, who do not know what a stripper pack is, and probably every magician living has at some time or other made use of the stripper principle. The principle is simple in the extreme, the cards taper at the ends, that is one end of each card is slightly narrower than the other. It follows that if a card is turned end for end it can be instantly found because of the projection of its broad end amongst the narrow ends of the other cards.
The use of this expedient is too often condemned by unthinking magicians as being a of childish nature and of use only to those to whom the difficulties of the more pretentious and elaborate methods of sleight of hand are insurmountable. But any road that leads to the desired result, that of deceiving your audience, is as good as any other, and where simplicity is achieved, it may be much better. After all the deception of your audience is your ultimate goal. Complication for the sake of being complicated is a fool's trick and is not the same thing as being clever. In ordinary life, in which conjuring has no part, it is called by the less attractive name of self conceit.
The reason generally given for not using the stripper pack is that it is so widely known, even to the average schoolboy, which may be true but that does not in itself render the principle useless. One might almost as well say that since practically everyone knows there is such a thing as palming, therefore the magician should not use his hands. The value of an accessory depends largely upon the skill and subtlety, with which it is used. A simple device in one person's hands may become a stroke of genius in those of another. The ordinary straightforward use of the stripper cards, with the cards coarsely cut does certainly reduce the pack almost to the level of schoolboy conjuring. But a well-cut pack, such as a professional would insist on, should not betray the secret even under a free handling by the spectator.
The first thing to be mastered is to be able to turn the pack imperceptibly for the return of the chosen card. To begin with, have the narrow ends nearest your body so that when the chosen card is returned to the reversed pack the projecting sides will be at the inner end. To effect this reverse, spread the pack in a wide fan in the left hand from left to right. As soon as a card is withdrawn close the fan by placing your right hand on the left side of the fan and closing the pack towards the right, thus bringing the narrow end pointing to the left and the wide end to the right. Retain hold of the cards with the thumb and fingers of each hand at the ends.
If the spectator has taken a card by its wide end and has not changed his hold, you offer the pack to him in your right hand, slightly spreading it with the thumb and fingers. Square the pack and the wide end of the chosen card is at the inner end. It may happen that the spectator will turn the card round himself in showing it to another spectator, in that case you offer the pack for its return with your left hand again slightly spreading it fanwise, this time with the left thumb and fingers. By holding the pack in the position named, the necessary turn is half made and can be imperceptibly completed by taking the cards in the right hand for the return of a card, or nullified by taking them with the left hand.
Another very good method is to square the pack and hold it by the ends in the right hand, fingers on the outer wide end, thumb on the inner narrow end, square the sides of the pack with the left thumb and fingers, the left forefinger curled up under the pack, and the right forefinger curled in on the top. Now it is an easy matter to riffle either end of the pack for the return of the card. If the spectator has not turned his card, remove your left hand from the pack and with it pull the right sleeve a little, at the same time turning the right palm upwards bringing the pack upright, right thumb on the narrow ends. Bring the left hand against the face of the pack and riffle with the thumb for the return of the selected card. If, however, the spectator has turned his card, simply riffle the wide ends with the tip of the right second finger.
These two methods obviate the necessity for any palpably awkward reversing of the pack and will pass without notice even by those who know something about the stripper principle.
The latest and best method for the return of a card to a stripper pack is of comparatively recent introduction and is calculated to deceive even an expert if he is unacquainted with the procedure. Before offering the pack for the choice of a card, secretly turn half the pack so that the upper half of the cards have their narrow ends pointing outwards, the lower half has its wide ends pointing inwards. Allow a card to be selected freely from either half of the pack, but have it returned to the other half. Or if the card itself is turned by accident or design see that it is pushed back amongst the cards it was taken from. Square up the cards, cut at the projecting end of the lower wide cards and lift off the upper portion with the right hand, thumb on the inner end, fingers at the outer end, grip the lower portion in the same way, thumb on the inner end, fingers on the outer end, turn the hands in the opposite directions bringing the thumbs together and riffle shuffle the cards by the ends. The result is that all the narrow ends and all the wide ends are brought together, leaving the chosen card the only one reversed.
Some practice should be given to stripping the cards apart after some have been reversed. This should be done so neatly that the move should pass for an ordinary cut. It is only necessary to hold the pack rather loosely and quite flat when it will be found comparatively easy to separate them with one quick movement. An illustration of the subtle use of a stripper pack in presenting a series of tricks depending on prearranged cards follows. The main thing in such effects is to convince your audience that the cards are honestly shuffled and therefore thoroughly well mixed: this can be done by using strippers. Simply cut the arranged pack for a riffle shuffle, turning one packet endwise. The result will be a thorough mixing of the cards and this will be recognized by the on. lockers; but by simply stripping the two sections apart under cover of a pretended cut, as explained and dropping one portion on the other, you have the cards in the same order as before. This subtle process is calculated to allay all suspicion as to the pack being arranged in any way and is therefore, invaluable in all such tricks.
Another practically unknown method of reversing the pack for the return of a card is to spread the cards on the table for the selection of a card. As soon as one has been withdrawn pick up the pack with the right hand between the fingers at the outer end and the thumb at the inner end. In the course of some remark, such as asking the spectator to remember the card, turn the right hand palm upwards bringing the pack upright, then take it by the sides in the left hand turning it face down and execute an overhand shuffle. The pack is reversed. Spread it on the table again and have the card pushed in the spread. Gather the cards once more and again shuffle overhand. Nothing could appear to be fairer.
The following tricks are arranged beginning with the simplest possible feats and proceeding to the more subtle effects which are worthy of the attention of the most expert card handler.
