Esprit Ouvert
  • last year
Transcript
00:00 [chimes]
00:02 [chimes]
00:07 [jazz music]
00:12 [jazz music]
00:38 It just brought me back to my childhood because when I was little, littler I guess is the word,
00:43 I used to do this when people said, "How do you do these tricks?"
00:47 I would say, "Well, the way a violinist practices," and I would do a coin roll to play the violin.
00:53 This is the way you have to practice to do card slides.
00:57 I don't know who invented it, I don't know if I did, I don't know where it comes from.
01:00 I used to do it blindfolded. At this point, I guess you can't see this, but I can close my eyes and do it.
01:06 There's nothing to this really, as long as I'm doing it, I'll break it down for you so you can practice it.
01:11 The point is your hand never leaves the deck, really, because what's happening,
01:15 and the only way I can do this is with the other hand, is that in midair.
01:20 It's all baloney. The idea is to make it look like it's flying through the air.
01:25 The only suggestion I can make is put a deck of cards in the case and practice with the case,
01:28 that way they won't be all over the place.
01:30 What I did is I did a poll amongst a bunch of magicians as to what they would like to see me do on tape,
01:37 and all the requests I got would take up about nine tapes, so I'm going to try to take those that I heard the most.
01:43 One of them was a thing called the Amazing Revelation Display.
01:47 I'd like to do that for you, if I may, and I'm afraid of going out of camera here, I'm going to have to keep it kind of close.
01:53 And this is the patter. The patter is that people all over the world are afraid to play cards with me,
01:59 because I can get the high cards out of the deck whenever I like, anytime I like, even after I've shuffled like this,
02:05 and even after I've cut the deck like this.
02:08 And people that know about card handling have told me for years that if you do a belly cut,
02:12 that means take some cards out of the center like that and drop them on top, that will break any stack.
02:19 Actually, that's not true, and let me see if I can prove that to you,
02:23 because I should be able to reach up into the air and get a high card like that.
02:27 There's one high card. I'll leave that right here so you can keep your eye on it.
02:30 And look, there's another one, and I want you to see that's coming right out of the center.
02:33 There's no baloney here. Problem is, I don't know where to put these.
02:36 Let's leave that one here, and let's see if I can get another high card out of the--
02:40 Well, there's another one. We'll leave that one here.
02:42 I'm trying not to go out of camera. Ordinarily, I should reach way out in the air as if you catch that card.
02:47 In any case, there's another one. I'm running out of space.
02:50 We'll put that one right here, and there's another high card.
02:53 Obviously, you can see it. We'll put that one right here, and there's another one.
02:57 Look, really, right out of the center. I want you to see that.
03:00 I'm short one high card. I love the ending. Watch this.
03:03 Look, there's the other high card right there, and there is the amazing revelation display.
03:09 I'll teach it to you right now while I'm on a roll or while I'm thinking of it, okay?
03:13 There is a setup involved. Here's the setup.
03:16 I need the high cards, the kings and aces.
03:19 I want to cover one ace on the bottom, and I usually use the ace of clubs and cover it with the king of hearts.
03:23 Any black ace, red king is fine.
03:26 Now, on top of the deck, look, the remaining aces, the black ace surrounded by the two red ones,
03:32 and here, the two black kings underneath the red king.
03:36 Incidentally, the color situation that I'm mentioning is just because I think it looks better that way.
03:40 It is not crucial.
03:42 Now, since I want to have room for shuffling, I put these two cards that have to end up on the face, I put them on top.
03:48 That's only to allow for jarred shuffling.
03:50 It gives me more leeway for shuffling while I'm talking about the fact that nobody wants to play cards with me
03:54 because I can get the high cards out of the deck whenever I want.
03:57 Even while shuffling, as I just did, and all I did was a jarred shuffle, I still have my setup on top,
04:02 but now, as I say, and even if I cut like this, I'm double-cutting the two cards from top to bottom,
04:07 which puts me into my setup situation.
04:10 So now I'm set up. Look, the three kings on top followed by three aces and the ace king on bottom.
04:16 And now I talk about a belly cut, and I say people all over the world know, or card players know,
04:21 that if you cut from the center, a belly cut, and put it on top, that ruins a stack.
04:25 This is part of the effect because what I do is I pull out, and as I say I'll cut from center, I glimpse this card.
04:31 In other words, right now I'm seeing the seven of diamonds, which is the bottom card of my belly cut cards,
04:36 and I drop those on top.
04:38 So I know that the seven of diamonds is on top of my stack.
04:41 Now, when I say that's not true, and I'll prove it to you, look.
04:44 I'm riffling down until I see the seven of diamonds, because I can see, I can see the pips there,
04:49 and my forefinger grabs that batch.
04:52 Now look, I'm going to show you the key move.
04:54 The key move is that. Just open, and it comes out.
04:58 I'll give you a different angle. Look, I'll turn my hand this way.
05:01 Look, watch the forefinger tip. That's it.
05:04 So what it appears like is I'm reaching into the deck and pulling out a card.
05:09 Do you see it? That's the key move.
05:11 That's what I repeat each time a high card comes out.
05:14 So there it is. You're holding the deck.
05:16 Second finger holds the bottom half.
05:18 Forefinger holds the top portion up to my key card.
05:20 And the flesh of the forefinger, look, very slowly now, kicks it out.
05:25 That's the key move. Now I'm going to turn back and show you the entire routine now.
05:28 I'm at my key card, the seven of diamonds.
05:31 I reach into the air, and ordinarily, as I say, I reach out, but there's no room here.
05:34 I don't want to go out of frame.
05:36 And the first card that shows is a king.
05:38 Now look, that comes out and is held by my little finger below flesh level.
05:44 If it went higher, I wouldn't be able to get the other card there.
05:47 So it's below flesh level.
05:49 Now I say, look, I do the same move and get another king.
05:52 Now I can turn here and show that it's coming from center.
05:55 The important point is my forefinger still holds the break.
05:58 The card that comes out helps me find the break again.
06:01 So look, now I turn back.
06:03 Now I want to curl that around this finger, so I grab it this way.
06:06 You'll always be able to rewind this tape and see how I grab it.
06:09 See, look, I grab it this way so I'm right in position to put it there, so it's held in place.
06:15 I'm pausing for a second so you can see how it's held.
06:18 I still have my break. I'm trying to expose that.
06:21 I now go for the next card, same move as I reach into the air.
06:24 That comes out, and I have a free finger here.
06:27 That's the third finger.
06:28 Look, I hold that card with that.
06:31 Okay? Have you got that picture in your mind now?
06:34 Now I'm going to go for the aces.
06:36 I do the same move as I reach and pretend to catch it out of the air.
06:39 I turn here, and I say, "Look, it's really coming out of the center."
06:42 That forefinger is still holding my break.
06:45 Now I take that ace out, and I put it into the body of the deck, kicking it toward me.
06:51 This is only for display purposes.
06:53 Now look, next one comes out, same thing, as I reach out.
06:57 Now here's the key to the ending.
06:59 As I come to take that, and the patter is I don't know where to put it,
07:02 I watch this left thumb here.
07:04 See it, that double-jointed thumb?
07:06 I'm going to break that face, king of hearts, and hold a thumb break with this thumb.
07:09 This is preparing for the ending.
07:11 Now I take this ace out and put it in the center in front of the ace of diamonds.
07:15 Okay? I've got one card to go.
07:18 I reach up and catch that last ace.
07:20 Now I can let go of my break.
07:22 Look, I'm going to turn around so you can see this.
07:24 I can let go of the break, and I just set this to look good,
07:27 but I press here so the cards don't fall.
07:29 Look, this is how it looks from the front.
07:31 Now I've got a break at that king of hearts.
07:33 Right under the king of hearts is the ace of clubs.
07:36 My patter is, I'm short one high card.
07:39 Now remember, I have a break at that king of hearts,
07:41 so I'm just going to drop it and catch it with this hand.
07:43 It may go out of frame, but I'm going to try to catch it with that hand.
07:46 So I snap my fingers, drop it, catch it, and it goes right in between these two kings,
07:50 and that's when I end with the end line, and there's the amazing revelation display.
07:56 As I told you, I'm doing requests here,
07:58 and one of the things that I requested is this one, and it's very quick.
08:02 You really have to watch this. If you blink, you miss it.
