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Misdirection for Mercury Card Fold
- Thread starter Jacob L
- Start date
The move should be done during a natural context in the routine if possible, but minus knowing how you're using it - As soon as you hit your thumb to put the second crease in, continue to move that hand (with the card) under your arm to pull up your sleeve while closing your fingers to put in the final creases. Your justification is to pull up your sleeve, the pack technically stays in view. Then I'll put the deck on top of the folded card and pull my other sleeve up to complete the action.
Nice advice Beans...I'm sure there are more than a few people here that need help with confidence during their Mercury card fold...myself included.
Generally, it should look like you are squaring the deck and be done at that speed. It should feel like a single motion and then moving the deck back in mechanics grip to cover the card.
I often do it under cover of handing the deck to the spectator to shuffle which avoids the having to move the deck back into mechanic's grip. Also, the bigger move covers the smaller move and you've got the attention focused on the deck which is moving away from you rather than on completing the second fold in the hand that is going toward you.
The original is in Hugard and Braue's Expert Card Technique. It is also in Giobbi's Card College 5. Bannon has a great card fold in Impossibilia called Creased Lightning.
The only video I've seen it taught in is Kranzo's Boondock Mental.
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Jay Sankey teaches it in Paperclipped though his version is more a shotgun speed version of it, but he does give some really good advice on how to properly perform it and learn it.
Awesome thanks for the advice everyone!
Beans, that's really good advice, thanks!
Reality: When you say squaring the deck, should the second fold be done in that time as well? Do you raise the deck up a little bit? I know they won't be burning your hands, but still too much movement can detract attention from what you are saying.
Beans, that's really good advice, thanks!
Reality: When you say squaring the deck, should the second fold be done in that time as well? Do you raise the deck up a little bit? I know they won't be burning your hands, but still too much movement can detract attention from what you are saying.
The Mercury card fold should be covered by riffling the deck. It should just seem like you're playing with the cards by riffling with them, then on the third or fourth riffle, do the move, and cover it with another riffle afterwards. This covers the sound and actions of the mercury card fold. Another important thing to remember is to establish eye contact with the spectator, and talk to them whilst doing the move.
Let's start with a bit of trivia. Mercury wasn't invented by Hugard and Braue, but by John Scarne. A lot of Hugard and Braue's work doesn't give proper crediting. I believe the Fred Braue gives credit for the move to Scarne in the Fred Braue Notebooks, Volume 3.
Whey you square up a deck you take it in end grip and pull your thumb back on the left side of the deck going from the outer left corner to the inner left corner and then usually return the deck to mechanics grip / dealing position. There really are four moves going on (fold, fold, turn, crease). The first is covered by pulling your thumb back, the second happens naturally as your thumb reaches the inner left corner, the third happens the instant you change directions of the deck (i.e. going from squaring to returning to dealing position) and the fourth happens as the deck is being returned to dealing position.
You don't need to raise up the deck (that would look unnatural for a squaring movement). For the third move, the movement is the left hand turning slightly outward and palm up. At that point, the movement is slight, is covered by your right palm and the change in direction of the deck (the bigger movement) will cover the left hand (the smaller movement).
The keys to getting a good (it will rarely be perfect) fold are: 1) having your right thumb significantly further down than your typical end grip. The outer phalanx should be below the deck; 2) having your thumb pointing straight down (my end grip usually has my right thumb slanted toward the left); and 3) having the side of your left index finger touching the deck and not the card (that also reduces the noise). If you want it to be perfect, score the back of the card along where the folds will go.
Although I've broken this down into four parts, they are all done as one motion so that the inertia of the first move naturally causes the second, which triggers the third and so on.
The Hugard and Braue handling is the one that suggests handing the deck to the spectators after doing the first and second parts of the fold. That seems to me to be better cover because there isn't the extra movement of returning the deck to dealing position. When I use this in a card to wallet routine, I show the card isn't on the top of the deck and isn't on the bottom (turning the deck face up - try this and you will understand why) and then do the fold as I hand the spectator's the deck while saying "I'm pretty sure it isn't anywhere in the deck." The handing the deck to the spectators is a really big motion that could cover palming a small elephant.
Giobbi's handling of squaring the deck will work well, but there needs to be an added level of misdirection.