BEFOREHAND separate the red suits and the black into two packets. Reverse one packet, put the two together and shuffle the pack thoroughly. Show the faces of the cards proving they are well mixed, then separate the reversed packets with an apparent cut as already explained. Until you can do this deftly the separation had better be done behind your back. Show all the reds in one hand and the blacks in the other. Turn the outer end of the left-hand packet towards the right and put the right-hand packet on top, thus bringing all the narrow ends together, and the pack is ready for further feats.
PICK out the four A's and put them on the table face downwards. To show them, take them by their outer ends and turn them over lengthwise. They must be in a packet one on top of the other. Now turn them face down sideways and they will have been reversed. Replace them thus in different parts of the pack which you hand out to be shuffled by the overhand method. Take the pack back, put it behind your back, strip out the A's and put them in your hip pocket. Hand the pack to a spectator asking him to take out the A's. He cannot find them and you take them from your pocket.
A CARD having been freely chosen, returned to the reversed pack and the card well shuffled, take the pack and put it behind your back. Ask what number the spectator would like it to appear at. Strip the card out and put it second from the bottom. Bring the pack forward, show the bottom card, turn the pack face downwards, draw out the bottom card and deal it face up, pull back the next card about half an inch and deal the next card face up, keeping the chosen card at the bottom. Proceed in the same way until the chosen number is reached, draw the bottom card out and put it on the table face down. Have the card named and turn it over.
WITH the selected card reversed in the pack as usual, hold the pack by the two ends between your hands, face downwards. Ask the spectator to throw a handkerchief over the pack. Then saying, 'Perhaps it will be better to have the pack in sight all the time,' draw the pack away with one hand, the other hand retaining the reversed card and letting it drop on the table under the handkerchief. Immediately drop the pack on the handkerchief just above the card under it. Give the pack a sharp blow ordering the chosen card to pass through it on to the table. Lift the pack and the handkerchief and show the card face down. Have it named and turn it over.
A CHOSEN card being in the reversed pack as usual, make an overhand shuffle holding the pack on end with the narrow ends upwards. The protruding sides of the reversed card will be detected easily by the sense of touch alone and it becomes a simple matter to finish the shuffle by leaving it on the top. There is no need to look at the cards. Place the pack on the left hand, face downwards and cover it with the right hand, fingers at the outer end, thumb at the inner. Secretly push the top card a little way over the side of the pack with the left thumb, the right hand hiding the action. Have the card named. Now drop the pack from a little height on to the table and owing to the resistance of the air the top card will be turned over face up on the top of the pack.
IT IS JUST as easy to deal with a number of cards as with one only, but each card should be returned to the reversed pack before the next is chosen. Suppose four or five have been drawn and returned, you can then put the pack behind your back and produce them all at once or singly, giving the spectators the choice. Or you may do the same thing with the pack covered by a handkerchief, or a hat, or by holding the cards under the table.
HOLDING the pack upright with its back towards the audience, narrow ends upwards, it is very easy to retain the selected card between the thumb on one side and the fingers on the other, as the rest of the cards fall. This done, have the card named and turn it around.
REMOVE the four K's from the pack and throw them out face up on the table, turning them lengthwise as you do so. Show the faces of all the cards to prove the pack has no duplicates. Pick up the K's one by one, turning them sideways so that they go into the pack reversed in different places. Hand the pack out for an overhand shuffle. Strip the K's out in apparently making a strip cut, or put the pack behind your back, pull the K's out and put them on the top. Place the pack on the table. Let someone make one complete cut and take the pack. Order the K's to get together in the middle. The pack is spread face up on the table, the four K's are together.
THIS trick is only suitable for performance when seated at a table. A selected card being reversed in the pack as usual. Say that you will try to make it pass through the table and, with an indicatory gesture, put the pack under the table holding it with both hands. Strip the card out and let it fall in your lap. Put the pack on the table and strike it sharply. Then bring the card out, it having apparently passed through the table into your left hand. Have it named and turn it up.
TO ONE end of a long hair fasten a small black pin. Bend the pin and fix it in the bottom of your waistcoat underneath. To the other end attach a small pellet of good adhesive wax. Stick the pellet on one of your waistcoat buttons. After the usual preliminaries when the pack with the reversed card is returned to you, cut at the protruding edges bringing the chosen card to the bottom. Take the pack in your right hand, faces of the cards towards you and tap the edges of the pack on the table, looking at the cards as you do so. With the left hand secure the pellet of wax. Put the pack back in the left hand and press the wax on the face of the bottom cards, near the inner end. Cut half the pack and drop on the table and put the left-hand packet on top bringing the chosen card attached to the hair to the middle. Spread the card, command the card to walk out and gently move your body backwards. Hold your hand at the edge of the table and receive the card with the fingers under it, thumb on top. Scrape the wax pellet off with the tip of your second finger, have the card named and throw it down face up.
By the same method you can, after spreading the cards out in a row, suddenly lift your side of the table causing all the cards but the chosen one to fall to the floor.
THIS item is self explanatory. It is only a matter of having the pack with the chosen card reversed in it, shuffled and put face down on the table. Make a quick and apparently casual cut, really cutting at the projecting edges of the chosen card. Hold the cut face down, have the card named and turn the packet face up showing the card. In spite of its simplicity, or perhaps because of it, the little feat has a fine effect.
A CARD having been chosen, returned in the usual fashion and the pack shuffled, take the pack back and hold it face downwards in your left hand with the narrow ends outwards. Put the right hand over the pack, thumb on one side of the narrow end, fingers on the other. Raise the pack to your mouth and blow hard at the same time thrusting your right hand quickly forward taking the card with it and throwing it out into the air.
