The royal road to card magic pdf free download

This is like a reward for you learning a new sleight! The effects is done on table, I cant imagine using the effects I learned so far I'm in Dvd 2 right now in strolling street magic. MOST of the effects tought are anywhere anytime effects. I will review some of the effects, along with some of my performing experiances. Topsy-Turvy Cards: You cut the deck, and flip the stack over. I use this as an opener. VERY simple to do. Good one. The Three Piles: They cut to 3 piles.. But you still find it.

An effect using Key Card in a unique way. I didnt like it at first.. I knocked em off! Thought Stealer: They Choose 5 cards.. MUCH stronger! I use this one ALL the time! This is a killer, a total killer for laymen. End of story. This is most important, for it means that no matter where you may be, you need only borrow a deck of cards when called upon to entertain; the ability to amuse and interest will be literally at your finger tips.

To ensure that you will be a good card magician, we have introduced you to the mysteries of card magic progressively. Each chapter describes a new sleight or principle and a selection of tricks follows in which that particular sleight, and those already learned, are the only ones used. We do not suggest that all the tricks in each section should be mastered before you pass on to the next sleight. You should, however, select at least two of them and learn them so well that you can perform them smoothly and entertainingly before going any farther.

These tricks have been chosen with the greatest care and every one of them is effective if properly done. If you find that, in your hands, a certain trick falls flat, you can rest assured that the fault is yours, and that further study is required. Clearly, to travel the royal road to card magic, you must begin with the fundamental principles and learn these well, as you would in learning any other art. Fortunately, the study of card conjuring is a delightful task and one that is no less than fascinating.

But after being transported to the magical world of Arenia, normal isn't a luxury they can afford. It's just another Thanksgiving for the Sullivans-until the walls disappear and they discover they are being transported to Arenia, a place where game rules are real and their Earthen ability to reincarnate grants them unlimited potential.

Or it would, if the celestial administrator in charge of their case hadn't mixed up longitude and latitude and sent the wrong family. Too bad he already faked their deaths. Now scattered throughout the Arenian wilderness and armed only with their Tomes-books containing all of their skills, accomplishments, and quests-the family members must discover a strength they didn't know they had if they are going to survive long enough to find each other. Note: Contains some profanity and a turkey, but not a profane turkey.

Personally, I'm fine with profane turkeys, but if that's where you draw the line, you should know that there are none in this book. In fact, I'm going to promise you no profane turkeys for the entire series.

That's my gift to you. Jason wakes up in a mysterious world of magic and monsters. It's not easy making the career jump from office-supplies-store middle manager to heroic interdimensional adventurer. You can divert attention by having someone show to others a card which he holds; as everyone glances at it, you perform the necessary sleight.

Know what your patter will be for a given trick. Not only will your patter help in entertaining your audience, but it aids in concealing the modus operandi of the feat. Since a certain amount of a person's powers of concentration must be devoted to assimilating that which you say, he cannot analyse quite so clearly that which you do.

Finally, we should mention that we have not included the more recondite and difficult card sleights, such as the second and bottom deals, which in any event are performed well by only a few topflight card experts. Later, when you have learned all that we have given in this book, you may, if you like, progress to these sleights, which you will find in Expert Card Technique, and other books. For the time being we urge you to confine your knowledge of card magic to this book, learning how to do, and how to perform, the fine tricks which we give.

And now we have talked to you long enough; you are impatient to savour the good things to come. To you we say "Bon Voyage! Anyone who plays cards has learned to execute the overhand shuffle.

It is a simple operation, yet it is the first step--and a very important one--on the road to the mastery of card magic. It is essential that you master this first step before continuing on your journey, and for this reason we urge you to learn the various shuffles and perform the many fine tricks which they make possible before you pass on to the other sections.

Each succeeding chapter in this book, except the last, leads to the one which follows and supplements the one which preceded. By resisting the impulse to learn everything at once but by practising each step as you go, you will, with a speed that will amaze you, soon have travelled the entire road; when finally in that way you have reached its end, you will be a far more competent card conjurer than will the more impatient reader.

With this final word of caution, we now start you on your pleasant journey. Position of the Pack in the Hands It is essential that the cards be handled neatly and precisely, and the first requisite towards acquiring this neatness of execution is the position of the pack in the hands. Hold your left hand half closed, palm upwards, and place the pack in it, face downwards, so that the third phalanx of the index finger is bent against the outer left corner.

The middle and ring fingers, slightly bent, rest against the face of the bottom card; the little finger curls inwards so that its side rests against the inner end, and the thumb rests on the top card, its tip near the middle of the outer end. The pack should slope downwards towards the left at an angle of about forty-five degrees, its lower side resting along the palm of the hand. In this position the pack can be gripped, as in a forceps, between the index and the little fingers by pressing them against the opposite ends Fig.

