Category
🦄
CreativityTranscript
00:00 Let's look at some ways to force a card.
00:14 One thing that's important in your toolbox is the ability to force a card.
00:19 Let's show you some easy ways, some medium ways, and perhaps a hard way or two along the way.
00:25 Let's say I've shuffled the deck of cards.
00:29 I would ask you to cut the cards.
00:32 That's great. That's very nice of you, actually.
00:35 And I'm going to mark exactly where you cut those cards.
00:39 Now we're going to chat for a moment or two about a prediction card, maybe,
00:44 or a little envelope I've got on the table or whatever.
00:48 But finally we're going to come back to exactly where you cut to.
00:53 You cut to the Ace of Clubs.
00:56 Hey, you don't have to believe me, but that's the card I want you to pick.
01:01 So how do we get you to take the Ace of Clubs?
01:03 This is all about just the way your patter goes, your theater, if you like.
01:09 You see, the Ace of Clubs, your force card, starts on top of the deck of cards.
01:14 You can give them a little shuffle.
01:16 Elsewhere on this DVD you'll find lots of ways to fake shuffle a deck of cards and still leave it on top.
01:22 You hand the deck to be cut. You ask them to cut the cards but not complete the cut.
01:28 You take the rest of the cards and you put them at a crossways angle to the top.
01:34 Now comes the critical bit.
01:35 This is where you want them to forget really what's happened.
01:39 This is where you talk about your prediction envelope
01:41 or the fact that you've got a card over here on the table or what's your name
01:45 or give a little chatter, a little patter, just to take their attention away from the cards for a minute or so.
01:53 And then you say, "Let's look at the card you cut to."
01:56 And you lift off the top portion and turn over this card.
02:01 Of course, this isn't the card they cut to, but it's the card they're going to remember that they cut to.
02:07 And that's a very simple little force called the crosscut force.
02:12 So the ace starts on top of the deck. They cut the deck. You mark the cut.
02:18 After a little bit of chatter you say, "Let's look at the card you cut to."
02:24 It's the original top card of the deck, but don't be telling them that.
02:39 For beginner magicians as well, those who don't want to use the high skill stuff,
02:44 here's another very simple force.
02:46 You would ask your friend to think of a number between 10 and 20.
02:50 Not too little, not too big.
02:52 Let's say they thought of a number, oh, 12.
02:56 Ask them to count 12 cards off the deck of cards.
02:59 That would be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
03:08 Let's make this a little more random.
03:12 Ask them to add the two digits together of their number.
03:17 So that would be 12. That would be 1 and 2 would be 3, right?
03:20 And ask them to count down 3 cards.
03:23 1, 2, 3 cards.
03:26 This is the card you're going to use for your special prediction.
03:31 "Hey, let me give you a deal. It's the Ace of Clubs."
03:35 The card I wanted to force upon you.
03:38 This is a very, very simple little mathematical force.
03:43 Quite amusing. Very few people use it. I actually kind of like it myself.
03:47 What you do is you have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 cards.
03:53 Your force card is 9th from the top of the deck.
03:57 It's 9 down.
03:59 It doesn't matter what number from 10 to 20 they pick.
04:03 Let's say they pick 15 this time.
04:06 They just deal 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.
04:18 Ask them to add those two digits together.
04:21 That would be, by my reckoning, 6.
04:24 They deal out 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
04:29 The next card, "Hey, it's your force card."
04:33 Whatever number they name between 10 and 20, it's going to be your force card if you follow those instructions.
04:40 Very simple little force for our beginner magicians there.
04:44 And maybe a reminder for some of our pros.
04:47 Very nice.
04:49 [Music]
04:58 Beautiful little force, the "Crest Cup Deeper" force.
05:01 What you would do is you're going to run your thumb down the deck.
05:04 And you're going to ask them to say, "Stop," whenever they like.
05:07 Let's say they say, "Stop there."
05:09 We'll flip those cards face up.
05:12 We'll flip down the deck again.
05:13 Say, "Stop again."
05:14 "Stop."
05:15 Let's flip those face up.
05:17 Now, I don't want to use any of these face up cards.
05:20 So, let's use that very first face down card we come to.
05:25 It looks a little as though it's a random card from all of your riffling action.
05:29 But actually, it's the Ace of Clubs.
05:32 Exactly the card I wanted to force on you.
05:35 This is the "Crest Cup Deeper" force.
05:38 The force card starts on top of the deck.
05:43 We start to riffle.
05:44 You don't want to riffle too much.
05:46 Don't get a bazillion cards here.