WITH the card, or cards, returned to the pack as usual, the pack is shuffled and then placed into a spectator's pocket. It is best to put the pack in the pocket with its narrow end upwards, you can then produce the cards with ease, either all at once or singly. If you are dealing with one card only and wish to name it before producing it, simply cut at the card first and sight it as you put the pack in the pocket.
SIMPLY reverse the twentieth card beforehand. By cutting at this card you can announce that you hold twenty cards, while there are thirty-two on the table.
IF YOU have a friend who understands the method, you go out of the room. A card is selected and your friend attends to the usual preliminaries. The pack is placed on the table and you proceed to discover the reversed card in as striking a manner as possible.
UNDER pretext of showing there are no duplicates throw out all the court cards face up in a packet on the table. Pick them up by drawing them off the table with the right hand, turning them over lengthwise as you put them on top of the remainder of the pack. Have the cards thoroughly shuffled and show that the court cards are distributed through the pack. With a strip cut or after placing your pack behind your back, produce the court cards only and throw them on the table.
BEFOREHAND reverse any three cards in different parts of the pack, remembering their names and their order. Have the pack cut several times and finally make one cut yourself, cutting at one of the reversed cards and sighting it. This card gives you the clue to the other two which you produce naming them before you do so. Cut the pack once before producing the third one and then bring it out of the middle.
HAVE the card in this case chosen by a lady. After it has been replaced in the usual way and the pack shuffled, hold the cards upright in your left hand, narrow ends upwards, and the backs outwards. Ask the lady to rub the top of the pack with her fingers and then to allow you to touch her fingers with the tips of your right first and second fingers. Put these two fingers on the top edge of the pack, the thumb resting on one side of the pack and the third finger on the other. Press slightly inwards with the thumb and third finger and raise the right hand. The reversed card will be lifted out as if clinging to the fingers by magnetic attraction. Have the card named and turn it around.
WHEN the shuffled pack with the reversed chosen card is returned to you, cut the pack once at the chosen card bringing it to the bottom. Place the pack in a spectator's pocket, sighting the card but not allowing anyone else to see it. Have a number called. Bring the cards out one by one taking them from the top until you reach the number chosen, then bring out the card pretending to read it first.
THE effect is that a card is selected, replaced in the pack and the pack wrapped in a handkerchief. This is then gently shaken and the card penetrates it.
After the pack with the reversed chosen card is returned to you, lay it face up on your right palm with the narrow ends inwards. Throw the handkerchief over the pack with the left hand and at the same time draw the pack forward towards the right finger-tips, stripping the reversed card nearly all the way out of the pack and gripping its wide edge between the root of the thumb and the tip of the little finger. Reach under the handkerchief from the front and bring out the pack, leaving the handkerchief face up and just over the card under the handkerchief. Fold the front part over towards the right wrist, then fold the sides down and under the right hand so that the card below is overlapped and held securely in place. With the right hand then take the folded ends of the handkerchief and hold it so that the pack hangs down, front to the spectators. Have the card named and a gentle shaking up and down will cause the card to work its way out of the folds with all the appearance of coming through the fabric.
EFFECT. A pack of cards is shuffled and any card is freely chosen and noted by the spectator. The card is returned to the pack. The performer then shows the card case is empty and places the pack inside. He removes the cards and asks the drawer to run through the cards to make sure they are all facing one way and there really are fifty-two cards in the pack. The pack is returned and replaced in the case which is held on the performer's outstretched hand. Performer reads the spectator's mind and slowly the chosen card. The pack is removed from the case and the card is found reversed in the middle.
WORKING. One side of the card case is thinned for about half an inch near the bottom until it is only as thick as a piece of paper. This is done by dampening the side and then removing the surplus cardboard with a nail file. This is much easier than merely scraping the card with a knife. The case is then reassembled and is to all appearance normal. But when the stripper pack, with the selected card reversed is placed in the case, by grasping the thinned part between the thumb and first finger that card is retained in the case.
When this has been done there are still fifty-two cards in the pack since the Joker is in it. Have the spectator run through the cards and count them face down each time. Glimpse the chosen card in putting the pack back in the case and also get the retained, chosen card in the middle and face up by inserting the pack cornerwise. Push the flap in and put the pack on your left hand. Proceed to read the spectator's mind in the usual hesitating way, suit and value. Finally the chosen card is found in the middle of the pack and it is reversed. The effect will be found to be well worth the slight trouble of preparing the card case.
SECRETLY reverse three cards at the bottom of the pack and hold the pack so that the wide ends of all the other cards point outwards. Have the four K's removed from the pack which is examined to prove there are no duplicates. In returning to your table momentarily put the K's, which you hold in your right hand, under the pack and strip off the three reversed cards on to the back, so that you then have seven cards in that hand instead of the four K's only as the spectators think. Keep the packet facing the front so that they see the face of the outer K, then drop the packet on top of the pack. State that you will deal the four K's in a row and deal the four top cards-three are indifferent cards and the last one only is a K. Take three cards from the bottom of the pack and put them face down on the first indifferent card. Then take three cards from different parts of the pack and put them on the second card, cut the pack and place three cards from the lower portion on the third card; replace the cut and put the three top cards (K's) on top of the last card (a K).
Force the choice of this packet, the K's, in any way you wish, and place the other three packets in the pack in different positions. Hand the pack to a spectator, order the three K's to leave his hand and join their confrère. He searches the pack and finds no K's, while you turn the chosen packet and show all four.