This position of the pack gives one perfect control of the cards and should be strictly adhered to. The grip should be firm but light; in fact, the lightest touch possible, consistent with security, must be cultivated from the outset. Execution of the Overhand Shuffle 1. Holding the pack as described above, seize the lower half with the right hand between the top phalanx of the thumb, at the middle of the inner end, and the top phalanges of the middle and ring fingers at the middle of the outer end.

Bend the index finger lightly on the upper side of the deck, letting the little finger remain free. Lift this lower packet upwards to clear the other portion of the pack, then bring it downwards over the other cards until its lower side touches the left palm. Press the left thumb against the top card of this packet and simultaneously lift the right hand so that the card, or cards, pulled off by the left thumb fall on top of the packet retained in the left hand.

Repeat this action until all the cards held by the right hand have been shuffled off on to those held by the left hand. Pat the upper side of the deck with the outstretched fingers of the right hand to square the cards. Since the overhand shuffle is generally repeated, this action is absolutely essential to a clean execution.

In making this shuffle do not look at your hands and the cards. Practise this from the outset and so form the habit, which is an essential factor in the manoeuvres which follow and are done under cover of the action of this shuffle. The speed at which the shuffle is executed should be about the same as that used by any card player, neither too fast nor too slow, and the tempo should be an even one throughout.

Holding the deck as explained, lift it with the right hand, and with the left thumb draw off the top card only in the first movement of the shuffle. Without the slightest pause or hesitation shuffle the other cards on to this one until the shuffle has been completed. The top card is now at the bottom of the pack. Again lift the entire pack and repeat the shuffle you have just made down to the last card, which we know was the card originally at the top.

Drop this card on top of all the others in the last movement of the shuffle. After a few trials you will find that this last card will cling to the thumb and fingers without any conscious effort on your part. In this sleight, as well as in the others to follow, the action must become automatic so that you can look at, talk with, and give your whole attention to your audience. Only in this way can you convince the onlookers that the shuffle is genuine, and you should never forget that it is at this very starting point that illusion begins or is destroyed.

If you stare fixedly at your hands while shuffling, Suspicion will inevitably be aroused, and if a spectator suspects that you have "done something" the illusion of your magic is gone. In practising this shuffle and those that follow, it is a good plan to turn the top card face upwards so that at the finish you can see at a glance if you have made it correctly.

Controlling the Bottom Card 1. Lift the lower half of the pack to begin the shuffle, and in so doing press lightly on the bottom card with the tips of the left middle and ring fingers, holding it back and thus adding it to the bottom of the packet remaining in the left hand.

Shuffle off the cards remaining in the right hand, and repeat the action if desired. Nothing could be simpler than this control, and the sleight is valuable because of its ease and naturalness. Retaining the Top and Bottom Cards in Position 1. Grip the entire pack with the right hand to start the shuffle, at the same time pressing lightly on the top card with the left thumb and on the bottom card Fig. Continue the shuffle, without pause, until completed. Pat the upper side of the deck square and repeat the moves exactly as before by lifting out all but the top and bottom cards, then shuffle off to the last card of those held in the right hand, the card originally at the top, and drop it back again on the top.

Be careful not to pull the cards away sharply in the first movement of the shuffle, making the top and bottom cards come together with a "click. Note that by placing two known cards at the bottom and a third at the top, all three cards can be controlled by this valuable artifice. Practise the sleight in this way until you can do it with ease and certainty. Lift the pack for the shuffle, retaining the top and bottom cards in the left hand as in the preceding sleight.

Shuffle the cards in the right hand on to the two cards in the left hand without hesitation. The card originally on the top is now next to the bottom card.

Again lift the pack, retaining the top and bottom cards in the left hand. Shuffle off the cards in the fight hand upon the two in the left, allowing the bottom card to fall last, thus returning the top card to its original position. Later you will find that this sleight is useful for showing that a chosen card which you are controlling is neither at the top nor at the bottom of the pack. The Run In magical parlance, this term means the pulling off of cards one by one from the right hand packet with the aid of the left thumb in the course of the shuffle.

To make the run, press the left thumb lightly on the back of the top card of the right hand packet while holding this latter packet just tightly enough to allow one card only to escape.

It is very important that the single cards be drawn off at the same tempo as the rest of the shuffle, so that there will be no hesitation at the start of the shuffle or its end. A few minutes' practice with cards that are in good condition will prove how easy the sleight is, yet it is one of the most useful in the card man's arsenal. The Injog This term is applied to the subterfuge of causing a card to project about one quarter of an inch from the inner end of the deck.

It is one of the oldest stratagems in magic, having been in use for three and a half centuries. It was first mentioned in Scott's Discouverie of Witchcraft, published in The action of jogging a card is a simple one. In the course of the shuffle, when a card is to be jogged, move the fight hand slightly towards the body, draw off one card with the left thumb, then move the hand back to its former position and continue the shuffle in the usual way.