05:49 They say, "Stop."
05:51 Turn all those cards over.
05:55 Riffle down a little more.
05:57 Make sure you go into the face down ones.
05:59 They say, "Stop."
06:01 Turn all the cards over again.
06:04 Now, when you go through the cards to the first face down card,
06:10 just because of the way physics and math works, that little face down card will be your force card.
06:18 And that's the "Crest Cup Deeper" force.
06:21 Originally published, you would ask them to cut a pile of cards, turn them up,
06:28 and then cut another pile of cards and turn them up.
06:31 I just happen to prefer doing it with a little riffle.
06:34 But riffle or cut, you still get the card.
06:38 [Music]
06:45 The "Fan Force" is quite a fascinating little force.
06:51 It's really something you just have to do all the time.
06:54 Whenever you do a card trick, do a "Fan Force."
06:57 And if you miss it, just do a different trick.
06:59 But here's my theories on the "Fan Force."
07:03 Basically, the "Fan Force" is take this card.
07:06 They take it, but the fact that you've got some other cards around it is going to conceal that from them.
07:13 So that card is in the middle of the deck.
07:16 You have a break on top of it.
07:20 You're now going to fan out the cards and ask them to take a card.
07:25 As they reach for a card, you're now going to help them out.
07:29 This is you being Captain Helpful Magician, if you like.
07:33 So you're saying, "Take any card you like, my friend."
07:36 As they reach for a card, what you do is you push this card forward, your force card.
07:44 Start to pull these cards away so that they take the card.
07:49 Now, if I could, can I borrow a Captain Hand here from our little camera crew?
07:55 I'm going to show you exactly what it looks like as a little hand swoops in from absolutely nowhere here.
08:00 Are you ready, Mr. Hand?
08:02 I've stolen that from Paul Harris. I hope he forgives me.
08:05 So as I'm spreading through the cards, I'm going to say, "Take any card you like."
08:10 And as the hand reaches in, I'm literally just putting the Ace of Clubs straight into the hand.
08:16 Let me do this with the card face down so that you can see exactly what it looks like.
08:22 Hey, Mr. Hand over there.
08:24 I'm going to ask you to reach in and take any card you like.
08:27 Anyone at all. Did you get one? What did you get?
08:30 Hey, it's the Ace of Clubs.
08:34 The Fan Force is something that's very hard to teach, but it's something you just have to do.
08:40 You see, it's all about just spread the cards until they start to reach.
08:45 When they start to reach, just push that card forwards just a little and you'll get the action.
08:53 It's just something you have to play with, but trust me, it's worth playing with throughout your toolbox
08:59 because there really is, in my opinion, no better force than just that one.
09:06 Now, if you really get playful with Fan Forces, you can try this little puppy.
09:20 Riffle up the back of the deck and just sight a card, in this case, the Five of Clubs.
09:25 Hold a break on it with your little finger and as you spread the cards across the table,
09:31 just leave that one a little more obvious than the others.
09:37 This is for a tabled Fan Force.
09:39 Ask them to pull out a card.
09:41 Now, if they take out this one, you're golden.
09:45 I mean, you've got a miracle on your hands.
09:47 If, on the other hand, they take out another one,
09:50 ask them to put it back somewhere near the center of the deck.
09:55 This is like a whole new system here, if you like.
09:59 And if they put it back here, you know it's right under the Five of Clubs.
10:03 If they put it back here, you know it's right over the Five of Clubs.
10:07 If they put it back here, you know it's one, two, three away from the Five of Clubs.
10:13 In other words, you're using this secret card as a very cunning key card.
10:19 So what you're going to do, riffle up the deck, side a card, the Five of Clubs.
10:25 Spread them out.
10:27 Take any card you like.
10:28 Let's say they take this one, the Two of Diamonds,
10:31 put it back somewhere in the center of the deck.
10:33 I now know it's right above the Five of Clubs.
10:36 So I can go through this deck after a couple of cuts,
10:39 and there it is, right above the Five of Clubs.
10:43 So not only do you have a tabled Fan Force situation,
10:46 you have a tabled Key card.
10:49 You're way ahead of the game at that point.
10:53 Nice.
10:55 Another very nice way to force a card is the old Riffle Force.
11:07 Let's say I want to force the Two of Diamonds, for example.
11:11 I would ask somebody to say, "Stop," as I riffle up the cards.
11:15 They say, "Stop," and the card they stop at is exactly the card I want,
11:21 the Two of Diamonds.
11:22 So how do we do this?