Bannon's handling eliminates the need to turn the deck face up and can be done in two motions with a pause between each motion. I noticed that a version of Creased Lightning is also explained in Smoke and Mirrors (don't have that... yet). I also understand that the July 2009 issue of Magic magazine explains a similar method (in the "Expert Talk" section p. 71). That method gets a better fold than Mercury.
The other method that is out there is Tommy Wonder's (there is a great clip from an L&L video out there with his ambitious card to ring box where he does the fold). His fold gets the card into eighths - yep, I said eighths. The final fold is done in place of the third and fourth parts of the Mercury Card Fold and is similarly covered.
As for any misdirection, it needs to be a natural part of a routine. In Card College, Giobbi uses it in a routine just after a big reveal. Similarly with Tommy Wonder as part of his ambitious card. The cover is you just sitting back and watching the reaction. The best misdirection is a natural movement that has a justification within the design of the effect. I also like the handing the deck to the spectators.
You can talk and make eye contact while doing the move. It just takes practice. Tommy Wonder says it will take 50 decks to learn his variation. I suspect, that Mercury or Bannon's could be mastered with a mere 10 decks. After you have the mechanics down so that you can repeatedly do the move in a single motion, practice the move while talking - the best practice is under performance conditions.
I really disagree with this. You are actually drawing attention to the deck. Do you really think that the spectator isn't going to think that something happened during the four riffles? Mere eye contact and talking isn't going to be enough.
My 9 year old son's favorite cover for a coin vanish - "what's that over there!" Good misdirection needs to come within the structure of the routine. It really isn't misdirection away from something that is happening but simply direction to something that is happening. The more natural the better.
Whey you square up a deck you take it in end grip and pull your thumb back on the left side of the deck going from the outer left corner to the inner left corner and then usually return the deck to mechanics grip / dealing position. There really are four moves going on (fold, fold, turn, crease). The first is covered by pulling your thumb back, the second happens naturally as your thumb reaches the inner left corner, the third happens the instant you change directions of the deck (i.e. going from squaring to returning to dealing position) and the fourth happens as the deck is being returned to dealing position.
You don't need to raise up the deck (that would look unnatural for a squaring movement). For the third move, the movement is the left hand turning slightly outward and palm up. At that point, the movement is slight, is covered by your right palm and the change in direction of the deck (the bigger movement) will cover the left hand (the smaller movement).
The keys to getting a good (it will rarely be perfect) fold are: 1) having your right thumb significantly further down than your typical end grip. The outer phalanx should be below the deck; 2) having your thumb pointing straight down (my end grip usually has my right thumb slanted toward the left); and 3) having the side of your left index finger touching the deck and not the card (that also reduces the noise). If you want it to be perfect, score the back of the card along where the folds will go.
Although I've broken this down into four parts, they are all done as one motion so that the inertia of the first move naturally causes the second, which triggers the third and so on.
The Hugard and Braue handling is the one that suggests handing the deck to the spectators after doing the first and second parts of the fold. That seems to me to be better cover because there isn't the extra movement of returning the deck to dealing position. When I use this in a card to wallet routine, I show the card isn't on the top of the deck and isn't on the bottom (turning the deck face up - try this and you will understand why) and then do the fold as I hand the spectator's the deck while saying "I'm pretty sure it isn't anywhere in the deck." The handing the deck to the spectators is a really big motion that could cover palming a small elephant.
Giobbi's handling of squaring the deck will work well, but there needs to be an added level of misdirection.
Bannon's handling eliminates the need to turn the deck face up and can be done in two motions with a pause between each motion. I noticed that a version of Creased Lightning is also explained in Smoke and Mirrors (don't have that... yet). I also understand that the July 2009 issue of Magic magazine explains a similar method (in the "Expert Talk" section p. 71). That method gets a better fold than Mercury.
The other method that is out there is Tommy Wonder's (there is a great clip from an L&L video out there with his ambitious card to ring box where he does the fold). His fold gets the card into eighths - yep, I said eighths. The final fold is done in place of the third and fourth parts of the Mercury Card Fold and is similarly covered.
As for any misdirection, it needs to be a natural part of a routine. In Card College, Giobbi uses it in a routine just after a big reveal. Similarly with Tommy Wonder as part of his ambitious card. The cover is you just sitting back and watching the reaction. The best misdirection is a natural movement that has a justification within the design of the effect. I also like the handing the deck to the spectators.
