Expert Card Technique. Jean Hugard
Чтение книги онлайн.
Читать онлайн книгу Expert Card Technique - Jean Hugard страница 18
Название: Expert Card Technique
Автор: Jean Hugard
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Кинематограф, театр
isbn: 9781420971668
isbn:
If it is desired to palm the card, you have merely to curl the right fingers on it as the left hand carries the pack away in the swing towards the left.
b. 1. Hold the pack in the left hand as for dealing, the little finger holding a break under the desired card, the thumb lying along the left side, A in Fig. 2.
2. Place the right hand over the pack, the thumb lying along the inner end, the second, third and fourth fingers at the outer end and the forefinger curled tightly on the top. Hold the wrist low so that the palm of the hand is in the same plane as the top of the pack, Fig. 2.
3. Insert the tip of the little finger in the break and with it push the desired card diagonally to the right about three-quarters of an inch.
4. Grasp the jogged card at the right corners between the first joint of the little finger and the flesh of the palm at the right side.
5. Move the body and the hands to the left, the left hand moving more quickly than the right, and thus drawing the pack away until the card is freed. Turn again to the front, moving the hands in the reverse direction, the left hand moving faster than the right, and so place the desired card on the top of the pack. During the action the right first finger remains curled at all times, until the hand strokes the ends of the pack in squaring it. B shows the right hand depositing the palmed cards squarely on the pack, afterwards moving back to the right.
The curling of the right forefinger and the low position of the right wrist and hand are the features of this method, making it an excellent one for use under adverse conditions with spectators surrounding the performer.
TWO COVERS FOR THE SIDE SLIP
The legendary strolling conjurer, Max Malini, brought to its apogee the natural and audacious concealment of a vital sleight by covering it with a characteristic and deliberate action. For instance, with a card pushed from the pack in readiness for the side slip, he often paused to converse with the spectators and, perhaps a minute later, brought the card to the top effortlessly in an unhurried action which superimposed the card on the pack as he turned to an onlooker and illustrated how the pack was to be opened for the spectator peek. The action, a legitimate one, gave a tacit reason for the right hand moving over the pack.
Another favorite subterfuge of this expert card handler was the following cover for the same sleight, the side slip. Immediately before slipping the card to the top, he would request the spectator to concentrate on his card. As if to emphasize the request, he would raise both hands until the back of his right hand rested against his forehead, his right fingers grasping the pack by the ends and the left fingers by its sides. The hands, grasping the pack, seemed only to dramatize the request, actually the side slip was made as the hands rose, perfect cover for the sleight being thus afforded.
It is not suggested that readers adopt these actions, for, while they suited perfectly Malini’s personality and style of presentation, they may be wholly unsuited to others. They are given as examples of the type of covering actions which card confers should seek—actions which are natural, unhurried and apparently predicated upon necessity.
MALINI’S SIDE SLIP
1. After the spectator peek, retain a break with the left little finger as in the methods previously given.
2. Place the right hand over the pack and under its cover push the peeked card three-quarters of an inch to the right with the tip of the left little finger, which presses up against the face of the card at the right inner corner. The left third finger aids in this action.
3. Place the outermost joint of the right little finger upon the outer edge of the card, at the right corner, and drop the right thumb upon the inner end of the pack at the middle.
4. Move the fingers of the right hand to the right in an inward arc, thus swinging the card diagonally outwards from the deck, the inner end pivoting upon the ball of the right thumb which has remained against the inner end of the deck, Fig. 1.
5. Rest the right forefinger against the right edge of the pack. Hold the hands motionless for at least ten seconds; move the hands slowly to the left and quietly and very leisurely draw the card, which is held between the outermost joints of the fingers and the ball of the thumb, with its face bent concave, entirely free of the deck, replace the right thumb at the inner end and place the card at the top of the pack by swinging the fingers in an outward arc to the left until the card is squarely upon the deck.
6. Lightly square the ends of the pack, or indicate to another spectator how he is to peek at a card, either operation providing a logical reason for having brought the hand over the deck.
The leitmotif of the sleight is an almost absurd deliberation of action.
THE DELAYED SIDE SLIP
In the first published explanation of the side slip, immediately after the peek was made a break was secured by the tip of the left first finger and the left arm dropped rapidly to the side. As the left hand was raised again, the right hand covered the pack and the left first finger pushed out the required card swiftly into the right hand which placed it on the top of the pack. There are two drawbacks to this method, the dropping of the arm to the side to hide the break held by the forefinger and the swift extraction of the card in the upward motion of the two hands which inevitably produces a telltale click as the card leaves the pack.
This procedure, which has been abandoned by experts, is still, unfortunately, used widely. A trial of the two preceding methods will prove instantly their great superiority. The application of the delaying principle is a still further improvement on the original sleight.
1. Proceed as in the foregoing descriptions until the desired card is pushed partly out of the pack and is gripped by the right little finger and the right side of the palm.
2. At once grip the pack between the right thumb, which lies along the inner end, and the second, third and fourth fingers at the outer end, the first finger doubled on top, Fig. 1. The same grip is seen from below in Fig. 2.
3. Square the sides of the pack with the left thumb and fingers below and remove that hand.
4. A few moments later, with some appropriate remark, take the pack with the left hand, drawing it away horizontally to avoid any sound as it leaves the card behind. Let the right hand drop to the СКАЧАТЬ