11:25 First of all, we keep the Two of Diamonds on top of the deck.
11:30 I cut it near the center, keep a break above it.
11:35 Now I'm going to come over and riffle up the deck.
11:40 Now I'm tilting the deck upwards slightly so that when they say, "Stop,"
11:44 I stop.
11:45 Now I'm trying to time it so it's right near my break, obviously.
11:49 When they say, "Stop," I stop.
11:52 I now tilt the deck down, and the moment the deck goes down,
11:57 I lift all the cards above my break off.
12:00 So I'm not breaking the deck where they said, "Stop."
12:03 I'm breaking it where I want to break it.
12:05 So I say, "Stop," tilt, lift at the break.
12:14 Now I can give them this card, and that's my Force card.
12:20 And that's the good old riffle Force.
12:23 [music]
12:32 The next card is the Dribble Force.
12:35 This is quite a delightful way to force a card.
12:38 You hold the deck in your hand, and you're going to dribble cards
12:42 from the top of your hand to the bottom hand.
12:46 You're going to ask them to say, "Stop," whenever they like.
12:49 So let's do it just like this.
12:52 They say, "Stop," and they've stopped exactly on your Force card,
12:57 in this case, the Ace of Clubs.
13:01 Now we're going to do the Dribble Force.
13:03 This is actually, again, a timing force, very much.
13:07 Your Force card starts on top of the deck.
13:11 You cut a block of the deck, and a big block of the deck in my case,
13:15 it's just the way I like to do this, to the bottom of the deck.
13:19 So we're going to cut a fairly big block, a little over half to the bottom.
13:24 So here's your Force card, and we're going to hold a break on it right here.
13:29 As we're going to go into the dribbling action,
13:32 the right thumb is going to take over the break right here.
13:38 Now you want to keep the break at this side of the deck and not at this side.
13:42 You want to kind of keep this side as closed as you can.
13:48 Now you're going to dribble down, and they say, "Stop,"
13:52 and the moment they say, "Stop," that's when you release
13:56 all the cards above the break, the Ace of Clubs in this case.
14:02 Let me show you that again, trying to get my hand out of the way
14:05 so you can really see it.
14:07 So you're going to say, "Stop," any time as I'm dribbling through, "Stop,"
14:11 and that's when you drop at the break.
14:15 And there's your Ace of Clubs, the Force card.
14:19 It's another little dribbly Force thing.
14:22 Do it with the card face up.
14:25 I'll just dribble through the cards.
14:27 You say, "Stop," and we stop exactly on the Force card.
14:33 And there's the dribble Force.
14:36 [music]
14:44 Here's the world's easiest riffle Force.
14:47 I would riffle my left thumb down the deck
14:50 and ask somebody to say, "Stop," at some point.
14:52 When they say, "Stop," I say, "Take the card you stopped at."
14:56 At this point, it's my Force card, the Ace of Clubs.
15:02 This is based around Harry Blackstone, Sr.'s revolving pass.
15:07 It's a delightful little action.
15:09 I would riffle down the deck, asking them to say, "Stop," somewhere.
15:13 They say, "Stop."
15:14 I'm going to tip that top little portion above the riffle
15:18 onto the ends of my right-hand fingers.
15:22 The left-hand fingers are going to lift, tipping those cards over.
15:28 My right hand turns down,
15:31 and I give them the original top card of the deck.
15:35 This is, again, all about timing and momentum.
15:40 So the card is on top.
15:42 They say, "Stop," and I say, "Take the card you stopped at."
15:47 The Ace of Clubs.
15:49 This is also great, by the way, for forcing multiple cards.
15:54 So let's say we need an Ace, King, Queen for a particular effect.
16:00 We have those on top of the deck.
16:02 They say, "Stop."
16:04 "Take the card you stopped at."
16:06 The Ace, King, and the Queen.
16:09 There's the world's easiest riffle force.
16:13 Toolbox of card moves.
16:17 Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck.
16:21 The patio force is like pick-any-two-take-one kind of force.
16:33 It's kind of weird, but kind of cute.
16:36 You'd lay out, say, four, five, six, seven, eight cards.
16:43 Now you would ask them to put two fingers on two cards.
16:48 Or you can put two fingers on two cards.
16:50 So, well, what the hell?
16:52 I'll put two fingers on two cards.
16:54 I'll put them on those two.
16:57 Ask them to choose either one of those cards.
17:00 Whichever one they choose, you take away.
17:04 They then put their fingers on two cards.
17:07 You choose one. It's taken away.
