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00:00 [Music]
00:11 Hey there guys, my name is Oli Mealing and today we're going to be doing a download called Recoil.
00:17 It's a nifty three card monte, it's something that I've been using time and time again.
00:22 I think you're really going to enjoy it, let's waste no more time and get straight into it. Recoil.
00:27 I've taken out two cards ahead of time and we'll imagine that spectator has chosen a third card at random.
00:32 Let's take a look at all these cards.
00:35 I removed the two jokers and the spectator removed a lady, which is perfect for this trick
00:42 because we're going to get into a version of chase the lady.
00:45 I'll do it as openly as I can at the fingertips.
00:47 We're just going to scoop this card up, I'll even leave it face down.
00:51 Just a little mix and I'll tell you what, I'll even drop them.
00:55 They're not even in my hands, there's no way I could be controlling that card.
00:57 I'll square it in, right now you're convinced it's in the middle, right?
01:01 But wrong, that card is actually in top.
01:06 Let's go again, as openly as I can.
01:11 One card underneath, one card on top, definitely in the middle.
01:17 I'll just square it in again.
01:19 That's the moment it starts to get even more difficult to follow
01:21 because even though you're convinced it's in the middle, I'll prove that it's actually way down here.
01:29 One last time.
01:31 We have a joker, a second and a lady.
01:36 We'll leave the lady trapped in the middle.
01:39 Very slowly, very openly and cleanly that lady gets pushed inside the middle.
01:46 For the last time, where is the lady? In the middle.
01:51 You sure? Absolutely sure?
01:54 Well, I'll prove to you, look, this is a joker.
01:58 Is it above, is it below?
02:00 Or do I have two cards here?
02:02 These are the two jokers, which means up here must be, these are the two jokers.
02:08 Down here is the lady.
02:13 Cool, so now that you've seen the performance, we're going to get straight into the explanation.
02:17 For this, you're obviously going to need three cards.
02:19 I use two jokers and if I can, I like to force a queen.
02:23 I just think it coalesces with the theme of Chase the Lady, but it really does not matter.
02:27 Three cards are all you need.
02:29 So, to begin with, I'm going to almost kind of sandwich the two jokers in each hand
02:37 between the middle finger and the forefingers.
02:40 So, the lady, and only for half an inch, just like that, along the length of the card.
02:47 Once you're in this position, you're going to scoop up the card, like so.
02:54 And you want the lady to be on the uppermost card, like this.
03:01 Now, I'm also going to slide this one just enough in between my forefinger and middle finger
03:07 so that it's gripped, okay?
03:10 So, it's gripped.
03:11 So, let's just go over that again.
03:13 Hold your two jokers, slide underneath, like so, ensuring that the lady is on the uppermost joker.
03:23 That's also gripped.
03:25 Now, at this point, we're ready to flip the cards over.
03:28 And at the same time, I need to out-jog the bottom joker, but it will give the illusion that it's the middle card.
03:33 So, here's how that works.
03:35 So, underneath, we'll just do it in one hand for now.
03:38 And very simply, I just turn over, and at the same time, my thumb from behind is just going to push forward.
03:45 Let's go over that again.
03:46 So, I'm in this position.
03:48 I've got the lady trapped.
03:49 I flip over, and I push forward with my thumb.
03:53 And at speed, it creates a really nice illusion that you've taken that queen, and you've just out-jogged it, like that.
03:59 And I've really never been caught on that.
04:01 That flies every single time.
04:04 And you mix all three cards together.
04:08 Let's just go from the top.
04:09 You slide under.
04:11 I'm gripping.
04:12 I'm going to flip over and switch, and at the same time, I'm also going to flip this card over and place it on top of these two cards.
04:18 So, we get this.
04:20 Okay.
04:21 And at speed, that would be like that.
04:26 So, that covers the intro.
04:28 Once you're in this position, appeal one, appeal a second.
04:34 You want to keep it out-jogged because they're supposedly trying to keep their eye on it as best as they can.
04:39 And then the last card on top as well.
04:41 At this point, I add a touch of fairness, and I just drop the cards completely out of my hands.
04:46 At this point, you can just square that card in.
04:50 It's already controlled to the top or being switched to the top.
04:55 So, the rest now is just performance.