08:04 The idea is to obviously shuffle the deck. It can be done with any deck.
08:07 I work only with regular decks. Really shuffle it, and then cut it.
08:11 For example, there's one cut, there's another.
08:12 I'll let a spectator tell me when to stop, so I'll do the cut then.
08:15 Tell me when to stop, Mike.
08:16 Stop.
08:17 Right here. Look, if you're going to do a miracle, it might as well be a miracle.
08:21 Now that's based on the halo cut, and I'm very proud of the halo cut.
08:25 It's something you can do miracles.
08:27 We're getting into miracle time now, folks, so let me explain the halo cut first,
08:31 show you how this works, and then I'll go into another effect or two with the halo cut.
08:35 Let's forget the aces for the time being. Let me show you the cut.
08:38 All the halo cut is is to be able to cut a deck, really cut a deck, and leave the bottom card in place.
08:44 At this moment, the queen of hearts is on bottom.
08:46 Now look, I want to really cut the deck, and I really did, but the queen of hearts stays in place.
08:50 Watch it again. I'm really cutting the deck. Queen of hearts stays in place.
08:54 Now the whole point with any slight, and you may hear me say this a couple of times on this tape,
08:59 is first get the natural action and then make the slight look like the natural action.
09:03 The natural action here is a regular swing or kick cut.
09:06 This is the regular cut. I'm not doing any move now, okay?
09:09 Now I'm going to do the move. Watch. Same thing. Same cut.
09:12 Natural, natural, halo cut.
09:15 Look, eight of diamonds is on bottom. I cut the deck. Naturally, the eight of diamonds stays on bottom.
09:20 With that, you can do miracles.
09:22 Incidentally, just so, if you're going to practice it, the way that works, I showed you what happens,
09:26 but I didn't show you how it works.
09:28 According to the size of your hand, I do a regular cut.
09:31 As I come, and incidentally, don't come in at a 90-degree angle.
09:34 That is not magic. That is not a natural move.
09:37 This hand should be on a 45 degree. You're coming on a diagonal.
09:41 The bottom card hits your finger about here, near your palm, and it almost clings.
09:46 Look, it almost clings as you cut. Let me do that again. Watch the cut.
09:50 I come over. That finger holds that bottom card so that it almost clings to it.
09:56 One thing I don't want you to do, and I'm going to go out of frame for this, but that's the point,
10:00 is don't do that. That is not the way you would ordinarily cut a deck.
10:03 You do not do that. You cut here.
10:05 Okay, now that you know that, the four aces are on top of the deck.
10:10 Look, here they are. There are the four aces.
10:12 I do a jock shuffle.
10:14 Now, I mentioned the jock shuffle before when I did the amazing revelation display,
10:17 and I'm assuming that you know what a jock shuffle is.
10:20 If you don't, very quickly, look, I'm going to start to shuffle to keep the top half in place.
10:25 As I start my shuffle, the thumb takes that first card and in-jogs it.
10:29 That's why it's called a jog. Now I shuffle off.
10:32 I've got a jogged card there, which I'm exaggerating.
10:35 My thumb hits that, and I pick up the entire deck.
10:38 I now have a very wide break, and incidentally, a key to this that I mentioned in a book,
10:44 and it got lost. It's never been mentioned before.
10:47 That top half should be above the first crease of your thumb.
10:50 The lower half should be below the first crease of your thumb.
10:53 That's the only way you're going to have control so that I can drop only that one half.
10:57 That's why people have trouble with that.
10:59 Now, look, when I do the shuffle, I in-jog, shuffle off.
11:02 Automatically, they are as I told you, so that I can shuffle to that break definitely,
11:07 and now throw on top.
11:09 Okay, there's much more to a jock shuffle, but I'm not going to take time for that now.
11:13 The point is I'm keeping the aces on top.
11:15 Now I flip the deck face up and do a Hindu shuffle.
11:19 Now what I'm really doing is a center Hindu shuffle, which keeps the aces now at the rear.
11:24 They are here. You can see them.
11:26 Okay, in other words, the point is to make it look like the deck is shuffled, obviously.
11:29 Now look, I'm going to do the halo cut three times or two times in a row,
11:33 but not with half the deck because I have to make four packets.
11:36 So look, halo cut, there's already an ace there.
11:39 Another halo cut, and there's already an ace here.
11:42 Now I can do another halo cut, watch, and end the trick right now.
11:46 There'll be four aces on each pile, but using a very simple magical principle,
11:50 the spectator remembers the last thing he or she sees.
11:53 I want them to go home and say, "My gosh, I cut the deck," and he found the four aces.
11:58 So look, I've just halo cut. There are aces already here.
12:00 The other two are still on top.
12:02 So what I do is I say, "I'll let you do the cutting."
12:05 I do a slip cut, meaning that I'm pulling that back ace down with these fingers.
12:10 I call it a slip shuffle, or a slip shuffle, I guess is the term,
12:14 so that there is now an ace on top of the packet proper and here,
12:18 so that as I shuffle, I don't care when I'm stopped
12:21 because there's already an ace behind each one.
12:23 So whenever he says, "Stop," I make a real big deal out of it.
12:26 I say, "Right here? Okay."
12:28 And now I show the aces with a bit of flair, obviously.
12:33 Let me show you a trick that I think that when your audience sees it,
12:36 they will think you're the greatest manipulator in the world,
12:38 card manipulator, that is.
12:40 That may not be so. It's not so in my case.
12:43 But that's the nitty-gritty. People are not fooled by what they see.
12:46 They're fooled by what they think they see.
12:49 This is the kind of trick that makes them think you're the greatest card manipulator,
12:52 and that is the nitty-gritty, even if it's not true.
12:55 That's the nitty-gritty of magic. That's what you want them to think.
12:58 I think this is that kind of trick.
13:00 Incidentally, it has to do with the four aces.
13:03 A, I would never do this with my own deck,
13:06 but you know I'm using a regular deck. I'm going to teach it to you and so forth and so on.
13:09 Also, something that's bothered me for years is when I see magicians run through a deck,
13:13 take out the four aces, and then lose them back into the deck in order to find them again.
13:18 That's silliness. There's no reason for that. Think about it for a moment.
13:22 The only time I would do this particular trick is after the aces have already been produced magically,
13:27 for example, as I did with Halo again, as I just did for you.
13:30 They've been produced magically. Now I will do this trick with somebody else's deck.
13:34 They have shuffled the deck. They're handing me a shuffled deck.
13:37 Now I want you to watch this. I'll just do the trick for you first, and then we'll talk about it.
13:41 Watch the aces. I want to separate them into the deck.
13:45 Oh, let's say...
13:50 You see them going in.
13:53 Separated. Okay? Watch the handling.
14:00 I wouldn't kid you for the world. The aces are lost.
14:02 Look, I'm going to shuffle the top of the deck to show you that there's no ace on top.
14:06 It's possible that there'd be an ace on the bottom, but had there been an ace on the bottom,
14:10 I would lose the ace into the deck, obviously.
14:13 So the point is, look, there's no ace on top. There's no ace on bottom.
14:17 But after years of practice, I've learned to dead cut to an ace.
14:21 Now it's a very precise situation, because had I gone one deeper, I would have missed that ace.
14:25 Had I gone anywhere around here, I would have missed it.
14:28 Let me do it again for you to show you that it's not a freak kind of thing.
14:31 Look, there's no ace on top. There's no ace on bottom.
14:34 But after years of practice, I've learned to dead cut to an ace.
14:38 And again, it's very precise. Had I gone one deeper, I would have missed it.
14:41 Had I gone anywhere around here, I would have missed it.
14:44 Now it gets more difficult as we progress, because there are only two aces left now.
14:47 Look, there's no ace on top, no ace on bottom. That's the six of clubs on bottom.
14:51 But watch, after years of practice, I've learned to dead cut to an ace.
14:55 And again, it's very precise. Had I gone one deeper, I would have missed it.
14:58 Had I gone anywhere around here, I would have missed it.
15:01 Now look, there's only one ace left. It's the hardest one of all, obviously, because there's only one ace.
15:05 I have no leeway here. There is no ace on top. There's no ace on bottom.
15:09 But after years of practice, I have learned to dead cut to an ace.
15:14 Would you like to learn how to do that trick? Eh, we'll do that on the next tape.
