#1 FUN-DA-MENTAL MAGIC SERIES ©1999
from AARDVARK ADVENTURES by Yona Chock, The Magic Storyteller
Phone (808) 683-5262 * Fax (808) 683-3217 * Email Yona Chock

HOW TO STACK A DECK OF CARDS

This article was written in response to an E-mail from a young reader in England who wanted to know how his friend had managed to fool him by correctly naming his selected card even before he turned it over.

The effect described can be achieved several different ways. Perhaps the simplest is to "stack" the deck. I use the "Si Stebbens" stack. Separate the four suits into four piles in order from King to Ace. Place the four piles in a row with the Clubs first, followed by Hearts, Spades, Diamonds. Remember the key word, "CHASED." It has the letters C = Clubs, H = Hearts, S = Spades, and D = Diamonds in the order that you will need to remember.

Starting with the Ace of Clubs, make a stack face up on the table. In your mind count three cards, from the Ace (two, three, four) and take the third card (in this case four) from the second suit (Hearts) and put it on top of the King of Clubs. Now count three more cards (five, six, seven) move to the next suit (Spades), take the Seven of Spades and put it face up on the Four of Hearts. Again count three places (eight, nine, ten) and over one suit, to place the Ten of Diamonds on top of the Seven of Spades. Continue stacking the deck until you have used up all the cards. If you do it correctly, you will end up with the Jack of Diamonds face up on top of the stack. Turn the stacked deck face down.

You cannot shuffle the stack but you can cut it, putting the bottom on the top or vice versa, without disturbing the actual sequence of the cards. If you do this casually several times before you begin the trick, you create the impression that you are shuffling the deck.

The stacked deck can be used to create many different effects. Predicting the card before it is turned face up is only one of them. This is how you can use the stacked deck to duplicate the "trick" of naming a card before it is turned over.

Ask a volunteer to say "Stop" as you riffle the edge of the deck. When he does, hold out the lower half of the deck and tell him to "take your card." As he glances down at his card, you glance down at the bottom card of the upper half of the deck which you have lifted off. (Be subtle!) This is your "key" card. Whatever card you see, count three numbers up and one suit over, and you will know exactly what card he is holding. For example, if you see a Three of Hearts on the bottom of your half, you will know that the next card in the stack will be three cards up (six) and one suit over (Spades.) Don't reveal the secret by repeating the trick to the same audience, nor by obviously staring at the "key" card. Take your time about "revealing" the chosen card. It shouldn't look too easy. Make sure that the card is returned to the deck at the break, or you will have to shuffle through the whole deck to find it, and get it back in order. Here is another effect you can do with the stacked deck. Have some one tell you to "Stop," put the top half under the bottom half, so that the card they stopped at is on top of the deck. Deal out four cards from the top to four different people. Now you can do a mind reading act. Have each person in turn, look at their card, and concentrate on it. Close your eyes, frown in concentration, and sloooowly reveal their card. First name the color, then the suit, and, finally, the value. You can tease one person by pretending to have trouble reading their mind, because it is so "dim."

Gene Anderson, of "Torn and Restored Newspaper" fame, does a very funny presentation of a card prediction. He claims that, as each card is printed with different amount of ink (Black ink weighs more than red ink, he maintains) he can identify them all by their weight. He says he can tell, by the slight variations in weight, which card is missing from the deck. A card is selected and removed, and then Gene "weighs" the deck in his hand. Thoughtfully he "analysizes" the deck, and then tells you which card you have selected. Or he may hold the deck up, after a card has been selected, peer at it closely as he riffles the edges, and annouce which card is "missing" from the deck. He also claims that he can "hear" the difference a missing card makes in the "sound" of the deck as it is riffled next to his ear. This is a very useful skill if the lights should ever go out during your show. Like any magic trick, practice makes perfect. You need to memorize the sequence of the stacked deck so that whichever card you see at a glance, it will immediately bring the next card in the sequence to mind. Once you have that detail down pat, work on your acting skills. The difference between a good magician and a great magician lies in the acting ability of the Great Magician.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this or any other magic trick please fax or E-mail me. I am always looking for new magic tricks and better ways to explain them. Your help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Yona Chock, The Magic Storyteller