Card to a specific location

kendrickhuynh · May 13, 2012

Hello people,

I'm wondering if anyone know of a way to insert a card to a very specific spot in the deck. It doesn't matter what card or where the insertion should be, just a way to do so.

Overview: In a performance, a magician would be able to take the spectator's selection and pretend to randomly jam it into the center of the pack while in reality he/she placed the selection right where he/she wants.

Example: The magician has a card selected and signed (say the 6 of Hearts). He takes out another deck (new-deck-order) The magician slides the card into the deck, also completely flush. He removes the cards and spreads through to reveal that the signed 6 of Hearts is indeed between the 7 of Hearts and the 5 of Hearts.

Specificity: The cards themselves can be manipulated in any way, and the cards may or may not be able to be examined by the spectator.

Anyone know of any method capable of such an effect? Any help is greatly appreciated.

EDIT: I changed the example to replace the info with a more accurate one. Please forgive me. The original message implied that the magician used only one deck. In reality, I'm aiming for a method that involves two.

Jay Adra · May 13, 2012

If you want to do the effect you just described, simply have someone choose a card and maintain a break at the point from which they removed their card. Then just stick the card back in the break.

However, I'm going to say that such an effect would need more work and presentation before performing as that on its own wouldn't fool anyone really. It wouldn't seem very impressive or magical, but since you asked for a method, that's probably the simplest one.

Marc-Antoine Denis · May 13, 2012

You can use the breather crimp: in your case, the 7 of hearts would be one. Dribble the cards, showing you don't hold a break. Square the cards, and lightly cut the deck, approximatively near the breather crimp. It will naturally (and effortlessly) open to the exact spot you need... every single time. Stick your 6 of hearts in there, close the deck, and dribble the cards if you wish. Voila!

Hope it helps,

Marc-Antoine Denis

JFergz · May 13, 2012

Arrange the deck in new deck order and cut the deck anywhere you like. For example, cut the deck at the seven of hearts. You do this beforehand or do it when the spectator is misdirected. Give the spectator the top card and ask them to put it anywhere in the deck they wish. To put their card in the correct position, perform Bill Simon's Business Card Prophecy move which will turn the card face up and secretly cut the deck. Now spread the deck face up to reveal the deck in new deck order with the face down card between the 6 and 8 of hearts.

Super simple but should puzzle any spectator. The strong point of this handling is that the spectator inserts the card into the deck unlike the above suggestions, even though they are just as good and simple.

kendrickhuynh · May 13, 2012

Thanks for all your responses, they helped immensely. To further clarify the specificity, it is as follows:

It cannot use a crimp or anything that may mark the cards since the objective is to take the spectator's card and place it right where you want it. The tricky part is, it HAS to be impromptu, since many people I've seen do this type of thing, they only had mini-seconds to take the card and place it in a new deck.

To narrow it down, this would be done after a deck switch has been executed. Yes, it is nearly invisible so no chances of flashing. I'm just very curious at how a freely-signed selection (supposedly) can enter the deck EXACTLY where it should be. Now if it's a forced card, I'm sure it would be easier to use the methods above.

But let's say it was a free choice, and the deck switch has the new deck still inside the card box whereas the selected card would just go straight in without any sort of manipulation of the cards inside the box. How would a magician accomplish such a feat? If the above methods can do so, I apologize for going on and on.

rich23 · May 13, 2012

Were exactly does the card have to go??

kendrickhuynh · May 13, 2012

Basically anywhere, but it has to be the exact spot that the magician wants. Like I stated in the example, if the deck was in new-deck order and a card was pushed in, it would be between the higher and lower values of the same suite.

Jay Adra · May 13, 2012

Sounds to me like you're trying to find the method of Shawn Farquhar's trick he does, which is essentially exactly what you described. Not sure of the name, but he performed it on Fool Us a while back.

kendrickhuynh · May 14, 2012

Right you are. Purely for educational purposes, of course. I am intrigued at how fast he can do so under the inspection of P&T. Quite a remarkable feat.

Jecoa · May 14, 2012

Since I do not know the method Shawn Farquhar uses I don't know if I can help in that aspect.
But a possible solution would be to simply bridge the top half of the deck, this bridge can be removed by concaving the cards slightly.

kendrickhuynh · May 14, 2012

I understand your position, but such a method can only be used by integrating a forced card. I don't think Penn would fall to Shawn's classic force, which he would've pointed out sooner or later.

As stated previously, if the card was forced, it would be done easily using any of the methods mentioned above. Now, if the problem is that the card was NOT forced, how might a magician be able to accomplish the same feat?

Penn and Teller also said they didn't know what method Shawn used, so it's more toward the card having not been forced.

Josh Burch · May 14, 2012

I would try to develop your own character and stay away from duplicating an effect that some one else is already well known for.

kendrickhuynh · May 15, 2012

Even if I were to perform the effect, which I'm pretty sure I won't, I wouldn't dare call it mine. It'll be like performing anything from theory11 or Dan & Dave; it's not mine, but it's not like I don't have the right to perform it, provided that the credits go where it's due.

Since no one knows exactly what Shawn's method is, I'd be using my own handling, which, in a sense, is not actually copying the original trick. Besides, the original point of this thread is to find a suitable method that Shawn used. This type of method could be integrated with a deck switch to do many incredible effects, like the classic Brainwave routine. Is that "my own character" enough for you?