The following was inspired by Chris Carter/Doc Eason’s “Anniversary Waltz,” and those familiar with that effect will spot the obvious similarities. That said, I hope it’s sufficiently different to be of interest to those looking for an occasional change.
Effect
Shuffling the cards, you announce that they represent the rocky road to romance. “All the people,” you inform your audience, “with whom you might have fallen in love.”
You now propose taking two people – a married couple – on a sentimental journey.
Have two cards selected, remembered and signed. The couple sign each other’s card, not their own. Signing each other’s cards, you explain, is a form of sharing, like marriage itself. You then shuffle the cards back into the deck.
“I’m an old romantic,” you continue, fanning the cards face down. “Some people are meant to be together, and I think you are two of those people. But let’s put it to the test. Let’s see if, among all these strangers, you can find each other again.”
With that, you run through the deck and have each person touch a card. These two cards are placed face down on the table.
“Wouldn’t it be amazing,” you suggest, “if out of all these cards you found each other’s – just as you found each other in real life?”
Have them turn over their selections. They have indeed found each other’s card – but the cards are now unsigned…
“You found each other,” you say, “but these cards represent the people you were before you fell in love and married, so they’re not yet signed. Of course, what’s more interesting is – if you hadn’t met each other, who might you have met?”
At this point, you ask them to turn over the rest of the deck. Every one of the cards is blank.
“It seems,” you tell them, “that you were destined to meet each other and no one else.” Picking up the unsigned cards, you say, “I’ll take these two, because you don’t need them – but I’d like to give you a memento of this day.”
With that, you reach into your pocket and remove a sealed envelope which you hand to the lady. She opens it. Inside is a small greetings card from you. Inside that card is a single playing card – hers – with her husband’s signature on it. When she turns it over, her husband’s card is on the reverse, along with her signature…
Requirements
You require a blank deck. We’ll assume the cards to be forced are Six of Diamonds and Five of Clubs.
On the face of the blank deck, place a regular Six of Diamonds. On top of that, place a regular Five of Clubs, both, obviously, with backs to match the blank deck. On top of these two cards is a double-faced card (Five of Clubs/Six of Diamonds), and with the Six of Diamonds on view (Fig.1).
Fig.1
You also require a small greetings card and an envelope, the flap of which must be coated with rubber cement. The envelope remains open in your pocket until the double-facer is placed into it, after which you will close the flap, sealing the card inside. (If you prefer not to use rubber cement, a typical greetings card envelope – closed but not glued down— should allow you to load the double-facer behind, though not inside, the greetings card itself.)
Working
1. Before you begin, casually shuffle the blank stack, retaining the three face cards. 2. The double-facer is now forced (twice) using a Hindu Shuffle.
First of all, Hindu Shuffle to force the Six of Diamonds. When (let’s assume) the wife calls ‘stop’, show the Six of Diamonds at the face of the deck. Having shown it, place the batch back onto the bottom of the pack, turn the cards toward you and remove the double-facer, taking care not to flash the regular Five of Clubs at the face of the deck. Although the wife chose the card, have the husband sign it. Keep your finger on the card, ostensibly to assist the husband, but in reality to prevent him turning it over.
Retrieve the card, blow on its face and place it on the face of the deck, but reversing it so the Five of Clubs is now showing. This ‘move’ is illogical, as you’ve clearly returned the card to the deck the wrong way round, but it seems to pass people by. I’ve never been caught at any rate.
3. The Five of Clubs side of the double-facer will now be visible. Do a quick shuffle of the blank cards – or a double undercut that doesn’t alter the position of the cards, while giving the impression that the card has been lost in the deck.
Hindu Shuffle again, this time showing the Five of Clubs. Again, place this batch on the face and thumb it off. After the card has been signed, push it to one side for a moment and shuffle the cards in your hands.
The reason for this shuffle is that you need to get the two regular cards to the top of the deck. You could always do this after you’ve returned the double-facer to the deck, but I find it easier this way round. Simply peel cards off until you get near the bottom of the deck. At this point, you need to run cards singly, ensuring that the last two cards end up on the top of the pack. (If you are at all concerned that you might ‘lose’ the cards – and, of course, it can happen – pencil-dot them at the top and bottom as insurance, and, if the worst happens, ‘adjust’ as necessary.)
Return the double-facer to the face of the deck – no need to reverse it this time – and again double undercut to apparently lose it.