You can talk and make eye contact while doing the move. It just takes practice. Tommy Wonder says it will take 50 decks to learn his variation. I suspect, that Mercury or Bannon's could be mastered with a mere 10 decks. After you have the mechanics down so that you can repeatedly do the move in a single motion, practice the move while talking - the best practice is under performance conditions.
I really disagree with this. You are actually drawing attention to the deck. Do you really think that the spectator isn't going to think that something happened during the four riffles? Mere eye contact and talking isn't going to be enough.
My 9 year old son's favorite cover for a coin vanish - "what's that over there!" Good misdirection needs to come within the structure of the routine. It really isn't misdirection away from something that is happening but simply direction to something that is happening. The more natural the better.
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I do it different every time. It's all about finding the right beat, and it's different with every performance. The key, I believe, is twofold:
1. Relax before doing the move. Take a moment to forget about the fact that you're doing the move and create some natural misdirection by interacting with your spectator. Break your hands apart. Be casual. Relax and be in the moment. Let it register with your audience that you're relaxed with everything you do--your body language, your voice, your eye contact, etc. And be genuine--ask a question you're really interested in knowing, comment on something honestly.
2. Don't be in a rush to do the move. Learn how to talk and fill your performing time naturally until you can do the move when you want to do it. It's your performance--you dictate when you do the move, not your spectators. Do it right after something has happened, or after you've shown yourself relaxed and tension-free and there's no heat on you, or after you create a natural moment. But don't rush into it knowing it's not the right moment. Carve out the moment you want. Dig it up and create it.
My suggestion for practicing would be go out and perform the move in front of real people when you don't need to. In other words, perform magic for people, and when you think you can get away with the move, do it. You'll start to realize no one notices the move, and you'll start to understand when it's best to do it. Just do it, drop your hand with the folded card, then stick it in your pocket as you look for something or take something out. If you get caught, just act like you're not trying to hude it by saying you're just throwing out the joker you just found in your deck. No big deal, and move ahead. I think you'll find, though, that by practicing the move when success or failure doesn't matter because it's not in the context of an effect, that you'll quickly develop a comfort and confidence with the move and have great success.
Hope that helps.
1. Relax before doing the move. Take a moment to forget about the fact that you're doing the move and create some natural misdirection by interacting with your spectator. Break your hands apart. Be casual. Relax and be in the moment. Let it register with your audience that you're relaxed with everything you do--your body language, your voice, your eye contact, etc. And be genuine--ask a question you're really interested in knowing, comment on something honestly.
2. Don't be in a rush to do the move. Learn how to talk and fill your performing time naturally until you can do the move when you want to do it. It's your performance--you dictate when you do the move, not your spectators. Do it right after something has happened, or after you've shown yourself relaxed and tension-free and there's no heat on you, or after you create a natural moment. But don't rush into it knowing it's not the right moment. Carve out the moment you want. Dig it up and create it.
My suggestion for practicing would be go out and perform the move in front of real people when you don't need to. In other words, perform magic for people, and when you think you can get away with the move, do it. You'll start to realize no one notices the move, and you'll start to understand when it's best to do it. Just do it, drop your hand with the folded card, then stick it in your pocket as you look for something or take something out. If you get caught, just act like you're not trying to hude it by saying you're just throwing out the joker you just found in your deck. No big deal, and move ahead. I think you'll find, though, that by practicing the move when success or failure doesn't matter because it's not in the context of an effect, that you'll quickly develop a comfort and confidence with the move and have great success.
Hope that helps.
Wow, I didn't know there was so much behind this move, thanks everyone!
Reality-I get what you mean now, I practiced a bit and see how the squaring action aids in the folding, but I always seem to get a "click" from the back of the card on the deck during the first fold. I watched the Tommy Wonder video, and it was amazing. Not just him doing the fold, but the whole performance, I got inspired to tweak my own ACR up a bit now, thank you.
Matt- Really great advice, thanks! I agree on how the spectators shouldn't dictate how your performance goes, you decide when what happens.
Again, thanks for all the advice. Now I have something to do with all my old decks haha.