17:10 Now I'm going to take these two.
17:12 Whichever one they choose, I take away.
17:15 In other words, every time it's pick-any-one-out-of-two.
17:19 So they do this. I'll pick this one.
17:23 I'll do this. They pick this one.
17:27 They do this. I'll pick that one.
17:30 Now we're down to two cards.
17:32 This one goes.
17:34 And we're left with just one card.
17:36 It looks like a very free choice of card.
17:39 But we're left again with the Ace of Clubs.
17:44 This is actually just...
17:47 I hate to use the word "BS".
17:50 So I won't use the word "BS".
17:52 But that's essentially what it is.
17:54 Your Force card is on top of the deck in this case.
17:57 We'll lay out eight cards.
18:00 Just remember where your Force card is.
18:06 Now when you place two fingers down,
18:09 you place two fingers on any cards that aren't your Force card.
18:14 So they can choose either one for you to take away.
18:18 Keep an eye on where your Force card is.
18:21 If their fingers go onto your Force card,
18:25 pick the other card.
18:27 So in this case, that one would go.
18:32 Let's do this one. That one can go.
18:35 In other words, all you're doing is keeping this Force card in place.
18:39 Let's leave it face up so that you can see exactly what's going on here.
18:45 So there's our little Force card on top of the deck.
18:48 Oh, threw in a shuffle.
18:50 So we're laying out eight cards.
18:55 Touch any two cards.
18:58 Okay, I'll take away that one.
19:01 I'll touch these two cards.
19:03 Which one do you want me to get rid of?
19:05 Oh, that one.
19:06 You touch two cards.
19:07 Those two?
19:08 Nah, I'll get rid of that one.
19:10 I'll touch these two.
19:12 Let's get rid of that one.
19:15 You're touching those two?
19:16 Oh, I think I'll get rid of that one.
19:19 Notice how you're just keeping the Force card in place.
19:22 These two. Let's get rid of that one.
19:25 You're touching these two?
19:26 Oh, let's get rid of that one.
19:29 You're left with the Force card simply by using the pick any one, take one away principle.
19:36 That's actually a very cool effect.
19:39 Read Robert Neal's books for some great presentations using this exact Force, the patio Force.
19:49 [Music]
19:58 Equivoque is a very great way to play around with magic.
20:03 Let's just do it with a four card packet for now just so we know exactly what we're doing and explain the principle to you.
20:12 And you can apply this to so many things.
20:16 What you basically want to do is Force one of these four packets.
20:20 First of all, ask your helper, your spectator, to place a finger on one of the packets.
20:26 This is the one I'm trying to Force, by the way.
20:29 If they place a finger on this packet, I'm golden.
20:33 That's the best that can happen.
20:36 But let's say they place a finger on this packet.
20:39 Ask them to drag it back towards them.
20:43 Now ask them to place their two fingers on two of the other packets.
20:48 Let's say they pick these two.
20:51 You're golden.
20:52 Ask them to pull those away.
20:54 But what if they hit the one you want?
20:57 Let's say they do this.
21:00 Now you eliminate this packet.
21:02 Now you ask them to lift up one finger.
21:05 If they lift up this finger, you ask them to pull back this packet.
21:10 If they lift up the other finger, you just ask them to pull back this packet.
21:16 Equivoque is all about meshing with their minds.
21:20 One of four cards.
21:24 So point to a card.
21:26 Pull it away.
21:27 Put two fingers on two cards.
21:29 Good. We'll eliminate this one.
21:31 Lift up one of your fingers.
21:33 Great. That's the card you want.
21:35 Lift up your other finger.
21:37 Let's eliminate that card.
21:39 Equivoque is very, very simple and much underused in magic.
21:46 And I absolutely love the use of Equivoque.
21:50 When they hit that right card, it's golden.
21:53 When you have to Equivoque down to it, it's still pretty much top-notch silver.
22:00 So play around with this whole choose a pile thing.
22:05 Lift up one hand.
22:06 Take one away.
22:07 It's great. Equivoque.
22:09 [Music]
22:18 Something I call the Vernon-esque three-way I use as a force.
22:23 Let's pick a little force card out here so it doesn't look too twitchy.
22:28 Let's use our little buddy, the Ace of Clubs.
22:33 What I would do is I'd mix up the deck of cards.
22:35 And now I'm going to say to you, "I'll cut piles of cards down onto the table."
22:39 You say, "Stop" whenever you like.
22:42 Let's say they say, "Stop" right there.
22:45 Well, that, my friends, is the Ace of Clubs.