15:18 No, I'm kidding. I'll show it to you now. I taught you the halo cut.
15:22 That's all it's based on. It's the halo cut four times in a row.
15:25 Move down and I'll show you how it's done.
15:28 I did not put this in a book for years. It's in rim shots, incidentally.
15:31 So is Halo Again and the Halo Cut.
15:34 I didn't put this in a book for years because it has to do with memorizing or remembering four key cards.
15:39 And I can just visualize magicians reading that in the first paragraph.
15:42 Oh, I got to remember four key cards? Next page. They'll go buy it.
15:45 Well, sometimes the obvious eludes you. The obvious is I made the memory very easy.
15:50 It's not difficult for me to begin with. That's my business. I do remember things.
15:53 But once I realize that if I say to my students, "Remember four cards of the same suit," that makes it easy. That's all.
16:01 So if you remember four cards of the same suit, all you have to say to yourself, "Well, let's do it."
16:04 Look, here's the point. You really have the deck shuffled.
16:08 Make a fan, as I'm doing now. I hope you can see this.
16:11 Now, I look for four cards in the bottom half of the deck of the same suit.
16:16 Look, I'm putting the ace behind the two of clubs here.
16:19 I'm putting another ace behind the three of clubs. Let me spread that so hopefully it'll show.
16:24 I'm putting another card--oh, there's a six of clubs.
16:27 And I'm putting another card--another ace, that is--behind the seven of clubs.
16:31 So all I have to say in my mind now is, "Two, three, six, seven."
16:36 Now, that's easy. I don't have to worry about suits. It's the suits that give you a problem.
16:40 Those are the memory problems, if you have to say, "Two of diamonds, three of spades," and so forth.
16:45 All I have to say here--it's like a telephone number--"Two, three, six, seven."
16:48 Now, look, you show that the aces are separated while you're talking.
16:52 Just say those cards in your mind once--two, three, six, seven.
16:55 Close the fan. Now, I've said this for years before I put it in the book because I used to blow magicians away.
17:00 I'd say, "Watch the handling," because they thought there was some handling going on here.
17:03 They'd say, "Look at that great multiple shift."
17:05 There's no handling at all. That's why I can call attention to it.
17:08 Okay, look, I have half the top deck--the top half deck--leeway for shuffling.
17:14 I'm doing, really, a center Hindu shuffle.
17:16 I say, "Look, there's no ace on top."
17:19 Now I show that there's no ace on bottom.
17:21 But I have to get to my first key card, so this is what I do.
17:24 I say, "Had there been an ace on bottom, I'd simply lose it into the deck."
17:29 In other words, I go to my first key card.
17:31 Look, let me do that again.
17:32 The first key card is usually about third, fourth, fifth, sixth from the bottom.
17:35 You have to keep talking until you get to it.
17:37 That's not one of my problems.
17:39 I don't have a problem talking until I get to the key card, see?
17:41 So I just keep riffling off because I can see the index corners.
17:44 And I say, "Had there been an ace here, I would have lost it into the deck."
17:49 And I'm now to my first key card, which has brought my first ace to second from face,
17:53 which is the position at which I need it.
17:55 Now look, I do one more Hindu shuffle on top, show there's no ace on top, no ace on bottom.
18:01 Now look, I'm going to do the halo cut four times in a row, but I want them to look different.
18:07 So the first time I will drop straight down and have it reverse itself.
18:10 Look, halo cut, I stick this thumb up in the air, and as I drop, I let that hit here so that it turns over, showing the ace.
18:18 And I say, "I've cut to an ace."
18:20 Now watch what happens.
18:21 I say it's very precise.
18:23 Had I gone here one card deeper, I would have missed it.
18:25 Had I gone anywhere around here, I would have missed it.
18:29 Do you see what I just did?
18:31 I just keep talking until I get to my next key card and cut there.
18:34 I have just done it.
18:35 I've just brought my next ace to second from face.
18:38 Now look, again, I say there is no ace on top, and I do a top or center Hindu shuffle.
18:43 No ace on bottom.
18:45 Now I say after years of practice, I always say the same phrase because that leads me into the move.
18:49 Now I do the same move, halo cut, but this time I toss from the side so that the ace almost visually appears.
18:56 Now the same thing.
18:57 I say it's very precise.
18:59 Had I gone one deeper, I would have missed it.
19:01 Had I gone anywhere around here, I would have missed it.
19:04 In other words, I go right to my next key card, which is the six of clubs.
19:08 I've already done the two of clubs, three of clubs.
19:10 Now it's the six of clubs.
19:11 Now again, I shuffle, show that there's no ace on top.
19:15 Now I'm very proud of the third cut.
19:17 Look, I say there's no ace on bottom.
19:20 It's the six of clubs on bottom, and it's the only time I mention the bottom card because look, here is the real cut.
19:26 I'm not going to do the move.
19:27 If I really cut it center and turned both hands like that, this is the card I legitimately cut to, the six of clubs.
19:34 The bottom card remains on bottom.
19:36 That's the way it legitimately looks.
19:38 Watch how it looks with the halo cut.
19:40 All I'm going to do is halo cut.
19:41 I do exactly the same thing.
19:43 It looks exactly the same.
19:45 The six of clubs remains on the face.
19:47 That's why I mention it.
19:48 Subliminally, they know it's supposed to be there, and there's the ace.
19:51 Now I toss out the ace and do the same thing.
19:53 I say, look, had I gone anywhere deeper, one card deeper, I would have missed it.
19:56 Had I gone anywhere around here, I would have missed it.
20:00 And I go to my last key card, which in this case is the seven of clubs.
20:04 I have a full deck leeway for shuffling now.
20:06 And I say, look, there's no ace on top.
20:08 There's no ace on bottom.
20:10 For the last ace, I simply do a straight halo cut to the table, turn over that half, and show the last ace.
20:16 Oh, I see a rubber band here.
20:20 I have a trick with a rubber band that--oh, darn, it broke.
20:23 No, no, you don't have to get me another one.
20:25 All I have to do that, if I'm a real magician, and restore this one.
20:29 I think that's a pretty good trick, and it happens so fast, I think I should do it again so you see how it looks.
20:35 I always start that way.
20:36 Oh, I see there's a rubber band here.
20:38 I have a trick with a rubber band--oh, darn, it broke.
20:41 No, you don't have to get me another one.
20:42 All I have to do is snap my fingers and restore this one.
20:46 Okay, now I'm going to turn my back to the camera so that left and right will equalize for you,
20:51 and you'll know which is left and which is right, and I'll run through it for you once more.
20:55 Can you see the rubber band?
20:56 Okay, there it is.
20:58 I've just picked it up, thumb and forefinger.
21:00 I pull with my right hand, I pull with my left forefinger, close this hand, or turn this hand inwards so my forefinger goes into the double strand.
21:08 I've got my hourglass figure.
21:10 I reach into the far right space with the second finger of my left hand, and as I pull it in, I roll the rubber band off my left forefinger.
21:18 I'm in position.
21:19 Now by releasing my left thumb and forefinger, I get the first snap.
21:23 Watch, there's snap one.
21:25 I stretch this as far as I can, let go, there's snap two.
21:28 That's when I say, "No, no, I don't need another one," or if I'm a real magician, I do the magical gesture, I can restore this one.
21:38 I've been asked to show the invisible pass, so I will.
21:41 Would you like to see it again?
21:42 That's a joke.
21:43 Okay, the invisible pass.
21:44 Look, incidentally, there are magicians only in this studio, so there's no exposing going on here, okay?
21:51 If I were to take this eight of hearts, and I'm doing this purposely to show you that it's a single card, and if I were to cut it into the deck like that, that's not much of a trick because you can see it there.
21:59 So I want to leave it on top, but I want to leave it on top face down.
22:03 Now I won't do any silly things like slip cuts or anything like that.
22:06 I don't like slip cuts.
22:07 I want to leave the eight of hearts on top, and I want to really cut it into the center.
22:11 Now I get a little break. As I pick up, there's the pass, you see.
22:15 Now, a lot of people say, "What the heck? He's using two eight of hearts."
22:18 How would you do it in an effect?
22:19 Look, if I were doing it in an effect, I might say to the spectator, "Look at the top card here," and he'd see the ten of clubs.