04:58 I just present this as, I say, the line I use is, "It seems easy to follow so far, right?"
05:06 But the second I square it in, it becomes a lot more difficult to follow.
05:10 And of course, they're thinking, "Well, no, I can clearly see it's there."
05:13 But you disprove their point by showing that actually it's on top.
05:19 And so now, all I've literally done there is just to turn it face up.
05:24 And you want to keep it kind of in the same channel as it appears face down.
05:33 So, I'm not going to turn it face up over here.
05:35 I'm literally just flipping it over like that.
05:38 At this point, you're going to pick up the two jokers,
05:41 and you just add clarity to show that there really is just two jokers in one card.
05:46 Because some people might think maybe there was an extra card.
05:49 To a layman, that's a surprise that that card has somehow switched.
05:53 So, I always think it's important to really clearly show the cards that are in play.
05:58 So, at this point, you're going to take these two cards.
06:01 You're going to flip one face up and the second face up.
06:05 And that order in which you do it is quite important.
06:08 You want to end up from my right, which would be your right as well, obviously,
06:15 with the joker above the second joker.
06:20 You don't want to be in this position because for the next switch, that won't work.
06:25 So, the right joker has to be above the left joker, so on top.
06:32 Now we're ready for the second switch.
06:35 I'm going to square the cards up, and I'm going to flip.
06:39 So, first of all, and I usually do this, I kind of drag them to square them up as well.
06:45 So, rather than just squaring them up here and then flipping,
06:47 I think it adds a little bit of extra cover.
06:50 If you can drag as you square, naturally that's going to just align.
06:55 These are just going to slide straight over.
06:57 So, I think it's a lot more natural if you do that rather than just squaring up here and then flip.
07:01 It's definitely easier to do as well.
07:04 So, you're going to drag, which will square up the lady underneath.
07:10 And I can't quite get under here because of the wood.
07:13 But if you've got a mat, your thumb at this point can come straight underneath.
07:16 Or if you're at the edge of a table, this is perfect because you can just grip at the edge.
07:21 Then you're going to flip, and at the same time you flip, I just use my hand for stability here.
07:28 But in midair, as you're flipping, your thumb is just going to--
07:32 Sorry, my fingers underneath are just going to slide this card out.
07:35 They're just going to pull like this.
07:37 I'll do this a couple of times so you can see it, because I can't really do it unless I'm doing it in the action.
07:43 You need the momentum to make this happen.
07:45 So, you drag, you square, and as you flip, this lower-most card is going to get dragged out.
07:52 See how that happens?
07:53 My four fingers just pulling that card straight out, just like that.
07:57 Let's go over that again.
07:58 I want to make sure you can clearly see exactly what's happening right here.
08:02 Do it nice and slow.
08:04 We're going to drag, square, flip.
08:07 And as I'm flipping, this card gets eased out as well.
08:14 So, ideally, you end up in this position.
08:17 It doesn't matter if the card is slightly askew like this, because it just takes a split second to just kind of neaten it up a little bit.
08:25 Also, at this point, they're not going to be burning you too hard.
08:27 They're not sure what's happening directly next.
08:29 So, again, it's not something to worry about.
08:32 There's not a huge amount of heat on this movement.
08:35 So, I'm just going to go over this one last time.
08:39 You're in this position.
08:41 You're going to drag, square, and as you flip, you pull this card out.
08:45 If you need to, just add a little bit of alignment.
08:50 Now, I don't leave this image for too long, because they might notice.
08:54 And, again, this has never happened, but it's possible if you leave it too long that they might notice the lady is actually on the bottom.
09:01 Well, it's not the lady.
09:02 It's been switched already.
09:03 It's already on the top.
09:05 But you don't want to leave this image for too long.
09:07 So, as soon as I'm here, as soon as I've neatened it up, I go straight into taking both these cards.
09:13 I place one underneath and one on top.
09:17 And you're back into the same position you were in phase one.
09:20 A really nice, open, and fair display, which seems 100% indeniable that that card is the lady.
09:31 Same pattern as before.
09:32 I say it's definitely in the middle, right?
09:34 Square it in.
09:35 How about now?
09:36 You still think it's in the middle?
