Card Tricks >
Reverse Counting Card Tricks
Name that Card
Presentation
A spectator is requested to think of a number, say between one and
thirteen. The performer then hands a shuffled deck of cards exactly
equal to this thought of number and to put this packet in his pocket.
The performer further instructs spectator A to secretly count off and
remove another packet of cards of the same number and to hand this over
to a second spectator B for verification of the count. This packet is
then shuffled by B after which he hands it to a third spectator C who
notes and memorises the value of the exposed card at the bottom of the
face down packet. Spectators A and B can also look at and remember the
bottom card if they so desire. This packet is then replaced face down on
the top of the face down deck. All the foregoing is done out of sight of
the performer.
Taking back the deck, the performer asks the three spectators A, B, and
C if they would now be willing to cooperate in a card experiment by
slowly spelling out their first names. As they do this in turn, the
performer deals out a face down pile on the table for each letter of
each name. The performer explains that he is doing this to show them how
they are to deal out cards later when they are handed the pack for a
subsequent dealing. The performer replaces all the cards that have been
dealt out for the three first names, as a unit, back on top of the main
pack and handing the assembled cards to spectator A requests that he now
take out the packet of cards that is in his pocket and replace it on top
of the pack to give a full deck of cards.
This being done, spectators A, B, and C, in turn are asked to deal off
cards from the top of the deck corresponding to letters in their first
names. The depleted deck is now returned, the performer places it on top
of the dealt out cards, after which the assembled cards are squared.
The stage is now set for the disclosure of the memorised card. Spectator
C is asked to name his card and on turning over the top card of the face
down deck on the table, it is found indeed to be his
memorised card, a case of naming the noted card with absolute exactness.
Method
Peculiarly, the trick is self-working from the start to finish
provided the performer carries out the presentation exactly as outlined.
Explanation
Let x be the number thought of by spectator A. Then x is also the
number of cards that A hands to spectator B. Let a, b and c equal to the
number of letters in the first names of spectator A, B
and C respectively.
Spectator C notes the bottom card of the packet of x cards that is
handed to him by spectator B after which the packet is placed back on
the main deck. This card is now the xth card from the top. The performer
proceeds to count out (a+b+c) cards, one by one, in reverse order under
the pretext of showing spectators A, B and C how they are to later deal
out cards corresponding to the letters in their first names in the card
effect.
When this packet of (a+b+c) card is placed back on the main deck, the
memorised card of C is also reversed and becomes positioned as the
(a+b+c+1-x)th card from the top. The success of the effect depends on (a+b+c)
being larger than x. Hence if by chance the letters of the three names
fail to exceed twelve in number, the performer will ask for another name
and proceed on the basis of the
total letters in the four names.
Comment
This card trick lends itself to many variations in presentation
although the basic idea remains the same. For example, the performer as
before can request a spectator to secretly remove a few cards from the
top of a shuffled deck, count them and place them in his pocket so that
the number of cards in the packet can be verified later if necessary.
With this secret number in mind, the spectator is
next instructed to count down from the top of the remaining pack of
cards to the card at his secretly held number, look at this card and
remember its value. The card is to be left undisturbed at this
position and the deck is squared. All the foregoing is done out of sight
of the performer.
The performer now instructs him to commence dealing cards, one at a
time, from the top of the face down deck onto a pile on the table. The
performer explains that he will attempt to stop the deal when the
spectator comes to his memorised card. He mentally count the cards as
they are dealt and after about fifteen cards are on the table, and he
confesses that he must have missed the spectator's card has been
definitely overshot after which is the dealt cards are placed back on
the main deck as noted above. However, it is absolutely essential that
the performer keep track of the total number of cards in the dealt out
pile on the table.
At this stage, the performer apologises for missing the card but that he
would like to try again and to make the trick more difficult he requests
the spectator to add the cards in his pocket to the top of the face down
deck. This buries the spectator's card deeper in the deck and makes it
more difficult for the performer to locate.
Start the deal once more and this time the performer is successful in
stopping the spectator at his secretly noted card. This trick is related
to the number of cards that are dealt out on the first deal. The
memorised card of the spectator will be the next card beyond this number
on the second deal.
Thus if x cards were dealt out the first time, the spectator's card
will become positioned as the (x+1)th card from the top after (1) the
first pile of dealt cards has been put back on top of the pack and (2)
the cards in the spectator's pocket have been added in turn on top. Note
that in the latter variation, the performer at no time touches the cards
after handing the deck to the spectator.
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Reverse Counting Card Tricks
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