22:26 Now, he may think that I can sneak a peek and see the ten of clubs, so the first thing to do is to cut that ten of clubs into the center here, and then lose the ten of clubs here, and finally pick up the entire deck and cut it like that, get the break there.
22:39 As I pick up, pass the ten of clubs to the top.
22:42 Now, look, once more, watch this top card. It's the three of hearts. Watch it now.
22:46 The idea, and remember, I'm not going to do any slip cuts or anything like that.
22:49 The three of hearts is on top. I want to really lose it into the center.
22:52 That break is exaggerated. That's all I need.
22:54 As I pick up, there's the pass. It's fast. It's silent.
22:57 I think the only way that I can really give you a chance to catch me is by doing it four times in a row.
23:04 To do it four times in a row, what else can I use but the four aces, right?
23:08 What else would a magician use? There are the four aces.
23:10 Look, there are no extra cards here, really. There are the four aces.
23:14 The four aces are on top of the deck. I'll show them to you again.
23:17 Look, four aces on top of the deck.
23:19 Now, the idea is this. I want to lose them into the center. There they are.
23:23 As I pick up, that's when I do the pass. There's one ace right there.
23:27 I'll do it again for you, slow motion. Now, watch.
23:29 There are the aces. Look, that's all the break I need.
23:32 As I pick up, watch, there's the pass.
23:34 Now, look, there are only two aces left. There they are.
23:37 I'll do it again for you, watch.
23:39 I actually cut the aces into the center. As you pick up, there's the pass.
23:43 Look, one more time, last chance to catch me. Watch, slow motion.
23:46 There's the last ace. Watch.
23:49 Did you see that pass? Well, I did it.
23:52 That's Lorraine's invisible pass routine.
23:55 The timing is very crucial.
23:58 It is not a difficult move. It's the old gambler's hop.
24:02 But I think if the timing is right, there's no way to see it.
24:04 I've had people photograph me under a glass table and they couldn't see the move.
24:07 Obviously, it's not really a pass.
24:09 At least, I assume you knew that. I may have taken you in with this thing.
24:14 Look, let me leave the aces on the side and show you the move.
24:16 All that's happening, watch the three of hearts, which is on top.
24:19 I'm going to do the move now without explanation, and then I'll do it face up and so forth.
24:23 Watch, the three of hearts is really on top.
24:25 Now, watch the move.
24:27 That's the move. There's the three of hearts. I do the pass.
24:31 Okay, all that's happening, and this is what I mean by the hop.
24:34 What's happening is, here's the old way the hop used to be done.
24:37 You'd cut and come back with a card. That's the hop.
24:40 Look, or this way, you'd cut and come back with a card.
24:42 That's called a hop.
24:44 Here's what's happening. Watch, slow motion.
24:48 That's all that's happening.
24:49 That one card, look, is coming back.
24:52 Now, let me get this right off the bat.
24:53 Let me tell you that there is no break.
24:56 If you have to hold a break, you're going to kill it.
24:58 Don't ask me how I hold back one card. I don't know.
25:00 It's a feel, but I always hold back only one card, always.
25:04 Look, one card.
25:06 Now, the problem with this--excuse me for a minute.
25:09 The problem with this is that most magicians, if they try to do this,
25:14 do it in a three count.
25:16 Look, one, two, three. That's death.
25:20 They're going to see what you do.
25:21 You cannot do it in a three count.
25:23 It has to be done in a two count, and therein lies the problem.
25:26 Watch the ten of hearts. Watch.
25:28 One, two. It's a two count, not a three count,
25:32 because once you do a three count, you see that card coming back.
25:35 So it's got to be--look, there's the ten of clubs.
25:37 Watch. One, two. That's it.
25:40 It's a mental thing, really.
25:42 Don't think about that top card. Think about grabbing that half.
25:46 So in slow motion, as I come down, I grab that half.
25:49 It's the count of two. Watch.
25:51 One, two. Good luck with the timing.
25:54 So the routine is I do that, I show that it's not on top,
25:57 and I show that I'm not going to do a slip cut,
25:59 and there's the ten of clubs, and the rest is all baloney.
26:01 You say, "There's the pass." I pretend to do a pass.
26:04 When I do it in three piles, very quickly now,
26:07 there's the ten of clubs.
26:08 I do the move here. I do the move here.
26:13 I'm doing it three times in a row, and I say, "Finally,
26:15 I've got to cut the deck," and now I do the pass, and there it is.
26:18 I've simply done the move three times in a row.
26:20 Now, when I say I'll do it four times in a row--
26:22 and here's the killer, really.
26:23 I'm very proud of this. Forgive the ego.
26:25 Look, I spread from right to left hand.
26:28 You're going to have to do something about it
26:30 to make it work for you when you spread from left to right.
26:32 As I start to look for the aces, I put a crimp in that card.
26:35 Remember, my hands are up here, and I'm spreading,
26:37 so that's not seen.
26:39 I'm putting a corner crimp on that bottom card,
26:42 and now I find the aces and throw them on the table.
26:44 The reason I do it that way is the crimp comes out here--
26:47 I'm exaggerating, of course-- where I can see it.
26:49 Now, this is what fools you.
26:51 Look, I really put the four aces on top.
26:54 The first time I do the move I just taught you--
26:56 I do the hop, watch-- I actually do the move,
26:59 and I say there's the break, which is all baloney.
27:01 I do the pretend pass and show the ace.
27:03 Now, the other three aces are now really in the middle of the deck,
27:06 but there's a crimped card on top of them.
27:08 So I say, look, I'll do it in slow motion, and I cut to my crimp.
27:11 And I pretend-- I do the same action as the move,
27:14 and I say there's the aces-- that's a lie--
27:16 and I drop these on top. I say there's my break.
27:19 I've simply cut my aces back to the top now.
27:21 And this is very important. I say there are only two left.
27:25 That locks in the point that the aces really have all been brought to the top each time.
27:29 Now I do the hop again. I say, look, I'm going to cut them to center.
27:32 I've done the move. I say there's the break.
27:34 I pretend pass, show the ace.
27:36 Now, the last time, the ace is really in the center,
27:38 but there's a crimped card on top of it, so I cut to the crimp.
27:41 I say there's the ace. It's not. It's really here.
27:44 I say there's the ace, and I say all I need-- that's too big.
27:46 I need about that much of a break. It's all baloney.
27:49 And as I pick up, pretend pass and show the ace.
27:52 That's it. That's all there is to it. Good luck with the timing.
27:56 Okay, you borrow a dollar bill. You borrow the bill, obviously.
28:00 Here's the effect. The bill is folded, and now I'm going to tear it.
28:05 You're going to have to come in real close.
28:07 You actually tear the bill. You can see that tear.
28:11 As a matter of fact, I'll take that piece I tore and make it disappear.
28:14 I don't want to go out of frame. You can see that piece missing.
28:18 But when I do magic, I want it to happen real fast.
28:20 I mean that fast, and the bill is left on the table.
28:25 Now, it's that quick. It's a few seconds.
28:28 I'll explain it to you.
28:30 Jack Channon originally came out with a thing called Rip It.
28:32 I don't think it's on the market anymore.
28:34 Otherwise, I wouldn't do this, but this is my way of doing it,
28:36 and I've been told that I did make it better, so let me explain it to you.
28:39 All I'm doing, really, is instead of having two tears in the bill--
28:43 Incidentally, I've left this with laymen, and I've had people look at it
28:46 because the heat is on the center.
28:48 People look at the center of the bill, and that is not where the tear is.
28:51 I've let laymen look at it, and they'll put it away and use it,
28:54 and they never find that tear.
28:56 All I've done--and I'm going to turn a little to the side so you can see it.
28:59 Remember this. Here's another piece I've added.
29:02 I want to tear right at the name Washington.
29:06 I'm going to tear at the name Washington under Washington's picture.
29:10 In order to do that, when I fold the bill the long way,
29:13 I have to be in this position.
29:15 Now look, as I come down to fold again, my thumb pushes here,
29:20 so I'm pushing in. I'm going to show you here.
29:23 That's a pretty good angle right there.
29:25 So as I fold into these long quarters, what I've accomplished is
29:29 that there's only one level here instead of two,
29:32 so that when I tear, I tear through only one surface.
29:35 That's the key.
29:37 Now when you try this, you'll see that the name Washington is right here.
29:41 I tear right along that name. That's part of the cover.
29:44 So I show the tear. It looks like a big tear.