AFTER the usual preliminaries, the pack with the chosen card reversed in it is returned to you. Shuffle it overhand by the ends and bring the chosen card to the top. Put the pack on the table, and cut it into two heaps. Borrow a handkerchief and a penknife, open one blade and lay the knife down. Fold the handkerchief and have it tied over your eyes. You still can see all that is necessary down the sides of your nose. Ask a spectator to stand alongside of you, to guide your hands on to the two packets of cards, then to place his hands on top of yours. Now move your hands and the spectator's around and around, thoroughly spreading and mixing the cards but carefully keeping the selected card, which was the top card, under your left thumb. Thus at the end of the spreading you can see exactly where the card lies. Ask for the penknife, don't pick it up yourself. Move the point around in circles, then suddenly and dramatically plunge it down, stabbing the card. Have the card named, lift off the blindfold, and show the card on the point of the knife.
A CARD is selected, replaced, the pack shuffled and the card stripped to the top in the usual way. Take a hat and show it, holding the brim at one side with the right hand, the left hand with the pack at the other side. Tip the hat forward so that the audience can see it is empty. In turning the hat back towards yourself and putting it down, push off the top card with the left thumb so that it falls into the hat. Leave the hat on the table and hand the pack to the spectator. Order the chosen card to leave the pack and appear in the hat. The pack is searched, the card has gone. Turn the hat over and the card falls out.
A SPECTATOR makes a choice of any two cards that are together in the pack. The cards are noted and replaced in different positions and the pack shuffled as usual. Shuffle overhand and strip the two cards out to the top. Put the pack on the table and cut once, bringing the two cards to the middle. Hand the pack to the spectator and order the two cards to fly together again. He runs through the pack and finds them together in the middle.
CARD selected, returned, pack shuffled and the card brought to the top by the usual methods. On a waistcoat button you have beforehand placed a pellet of wax, and on your table you have an empty envelope. Hand the envelope out to be examined and gummed down. As this is being done, get the wax pellet and fix it on the back of the top (chosen) card. Hold the pack in your left hand, face down, and take back the envelope in your right hand. Pass it to your left hand, secretly pressing it down on the pack with the left thumb, while you show an empty hat with the right hand. Put the hat on the table, take the envelope with your right hand and drop it into the hat, being careful not to expose the card which is now stuck on the back by the wax pellet. Hand the pack to the spectator and command the card to pass into the envelope. The pack is examined, the card has gone. Take the envelope from the hat with the attached card to the rear. Hold it up to the light and the shadow of the card is seen. Tear off one end, insert your fingers and apparently draw the card from the inside, really from the back.
USE a pellet of wax as in the preceding trick. After the usual preliminaries, strip the card to the top. Hand a plate for examination and seize the opportunity to fix the wax pellet to the back of the top card. Take the plate back, put the pack face up on it and press hard while you pull up your sleeves. Take up the plate and toss the cards into the air, turning the plate slightly towards yourself. Suddenly thrust the plate into the shower of falling cards and quickly jerk it back. Show the card on the plate and have it identified as the chosen card.
CHOSEN card brought to the top in the usual way. Shuffle freely leaving the card in that position. Hold the pack in your left hand, upright, facing the audience and the back of the left hand in front of the cards near the bottom. Stand with your left side to the front. Clench your right hand, fist fashion, but leaving the forefinger extended. Rub this finger on the top edge of the pack and lift it. Nothing happens. Rub it vigorously on your coat and replace it on the pack. Under cover of the pack extend the little finger of the right hand and press it against the back of the top card. Push the card upwards as you slowly raise the right hand. The card will appear to be attracted by the forefinger and rise clinging to it.
THE selected card being in the pack reversed and the pack having been shuffled, take it back and give it a shuffle yourself. Ask a spectator to step forward to assist you. Use the diversion to get the top card to the bottom, reversing it in so doing. Simply press the fingers of the left hand firmly on the top card and raise the remainder of the pack with the right fingers letting the top card slip to the bottom, turning face up in transit.
Ask the spectator to hold out his hand and take the pack with his thumb on top and fingers below. The chosen card is named and you give the pack a quick and rather sharp downward blow, knocking all the cards from his hand except the chosen one which is left in his hand and stares him in the face.
TWO cards are selected and treated as usual being reversed in different parts of the pack. After being shuffled the pack is returned to you. Strip the two cards to the top under cover of an overhand shuffle, then by means of the move explained in the preceding trick, pass the top card to the bottom of the pack face upwards. Hold the pack firmly between the fingers and thumb of the right hand. Swing the hand upwards sharply, let the cards slip out from between the top and bottom cards. As soon as these two are alone in the hand press them tightly together and dash them against the failing pack, scattering the rest of the cards in all directions. The effect is that you have caught two cards from the shower. Have the cards named and show them.
TURN the pack face up, run through and throw out the J's face down, turning them end for end as you do this. Show the faces of the cards to prove there are no duplicates. Turn the four J's over face up, sideways this time so that they remain reversed. Push them into the pack in different places and hand the pack to be shuffled. When it is returned give it another shuffle and strip the four J's to the top. A story such as 'The Four Burglars' should accompany the trick. The pack being the house which they enter in various ways, finally being disturbed they escape by the roof, thus providing the finale by showing all four together on the top.
