Card Tricks > Mathematical Treatment Card Tricks
Togetherness
There are numberless ways in which cards can be dealt, gathered
together, discarded, regrouped, or otherwise rearranged. However, for a
given handling sequence ( where the distribution, reassembling, or
discarding is standardised ), it follows that for any given card, there
must be a set initial position and a corresponding set end position.
Through the ages magicians have toyed with such systems and from this
experimentation excellent card effects have evolved. In these card
tricks the performer knows that by placing certain cards at certain
initial positions they must eventually reappear at certain end
positions. In between the performer carries out a series of manipulations whereby the cards are moved about. To the audience, it
appears that these moves are more or less haphazard, confused, or
lacking in direction. However, the moves are actually following a strict
sequence that brings certain cards, of interest to the performer, to
exactly where he wants them at the end of the sequence.
Presentation
A spectator is asked to deal out thirty cards from a shuffled deck into
six piles of five face down cards each. He is then requested to select
two cards at random from the remaining twenty-two cards, memorise their
values, and place them face down respectively on any two of the six
piles he may wish to select.
The performer now picks up the six piles, assembles them into a single
packet of thirty-two cards, and proceeds to deal them alternately into
two piles ( dealing first to the left and then to the right ). On
completing the deal, he requests the spectator to point to one of the
two piles. Whichever pile is indicated, the right pile is discarded.
Thus if the left pile is pointed to, the performer states that from now
on the left pile will be retained. If the right pile is pointed to, the
performer states that from now on the right pile will be discarded. The
left (retained) pile is now dealt alternately as before into two piles (
first left and then right ) and of the two piles the right hand pile is
again discarded. This dealing and discard routine is followed two more
times leaving at the end a pair of cards to the left on the table. On
turning them over, they prove to be the cards originally selected and
memorised by the spectator.
Method
The method is completely self-working providing the performer picks up
the piles at the beginning so that the two piles with the two added
cards of the spectator are made the bottom and the third from the top
piles respectively in the six pile assemblage. This means that the
performer must carefully note the two piles on which the spectator
places his selected cards so that when the performer casually picks up
the six piles, their order from the bottom, in terms of the number of
cards in each pile, runs from 6 (bottom pile), 5, 5,6, 5, to 5 ( top
pile). One of the simplest ways of accomplishing this is to pick up and
drop two of the five card piles on each six card pile and then follow by
stacking one of these heaps on the other.
Explanation
This card effect is based on the mechanical result of dealing the cards
in the exact prescribed order. When the piles are first assembled, the
two cards selected by the spectator are automatically positioned 11th
and 27th from the top of the face down pack. On the first deal into
alternate piles, they become positioned 6th and 14th from the bottom of
the left hand pile. On the second deal into alternate piles they become
positioned 3rd and 7th from the top and on the third alternating deal
they become positioned 2nd and 4th from the bottom (1st and 3rd from the
top of the left pile). On the fourth and last alternating deal, they
automatically form the pair of cards to the left ( right card pair
discarded ) and are ready for the mystifying disclosure that completes
the card effect.
Comment
This card trick can and should be dressed up to raise it above a purely
mechanical routine. For example, if an engaged couple can be spotted in
the audience, the performer can embellish the bare effect along the
following lines.
The performer states that by judicious manipulation, playing cards can
be made infallible indicators of mixed couple compatibility. To
illustrate, the performer deals out the thirty cards face down into six
piles of five cards each and then arranges them in the form of a circle.
He then requests the engaged couple to each carefully select and
remember one card from the remaining twenty-two cards. The gentleman is
now asked to put his selected card on one of the piles. In turn the lady
is asked to also put her card down on one of the remaining five piles
but she is admonished to do this with care. Should she, for instance, be
forward or restrained in positioning her card relative to that of her
gentleman partner? Similar ideas can he used to build up the
presentation. At the end the fact that the two selected cards are left
as a pair verifies a high degree of togetherness for the engaged couple
involved in the experiment.
Card Tricks > Mathematical Treatment Card Tricks
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