22:51 So how do you guarantee this every time?
22:55 Well, you can only guarantee it 99% of the time, but I'll give you the out just in case you need it.
23:02 You cut about a quarter of the deck to the bottom.
23:05 There's your force card, the Ace of Clubs.
23:08 Three-quarters of the deck is above it with a break held over it.
23:14 Now I'm going to cut about a quarter of the cards onto the table.
23:18 Now this is all about how you use the words.
23:22 I'm going to cut some cards to the table.
23:26 That's exactly the pattern for the first section.
23:29 I'm going to cut some cards to the table.
23:32 Your next pile, which still isn't your break, by the way, you've still got your break here.
23:38 As I cut these piles, and that's exactly the pattern.
23:43 So I'm going to cut piles to the table.
23:45 As I cut these piles, and now you cut directly to your break.
23:50 And as you cut to the break, and just as it's clearing the deck, you say, "I want you to say, 'Stop' sometime."
23:58 So I'm going to cut some piles to the table.
24:00 As I cut these piles, I want you to say, "Stop" sometime.
24:04 And that's as this pile is going over.
24:07 And then you shut up, which is very rare for me.
24:10 I very rarely shut up.
24:12 But you see, by being quiet, what's interesting is it creates a vacuum.
24:19 And it makes them want to talk.
24:21 And that's what makes this work.
24:23 So I'm going to cut piles to the table.
24:25 As I cut these piles, I want you to say, "Stop" sometime.
24:28 Then you shut up.
24:30 They go, "Stop" right there nearly 50% of the time right on your card.
24:37 If not, you cut nearly all the cards onto the table, still staying quiet.
24:44 Now they're going to say, "Stop" there, exactly the card you want.
24:50 If they haven't said, "Stop" by then, which is--wow, we're way into like 95% now.
24:57 You've only got two or three cards left, so you snatch these cards back up on top,
25:02 cut them once, and hold a break on them again.
25:06 And say, "Did you really know what I wanted you to do, the cutting and stopping thing?"
25:13 And that's when you cut directly to your break and stay quiet.
25:17 If they say, "Stop" there, there's your card.
25:20 Cut nearly all the cards again.
25:23 If they say, "Stop" there, there's your card.
25:26 Now if they haven't said, "Stop" by now, you're probably working to a mannequin by mistake.
25:32 But just in case you've met somebody who's completely idiotic,
25:36 bring back the deck together and go into a different trick.
25:40 It's insane to even try and go into something crazy like that.
25:45 So the best way to do this trick is a card is chosen, the two of hearts.
25:50 Let's mix it into the deck just as so.
25:56 I want to show you how easy it is to find a chosen card, say, "Stop" anytime you like.
26:01 Say, "Stop." They say, "Stop." Wow, we found your card.
26:05 If it goes right through to the end of the effect and they still haven't said, "Stop,"
26:09 well, do a little double lift.
26:12 Put the card onto the table, make them rub it, turn it over, show it's turned into their card.
26:18 There's always a way out of magical effects that are turning into disasters.
26:24 And let's face it, I've had a few of those over my years, so quite a master at getting out of them.
26:30 [Music]
26:39 A simple way to use a force is by using the Hindu shuffle.
26:42 The Hindu shuffle is where you grab little packets off the top of the deck
26:47 and pull them into your left hand just as so.
26:52 Now set your force card on the bottom of the deck of cards.
26:58 And now all you're going to do is do your Hindu shuffle action
27:02 and ask them to say, "Stop" anytime they like.
27:05 They say, "Stop," at that point, turn the cards in your right hand face up,
27:10 and of course you've forced your card.
27:13 It's actually quite disarming.
27:15 You know, I'm shuffling the cards, just give me a say, "Stop," anytime you like.
27:19 "Stop." Great, remember this card.
27:22 Now if you don't want them to perceive you are seeing the card,
27:25 of course you just do this to them.
27:27 Say you turn the card away from them.
27:30 Boom, you've forced a card using the Hindu shuffle.
27:34 [Music]
27:41 My little buddy Wesley James, great guy,
27:45 came up with quite a nice touch on this Hindu shuffle force.
27:49 Let's show you this.
27:51 So I would ask you to say, "Stop" sometime.
27:54 So you would yell out, "Stop," at which point I'd say,
27:57 "So you've stopped at a card somewhere in the center of the deck."
28:03 No way, I could know what it was,
28:05 but of course it's our force card, our little buddy, the Ace of Clubs.
28:12 Here's how it's done.