The card thus jogged should rest on the little finger tip, which enables you to know, by sense of touch alone, that the card is in the proper position Fig. It is advisable at the start to make the card protrude about half an inch and, in shuffling off the remaining cards from the right hand, to make them lie irregularly so that the protruding card is covered and concealed. With practice the jogging of the card can be reduced to approximately a quarter of an inch.

Here again it is most important that there shall be no alteration in the tempo. The card must be jogged and the shuffle continued without the least hesitation. The Undercut This sleight is used to bring the cards directly under a jogged card to the top of the pack, in the following manner: A card having been jogged and the shuffle completed, bring the fight hand upwards from a position a little below the left hand so that the point of the thumb will strike against the face of the jogged card, lifting it and the cards above it slightly; then move the right hand outwards with the lower packet, the thumbnail scraping against the face of the jogged card while the middle and ring fingers close on the outer end of the packet.

Lift the packet clear and throw it on the top of the deck. This action brings the jogged card to the bottom and the card directly below it to the top of the pack.

To undercut to a jogged card is a very simple action if the right thumb strikes upward, not inward Fig. The chosen card is revealed by the magician in some startling way. To do this the chosen card must be controlled, and one of the easiest, best, and most natural methods is by using the overhand shuffle. Here are the moves: 1. Let us suppose that a card has been freely chosen by a spectator. While he notes what it is, you begin an overhand shuffle and, when you have shuffled about half the cards into your left hand, move that hand toward the spectator, tacitly inviting him to replace his card.

He puts it on the top of those in your left hand and you immediately resume your shuffle by running three cards flush on top of the chosen card, jogging the next card, and shuffling off the remainder freely. Undercut below the jogged card, as already explained, and throw the packet on top.

The chosen card will then be the fourth card from the top of the pack and you can deal with it as you please. For example, possibly in the course of the shuffle the chosen card may have arrived at the top or bottom of the pack; therefore you take off three cards from the top and spread them face outwards, asking the spectator if his card is among them. Never say, "You see your card is not there. Throw the three cards casually on the table. Then show several cards at the bottom.

Finally gather up the three cards by placing the pack on them and picking up all together. You have the chosen card on the top, yet the onlookers will be convinced, if you have done your part simply and naturally, that the chosen card is lost in the pack and beyond your control. Thus you have succeeded in the most important part of the trick, for whenever a chosen card is controlled in some abnormal fashion your purpose is defeated.

The real illusion of card magic begins with the conviction on the part of the spectator that his card is lost among the others.

Without that conviction the trick -has already failed. Retaining Top Stock by the Overhand Shuffle Control The overhand shuffle control is extremely useful in tricks where it is necessary to retain a card or cards at the top of the pack while giving the impression that you are shuffling the cards. To do this, undercut the lower half with the right hand, and, in the first movement of the shuffle, injog the first card drawn off by the left thumb.

Upon it shuffle the rest of the cards held in the right hand. Undercut below the injogged card and throw this packet on top. Although you have seemingly mixed the cards, you have retained the desired cards at the top. Overhand False Shuffle Many fine card feats depend on the fact that the pack has been arranged in a certain order familiar to the magician. To retain that order while apparently mixing the cards thoroughly, proceed as follows: 1.

Begin an overhand shuffle by undercutting half the deck. Run five cards on to the original upper half of the deck. That is to say, pull off five cards singly with the left thumb, then throw the remaining packet on top making it protrude about half an inch beyond the outer end of the cards in the left hand Fig.

Press the tip of the left index finger against the face of this protruding packet and seize the cards below it by the ends, between the fight thumb and middle finger. Lift them, again run five cards, and throw the remainder on top. The whole pack will be in its original order.

The action consists simply of reversing the order of five cards in the middle of the deck and then, by reversing these same five cards again, bringing them back to their original order, the rest of the cards not having been disturbed. Done smoothly and rather rapidly, not looking at your hands and while addressing the spectators, the shuffle is completely deceptive.

Turn the top card face upward. Shuffle it to the bottom and back to the top again. Shuffle it to the bottom. Shuffle again, retaining it there, then shuffle it back to the top. Reverse the card now at the bottom.

Shuffle, retaining the top and bottom cards in position. Shuffle the top card to the next to bottom and back to the top. The two reversed cards should be at the top and bottom. Check your work. Control the top reversed card only by means of the overhand shuffle control, which will give you facility in the run, the injog and the undercut.

Again check your work. The original top card should now be the fourth from the top of the pack. If that is the case and you have made the shuffles smoothly, you have made excellent progress toward acquiring this most useful of all card sleights. Practise until you can make the shuffles without looking at your hands, and at the same time keep up an easy flow of conversation. With the simple principles explained in the preceding sections, which can be learned in the course of a pleasant half-hour's toying with a pack of cards, you have a golden key which will unlock the door to many of the most entertaining card tricks it is possible to perform.

