CAPÍTULO II. MARCO TEÓRICO
2.2 Factores Independientes
2.2.4 La M arca
It was way back in the early '60s that I found myself sitting with Gus Southall and Walt Rollins at a British Ring convention. How I came to be in such exalted company is a long story.
Rollins was holding the fort. He placed a pack in front of me, inviting me to cut it into four piles. I did so and with no further ado, he turned over the top card of each pile and showed it to be an ace! I was staggered and any thoughts of showing one of my tricks were quickly abandoned. I was way out of my depth and knew it only too well.
Walt Rollins used the effect as a repeat gag during his close-up act. On several occasions he would place the pack in front of somebody and have them cut the aces. It would get to the stage where he would no longer bother to ask - simply putting the pack in front of the person and nodding was enough - the effect gaining in strength and reaction with every repetition. In some ways, it was a foretaste of Albert Goshman's coin under the salt cellar
- a treat we had to wait several more years to experience, in those far-off days.
Since then, I have had an ongoing fascination with the effect and have eagerly studied every method I could find in print. Few have satisfied me, as they all seem to involve too much handling before the aces are actually revealed. With Rollins, it was simple, casual and direct - the cards were cut and the aces turned over! No possibility of switching; no delay; no funny moves. Perhaps there were, but there did not seem to be - and I still do not know how he did it!
Anyway, here is one of the cleanest methods I developed for my own use in commercial situations. It needs a short card, so the "purists" will not like it.
Put the short card on top of the face-down pack and then place the four face-down aces above it. You are now ready.
WORKING
1. Plonk the face-down pack in front of a spectator and request that it be cut into four piles.
This should be done so that they finish in a row, with the one with the aces on top to your right.
2. With your right hand, pick off the top card of the pile on the extreme left. This is done by seizing its short ends from above, the thumb at the inner and the second finger at the outer.
The forefinger presses lightly on the centre of the back.
Without showing the card's face, go straight to the next pile and lift off its top card beneath the one you already hold. Keep the two in alignment, although this does not have to be perfect; just avoid any wide overlap. However, it is important to have the two cards slightly separated at the inner end by holding a small thumb break between them.
Without hesitating, go straight to the third pile and pretend to lift off its top card in exactly the same way, taking it beneath the other two. In fact, you do nothing of the sort.
Instead, release the lower card of the two you hold, so that it is deposited on top of the pile and only one remains in your right hand.
Without pausing, go straight to the fourth pile and in the guise of lifting off its top card
beneath the three you supposedly hold, feel for the short card with your thumb, and pick off all those above it. You now hold four aces and one indifferent card.
3. Turn the five-card packet face up, keeping it square and allow the ace on the front to be seen. Then slowly fan out the top three cards, keeping the bottom two in alignment as one.
Four aces will be seen and, because there is only one extra card to hide, they can be handled with considerable freedom.
Some magicians may feel that the presence of the fifth card is a weakness in the method, and may wish to palm it away or otherwise dispose of it. However, I use this trick as an intro to my Open Travellers routine, where secretly having an extra card is a necessary part of the method, so I am happy for it to be there.
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"X" M ARKS THE S POT
By Val Le-Val
This is my version of "Mark of the Pirate" by Joe Gattis.
In the original effect a handkerchief is displayed showing a cross marked on it to represent the mark of the pirate Captain Hook. The handkerchief is then held by a spectator in his closed hand. A card is selected to represent the treasure which is subsequently "buried" into the pack. After some concentration, the "X" vanishes from the handkerchief and appears on the back of the selected card. Finally the "X" vanishes from the card and reappears back on the handkerchief.
Whilst the trick is a good one, I never found it to be 100% in performance. The method depended on the heat of the spectator's hand to make the cross disappear from the
handkerchief. If the spectator had cool hands, or the room temperature was cool, it just didn't work. Another point was if the cross did appear, it did so too quickly, not allowing enough time to display and show the disappearance.
Also, there are now toy cars on the market which change colour using exactly the same method, that is, you hold the car in your clenched hand and the heat causes the colour to change, then after a short while it reverts to its original colour.
So, here is a method, which uses the same handkerchief as supplied, but overcomes the above problems.
REQUIREMENTS
What you require is a chemical hand warmer, which is a paper packet about the size of a tea-bag. The ones I use are manufactured by a company called "Mycoal" and are available from sports equipment shops here in the UK. They come in pairs and are very cheap to buy. One of these is placed into your top outer jacket pocket prior to the performance.