09:37 And, of course, they will tell you, yeah, that's definitely in the middle, and they'll be staring at it.
09:42 At which point, you can then flip over these three cards and show it's on the bottom.
09:50 And that gets a nice reaction, because that's the second phase.
09:53 They've been thinking to themselves, right, he might have called me out the first time, but the second time, no chance.
09:59 And, of course, you disprove them.
10:01 Now, we're going to get into the third phase.
10:03 You're going to square up the cards.
10:06 You're going to pick them up, and you peel one face up.
10:11 You're going to peel a second, but at the same time, you're going to revolve it.
10:14 You're just going to revolve it along the bottom card, so just like that.
10:19 Now, I use a Stuart Gordon double turnover to turn this card over.
10:24 If you prefer, you could just flip the card like that.
10:28 I just think it adds a little bit of extra finesse if you can do a nice, smooth, fluid turnover like so.
10:35 Once you've done that, you're going to place this card on top of the face down joker, and you want to leave it out-jogged as well, like this.
10:44 Let's just go over that again.
10:47 So I've gone from this position.
10:49 I've squared them up.
10:51 I've peeled one.
10:53 I've taken the second, but at the same time, I'm going to revolve it face down, and I turn over the lady.
10:59 Then you're going to take this face up joker, and I just pivot that around like that.
11:04 I'm just gripping it between my forefinger and middle finger, and I just extend so it turns face down.
11:11 Then I place it on top of the two cards and re-grip.
11:15 So I'm now in this position.
11:17 It's a bit of a hassle of positioning the queen in between the two jokers, but I think it looked nice.
11:23 I think it adds a little bit of finesse, and those of you that know my style, you know that I'm all about finesse.
11:29 So we're in this position now, and I'm going to re-grip with my left hand, place them face down, and turn over.
11:37 You'll notice that my forefinger is underneath.
11:40 Two reasons for that.
11:42 It's a little bit easier to hold, and also you're not going to be masking the queen,
11:48 because in a moment you're going to start pushing this card in,
11:50 and you really want that image of the queen in the middle to be burned in their mind.
11:54 If you end up in a position like this, then it could be difficult for them to recall it and think,
12:00 "Was it the queen in the middle? I couldn't see it until the last second."
12:02 So make sure your finger is out of the way, and there's no way that they can deny that card is inside the middle.
12:08 So obviously from this position, very slowly you just tap.
12:12 You show both sides, and you can really take your time with this.
12:19 From here, and when I get to just below the pip, it doesn't have to be exact each time,
12:28 wherever you feel comfortable, you're going to get into the Henry Crist alignment move.
12:33 For this, your forefinger is going to reach this edge.
12:38 So I guess what is important is that the card is pushed in enough that your finger can reach that edge.
12:43 You don't want to be in this position.
12:47 But personally, I go roughly just below the pip, like that.
12:54 So from this position, we get into the Henry Crist alignment move.
12:57 This is what's going to happen.
12:58 I'm going to push the middle card inwards.
13:02 It's going to align with the bottom card.
13:04 If I was to do that without moving the top card, it would just look as if all the cards were squared,
13:09 and there'd be no illusion.
13:11 So here's what you have to do at the exact same time.
13:13 At the same time of squaring this card with the bottom card,
13:16 your right forefinger, which is resting on the top, is going to just slide the top card up.
13:23 So for this next part, we need to use the Henry Crist alignment move.
13:27 What happens is that you're going to square the middle card with the bottom card.
13:32 At the same time, you're going to pull with your right forefinger the top card back, like that.
13:40 So if you do both of those at the same time, push in and pull back,
13:43 you create the illusion that nothing has happened.
13:47 It seems to create the exact same image as just a moment ago.
13:52 In actual fact, you've created a double, and you've just got a single on top.
13:58 From this position, I say to the spectator, "Where's the lady?"
14:04 And you've done it so fair that they really--they are 100% convinced it's in the middle.
14:11 But because you've created a double, you can now pull this card out, flip it over, and show it as a joker.
14:19 Now it's kind of a kind, jokey gesture.
14:22 You're going to say to them, "I'm going to give you a second chance, a 50/50 chance."
14:27 At which point, I'm going to do a Stuart Gordon turnover.
14:30 Let me show you how this works.