Reality-I get what you mean now, I practiced a bit and see how the squaring action aids in the folding, but I always seem to get a "click" from the back of the card on the deck during the first fold. I watched the Tommy Wonder video, and it was amazing. Not just him doing the fold, but the whole performance, I got inspired to tweak my own ACR up a bit now, thank you.
Matt- Really great advice, thanks! I agree on how the spectators shouldn't dictate how your performance goes, you decide when what happens.
Again, thanks for all the advice. Now I have something to do with all my old decks haha.
Normally, I just talk to them. I do the first half at one point, make sure the focus is off of the deck. Then I talk to them a bit more, use some patter or something, and then do the second half.
Try keeping your right thumb still. Resist the urge to push with the bottom phalanx of the thumb to get the move done more quickly. Bring the card to it with your left index finger. However, keep pressure on the card where the edge contacts the right thumb. PM me if you need any clarification.
Tommy Wonder's method also is in Volume 1 of Books of Wonder.
Just to expand a bit further with an effect that uses the Mercury Card Fold, when I was first learning David Williamson's T&R Transpo, the final switch didn't feel right to me at first. I always felt like I was doing the move when spectators were burning my hands, or I'd be just a bit unsure about trying to create the right misdirection to make the switch look as good as it needed to be. Then I hit on an idea that solves the problem, which was to just stop performing at that moment. When the phase prior hit, I just stopped performing--mentally and physically. And it registered for audiences. I knew I didn't have to restore the torn card--and I knew they weren't expecting me to either. If I wanted to continue to the last phase I could do it any time I wanted. The trick in their minds (and mine) was over at the point, and my body language confirmed that. Only when I knew this registered did I move onto the last phase and do the restoration--almost as if it was an effect unto itself. Mentally I broke the routine down into effects--the transposition, and then a restoration. By just changing my mindset the whole thing became much clearer and easier.
I end my ACR with Paperclipped--another routine that makes use of the MCF, and I use this same mental process as I do with T&R Transpo. After the phase prior (Pop-Up Move) I just stop performing. I let the final phase sink in and act as if the routine ends there. When that registers--both for me and the audience--that's when I do the MCF and call attention back to the paperclipped first set out before the ACR began.
The final bit of advice I can give you is to just practice it over and over again so you can do it without thinking about it. So the back of your mind is choosing to do the move and your hands are just responding while apparently your full attention is being given to your spectators--so there's never a lag in your social interaction, and you never get that guilty frozen look in your eye when you're doing the move. When you can do it without thinking about it, while you're interacting with someone naturally, the misdirection is almost automatic and you can do the move pretty blatantly and openly.
So along with finding a good way to practice and carve out your own moment, as I mentioned in the above post, changing your mental process about the move and the effect you're doing with it is also something I think will really benefit you. Those are all the best tips I can give you. For me, making moves like the MCF look good are more mental than they are technical.
Hope that helps.
I end my ACR with Paperclipped--another routine that makes use of the MCF, and I use this same mental process as I do with T&R Transpo. After the phase prior (Pop-Up Move) I just stop performing. I let the final phase sink in and act as if the routine ends there. When that registers--both for me and the audience--that's when I do the MCF and call attention back to the paperclipped first set out before the ACR began.
The final bit of advice I can give you is to just practice it over and over again so you can do it without thinking about it. So the back of your mind is choosing to do the move and your hands are just responding while apparently your full attention is being given to your spectators--so there's never a lag in your social interaction, and you never get that guilty frozen look in your eye when you're doing the move. When you can do it without thinking about it, while you're interacting with someone naturally, the misdirection is almost automatic and you can do the move pretty blatantly and openly.
So along with finding a good way to practice and carve out your own moment, as I mentioned in the above post, changing your mental process about the move and the effect you're doing with it is also something I think will really benefit you. Those are all the best tips I can give you. For me, making moves like the MCF look good are more mental than they are technical.
Hope that helps.
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I didn't saw anyone mentioning this, but another fine point is performing with a little older and relatively worn-out deck. Older cards won't make as much noise when folding and it will take less hand tension to fold them. Even though I agree that the simplest way to get away with it is to ask a direct question and look a spectator in the eyes, when you're surrounded it's a bit harder to misdirect a whole group from even glancing at your hands so you can also do the move under the cover of the closing spread, and ending with, as somebody stated above, a simple riffle.