Expert Card Technique. Jean Hugard
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Название: Expert Card Technique
Автор: Jean Hugard
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Кинематограф, театр
isbn: 9781420971668
isbn:
THE LITTLE FINGER CRIMP
Hold the card upright by one end, slanting slightly to the right, its face towards you, in the right hand, the thumb pressing against the face, the first, second and third fingers against the back and the middle joint of the little finger resting against the lower left corner, Fig. 1.
Make an upward crimp at this lower left corner by pressing inwards against it with the bony middle knuckle of the little finger.
The crimp can be made in an instant, with perfect safety, merely by picking up a card to note what it is and at once dropping it.
THE GAMBLERS’ CRIMP
In crimping cards gamblers favor the upward crimp, since it is more difficult to detect the subterfuge when a card so crimped is laid on the table.
The following method of putting an upward crimp in a card is indetectible and easy of execution:
1. Push off the top card with the left thumb and grasp its inner right corner between the right first and second fingers at the face of the card and the thumb at the back, Fig. 1.
2. Turn the card face upwards; in so doing press down upon the face of the card with the second finger and against the back with the thumb, crimping the card against the thumb. This is shown in Fig. 2 with the crimp exaggerated.
In the simple action of showing the face of a card, you have crimped it for use as a key card for any other purpose. For instance, suppose that in the Merlin Spread trick{5} a perverse spectator removes a card at too great a distance from your key card; take the card from him under the pretence of showing it to everyone and crimp it as above. Let the spectator indicate a spot for its return to the spread, push it in and invite him to gather the cards and shuffle them. The crimp being in the opposite end to that of the key card there can be no confusion when you come to locate the card.
THE PEEK CRIMP
A spectator having peeked at a card in the familiar manner, hold a break under it at the side near the inner right corner with the left little finger.
Cover the pack with the right hand, accepting and holding the break with the thumb at the inner end.
Under cover of the action of squaring the pack, let the spectator’s card—the bottom card of the upper packet—slip off the right thumb against the tip of the left little finger. Bend this finger inwards and crimp the corner of the card upwards, Fig. 1.
The card can then be immediately located after honest shuffling and cutting.
CARD MARKING CRIMP
The usual method of crimping a card is to bend a corner up or down. A refinement when using a crimped card as a key card is to place the crimp in the card by means of the method described in connection with the Gamblers’ Card Marking system. This type of crimp performs all the functions of the ordinary crimp and yet, no matter how carelessly it is made, it never can be made so heavily that it will be noticeable in the pack. More important, it can be sighted at the top of the pack, or in a table spread, exactly as the crimp is sighted in the marking system-by noting the break in the glaze of the card as the light strikes off the surface of the card—and the card is much more easily found than are cards marked by the usual method.
The crimp may be placed in a single corner, at diagonal corners or at both corners of one end. The last is the best practice since the pack cuts easily to the card and the position of the key card in the pack can be sighted in an instant should this be desirable.
CHAPTER 10. THE SPECTATOR PEEK
THE SPECTATOR PEEK IMPROVED
This sleight is very little known although it has been used for decades by the best and almost legendary characters of card conjuring. The original method wherein the break after the peek was held by the tip of the first finger is still prevalent.
1. Hold the pack in the left hand as for dealing, but with the little finger flush with the inner end, the cards being beveled to the right with as much of the face card showing as possible.
2. Holding the pack vertically, invite a spectator to glimpse a card by breaking the pack at the outer right corner and thus sighting an index; as he does this the pack will break open down the length of the right side.
3. Press the left little finger gently against the side at the inner right corner. When the spectator releases the upper packet the left little finger will hold a break which is indetectible at the outer end since you hold it closed tightly by pressure with the left thumb, Fig. 1.
4. Bring the deck before you horizontally and place the right hand over the pack as if to square it. Grasp the ends and tilt the pack to the right and upwards, placing it vertically upon the left fingers with the left thumb at the upper side, and retaining the break with the little finger. This action has a peculiarly narcotic effect upon spectators by lulling their suspicions.
5. Turn the pack down once more upon the left palm, holding it as if for dealing and still retaining the little finger break for further use.
The side slip is generally used after the peek to bring the card to the top. The performer should bide his time before executing this sleight; a minute or so after the glimpse the spectator’s perceptions are much less acute. This action is fully explained in The Side Slip, page 47.
THE SPECTATOR PEEK—THE LAST WORD
The following method of holding a break after a spectator has peeked at a card is the finest and most deceptive yet discovered. The use of the little finger, described above, has been kept a closely guarded secret by first rank card men but, good as that method is, the one now to be described is far superior from every point of view.
During the action the tip of each finger remains fully exposed to view and there does not seem to be any possible way in which the spectator’s card can be controlled.
1. Place the pack in the left hand, the middle phalange of the third finger pressing against the side at the inner corner, Fig. 1, the pack being beveled to the right as shown.
2. Offer the pack to a spectator, inviting him to glimpse the index of a card by breaking the pack open at the outer right corner. His action will open a break down the length of the side of the pack; when the spectator releases the cards above his glimpsed card, the break will close automatically, but not before the flesh СКАЧАТЬ