SELECTED card stripped to the top in the usual way. Borrow a hat, show it empty and place it on the table. Take the pack in the right hand face down, thumb at one end and fingers at the other. Place your hand over the hat and spring the cards into it, retaining the top card in the right palm. With the same hand take the hat by the brim with the fingers inside and thumb outside, thus concealing the card. Shake up the pack in the hat while pattering that the hat is a ship, while the pack represents the passengers and crew. A storm comes up (shake hat violently) and the passengers and crew take to the boats (empty out the cards on to the table). Let the palmed card slip into the hat and put it down. Gather the cards and hand the pack to the spectator, he finds his card (the Captain) is missing. It is found in the hat... the captain stayed with his ship.
IN THE usual way a card is selected, replaced, pack shuffled and returned to you. Shuffle and strip the selected card to the top. Take out any five cards and show their faces to the spectators asking whether the chosen card is amongst them. Of course it isn't. As your hand comes down it passes over the top of the pack held in the left hand and carries away the top card underneath the five. Drop these on the table. Hand the pack to the spectator. Cut the five cards to bring the chosen card to the middle and false count them as five. Hand the pack to a second person and order the card to pass from the pack to the five cards. This is then verified.
A PACK of cards is examined and shuffled by the audience and returned to the performer who is then blindfolded. The pack is handed to him behind his back and he asks for the name of any card to be called. Almost immediately he brings forward a portion of the pack with that card at the face. This is repeated, then at request he brings forward the A, K, Q, J, 10, of any required suit. A color is called and immediately the whole twenty-six cards of that color are shown. Laying down the red suits the performer requests anyone to name one of the black suits, which he at once produces. Finally he also separates the two red suits. The whole pack is shuffled and handed for inspection.
Working. The pack first shown and given for inspection is an ordinary one and must later be exchanged for a stripper pack. This pack is prearranged as follows:
All the black cards are reversed. Thus when the pack is held behind your back a half-stripping movement will separate the colors, leaving six banks of each color. It is not desirable to pull the cards more than half-way out. By cutting to the nearest set, squaring up, then rapidly thumbing the necessary one, two, or three cards from the other half of the pack, the card called for can be produced quickly. Getting out a set of A, K, Q, J, 10, is easier still, though to the audience the difficulty would seem to be greater. The production of all cards of one color is merely the separation of the hands. When showing the twenty-six cards they are kept on the move and not fanned widely so that the fact that the suits are separated will not be perceptible. At the end, the two packets are riffled together putting the cards in order for the tricks that follow.
AFTER the usual selection, replacement and shuffling, take the pack and strip the selected card to the top. Remove four cards from various parts of the pack, one of them being the selected card. Place the cards in a row, the chosen one being the third from your left. Show a die (borrow one if you can) and have it thrown. If one or four turns up tell the spectator to throw again to prove the die is not loaded. If three is uppermost count from your left; if two, count from your right; if five count from your left to four, then back to the selected card as five. If six is thrown count from the right and back again to selected card.
FOR this effect the reversed card must be stripped to the bottom in the course of an overhand shuffle which will be found just as easy as bringing it to the top. Take the pack face downwards in the left hand as for dealing. Bring the right hand over the pack, slip the thumb below the pack so that it touches the bottom card, while the tips of the fingers rest on the front edges of the cards. Draw the cards back a little starting with the top card inviting the spectator to call 'Stop' whenever he wishes. When he calls draw all the 'pulled back' cards to the rear and free from the pack at the same time pulling off the bottom card with the thumb. This card automatically becomes the face card of the packet drawn off the pack, so that it makes no difference when the spectator stops you. his card will always be at the bottom of the packet.
WITH the pack in proper order run through it face up and take out the four A's, putting them on the table face downwards thus reversing. Show that there are no more in the pack. Turn the packet over face up sideways. Fan the pack and insert the A's in different places, leaving them protruding so that their separation is plainly visible. Close the fan and push them flush. Overhand shuffle by the ends stripping the four to the top. Deal sixteen cards face downwards, the aces will be the bottom cards. Put the remainder aside. Pick up the sixteen cards and deal four heaps of four cards. Complete No. 1 heap first, then dealing four cards into a second heap and so on. The A's will be in the fourth heap.
Force the fourth heap in the orthodox manner, placing the other piles back in the pack. Order the A's to pass, show there are none in the pack and turn the A's face up.
A STRIPPER pack is good to use with a rising card windlass because you can palm strip the card with the left-hand movement while facing the audience and while the right hand remains stationary until the palmed card is added to the top of the pack by the left-hand movement.
WITH the stripper pack in order, take the pack face downwards in the left hand with the wide ends pointing outwards. Deal the first card face down, the next face up turning it over lengthwise and laying it down so that it overlaps the first card. Continue in the same way making a line of face-down, face-up cards, which overlap one another, so that everyone can see the condition of the cards. Gather them up as they lie. Show the faces by fanning the cards. Square the pack but hold the cards loosely, do not squeeze them. Put right hand at the outer end above the pack, thumb at one side, little finger on the other, three fingers over the end of the pack. Left hand holds the rear end of the pack between the thumb and first and second fingers. Gently pull back the left hand to start the separation of the two packets, and strip the left-hand packet out, covering the action with the right hand, and then turn the faced cards over and put the packets together again. Ruffle and show all the faces the one way.
A CARD having been freely selected, returned and the pack shuffled, take the pack back and hold it in the left hand, narrow ends outwards, in about the position for dealing, but about an inch farther forward. Note the position of the reversed card by its projecting sides. Bring the right hand to the pack with thumb above the cards and fingers below, so that the first and little fingers are against the sides of the pack near the ends and can feel the reversed card. Have the card named. Deal off a card for each letter by drawing it off the pack with the thumb and turning it face upwards. When you reach the last letter do not exert any pressure with the thumb but grip the sides of the reversed card between the sides of the first and little fingers, draw it clear, drop the thumb on it and deal it face up just as the other cards were dealt. The position of the right hand gives excellent cover for the sleight which is not difficult but requires a little practice.