28:14 It's exactly the same as the Hindu shuffle force
28:18 with one little extra piece of technique.
28:21 So your force card is on the bottom of the deck.
28:25 We do our Hindu shuffle technique until they say,
28:30 "Stop, mister." So we stop.
28:33 When the right hand cards come over the left hand cards
28:37 and it's your left first finger
28:40 is going to go against that bottom card of the deck
28:44 and as your right hand pulls back, applies pressure
28:49 and lets it come out, just as so.
28:53 So one more time.
28:55 Little Hindu shuffley thing.
28:57 Stop, stop, stop.
29:00 The left first finger pulls that card out
29:03 and immediately spread the deck.
29:05 What makes this so pretty is it looks as though
29:08 they've stopped you somewhere in the middle of the deck.
29:13 But lucky you, they've stopped you right on your force card.
29:18 [Music]
29:26 A great Welshman friend of mine, Trevor Lewis.
29:29 Trevor, it's lovely. I hope you're listening to this, darling.
29:32 Marvellous.
29:34 Trevor Lewis came up with a very, very simple little force
29:37 that I think is quite cool.
29:40 It's one of those disarming, deceptive little forces.
29:43 I would riffle through the deck of cards and ask you to say, "Stop."
29:47 You say, "Stop," and I say, "Yep, there's a card right in the middle of the deck
29:51 exactly where you said, 'Stop.'"
29:54 You want to guess what the card is, my friends?
29:56 It's our little buddy, the force card, the Ace of Clubs.
30:02 This is so remarkably simple, it amazes me.
30:06 The Ace of Clubs is on top of the deck of cards.
30:10 We riffle down the deck. They say, "Stop."
30:13 Now we lift up the right hand packet
30:16 and we're essentially going to do a slip card, I guess, of the top card.
30:20 So what we do is we pull the top card,
30:23 sticking out into the center of the deck
30:27 and put the other packet on top.
30:29 All you've done is pull the top card into the center of the deck.
30:33 But if you imagine it under the strenuous performance conditions you're working with,
30:38 you say, "Just say, 'Stop.' That's great."
30:40 Yeah, so you've got a card somewhere in the middle of the deck
30:44 that you stopped exactly at.
30:46 You start to realize just how clever Trevor Lewis is.
30:51 So let's look at this from my view so you can get the timing.
30:55 At full speed, it's that.
31:00 The card's sticking out of the middle of the deck.
31:03 Let's leave the card face up on top of the deck.
31:06 So we riffle down. They say, "Stop."
31:09 The right hand section comes across
31:12 and then forward as the left thumb pulls the top card over
31:17 and comes back on top.
31:20 So one more time.
31:21 It's just, "Wow, you've stopped at a card somewhere in the middle of the deck."
31:26 Of course, it's actually the top card of the deck, your force card.
31:30 And that's really smart.
31:33 Here's some more stuff to add to your toolbox.
31:36 Let's look at a few...
31:40 Let's see...
31:42 When you're working as a magician, I think it's nice to look sometimes
31:54 as though you actually know what you're doing with a deck of cards.
31:57 So when people have a card chosen like this, that's all well and good.
32:01 When you do the little thumb fan, that looks quite cute too.
32:07 But I think it's well worthwhile taking the time
32:10 to learn to do a proper pressure fan.
32:13 A fan that actually evens out the cards and makes them look very pretty
32:18 and makes your hands look skillful.
32:21 Now, to learn a pressure fan, you're going to have to learn another move first.
32:25 The first move you're going to have to learn is springing the cards.
32:29 Now, springing the cards is this.
32:34 The archetypal magicians move it to one,
32:37 along with the rabbit from a hat that everybody wants to see.
32:42 So springing the cards, first of all, is this.
32:46 The cards are held with the fingers and thumb.
32:49 They're flexed inwards.
32:52 Now, some magicians prefer to run the cards off the thumb.
32:55 I prefer to run the cards off the fingers.
32:58 It's up to you. You can try either way.
33:00 What you're going to do is you're going to run your fingers up the cards as so
33:05 and let them go.
33:07 Your catcher hand, your mitt, if you like,
33:10 you want to be aiming straight into the first finger here.
33:14 These fingers are just going to be a little basket.
33:18 So we're just springing the cards into the first finger, just as so.
33:28 Now, that in and of itself is worth learning. It's kind of neat.
33:32 People go, "Wow, you can play cards!"
33:35 But that's also the move you need to learn to learn a decent pressure fan.
33:40 Because, you see, although it looks completely different,
33:43 the pressure fan is nearly an identical move.