14:32 I'm going to take up two cards, and I've already got a break.
14:36 So I just lift up two cards, and I'm lifting between my ring finger and my thumb, just like this.
14:43 Now my middle finger and forefinger rest on--
14:47 I'm going to turn at the wrist, but at the same time, my thumb is going to slide down.
14:53 And I'm adding pressure from my ring finger so that this card isn't going to fall.
15:00 I'm just pushing upwards with my ring finger, and I'm pushing down with my thumb, sliding it down as well.
15:07 I'm also twisting my wrist, which is going to add the kind of turning over effect.
15:12 If I didn't twist my wrist, that would happen.
15:15 I'm going to try and expose that a bit better for you.
15:18 That's the action.
15:20 But because you twist your wrist at the same time, it's a really nice turn over,
15:27 or apparent turn over of a single card, a brilliant wind.
15:30 It's a double.
15:32 So here's the offer to the spectator.
15:36 You say, "I'm going to give you a second chance to do a Stuart Gordon turnover.
15:40 Is it above, or is it below?"
15:43 And before I really give them a chance to answer, I say, "Or do I have two cards in this hand and one card in this hand?"
15:51 And very simply, I just go under my hand for a little bit of cover, and I'm just going to pull back with my thumb.
15:58 If you do that at speed, it creates a really nice illusion.
16:02 It's almost as if one card has jumped from this packet straight over to this hand.
16:07 And that creates a really nice effect in the audience.
16:10 They think they've had a chance between the top card and the bottom card,
16:14 and then all of a sudden, you've just completely changed the whole dynamics,
16:19 and you've ended up with two cards here and one card here.
16:22 So that's a nice moment, and I'd let that sink in for a few seconds.
16:26 So I say, "Is it above? Is it below? Or hold that for a pause.
16:32 Do I have two cards here, one card here?"
16:36 And now I want to show that these two cards are the jokers.
16:40 In actual fact, I have a joker and a selection and the lady.
16:44 So I'm going to do a one-handed frustration count.
16:48 So I've turned over and made one card apparently jump across.
16:53 And now we're going to get into the all-round subtlety.
16:57 So I'm going to twist at my wrist.
16:59 At the same time, I need to, as best as I can, align these two cards.
17:03 You don't want to show the fact that actually the lady's here.
17:06 So you align. As you twist your wrist, they see a joker.
17:10 You turn face down again, and with your thumb, you just push off that top card.
17:14 So I've still got the joker here.
17:17 They're going to see the same card twice.
17:20 So I'm just going to talk you over the discrepancy here,
17:23 and it also explains the reason why I use jokers as opposed to two queens or two kings or something like that.
17:29 Because you're going to show the same card twice,
17:33 I think it's best to use jokers because everyone knows there's two jokers in the pack.
17:37 It's not going to arouse suspicion, whereas if you use two queens,
17:40 then you're going to end up showing a queen of clubs twice or a queen of spades twice.
17:45 And I doubt that you would get caught out on that, but personally,
17:49 when I'm working the trenches, it's not a burden I want to have in the back of my mind.
17:54 I want to know that I can cleanly do this and no one's going to second question what cards did they just see.
18:00 So I personally use the jokers for this.
18:05 So the all-round subtlety, show one, push it off, and show the same card again.
18:12 Apparently, you've just shown two jokers.
18:15 Now at this point, I'm going to spin this card around using my thumb as a pivot.
18:20 So I'm going to show the second joker here, gripping between my middle finger and thumb.
18:25 My ring finger extends and contacts the left corner and just pulls it around, pivots it around.
18:33 This is going to set me up for a flat palm.
18:37 So I've shown the second joker, I spin, and I say if there's two jokers here,
18:42 and I tap on this card, if there's two jokers here, that must mean that up here,
18:47 from here to up here, and I also raise my hand as well,
18:50 which I can't really do for the camera because my hand will go out of shot.
18:53 But you're seeing the performance that I raise my hand to divert the attention,
18:57 and at the same time, I'm going to get into a flat palm.
18:59 I'm going to apparently place this joker on top of the other joker.
19:04 In reality, it goes straight into a flat palm.
19:07 So let me talk you through that.
19:09 I tap here, and I say if two jokers are here, that must mean the selection is up here, right?