29:46 It's no more than a quarter of an inch.
29:48 Now I fold back the larger portion so that I can hold and show a piece missing.
29:53 Can you see that? I want that established.
29:55 They see a piece missing.
29:57 Now I like to make this a fast trick.
29:59 I know people have come up with methods where they actually show you a piece
30:02 and they make it a half-hour trick.
30:04 This is a 10-second trick. It should look like you just made it up.
30:07 So what I do is I push up this outer half, grab it.
30:10 I've established this missing piece.
30:12 I simply grab this and straighten the bill. That's all.
30:14 It looks like it's completely restored, and I leave it.
30:17 Now just in case I fooled you even with the explanation,
30:20 the tear is at the word Washington.
30:23 Look at this. I can't find it myself. I fooled myself.
30:25 It's right here at the word Washington.
30:27 I doubt if you can see it here, but there's--
30:29 let me get that finger out of the way--
30:31 there's Washington's picture. There's the name Washington,
30:33 and that's where the tear is.
30:35 So it's very difficult to find. It's hard for me to show it to you there.
30:38 And I have most people look at the center. There's no tear at center.
30:41 That's it. That's called restoration.
30:45 I can do a whole tape on overlooked moves of mine.
30:48 I probably will one day.
30:50 One of them goes way back to close-up card magic.
30:52 I also taught it in Apocalypse.
30:54 You don't subscribe to Apocalypse? Are you nuts?
30:57 In any case, I did teach this in Apocalypse.
30:59 It has been overlooked.
31:01 I think it's the best control of three cards.
31:03 It's the best control of three cards I know.
31:05 It's called the spread control, and I've been asked by people who know it,
31:08 they want to see how it should look.
31:10 Okay, let me show you how it should look.
31:12 Ordinarily, I need three spectators here.
31:15 That takes too much of a setup, so I'll be my own spectators.
31:18 I would, from a shuffled borrowed deck,
31:20 I would say to the first spectator on my left,
31:22 "Point to any card near the bottom," meaning my left of the spread.
31:26 When he takes out a card, I'd say, "Please remember that,"
31:28 and as I drop it, I'd point to the next person and say,
31:31 "You point to an area in the center of the spread."
31:33 He does. He points to a card.
31:35 I take it out, the card he points to, and I say, "You remember that."
31:38 And as I drop it, I point to the right part of the spread, third spectator.
31:42 He points to a card, and I'd say, "You remember that."
31:45 We have a 9, an 8, and a 3.
31:47 As I drop this one, I'd say, "Please don't forget your cards,"
31:50 and I'd shuffle the deck.
31:51 That was 9, 8, 3, and that order,
31:53 and the whole idea of the spread control
31:56 is to have them controlled to the top in the correct order.
31:59 Now, let me break it down for you.
32:01 Perhaps I'll do it again,
32:03 and let me explain some of the reasoning behind the things I say.
32:06 When the first person points to a card and I show it to him,
32:10 there's one fallacy to this move.
32:13 There's always an illogicality, otherwise it would be real magic,
32:16 and we know there's no real magic.
32:18 The fallacy is that I'm not putting the selected card back into the spread.
32:21 I'm dropping it on the spread.
32:23 That usually gets by most laymen,
32:25 but I cover it with a little bit of misdirection.
32:28 As I drop the first card, I'm already talking to the next guy,
32:31 and I say, "You point to a card."
32:33 He does, and as I drop that card, I'm pointing to the next guy
32:36 and talking to him and say, "You point to a card."
32:39 As I drop that card on the spread,
32:41 I want to take the heat off the fact
32:43 that I'm dropping the cards onto the spread.
32:45 As I drop the last one, I say to the three of them--
32:48 I'm looking up at them--
32:50 and I say, "Please don't forget your cards."
32:52 Now, here comes the move.
32:54 I press down at the left end of the spread with this hand.
32:57 Now, I can't slow this down, 'cause it won't work,
32:59 but if I press here and scoop that spread into my hand,
33:02 what will happen is those three cards will ride to the top.
33:05 Look, they're already on top,
33:07 and I'm right into position to go into a jog shuffle.
33:10 Okay, I would never do it without doing the jog shuffle.
33:13 There's the 9, the 8, the 3.
33:15 Perhaps if I leave them face up, you'll see it happening.
33:19 Look, the 9, the 8, the 3.
33:21 Now watch, I simply gather the spread and go into a jog shuffle.
33:25 They're already on top.
33:27 I simply jog shuffle, keeping them on top or any shuffle you want.
33:30 Now, that's all there is to it.
33:32 All you have to do is remember, press a little bit here,
33:35 because what's happening is it's making these ends of the cards rise.
33:40 I'll try it in slow motion.
33:42 Look, look, do you see it?
33:44 They rise right to the top.
33:46 I go right into this hand, which puts me right into position
33:49 for the jog shuffle, bringing them back to the top.
33:52 Now, when I originally devised this,
33:55 quite honestly, I'd forgotten the routine I wanted to devise it for,
33:58 but I remember the concept,
34:00 and this is something you might be able to use.
34:02 I needed two of the selected cards on top
34:04 and the third one fifth from the top for this long-forgotten routine.
34:08 So I do the same kind of selection.
34:11 One spectator selects here, the other spectator selects here.
34:14 The third spectator selects the same way,
34:16 but as I put it down, look what I'm doing.
34:18 I'm sticking its corner fifth from the top.
34:20 In other words, it's going under the fourth card.
34:23 Don't know whether you can see that,
34:25 but the right part of the card goes under the fourth card.
34:29 Now, the beauty of this-- look, I've got 9, 8, 3.
34:32 When I do the move and go into my jog shuffle,
34:34 the beauty of this is that two of them do rise to the top.
34:37 Look, there's the 9, there's the 8,
34:39 but I wanted that 3 of hearts, I believe it was,
34:41 fifth from the top-- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
34:44 There it is. It's automatic.
34:46 Now, there's one more thing I'm going to show you with the spread control.
34:50 In close-up card magic or in Apocalypse,
34:54 I said it's the only way of palming--
34:57 here's the only way of palming three cards into your pocket without palming.
35:01 Look, a card is selected here-- we'll use three different cards here--
35:04 and I do the preparation for the spread control.
35:07 That's an 8, that's a king, same timing and the same reasoning as I explained before.
35:12 9, 8, king-- I think it's-- what is it? It's 8, king, 9.
35:16 Now, here's the idea. I'm going to reach off-camera because I need a silk.
35:19 I take a silk out of my pocket and I say,
35:21 "Look, here's the rationale for covering the deck with the silk."
35:24 I say, "I don't want you to think that I can see where the cards are going,
35:27 so I'll do it on the cover of a handkerchief."
35:30 Now I don't need that handkerchief anymore and I put it into my pocket.
35:33 While I'm in my pocket-- look at this-- I say, "Well, I have no room,"
35:36 and I throw the silk away. I have now palmed, in quotes, those cards
35:39 because, look, here they are in my pocket.
35:42 Now, all that happens here-- and I'm very pleased with this, I really am,
35:46 because when I came up with this, my hands were so small, I couldn't palm cards.
35:50 Look, let me take any three cards.
35:52 They are here. Here's the 9, 8, king again.
35:54 It's really immaterial what the cards are.
35:56 What happens is, remember, those cards are going to ride across the top of the deck,
36:00 so I'll do it for you first. Look, I pick up. Look what happens.
36:03 They have ridden-- if that's the word-- to the top.
36:06 I just drop the regular deck here.
36:08 It automatically leaves those three cards in the silk.
36:11 So when I go into my pocket, I do this.
36:13 On the cover of my pocket, I drop the cards in my pocket,
36:16 come out with the silk, say, "I don't need that anymore," and go into my trick.
36:19 I've got three cards in my pocket now.
36:21 There's no way anybody knows I got it because I didn't do any palming.
36:24 If I had a wallet there, if I had two sheets of plastic with a million rubber bands,
36:27 I'd get it all set for the miracle.
36:29 You go anywhere you want from there.
36:32 I don't imagine they're going to let me out of the studio
36:34 until I talk about one certain move.
36:37 The only way I can talk about that move is to actually do it first,
36:40 and then we'll talk about it.
36:42 The first thing is to have someone select a card.
36:44 So I'll pretend that somebody's selecting a card just to save some time.