33:46 So springing the cards and the pressure fan actually use two identical actions.
33:52 They don't look the same, but trust me, here's why.
33:55 You see, you're going to do this action, the springing action, to fan the cards.
34:02 But you're going to hold on to one corner of the deck.
34:05 What you're going to do is hold the deck from above.
34:08 Hold it exactly as if you're going to spring the cards.
34:11 Now hold on to one corner and now do the action of springing the cards
34:17 while turning your hand in a half circle.
34:21 So, just as so.
34:25 It's exactly the same action.
34:29 Now when you first start doing this, you're going to start to find the cards stop around here
34:34 because your thumb's going to run out of space.
34:37 It's all about committing to the move.
34:40 So you just have to commit to the move.
34:44 You'll also find you can pull down a little with these fingers to spread the fan just a little wider.
34:51 The pressure fan, I'm spending a little time on this because I think it's critical to close-up magic
34:56 because I think when you go to people like that, I often have people say,
35:00 "Wow, do that again!"
35:03 And I don't have to do any magic for them.
35:05 They just want to see this pretty little fan because that's the cool thing.
35:10 So you're going to be springing the cards but holding on to one corner to make a pressure fan.
35:18 Oh, how do you make them close?
35:20 It's all to do with this first finger.
35:23 You just straighten it out and those cards will close.
35:27 So you take a card.
35:29 Thank you.
35:30 And you look like a true professional magician.
35:34 So learn the pressure fan.
35:36 It's just a case of bonus, learn to spring, and then learn to hold on to one corner of them.
35:44 And then you're going to look pretty hyper-cool.
35:47 Check it out.
35:48 [music]
35:56 And, you know, if you're going to fan cards, let's have some fun with cards.
35:59 We discussed pharaohs elsewhere on these DVDs.
36:02 Let's give the deck a little pharaoh.
36:06 And you want to have some real fun with people, why don't we look at a giant fan here?
36:13 That's kind of neat.
36:15 How do you do it?
36:16 It's very, very sweet.
36:18 So to do the fan, what you're going to do is do a little pharaoh shuffle.
36:22 Now, you don't want cards to be outside at the bottom.
36:27 So you really want to make sure you've got some cards at each end.
36:32 So at each end you want cards.
36:35 Now you're just going to hold the deck as if you're going to do a thumb fan, remember that little baby fan,
36:42 and just run the cards around to make a giant fan.
36:48 This is kind of cool for having people choosing a card.
36:52 Hey, take a card, my little furry friend.
36:55 Again, you can squeeze it shut with your fingers, and you're going to start looking like a monster here.
37:01 Let's take that one stage further.
37:04 Let's do the giant fan, just as so.
37:11 Close it up, and rather than just squeeze them together,
37:16 let's do a nice little waterfally action to put our deck back into one place.
37:26 And here's the double waterfall flourish thing.
37:36 It's kind of cute.
37:37 I'm not a big flourishy kind of fan, just every now and then I like to do them.
37:41 So we've done our giant fan.
37:45 That's kind of cool.
37:47 Now what we're going to do is lift these cards just up a little.
37:53 These are the outside cards, the ones that are actually inside the Faro, if you like.
37:57 They're going to be lifted upwards.
38:00 The first finger goes between them, and the thumb goes on the back of them, just as so.
38:07 So now they're kind of locked into this position.
38:10 So from here, we lift, first finger goes between them, thumb goes on the back,
38:20 so now they're locked into this position.
38:25 Now the other hand comes underneath, and really you can get quite a drop on this when you go berserk,
38:31 but all you have to do is release the pressure, and those cards will fall down into your hands.
38:38 So let's have a little look at this waterfall as you can do it.
38:41 We'll give the cards our little Faro, and as we explained, you twist,
38:47 get your fingers and thumbs into place.
38:50 Now you can actually do a pretty good drop on those cards
38:56 to make it look kind of fun and frisky for your audience.
39:00 And that's the little waterfall.
39:04 [Music]
39:12 Nice little flourish, I mean, the springing is kind of cool, but the waterfall is also kind of nice.
39:19 The waterfall looks very, very pretty with cards.
39:23 And here's how it's done.
39:25 It's just going to take you a little time to practice.
39:27 And by the way, I suggest you practice over a bed,
39:30 because when you drop the cards, it's less to reach down to pick them up.
39:35 What you're going to do is you're going to put the cards into your hand,
39:40 thumbs at the back, fingers at the front, and you're going to squeeze in.