You also require a pack of cards and one double backer to match. On one side of this double backer draw a large "X" then lightly wax the other side at the outer end only. With the pack face down the double backer is placed on the bottom with the "X" side uppermost.
WORKING
1. Begin by saying, "You have probably heard of Captain Hook, he was a pirate, and all the treasure he plundered, he buried. But he didn't need any maps with an "X" to mark the spot because he was into voodoo and mysticism, he carried his "X" in his
handkerchief!"
Display the handkerchief to show the "X" then bunch up the centre and tuck it into the top jacket pocket with the bulk of it hanging out. Now introduce the pack of cards, saying, "As we don’t have any island or any treasure, we’ll use this pack of cards to demonstrate. The pack will be the island and we'll have a card selected to represent the treasure."
2. Fan the pack, taking care not to flash the double backer on the bottom, and have a card selected. You now start. to Overhand Shuffle, saying that you are digging a hole for the treasure (card) and ask the spectator to call stop. When stop is called, have the card
replaced on top of the left hand section then throw the balance on top and square up. This places the double backer on top of the selection which will now adhere to it due to the wax.
Place the pack to one side.
3. Continue, saying, "All Captain Hook had to do when he wanted to find the treasure was to concentrate on the "X" on his handkerchief and the "X" would disappear...."
Remove the handkerchief from your pocket and hold it displayed between the hands to reveal that the "X" has vanished. The hand warmer will guarantee this. Once the effect has registered, bunch up the handkerchief and casually place it aside, as you continue, saying,
"....and appear on the spot where the treasure was buried."
Pick up the pack and spread through until you come to the "X" card. Remove this card (really two as one with the selection stuck on the underside of the double backer) and flip it face up on top of the pack to reveal the selected card. Slide off the selection alone, which is easy due to the wax being at the front edge only, and place it face up on the. table. Take care not to prematurely expose the back.
4. Now state, "After Captain Hook had found his treasure and he had taken out what he wanted, he buried the rest again and of course he couldn't leave his "X" lying around for someone else to find. So all he had to do was concentrate again and the "X" would disappear from the treasure ( Flip over the card to show that the "X" has vanished ) and appear once again on his handkerchief!"
As you say the final remark, pick up the handkerchief and display it to show that the "X" has returned.
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SNOZ!
By Val Le-Val
EFFECT
A few pictures of bottles of perfume are shown. One is selected and placed back into the packet and the packet mixed up. You then mention that you could find the selection by
merely sniffing which card and picking up the scent from the person who selected it, but you have a more sophisticated way of finding it. The cards are laid in a face down row on the table, and then you introduce SNOZ. This is a mechanical wind-up walking nose. SNOZ is placed at the end of the row and he proceeds to walk along. At one point he stops on one of the cards. The other cards are turned over and none is the selected perfume. You lift SNOZ and turn over the card he stopped on revealing the chosen perfume.
REQUIREMENTS
I use seven cards, each bearing a picture of a different bottle of perfume. Mine are cut from catalogues and stuck onto card stock which is then laminated. You will also need a wind-up walking nose! These are available in many toy shops.
Lay your cards on a wide row on the table. Now wind the nose up and let it walk over the row of cards. See how far it walks and on which card it stops. Do this a few times until you’re sure it will stop on the same card.
I always have mine stop at the fourth card (centre). This means I can work from either end of the row. There many variables to consider - the toy mechanism you buy, how many cards you use, how many turns of the key, plus the spacing between each card. So there’s much trial and error.
WORKING
1. Show the seven cards then ask a spectator to mix them. Take the packet and fan it face down inviting the spectator to pick one. As she is looking at it, close the fan so the cards turn end for end. Re-fan the cards and have the selection pushed back into the fan. Immediately give the cards to the spectator for further mixing. The selected bottle will now point in the opposite way to all the others, thanks to the one-way principle.
2. Take the cards and hold them with the faces towards you in a fan. Hold the fan up to your nose, saying, "I could find your chosen perfume by merely sniffing each card then
picking up the scent from the person who chose it." But what you really do here is glance at the faces and note which bottle points one way, and also where it lies from the top of the packet.
3. Close up the fan and hold the cards ace down. Give them a little mix, secretly repositioning the chosen card at the required position for SNOZ to walk to when the cards are laid out in a row.
Deal the cards into a row, then bring out SNOZ. Now proceed as explained in the EFFECT above.
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