36:48 There's the card, the four of diamonds.
36:50 That's the selected card.
36:51 I ask the spectator to put it back on top, which he does.
36:54 At this point, I would say to the spectator, "Please don't forget your card."
37:00 From here, I might take that four of diamonds
37:02 and put it into the center of the deck quite openly and quite deliberately
37:06 and do a pretend pass and show that it's back on top.
37:09 Now, there's another way to do that instead of the pretend pass, obviously.
37:12 There's the ace of hearts.
37:14 I'm going to do the same move.
37:16 Again, I'm going to say to the spectator, "Please remember your card."
37:19 So I do that.
37:20 "Please remember your card. The ace of hearts is shown on top."
37:23 Now, this time, what I would do is take that ace of hearts,
37:27 run it through the deck very slowly like that,
37:29 and show that it has changed, in this case, to the nine of diamonds.
37:34 Now, if there's an effect you're doing where it's okay for you,
37:37 as the magician, to see the card, perhaps a better handling for this particular move,
37:41 which I'll explain in a moment, is this.
37:43 There's the seven of diamonds, and I'd say, "Oh, is it the seven of diamonds you want to use?
37:46 Fine. Let's use it."
37:48 And, of course, it's already changed.
37:50 All there is to this--
37:51 Well, what it is-- I mentioned this a long time ago in a book as a flourish.
37:55 That's the flourish.
37:57 I'll keep doing it until you really--
37:59 Well, what it is is a flourish of bringing the second card, look, to the top,
38:04 or the top card is going second.
38:06 Okay? I'm trying to show it to you from all angles.
38:08 There it is. Look.
38:09 Now, that's easy to do when the deck is horizontal.
38:13 The problem is to do it when the deck is vertical.
38:16 So I'm going to turn. I'm going to have to move my hand up so you see it happening.
38:19 Look. I push out the top card.
38:22 Now, as I move upward-- Now, I'm going to move upward now.
38:25 I'm going to do that move. Watch.
38:30 Now, I'm going to do it again so you can see it happening.
38:32 Look. There's the card.
38:33 And as I move up, I'm trying to cut that movement of the hand.
38:37 Ordinarily, I'm saying to the spectator, "Please remember your card."
38:39 Let me do that again for you.
38:41 "Please remember your card." That's really all there is to it.
38:44 If I'm doing it where I can see the card--
38:47 Let's see if I can expose the action to you.
38:49 As I do that, I turn my hand and say, "There's your card."
38:53 It's already second from top.
38:55 As I turn my hand, it goes back to position under the top card.
38:59 Now, let me go over here and show you what's happening.
39:03 There's centrifugal forces involved here.
39:06 Most people-- First of all, don't worry about the straddle grip.
39:09 I made a mistake when I taught this in After Thoughts, was the book,
39:12 because the picture showed the straddle grip.
39:14 And even though I said in the prose that the straddle grip had nothing to do with it,
39:17 people don't read too well, and they thought that you had to hold that card with those two fingers.
39:21 No, because if you do that, you've locked yourself in a cage.
39:24 The straddle grip is just the way I hold the deck naturally.
39:27 That has nothing to do-- This is the ultra move I'm talking about.
39:30 It has nothing to do with the ultra move.
39:32 Look, once you push that card out comfortably and it's resting on those two fingers, forget about it.
39:37 From here on, it's a mental thing.
39:39 Centrifugal force is going to keep it there when you turn your hand.
39:42 Once I push that out, forget about that. Think about the second card.
39:46 And it is not the tip of the thumb that pulls back the second card.
39:48 It's the underside rear of the thumb.
39:51 Look, that gives me the room to pull it out. Don't you see?
39:54 That's it.
39:55 What I'm thinking about is not this card.
39:57 Don't try to push that out because it will fall.
39:59 Think about pulling the second card back and then onto that card.
40:03 So it really is a mental thing.
40:05 I actually create a mouth for that card.
40:08 Forget the pushed-off card for a minute. That's the mouth I'm talking about.
40:11 Let me do that again for you.
40:12 I create a mouth to catch the card because we're dealing with gravity here.
40:18 So, okay, let me do the move in as slow motion as possible.
40:21 I push the card off.
40:23 Okay, look, I push off the top card, and as my hand moves up, I do that.
40:29 Obviously, I have to start the move as the hand is in this position because otherwise it will be seen.
40:35 It's difficult to do that without going out of frame, so I'm trying to do it.
40:39 Let me turn this way, and you might see it happening a little better.
40:42 Look, there it is. Do you see it?
40:45 There's the move.
40:47 The deck is in the fork of your thumb.
40:49 Push the top card off. Forget about it.
40:51 Pull back the second card as your hand goes up.
40:54 That card, when you relax your hand, when they come down, just automatically falls to second from top.
41:00 Now, that's all there is to it, and I know it's not an easy move to do.
41:04 You know, I went through a whole series of doing double lifts without using two cards, and that came from there.
41:12 Here's another one. If you can get close for a second onto the mat.
41:15 Let me show you. I came up with a few things at that time, and I'll tell you the name of this in a moment.
41:20 Here's the seven of hearts. Can you see it?
41:22 I might have the spectator initial it, and then I'd say, "Fine, it's initialed, and look, it's already changed.
41:26 It's now the seven of spades."
41:28 What I just did has nothing to do with the ultra move except that it evolved around the same time.
41:32 It's called a scoop change.
41:34 Consider it a bonus. Consider it an extra.
41:36 I'll show you how it was done, and I'll go back to the ultra move, okay?
41:39 Look, as I put down the top card, remember, I was in a situation years ago where I wanted to do double lifts but starting with a single card.
41:47 Look, when I put the single top card down, I put it down this way.
41:50 Look what's happening. I'm putting a little crimp into that card as I drop it onto the table, and it's in perfect position for the move.
41:57 As the spectator signs or whatever, I prepare by doing exactly the same with the next card except I don't complete it.
42:03 It's ready to snap out. Do you see it?
42:05 Now, in slow motion, the reason I wanted to put a little crimp here is so that that's off the table.
42:10 You don't need a close-up pad for this. It works on any surface.
42:14 As I go to pick that card up, look, I drop this one, and it scoops under that one, and look.
42:19 Look at the movement. So that it's already changed. It's a very natural move.
42:23 Let me do it from the top now, and you'll see what's happening.
42:25 Look, without the explanation, I put down the card, and I say to the spectator, "Is that your card, or would you sign it, please?"
42:31 "Fine, let's leave it right here. Put your finger on it. Put an ashtray on it. Sit on it, do whatever you want. It's been changed."
42:38 My hobby is magic, but I got into magic so deeply that I needed a hobby to relax from my hobby.
42:45 One of my hobbies is origami. That's paper folding.
42:49 This is not, obviously, paper folding. This is paper tearing or cutting, and the name for that, the Japanese word for that, is kirigami.
42:56 Something happened the other day when I was doing this that I don't understand.
43:01 Michael, perhaps you can help me. Perhaps you people watching can help me.
43:06 What I did is tear a frame. Now, I know what you're thinking. What most laymen would think is that I put a secret tear in there.
43:11 So why don't you look, make sure there's not a secret tear in there. While you're doing that, I'll make another frame.
43:16 Now, the problem with this is that I know what you're thinking.
43:20 See, I'm also a bit of a mind reader. You're saying, "Sure, I examined that one, but what about this one?"
43:24 "You must be putting a secret tear in this one."
43:28 Well, let me show you that there's none, so why don't you take a look at this and make sure there's no secret tear.
43:32 Of course, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "While you're looking at that, I might put a secret tear in this one."
43:35 Well, why don't you look at this one and make sure there's no secret tear, Michael?
43:38 Well, I know you might think, "Why don't you do this? Why don't you take both of them and look at both of them at the same time, make sure there are no secret tears?"
43:44 There aren't. Take my word for it.
43:47 Now, I told you something happened the other day which I just don't understand.
43:50 Perhaps you can, if I can make it happen again, perhaps you can help me.
43:53 What happened was this. I had these two frames in my hands like this, and I was doing this, and what happened is they linked.
43:59 I mean they really linked. Now, I want you to see that. You can see. They are linked.
44:04 Now, you and I both know that it's physiologically impossible for them to be linked on the other side,
44:09 but when I turned them around, I saw they were linked there too.