4. You must now force the top two cards, using the Under-the-Spread (Hofzinser Sliding Key) Force.
With the force cards on top of the deck, hold the deck in your left hand, and push over the top card (Five of Clubs) into your right hand. As the hands come together, the fingers of the left hand are placed on top of the card in your right, forming a break.
With your left thumb, you now push over the remaining cards, so they rest on top of your left-hand fingers.
As the husband chose the Five of Clubs, ask the wife to touch a card, to see if she can locate his card. As soon as she does, break at that point, so you are holding some cards in your left hand and some in your right. The original top card (Five of Clubs) is now the bottom card in your right hand. With the flat of your left hand, push all the cards in your right hand roughly square, the illusion being that the card just touched is now the bottom card.
Set down the cards in your left hand, slide out the bottom card from those in your right hand and place it face down on the table.
Reassemble the pack so the Six of Diamonds is now the top card. Repeat the force – this time on the husband – and place the Six of Diamonds face down.
5. At this point, all eyes should be on the tabled cards. You’ve been building up to the moment when the couple find each other’s cards, so it’s natural all attention should be focused there. It seems as if this is the ‘trick’, and that it’s almost over. This psychological misdirection should give you enough cover to palm the double-facer.
As you ask the couple to turn over their cards, tilt the pack in your hand so that the double-facer is on top, and proceed to palm it. (If you can do a Bottom Palm, you don’t
need to turn the cards over. I can’t do one to save my life, which is why – may card men forgive me – I cheat.)
With the double-facer palmed, place the remaining cards on to the table.
Have the rest of the deck turned over – revealing the remaining cards to be blank.
Now reach for the envelope in your inside jacket pocket, loading the double-facer and sealing the envelope’s flap as you remove it.
There are card-to-wallet devices that allow you to load an envelope inside the wallet, but unless you own one of these, or wish to go to that expense, this method works well enough.
End Notes
As well as acknowledging “Anniversary Waltz” as my inspiration for this effect, my thanks also go to Bob McBratney of Harrogate Society of Magicians, both for encouraging me to devise my own variation and for suggesting the ‘card inside greetings card’ conclusion. Website: www.jameswardmagic.co.uk
1812
(Force any large number).
Stephen Jones
To my mind every book should have at least one item that the author thinks is worth the price of the book. For me this is the one. I learned the simple principle behind this effect about 30 years ago from a large book packed with mixed; stories, riddles, jokes, puzzles etc. The source has long since been forgotten, but this has been a treasured concept that I have developed quite a bit; and simple though it is I have used it to floor a lot of audiences and fellow magicians.
So what am I talking about?
Let’s decide on a force number – One of my choices is 1812 – This works well in many countries because of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture that is so well known, and means you can use a musical prediction on a CD, or a cassette, or a ring tone.
{Some Background information: Though far from Tchaikovsky's most important or impressive work, the "1812 Overture" is undoubtedly his best known piece. Tchaikovsky himself didn't feel much enthusiasm for the work while he was composing it, and if it were not for a lucrative commission for a ceremonial overture to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Russia's victory over Napoleon in 1812, it is unlikely that Tchaikovsky would have composed the overture on his own initiative.
Tchaikovsky worked on the overture from October 12 to November 19, 1880. In his own words, he found it "very loud and noisy." The commission was to mark the 1882 Moscow Exhibition, and specifically the consecration of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour which was built there to give thanks for the Russian victory during the Napoleonic Wars. The premiere was duly given on August 20, 1882 and was an immediate success. It was subsequently published as his Op. 49 and enjoyed many performances throughout Russia.
Its popularity has never waned Tchaikovsky even conducted a performance of it in 1893, his last year. The response was raucous.
In 1974, lamenting the declining audiences attending the Boston Pops concerts at the Hatch Memorial Shell on the picturesque Charles River Esplanade—a tradition dating back to 1929—Boston businessman, David Mugar and the legendary Boston Pops conductor, Arthur Fiedler, hatched a plan to enliven the concert. The crowd responded so enthusiastically to the revitalized program that the pair made it an annual event. The enthusiasm was due in no small part to the concert featuring the "1812 Overture." The musical program featured booming cannons, ringing church bells, patriotic sing-a-longs, and a grand fireworks finale. The Boston event became the first to play the overture as part of a Fourth of July celebration. The innovation has since been duplicated in countless cities around the country.]