Basic Card Tricks

Learning a few basic card tricks is a sure fire way of impressing your friends and can be used at the most unexpected of times. Take a few minutes to learn some basic card tricks that you can pull out the bag when needed.

Basic Card Trick 1; Mind Reader

Remove 25 cards from the pack and allow the spectator to shuffle and cut the cards as much as they want then lay the 25 cards out in 5 rows of 5 cards face upwards from left to right in neat rows following a sort of grid pattern. Ask the spectator to think of any one of the cards in any row and to tell you which row their card is located in.

When they tell you, note the card* at the left hand end of the row. Take up the cards, beginning first at the last or right hand card of the bottom line, placing it on the face of the card immediately above it and then place these 2 cards on top of the card immediately above, and so on up to the top. Do this with each of the rows in turn and you should be left with 5 piles of cards on what was the top row. Collect up the cards, placing the 5th (right hand) pile on top of the 4th, then this stack on top of the 3rd, then on top of the 2nd, etc, until you’re left with a single stack of cards.

Then once again, keeping the cards face up, deal then into another 5 horizontal rows as before. Ask the spectator to tell you once again which row their card is located in. When they tell you, look along the top or the bottom row for the card which you noted* earlier was first in the row they had indicated. Above it or below in the row to which they now point, is the card which they originally thought of.

Basic Card Trick 2; Impressive Prediction

A spectator is asked to shuffle the cards, then remove any twelve from the pack and to further shuffle these twelve. Whilst this is being done the magician writes a prediction on a piece of paper he places face down on the table. The spectator now takes any four cards from his selected twelve and lays them in a row face up on the table, the remaining eight cards are put with the rest of the pack.

 

This is now taken up, and from it cards are dealt onto each of the face-up cards so as to bring its value to ten. For instance, if a four then six cards are to be dealt on top of it. All picture cards, however, are valued at ten so no cards are put on these. This having been done, the total value of the four cards is ascertained. For example, supposing the four face-up cards happen to be the Three of Hearts, the Seven of Clubs the Jack of Spades and the Four of Diamonds, their total value would be twenty-four.

The card which lies at that number is now counted down to in the pack that remains. When it is turned over, amazingly matches the original prediction. This self-working trick requires no skill and can be done with a borrowed pack as long as the pack is complete.

How is it done? The spectator shuffles the pack and removes any twelve cards and whilst he shuffles these you note the bottom card of the pack remaining ; this is the prediction card. Write the name of this card on the paper and put it to one side. Tell the spectator to remove any four cards discarding the rest. Drop the bulk of the pack on top of these, this brings your prediction card ninth from the bottom. The spectator lays out his four cards and deals on each one, enough cards to make up ten. The total of the four face-up cards is obtained and this number counted down to and it will be the card you previously predicted.

 

Basic Card Trick 3 : Card Reversal

You can use any pack for this trick. Ask a spectator to shuffle the pack and cut it into 2 piles. Then let them select one of the piles and you take the other. Turn your back to the spectator and ask them to select a card from their half pack, note it and then replace it on top of their pile of cards. Turn round and place your half pack on top of theirs.

Give the spectator the complete pack to hold behind their back. Instruct them to take the bottom card and insert it somewhere near the top of the pack, the top card and insert it somewhere near the bottom of the pack and then finally, to take the top card, reverse it and place it somewhere near the centre. The spectator should then give the cards back to you. When the cards are spread out on the table, the card which they reversed will be next to (ie. to the left of) the card they selected.

How it’s done! After dividing the pack and you turn your back to the spectactor, allowing him to select a card out of your view, you take the opportunity to reverse (ie. turn face up) the bottom and second from top cards in your pile. When you place your pile of cards on top of the spectator’s the trick is set!

Basic Card Trick 4: Odd Mix !

This trick can be repeated over and over again without any fear of detection. Using any pack, openly remove five red and five black cards, (It is best to keep to spot cards though not essential.) then discard the rest of the pack. Put the two stacks of cards face to face – that is, all cards of one colour together face up and all of the other colour face down on top of them.

Thoroughly mix the cards, using an overhand shuffle being careful that none of the cards turn over while you shuffle them. Place them behind your back and count off the top five, turning this stack of five over. Bring both stacks round to the front again. Spread them in two separate strips along the table and there will be an equal number of face-up cards in each pile. But they will all be alike in colour in each pile.

Let’s see that again! Reverse one of the stacks and place the two piles together again, shuffle and put them behind your back as before and repeat. You can keep on doing this all day and the effect will be the same.