Magic tricks for beginners
There are a lot of beginners magic tricks which can amaze your friends and spectators.
Here is a fine example of how a strong effect can be produced by
simple means.
THE BENT CORNER PREDICTION
The effect will be apparent as we proceed and as no initial preparation is required, we can proceed with the explanation of the method of performance.
PERFORMANCE.
From a shuffled pack remove any card and without showing its face, place it face down on the table.
Write a message on a piece of paper, beginning “The card at the number you select will be . . . “. Now raise the back edge of the card on the table so that only you can see its face, then fill in its name at the end of the message. Fold the paper and give it to someone to hold. The excuse given for using the card is that it is your guide card which provides a number from which a certain result can be calculated.
This is not too far from the truth!
Pick up the face down pack in the left hand, place it behind your back, then pick up the face down card in the right hand and place this also behind your back. Holding the card between your right first and second fingers at the inner right corner bend down the corner with the thumb. Push the card under the top card of the pack, fan off these two cards as one and for the sake of appearance, also fan off the next card then bring the pack forward. Figure 1 shows an exposed view of the pack at this stage, the bent corner of the important card can be seen under the top card. From the spectator’s view it looks as if only the top two cards of the pack are fanned in readiness for counting.
Fig 1
Ask a spectator to give you any number between one and fifty-two. We will assume that the number is eleven. Count the cards from the top of the pack, taking the first two cards as one as you count “one”, then push the next card on top of the two cards as you count “two”, and so on until you have counted eleven.
Push forward what appears to be the eleventh card for about half its length over the outer end of the pack then place the cards in a block from the right hand onto the pack. Deliberately bend down the outer left corner of the protruding card, then push it back into the pack.
Point to the message held by the spectator and say, “Remember, I wrote this message before you made your selection”.
Take the pack by the outer end and turn it over, end for end, so that it comes face up and say, “To make sure that the order of the pack is not disturbed in any way, you may remember the bottom card if you wish”. Turn the pack over sideways to bring it face down again.
All that remains is to have the message read out, then spread and count the cards slowly to the number stated. In our case the eleventh card will have the outer left corner bent down. This card is removed and turned over dramatically to reveal that the prediction is correct.
If the instructions are followed it will be found that the count reverses the order of the cards, which automatically brings the card with the secretly bent corner to the correct number. By turning over the pack end for end, then sideways, the bent corner comes to the outer left corner of the pack, while the corner of the card which was bent deliberately is out of sight at the inner end of the pack.