TWO packs are required. One the regular stripper pack, the other a 'reader' pack, that is, one by which you can read the cards by the backs. In the usual way have a card selected freely from the stripper pack and control it. After the pack has been shuffled, take it back and hold it in the left hand, faces towards you, thumb at the upper left corner and forefinger curled against the back. Feel the projecting edge of the reversed card and as you raise the pack to your forehead make a break with the left thumb and quickly note the index of the reversed card. Lay the pack aside.
Hand the reader pack to be thoroughly shuffled then deal it in rows face downwards. Pass your hand slowly over the cards, hesitate, let it be drawn to one card, which is, of course, the duplicate of the card you sighted. Hold it face down, have the chosen card named, then turn it over.
THREE cards are selected and treated one by one in the usual fashion, so that when you receive the pack after the final shuffle the three cards are in various parts of the pack. Strip them to the bottom in executing an end overhand shuffle. Hold the pack face down on the left hand as for dealing. Bring the right hand over the pack, with thumb at the rear end. Bend the ends up slightly, let the three bottom cards slip away and insert the tip of the left little finger between them and the rest of the pack. Now push all the cards above these three about an inch forward in the left hand. Take off several of the top cards and spread them to show that none of the chosen cards is amongst them. Replace these, and taking hold of the protruding packet with thumb on the back and fingers below, quickly turn them lengthwise, bringing them face up on top of the three cards, separated at the bottom. Spread a few and show that none of the chosen cards is amongst them either. Cut the pack while it is still face up bringing the three chosen cards, now reversed, to the middle. Execute several riffle shuffles covering the cards well with your hands to avoid any exposure of the reversed cards. Order all three to turn over and fan the pack outwards showing the three face-up cards.
HAVE three cards selected and deal with them singly in the approved method so that they are reversed in different parts of the pack. Strip them to the top in shuffling end fashion. Sight the two top cards and put the pack behind your back. Have a card named. If it is not one of the two you know, bring out the third card. A second card is called for. Ask at what number you shall produce it. Bring forward cards from the bottom to a number one less than that chosen then produce the top card, or the second, as the case may be. Slip the remaining card second from the bottom and bring the pack forward. Ask the drawer of that card at what number he would like it to appear from the bottom. Show the bottom card, turn the pack face down and deal it face up. Pull the next card back a little with the left finger and deal the one above it. Continue in the same way till the number is reached, draw out the chosen card and put it face down on the table. Have the card named and turn it over.
AS USUAL a card is selected, returned and pack shuffled. Strip it to the top and square the pack with your right hand, thumb at bottom, fingers at the top. Lift the pack to your forehead, at the same time turning up the lower index corner with your right thumb and sighting it. Now announce the name of the card in the mind-reading fashion. Color first, then suit, finally the value.
BEFOREHAND reverse-end every tenth card. With very little practice you can divide the pack at the round numbers and run off backwards or forwards to make up the number called for. In counting the cards do not reverse them, but replace them on the pack in the same order.
IN THIS method the cards are reverse-ended in alternate packets of four. The cards may now be counted rapidly with the left thumb in packets of four or eight; the odd cards being arrived at by adding a card or two, or discarding them as may be required to make the exact number. You can also pretend to judge the number of cards, apparently cut at random, by their weight. The counting by the left thumb at the rear of the pack is hidden by the right hand which is lifting the cards for the cut. After the demonstration make a strip cut pulling the reversed packets apart, turn one packet and riffle shuffle thus putting it in order for the regular stripper effects.
AN EFFECTIVE use may be made of the stripper pack in conjunction with the Si Stebbins system or any other full pack prearrangement.
For instance, the performer invites someone to take a batch of cards, put their names down on a piece of paper, then cut the pack and place it in his pocket after returning the chosen packet to the middle. The performer, by simply gazing into the person's eyes, reads the names of the cards and actually removes them from the pocket as he names them.
The effect is mysterious but the means of accomplishment are very simple. You have merely to reverse the top card and the bottom of the pack, so that when the cards are returned to the middle by cutting the pack one reversed card is brought above the packet and one below. You already know the first card of the batch by having sighted the card above it when the packet was removed. When the pack has been put in the pocket you find the card to begin at by feeling the first reversed card. Continue in the same way until you come to the second reversed card.
METHOD. A pack is shuffled and cut by the performer who then takes off a small packet and seals it in an envelope which is placed on an easel. A sealed envelope containing a prediction is also put on the easel. The remainder of the pack is cut into four equal portions and the top cards of each are placed on the easel without their faces being seen. A choice is then given of the four remaining top cards or the four bottom cards. Whichever may be chosen the cards are taken, their values are added together giving a total of ten. In the envelope is found a slip bearing the written number TEN; the packet of cards in the envelope is counted ten again; and finally the cards on the easel are turned, they are all tens.
WORKING. Arrange a stripper pack as follows- Any nine cards, any one reversed, a 10, a 4, any seven cards, a 4 reversed, a 10, an A, any eight cards, an A reversed, a 10, a 3, any seven cards, a 3 reversed, a 10, a 2, any eight cards and a 2 reversed. This last must be a long card.
To perform the trick, cut the pack several times and finally at the long card, bringing it back to its original order. Cut at the first reversed card which gives you ten cards, put these in the envelope and close it. Divide the pack into four packets by cutting at the reversed cards. The four top cards all tens, are removed and put on the easel faces inwards. Either the four top cards or the four bottom cards of the packets will now add ten. Whichever is chosen remove the cards add the spots and conclude the trick as given above.