Since the best way to learn to do magic is to do magic, in the next section several tricks are explained in which the principles you have already learned are put to use. A good card trick--and by that we mean a card trick which entertains, surprises, amuses, and puzzles an audience--has certain attributes: 1.

It has a simple plot. It must not be confusing to those who watch. The modus operandi is simple. It is interesting. It has a surprising denouement. The following tricks afford excellent practice in applying the different principles you have learned and will start your repertoire with some of the finest feats of card magic.

In this effect one half of the pack is placed face to face with the other half, yet, on the word of command, the cards right themselves so that all of them face the same way.

Whenever possible you should use a borrowed deck, and we shall suppose that one has been handed to you with the request: "Show us some card tricks. Take the pack and place it face down on your left hand. With your left thumb spread the cards by pushing them over to the fight hand under pretence of examining the backs. Take hold of the outer end of the deck between the right thumb on top and the fingers on the bottom, lift it and turn it over inwards--that is to say, towards your body--and lay it in your left hand, face upwards.

Spread the cards as before, showing the faces and remarking, "Just ordinary cards, aren't they? Grasp the outer end of the deck as before and turn it over inward on to the left hand and on to the face-up card. Square the pack and hold it in your left hand so that it slopes downward a little; thus no one can see the reversed card now on the bottom.

Cut off about half the cards by grasping them at the ends between the fight thumb and middle finger. Turn the right hand over with a little flourish to show the face card of this packet and look at that card yourself, saying, "I turn one half of the cards face upward, so.

Still keeping your eyes fixed on the face card of the packet in your right hand, continue: "I'll put this packet face upwards on the back of my left hand. The packet in the left hand, which the spectators think is face downwards, is really face upward with a single reversed card on top.

Draw out the packet from your left hand, grasping it at the sides near the ends, as you say, "These facedown cards I'll place on the faceup packet," and you do so, being careful to slope the packet so that no glimpse can be had of its bottom card.

Take the pack off the back of your left hand and replace it in that hand, which you turn palm upwards, between the tips of the thumb on one side and the fingers on the other. With the right hand turn the pack over sideways three times, each time taking it between the left thumb and fingers as you say, "You see half the pack faces one way, the other half the reverse way. I shall therefore order all the face-up cards to turn face downwards.

Let me show you what I mean. I take one of the face-up cards, so. All the cards are face downwards. You have trained your cards well. I am sure we shall have a great success with them. It may be composed of the simplest elements, yet, given a plausible plot and dressed with appropriate patter, it can be transformed into an imposing illusion.

In other words, it is not so much what you do as what you make the onlookers think you do. The preceding trick affords an example of this fact. Merely to take the cards and go through the motions of apparently reversing them would be a tame affair, a mere curiosity. Asserting that the cards are intelligent, that they can be trained to act by themselves, puts a different complexion on the matter.

The onlookers are amused by your fairy tale; they take a greater interest in the performance and sometimes actually persuade themselves that there might be something in it after all. It has been said that "the proper way to do tricks is to do tricks. Good presentation can only be acquired by actual performance before an audience, even if it is composed only of your home circle. Confidence in yourself is the main thing. If you know that you can do the trick without any possible hitch, then you can devote your whole attention to "putting across" the fairy tales which you are telling.

To help you in gaining this confidence, we shall from time to time explain tricks which practically work themselves--self-workers, as they are called. The art of interspersing these self-workers with tricks that call for skill is an important principle of card magic.

The most eminent magicians use self-workers; but they use only the good ones, never those which call for endless dealing of cards or obvious mathematical principles.

Some of the good self-workers are gems of subtlety and misdirection. Some of them depend on faults of observation on the part of the spectators; many depend on the inability of most people to understand properly what is being done.

The trick that follows is one of the latter kind and, when you have performed it, you will be astonished at the effect it causes. It is called A Poker Player's Picnic.

Turning the top card of each packet himself, he finds that he has actually cut to the four aces. If you make this your first trick, you must beforehand place the four aces on the top of the pack. If you wish to do it following other tricks, or with a borrowed deck, then you must get the aces to the top secretly. Never attempt to do that furtively. Run over the faces of the cards, holding them so that no one else can see them and at the same time saying, "I suppose these are ordinary cards?

If so, I don't want that card. If there is a joker, discard it. If you do the work openly and casually, to the onlookers you are merely toying with the cards and your actions pass without special notice. OK Cancel. Login to make your opinion count. Username or Email. Password Forgot your password? Log me in automatically on each visit. Sign up. Latest Topics. Private Messages : Unread. Posted Reply with quote 1.

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