19:14 And now what happens?
19:16 Apparently place this down, but actually I'm just bending the card in,
19:22 and I'm going to take it over, and I'm going to grip it between my thumb
19:26 and the gap here between my pinky and my ring finger like this.
19:32 So that card is very comfortably gripped. It's not going to fall out anywhere.
19:36 So that's something you want to practice as well because you're going to need to do that at speed.
19:40 You can't lose time trying to get it in there. You want to get that really down
19:44 so that you can comfortably just say, "I've got one joker here, a selection there."
19:48 Place it down, and boom, you're there.
19:51 So once you're in this position, now you're going to come back up to this card to apparently turn it over.
19:55 But what really happens is that once you're--as you come up,
19:59 you just place these two cards together, and you turn them over.
20:04 And I don't think you have to be particularly neat with that.
20:07 I mean, you don't want to be too sloppy, but I don't think you should aim to try and perfectly align them
20:13 because you're going to split them anyway.
20:15 And it happens at a good pace so that you don't--so that it'll just fly.
20:21 You've gone down, and you just turn.
20:24 Okay, so I don't concentrate on trying to align them perfectly and then split.
20:29 I just come up, and the second they come into contact with each other, I just turn.
20:33 So I'm going to go over this one last time real slow.
20:36 So there's a joker here.
20:38 If the two jokers are here, that must mean the selection will appear, right?
20:42 I come down. I go into my flat palm.
20:45 And I go to turn the selection over, really bringing this card back.
20:51 Drop it on top. Reveal the two jokers.
20:55 And that, for me, is the strongest moment of the trick.
20:58 That gets a great reaction, and when you're performing it, you're kind of fooling yourself as well.
21:03 It feels like you've, as clear as day, seen two jokers down here.
21:09 The selection has to be there.
21:11 It's just a true WTF moment. It's great.
21:15 So these go down, and of course, you're done.
21:18 At this point, I like to let the spectator turn it over, give them a feeling of involvement,
21:22 and kind of lend the adulation to them.
21:27 They turn it over, and the trick is finished.
21:31 So that, my friends, is recoil.
21:35 So in this section, I'm going to give you a few extra tips, a little bit of insight
21:38 into a couple of moments that I think are really key and worthy of extra study
21:42 so that you can ensure to give this performance the best of your ability.
21:46 The first thing we're going to cover is, after you do the all-round subtlety,
21:52 is how you can draw the attention back to what they believe is to be the selection.
21:58 So one of the necessities for this trick is to avoid being caught out on the flat palm.
22:03 And to ensure that, you really want to make sure that the focus is completely driven towards the apparent selection.
22:11 So I'm going to give you a couple of tips on how to do that,
22:14 and to give you maximum cover to get away with the flat palm.
22:18 So, first of all, I tap towards the selection.
22:22 I'm also looking at it with my gaze.
22:25 I'm going to lift my hand straight up, and with those three elements combined, you get this.
22:33 So I say, "Selection."
22:37 At this point, my hands are kind of going opposite to each other.
22:41 This hand is going to go down towards the apparent joker, ready for a flat palm,
22:48 as this hand comes up towards chest high.
22:50 And the whole time, I'm just looking at it.
22:53 And if you're looking at it, there's a good chance they're going to be looking at it as well,
22:56 because that's where they believe the magic is going to happen.
23:01 So I direct, I point, I look, my hands are going to go opposite.
23:07 That's when I do my flat palm.
23:09 Then I come up and reveal.
23:14 And then I'm going to shift my body and focus towards the card on the table.
23:20 And they already know that that is the selection.
23:26 So there we go, guys. That was Recoil, a nifty three-card monte.
23:31 I hope you've enjoyed learning it.
23:33 I've definitely had a blast performing it and explaining it, not only on the download, but outside as well, in the public arena.
23:39 This is something that I've been using as a nice addition to just pick a card tricks,
23:43 which I think are out there in abundance.
23:45 So if you're looking for something different, this will definitely work for you.
23:49 I'm not sure what else I can say, but from behalf of me and Illusionist,
23:53 thank you so much for buying. Enjoy it and let me know your feedback and thoughts.
23:58 Peace out.
24:00 (music)
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