IN HIS book Mr. Gravatt writes as follows:
'It is sometimes desirable to get rid of certain selected cards entirely so that at the conclusion of the effect the reproduced cards may be shown to have actually left the pack. This can only be achieved with an ordinary pack by dint of considerable skill and maneuvering and keeping track of the cards by means of the pass, -slip, false shuffling, etc., all of which call for no common degree of skill in card manipulation. With the aid of a stripper pack the thing becomes a simple job, it being perfectly easy to extract say half a dozen cards with one swift movement and either dispose of them entirely, or else bring them all together at the top or bottom of the pack for future manipulation. Since this can be accomplished even after a genuine shuffle, it serves the purpose better than the elaborate methods. Especially until the performer's skill will permit him to be clever for the somewhat dubious satisfaction of being clever.
'When it is a case of forcing a card, or several cards, it is a matter of anxiety to many to be able to handle the pack naturally and yet not lose sight of their force cards whilst casually shuffling the pack. More than one ambitious but nervous amateur have accidentally shuffled in the very cards they intended to force, and must restore matters as best they can. The stripper pack always allows you to do a perfectly genuine overhand shuffle, or, for that matter any other kind, yet you have your forcing cards ready at any time.
'To the performer to whom neat handling of cards is not second nature, it is not so easy to raise two or more cards together and handle as one card, a thing which is often necessary in certain kinds of tricks. There are innumerable performers who can silently and quickly count with accuracy any desired number of cards by merely running the thumb over the end of the pack. There are, on the other hand, any number to whom such a feat would present insuperable difficulties and who, faced with such a proposition before an actual audience, would end up by balling up the entire trick from sheer nervousness. If the required cards are counted off and reversed in one clump to start with, they may be found and brought to the top at any time and the projecting edge allows the performer to lift the desired number whether it be 2, or 20, without a glance at the cards.
'One reversed card in the pack will form a key at which, after a series of cuts, the pack may be given a final cut to restore it to the original condition before it was cut at all. A reversed card serves also to mark off any desired number of cards to be palmed off the pack and added to others, such as the cards to the pocket, etc. The performer is able to secure the exact number quite automatically.'
It has been my experience gained through a long period of intimate connection with magic and magicians, professional, amateur and would-be, that without a certain degree of mastery of the fundamental sleights no one can present even the simplest of the so-called self-working feats with any degree of satisfaction to himself or his audience. Tricks do not work themselves and there is practically not a trick in the whole range of magic that does not depend upon the performer to be really effective. This is especially the case with card tricks. There are, of course, numerous tricks which are really only puzzles, such as those depending on numerical calculations. The interminable counting and dealing in such tricks make them utterly useless for these days. Any performer attempting the presentation of such feats would find his audience bored to tears before he was through with the first one and if he attempted to continue with others would find himself playing to empty benches.
On the other hand with a fair degree of skill the most banal effect can be transformed into a striking feat. With regard to the use of strippers it is easy to say that 'with one swift movement' any number of cards can be extracted from the pack and disposed of, but that does not help the would-be magician towards his one end, the deception of his audience, since that 'swift movement' and the disposal of the cards would be perfectly palpable to onlookers. My conclusion is this, to anyone with the few indispensable sleights at command the stripper pack is a very valuable accessory but to attempt to depend upon it solely will lead to disaster.
To acquire the necessary degree of skill does not require any great amount of application. In the older textbooks great stress was laid upon the Pass. One hour a day for a period of three months was said to be necessary to get a working acquaintance with it. Modern ingenuity has devised other methods of attaining the result in far easier ways and the same thing applies to the other necessary sleights. I will undertake to teach any person who can handle cards sufficiently well to shuffle a pack overhand fashion neatly, the half-dozen indispensable sleights in five lessons of an hour's duration each.
I do not mean that in that time anyone could become a skilled sleight-of-hand performer, but I do maintain that sufficient skill would be acquired to enable one to present card tricks capably and with the necessary confidence.
WHILE the principle of stripping the ends of cards has been known and used by gamblers for generations and was certainly originated for the purpose of cheating at cards it has remained practically unknown to magicians generally speaking. This is rather a curious fact since there are many fine effects possible only with end strippers while everything that can be done with the side strippers can also be done with the end variety. Again the cards can be so finely cut that detection is practically impossible and such cards can be freely used even with those that know all about side strippers without arousing suspicion.
With the cards all set the one way the various methods for getting a chosen card reversed in the pack which have already been explained for the side strippers, can be brought into play. When the card has been reversed, or the pack reversed, which comes to the same thing, the projecting edge can be detected instantly in the mere act of squaring the pack with the thumb on one end and the fingers on the other. It is an easy matter then to make a break under the card and make the pass bringing it to the bottom, or to break the pack at that point and execute a riffle shuffle bringing the card to the bottom; or again to secure the card in the right hand by means of the side palm; or simplest of all to make a regular overhand shuffle, the projecting edge making the reversed card cling to the fingers so that it can be put at the top or bottom as the last movement in the shuffle.
All the tricks for which side strippers are generally used can be done with the end strippers. As for the special effects which can only be done with the end strippers space will permit of the explanation of but a few of them. The reader will no doubt find out novel applications of the principle for himself.