44:12 Look, I couldn't get them apart. The only way I can get them apart would be by tearing them, but most people don't trust a magician.
44:19 Michael, give me your two pinching fingers and kind of get them in there and hold. That's it. Yeah, grab it.
44:24 Don't let-- Now, that's it. I want to turn this up. This way, I cannot get to where that link is, and right here, you can see there's no way to take these apart.
44:32 There really isn't. The only way I can get those apart is by tearing one of them.
44:36 However, I will not go near the link you're holding. Don't let me near there.
44:39 I'm going to tear one because, as I said, that's the only way to get them apart.
44:43 Now, you can let go, and if you can, Michael, take it with your hands just the way-- Yeah, that's it. That's it.
44:48 The way you got it is good, and look, they really are linked. That's the point I want you to see, and that's what I don't understand.
44:56 All there is to this is based on an old rubber band puzzle called horse and rider, and I took that puzzle and made a piece of entertainment out of it, a complete circle.
45:04 I've already torn one frame, and in the pattern, as you saw in the presentation, I cover it with talk.
45:10 Say anything you like. Incidentally, the word kirigami really does mean paper cutting, not paper tearing. I just make it fit, and you just cut a frame.
45:18 In other words, you fold in half. Be careful, and I don't want to go into the whole explanation.
45:23 Cut from the open end. Make as thin a frame as you can, but obviously don't tear through because then it simply doesn't mean anything.
45:30 With Lehman, you can get a lot of laughs on this. Michael, while he's examining that, and if you do that by play about, "I know what you're thinking.
45:38 You're thinking I'm putting a secret tear here. Why don't you look at this one and make sure there isn't, and then I keep doing this.
45:43 I know what you're thinking. You're thinking I'm putting a secret tear. Why don't you look at this one?"
45:46 With Lehman, that'll get big laughs, and milk it for all you can.
45:49 Finally, let him look at both of them. You really want to assure him that there are no secret tears.
45:53 Now, you saw me doing this. I'm making one concave and one convex. Don't ask me which is which. I don't know either, but one is concave.
46:01 One is convex, and that's only to make it easier to get into. This is what I mean by get into.
46:06 Now, here comes that horse and rider principle, the rubber band principle. I'm doing this.
46:11 Now, all I'm going to do is that. I'm going to place one piece into the other. That's the whole secret,
46:18 but I don't want that to be that obvious. That's why I'm doing this, and that's why one is bent one way and one the other, because I go in quickly.
46:24 Once I do this, and if my finger goes in here, I can show that linked. There's a link. They really are linked here.
46:32 Now, I'm very good at making up sentences that sound terrific but really have no meaning,
46:37 because the next thing I say after I show the link here, I say, "Now, we all know that it's physiologically impossible for them to be linked on the other side."
46:45 I have no idea what that means. I really don't. It doesn't mean anything, but it sure sounds good.
46:49 So now I turn it around and say, "But look, when I turned it around, I saw they really were linked."
46:54 As a matter of fact, now this is a strong piece. I put my other forefinger in there and do this,
46:59 and I pretend ordinarily that I'm trying to tear my force it against my chest, but they really look linked on each end.
47:05 Now, here comes the bit with the spectator. "Michael, give me your pinching fingers, thumb and forefinger, and grab the link. That's it."
47:11 Now, look, you are holding the link. There is no way I can get to that, and that's the whole point of this.
47:16 The only way I can take these apart now, and as you can see, they're linked here, is by tearing one, which I will do.
47:21 I'm going to tear one. Okay, now he's holding this link. That's very important.
47:25 If he wasn't holding these, these two pieces would fall apart, you see, because obviously they're not really linked now.
47:31 All right, so I tear this openly and deliberately. I make a big deal out of it, and you know, folks, I'm so pleased with this,
47:36 because now, darn it, these are really linked. I get a chill when I see it. They are really linked. They really are.
47:44 So now I'm going to take advantage of that. I say to him, "Look, I tore that. Don't let go there. I won't touch that, and I won't go near that."
47:50 Now I use an old magic principle. The spectator remembers the last thing he or she sees.
47:55 Michael grabbed them the way I've got them, and I say, "Take a look. They're really linked, and that's something I don't understand."
48:02 In other words, I bring it up right under his nose. This is the last thing he or she sees. That's what he's going to tell his grandchildren.
48:10 One of the requests I had was the amazing prediction. Now, Layman Patter, most magicians predict with one card.
48:17 I am an extremist. I like to go a little farther than that. I'm going to predict with two cards. Let me make sure I have them right.
48:23 Yeah, that seems about right. I've predicted two cards. Now I know what you're thinking, Michael.
48:27 My business is memory, and you may think, even though I'm shuffling the deck, that I've memorized some cards, which I assure you I haven't.
48:33 But would you cut the deck any way you like? Just cut the deck any way you like.
48:36 Now, where you just cut, I couldn't memorize because I didn't know where you were going to cut.
48:39 So I'd like you to take a few of these cards. Just take them in your hand if you would.
48:42 Now, you don't know how many cards I have there, do you? Seriously.
48:45 No.
48:46 Neither do I, but you may not believe me. I'll tell you what I'd like you to do. Grab a batch of those cards.
48:50 Take a bunch. Don't count them. Put them back.
48:52 Now, really, at this point, you don't know how many cards you have there. That's the truth.
48:55 Neither do I, neither does anybody watching.
48:57 But I want you and only you to know how many cards you have.
49:00 So reach under the table. I won't look, and count those cards silently.
49:03 And while you're doing that, I will take some cards out of the deck.
49:06 Now, have you counted those?
49:07 Yes, I have.
49:08 Do you know how many cards you have there?
49:09 Yes, I do.
49:10 Okay, this was a sneaky way to have you memorize a small number.
49:13 You have a small number in your mind now.
49:14 I'm going to count these cards for you, and whatever card falls at the position that you're thinking of, remember it.
49:20 In other words, if you're thinking of two, I will count them for you.
49:22 One, two, you would remember the second card.
49:24 Here we go.
49:25 One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
49:31 I'm assuming you don't have more than ten cards.
49:33 So you're memorizing one of these cards?
49:34 Have you got one in your mind?
49:35 Okay, you're sure now?
49:36 Yes.
49:37 All right.
49:38 A lot of people think that I can count cards very quickly and subtract from 52, and that way I know how many cards you have.
49:43 I won't do that.
49:44 As a matter of fact, give me the cards you have.
49:45 We'll put them on the bottom of the deck immediately, so they coalesce.
49:48 There's no way I can know what your number was.
49:50 Now, there's one other thing I would like you to do for me at this point, and that is cut about, oh, I'd say two-thirds of that deck.
50:00 Leave me a third.
50:01 Cut about two-thirds, yeah.
50:02 That's good enough.
50:03 I don't know if I have enough.
50:04 I usually can tell by--ah, to heck with it.
50:06 I'm going to go with this anyway.
50:07 Listen, those two cards have been out there since the beginning, and they're supposed to be prediction cards.
50:13 If they're really prediction cards, that should predict.
50:15 For example, that might tell me you're thinking of a club.
50:17 Is that correct?
50:18 That's right.
50:19 You're kidding.
50:20 I should quit while I'm at it?
50:21 You're really thinking of a club.
50:22 Well, if this tells me the sooth, perhaps this will tell me the value.
50:25 This might tell me you're thinking of an eight.
50:27 You mean I'm right?
50:28 You're thinking of the eight of clubs.
50:29 I'll be--you know something?
50:30 Three from eight is five.
50:31 That tells me you had five cards in your hand before.
50:34 You mean I'm still right?
50:36 I really should quit while--well, let me go a step further.
50:38 Eight and three is ten.
50:39 Eight and three is eleven.
50:40 If I count eleven cards--look, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven--would it be a miracle if this is the card you're thinking of?
50:48 And there's another thing here I don't understand.
50:50 After this whole mishmash, if I touch these two cards here, they also match.
50:54 I don't understand that.
50:56 The principle here is eleven.
50:59 That's the key number.
51:00 I'm kind of proud of this, and the reason I wanted to show you this is there's really no sleight of hand involved.
51:05 No sleight of hand at all.
51:06 There's a three-card setup.
51:08 That's it.
51:09 Look, here's one way it could be set up.
51:12 I need--if--let me put it this way.
51:14 It sounds complicated.