39:44 Now do you see how that kind of separates all the cards out, just as so?
39:50 Now it's all about just releasing pressure on the cards.
39:56 They're already separated for you to fall in the waterfall.
40:00 You just have to let them go at the right time.
40:04 So we'll give the deck a little squeeze, and there's the waterfall.
40:10 Give the deck a little squeeze.
40:13 You naughty boy.
40:16 Give the deck a little squeeze, there's the waterfall.
40:20 Give the deck a squeeze, there's the waterfall.
40:23 It's all about this squeezing action between the fingers.
40:28 Let me show you this very close up.
40:31 So there's the deck.
40:33 I squeeze it, and that's what separates out each and every card,
40:40 making the waterfall possible.
40:43 So there's your separation, so that now when you do your squeeze,
40:49 those cards are going to fall perfectly, just like a little baby Niagara Falls.
40:55 Oh, love you baby.
40:59 [music]
41:06 Rather than just go to take a card like this,
41:10 or indeed use your now perfected pressure fan technique,
41:16 you can also use the little elevator move.
41:18 This is kind of fun where you just spring the cards from hand to hand.
41:22 It's not a move I use a lot, but it's kind of cute.
41:27 Just every now and then people go, "Oh, that looks nice.
41:30 That looks kind of odd."
41:32 And it's a very, very easy move to do.
41:35 Basically what you're doing is just running your fingers down the edge of the deck like this.
41:40 So you're just squeezing and running,
41:44 so that when you squeeze into your other hand, you're just squeezing those cards across.
41:51 So you're doing like a little instant spread of cards to take a card.
41:57 Now, I'm certainly not the best in the world at this,
42:00 but it's quite a cute little move for you to play with, the little elevator spread.
42:06 [Music]
42:14 One of the oldest gags in the magic world,
42:17 and I still use it to this day in my Off-Broadway show in a very weird way,
42:22 but it's kind of fun is when you say to somebody,
42:24 "I want you to take any card you like, just any card you like at all, my friend."
42:32 Now, it's quite interesting that there's not too many people actually know how to do it properly.
42:38 That's the interesting thing.
42:40 So let's do a pressure fan.
42:42 Now, if you remember, your first finger, because of the way you do the pressure fan, will be curled down.
42:47 That means your first finger can push up on that card
42:53 and twist it backwards and forwards between first and second finger.
43:00 So when you do a pressure fan, my friends, you can say to your little ordea,
43:04 "Take any card you like, my friends, any one at all."
43:09 Whoop! It's hiding.
43:11 And it's just a fun little way to add a little humor to your card selection process.
43:16 And that's a nice little card joke to use with your pressure fan.
43:20 [Music]
43:27 So let's use this little card mover as a little trick act thing here.
43:32 Let's take a card from the center of the deck.
43:34 The Seven of Diamonds is one of my favorite cards.
43:37 Let's pop it back into the middle and give the deck a couple of little cuts and a little shuffle, just as so.
43:47 So let's see if we can catch that nervous little card, the Seven of Diamonds.
43:54 A card spin out of the deck has become very, very popular.
43:58 This one is actually quite a simple one.
44:01 What you do is you control the card to the top of the deck.
44:07 Now on the back of the deck, you're going to hold the deck right at the right edge
44:12 and you're between the second finger and thumb.
44:16 And your right nail on your first finger, the right first fingernail,
44:21 is going to pull down on that back card and it's going to let it snap off,
44:26 which is going to make the card go outwards.
44:29 So let's just try and do that for you.
44:31 It's going to scream out of your picture, but at least you'll get the idea of where that card's going.
44:38 It spins up in the air.
44:40 As it comes down, make a vague attempt to catch it and you'll look like a miracle worker.
44:46 [music]
44:55 And while we're talking about little springy things, this isn't really a close-up thing,
44:58 but let's just throw it in as fun into our toolbox in case you want to do a little stand-up thing.
45:03 So you have a number of cards hidden in one hand to the other
45:07 and you want to kind of make them spring from hand to hand.
45:10 [sound of cards being sprung]
45:15 So this little springy thing is just kind of fun.
45:18 The cards are held in the right hand as so.
45:23 Now you bend your fingers in, the thumb comes in and lifts back just the top card
45:31 and now the thumb is going to move to the right.
45:34 Now what that's going to do is make this card start to move out to the left,
45:40 but with a spinning action so as your thumb comes off it, it's going to spin away just like so.
45:48 [sound of cards being spun]
45:57 Then all you've got to do, of course, is learn how to catch them with the other hand.