AFTER the pack has been shuffled by a spectator, secretly reverse one card and have it near the middle. Allow the free selection of a card. After the spectator has noted it cut the pack by the ends at the reversed card and have the chosen card replaced at that point, replace the cut and square up very openly. Make a partial shuffle bringing the reversed card and the card below it, the chosen card, to a position about one-third of the pack from the top. Hold the pack by the ends and drop small packets of cards from the bottom in different places on the table telling the spectator to call 'Stop' whenever he pleases. When he does call drop all the cards below the reversed card. Have him name his card and turn the top card of the last packet.
The trick may be repeated with added effect. When 'Stop' has been called palm the top card of the last packet and turn over the next, showing it but not looking at the card yourself. Turn it down and replace the palmed card on top. When the spectator says you have shown the wrong card, affect incredulity and work the argument up. Finally invite him to turn the card up himself. Before the shock of the surprise has passed it is well to assemble the pack, losing the first card shown amongst the others.
I AM indebted to Mr. E. L. Whitford for the following very effective arrangements. Separate the black suits from the red, turn one packet round and then put the two packets together. Hold the pack as for an overhand shuffle. Press on top and bottom cards with the left thumb and fingers, then pull out all the cards but these two, letting them fall well into the crotch of the thumb. Repeat the action with the new top and bottom cards, letting this pair fall on the first pair. Continue the action until all the cards are exhausted. The result is that you have the black and red cards alternately throughout the pack all the cards of one color being reversed. This is the simplest way of making such an arrangement. the whole action taking a few seconds only.
Now, with a red card on the bottom if you riffle the top ends of the cards at one corner red cards only will show, then by slipping the top black card to the bottom and riffling by the corner, black cards only will be visible. The principle is exactly the same as with the Svengali or Mene-Tekel packs, the short cards do not appear.
Again, by taking two packs, one with a red back, the other with a blue back and using the red cards with red backs and the blue cards with blue backs. and arranging them as above, you can show all red faces and turning the pack over show all red backs. Then by slipping the top card to the bottom and riffling on the opposite corner show all black faces and follow that by showing all blue backs.
By applying the principle of roughening the backs (see Svengali section) and then arranging the cards in pairs one red, one black, with the backs together, and also carrying out the reverse stripper arrangement as above for each color you cannot only show all red and all black by riffling but also by fanning cards.
Properly introduced, that is by exchanging the pack that has been freely handled by the spectators, these results will be incomprehensible, even startling, to the layman and indeed to the average magician.
THE use of the end strippers makes this trick as near perfection in handling as is possible. I am indebted to Mr. Annemann for permission to detail some of the moves he uses. In his hands the trick is perfect. Begin by having a card chosen, replaced, then bring it to the top by whatever means you prefer, making no reversal of the pack or the card. Order the card to the top and show it has arrived. Take it off by putting your finger-tips under it, thumb on top and turn it endwise to show the face. Replace the card face down by turning it over sideways. This is a perfectly natural way of showing the card and by using it you have reversed the card without any possibility of arousing suspicion.
Show the chosen card again and push it under the next card. Order it to the top, lift the two cards as one, thumb at one end and fingers at the other. The projecting edges makes this the easiest thing in the world. Replace the two cards, take off the top card and push it under the next. This time, of course, the trick works itself, the chosen card is on the top. Lift it by the ends to show it in the same manner as when handling two cards.
Again push the reversed card under the top one, make the double lift and show its face, push off the top card over the side of the pack a little and slide the two cards under it. This time lift three cards, just as easily as two, show the face of the reversed card and replace on top. Slide off the top card, not showing its face and push it into the middle, show the face of the next card, also an indifferent one, to prove the chosen card really has gone to the middle, riffle, make the double lift, and show reversed card back on top.
Have the spectator hold out his hand palm upwards, slide off the top card on to his hand and drop the pack on top. He finds his card has returned to the top.
The moves can be varied ad lib., and for close work it is one of the most effective that can be performed.
~Magic With a Stripper Pack of Cards~
Contents
To Separate the Red Cards from the Black
The Four Ace Trick
Finding A Card In Any Position
Selected Cards Pass Through A Handkerchief
The Turned Card
Finding Any Number Of Selected Cards At Once Or Separately
Finding All But A Chosen Card
Companionable Kings
Passing A Card Through A Table
The Animated Card
Cutting At A Chosen Card
The Blown Card
Card From Spectator's Pocket
The 'Cut' Count
Out Of The Room Discovery
The Court Cards
Naming The Cards
Magnetized Card
At Any Number From Pocket
Card Through Handkerchief
Just The Reverse
Jordan
The Four Kings
'Stripper' Stabbing
Card In The Hat
Reunion
Satan's Mail
Card And Plate
Another Rising Card
The Startler
Cards From The Air
Acrobatic Jacks
The Captain Card
Flying Card
Positions Unknown
Jordan
2, 3, 4, 5, H;
2, 3, 4, 5, S;
6, 7, 8. 9, H;
6, 7, 8, 9, S;
10, J, Q, K, A, H;
10, J, Q, K, A, S;
2, 3, 4, 5, D;
2, 3, 4, 5, C;
6, 7, 8, 9, D;
6, 7, 8, 9, C;
10, J, Q, K, A, D;
10, J, Q, K, A, C;
Educated Die
Stop Me At Any Time
The Four Aces
Rising Card
Reversible Cards
The Shuffled Speller
Like Thoughts
Three Card Reverse
Finding Three Cards
Card Divination
Lifting Any Number Of Cards Called For
No. 1
Lifting Any Number Of Cards Called For
No. 2
A Divination Effect
Sympathetic Numbers
Jordan
The Advantages of the Stripper Pack
End Strippers
A 'Stop' Discovery
Red Or Black
The Ambitious Card