51:15 It isn't.
51:16 Let me put it this way.
51:17 I look through the deck, and I see a red eight.
51:18 The next card must be a black eight.
51:20 Now, the next card must be the value that adds eight to eleven, which is obviously three.
51:25 It's got to be the same color as that second eight, but not the same suit.
51:29 That leaves you with only one card, and that is the three of spades.
51:32 Now, think about this for a second, and you'll have it in your mind.
51:36 Start with any card, any spot card.
51:38 Put the next of the same value but a different color, and then whatever adds it to eleven but a different--
51:44 same color as the second one but a different suit.
51:46 Now, we're coming in close, so I want you to see this.
51:49 Look, the top card is the eight of hearts.
51:51 I happen to have the eight of clubs after it.
51:53 Eight from eleven is three.
51:55 I need a black three because my second eight is black.
51:58 I need a black three, but it cannot be the same suit as that black eight.
52:02 Therefore, it must be the three of spades.
52:04 Now, the same thing would work.
52:05 I'll give you one other example.
52:06 Let's take--here's a black seven.
52:08 Here's a red seven next to it.
52:10 Seven from eleven is four.
52:12 It would have to be a red four but not the heart because that seven is a heart,
52:16 so it would have to be the four of diamonds.
52:18 In other words, this setup would work just as well.
52:21 So it would work with sixes and fives, aces and tens, seven and four I just showed you.
52:25 Since I have the eight and three, let's use this.
52:27 Now, it will always work with anything that adds to eleven, and that's on top of the deck.
52:31 That's all, three-card setup.
52:33 You can be shuffling the deck.
52:34 Use a jarred shuffle.
52:36 Now, I'm going to predict with two cards, and where I put them on the table is important.
52:41 Look, I even took away the memory problem.
52:43 Here's my setup.
52:44 To my left is a red eight, so I look for a red eight in my deck.
52:49 That's going to be my first prediction card.
52:51 Now, I'm going to do this without doing a fan, only so it works quickly.
52:54 Here's a red eight, and the next one's going to be the black three.
52:57 And I do this from a fan so the spectator can't see, and obviously I put them face down.
53:02 But I want you to see why I'm putting down those two cards.
53:05 Look, here's my three-card setup.
53:07 Red eight to the left.
53:08 I predict the red eight here.
53:10 Black three to the right.
53:11 I predict the black three there.
53:12 Have you got that?
53:14 Okay.
53:15 Look, my pattern--these are face down, obviously.
53:18 My pattern is that you may think--and incidentally, I shuffle here, keeping the three vital cards on top.
53:23 My pattern is you may think I've memorized the deck.
53:26 Well, that fits me because my business is memory, but you can use it too.
53:29 Or use any reason you like to have the spectator cut.
53:32 So, Michael, cut the deck anywhere.
53:34 And my pattern is where you cut--I couldn't have memorized because I didn't know where you're going to cut.
53:38 Remember, my setup is on that half.
53:40 At this moment, I must give him nine cards.
53:43 I mean nine cards exactly.
53:44 If I give him eight or ten, it will not work.
53:47 This is a mathematical effect, but I hide all the mathematics.
53:49 That's the point.
53:50 So what I do is I throw down four and five like that, very casually.
53:55 Now, I said there was no sleight of hand, and there isn't.
53:57 You can pick this up and drop it right on top of these.
53:59 That's not sleight of hand.
54:01 What I do, very honestly, is I put that half here and I leave a step.
54:05 So when I pick up, I can get a break at the step and double cut to my break just to throw off any magician that's watching.
54:10 But all I care about is to get my setup back on top.
54:13 My pattern at this point, Michael, take the cards.
54:15 You don't know how many cards you have there, do you?
54:17 And he really doesn't.
54:18 But now I say, "Neither do I."
54:20 But just in case you think I do, grab a batch.
54:22 Really grab a batch and throw them back on top.
54:24 Now, it won't work if I didn't do that.
54:26 That's part of the mathematics.
54:28 But the way I make it look good is to say, "Now you really don't know how many cards you have there."
54:32 And I couldn't know, and that's the truth.
54:34 Put those under the table and count them.
54:36 Now I have him count them, and while he's counting, I say, "I'm going to take a few cards off the deck also."
54:42 And I take exactly 10.
54:44 Exactly 10 cards, and I've reversed them.
54:47 Now, I just realized that this is going to be very difficult to teach because I didn't count them.
54:50 You didn't see me count them.
54:51 But look, there's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 cards.
54:55 Let me re-reverse them and show you.
54:57 I do it in beats in my mind.
54:59 I don't know if this is important to you, but I'll explain it to you anyway.
55:02 I have 3, 3, 1 in my mind, and I can do that while I'm talking.
55:05 So while I'm talking to him, I say, "I will take some cards from the deck also," and I know that I have 10 cards there.
55:11 So I hide all mathematics.
55:13 The point is you have to take 10 cards from the top of the deck and reverse them.
55:17 At this point, he knows how many cards he has there.
55:19 I do not.
55:20 But look what happens.
55:21 Did you count them?
55:22 Do you know how many you have there?
55:23 Okay, remember the card that falls at that position.
55:25 Don't tell me how many you have there yet.
55:27 Look. I go 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and I see my force card, the center 8, is going to be the force card.
55:36 Let me explain that to you again.
55:38 I had set up an 8, a black 8, and a 3.
55:41 The center card, the black 8, is the one he's going to think of no matter what.
55:44 So I count them out loud.
55:46 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
55:48 Not only do I know I forced the 8 of clubs, but because it fell in 5th position, that tells me that he has 5 cards there,
55:55 which is a lovely piece of information which no other magician can backtrack.
55:58 Okay, he's remembered this.
56:00 I picked these up.
56:01 These must go on the bottom of the deck proper so you can do it that way.
56:04 Again, what I do is I lay them on the top, leaving a step, and then I grab a break at the step and cut them,
56:10 double cut them to the bottom.
56:12 Now I do the patter about not counting the cards.
56:14 Quickly, give me your cards, and I'll drop them right to the bottom so they coalesce.
56:17 Now, I need more than 11 cards from the bottom of the deck.
56:22 The way I do it is I say, "Michael, cut off about two-thirds and leave me a third."
56:26 Then I know I'm going to have more than 11.
56:28 Now, I have to reverse these cards.
56:30 I have to reverse them.
56:32 Again, I don't want to make it look obvious, so I say, "I don't know if I have enough here.
56:36 I had a heck with it.
56:37 I'm going to go with them.
56:38 I don't care."
56:39 Listen, those things were there all from the beginning.
56:41 In other words, I just reverse them without saying a thing.
56:43 If you don't make an issue over it, nobody's going to notice it.
56:46 I just start talking right away while I'm reversing these, and I say, "If these are prediction cards,"
56:51 "I've been there since before you thought of a card,"
56:53 "this might tell me the sooth of your card, which is a club."
56:56 Now, of course, he's going to say yes because this works automatically.
56:59 I do an acting thing here as if I'm surprised as much as he is, and I say, "You mean I'm right?"
57:05 "I should quit while I'm ahead."
57:06 "Well, wait a minute. If that tells me the sooth, maybe this will tell me the value."
57:09 "This might tell me you're thinking of an eight."
57:11 Of course, he says yes.
57:12 He's thinking of the eight of clubs.
57:13 I say, "I'll be darned. I ought to quit."
57:15 Now, this falls out perfectly because I could say three from eight is five.
57:19 That tells me you had five cards in your hand.
57:21 Now, if this didn't work out mathematically, I'd say club spells with five letters.
57:25 That told me you have five.
57:26 I have been known to say club spells with six letters.
57:28 That told me you have six cards in your hand, and I keep right on going,
57:31 and nobody's ever called me on it, you see?
57:33 In other words, say anything to make this logical.
57:36 So, you've now told him his card.
57:37 You've told him how many cards he had in his hand.
57:41 Now, the rest is automatic.
57:42 Look, eight and three is 11.
57:43 One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, and I drop this here.
57:48 Would it be a miracle if this was your thought-off card, which it always will be?
57:53 And then I say, "And there's something I really don't understand.
57:56 After this whole mess, if I were to touch these two cards, these match.
58:00 I don't understand that."
58:01 And incidentally, that's automatic.
58:02 It will always work if you follow my instructions.
58:06 [Music]