Introduction:

Thank you for purchasing ‘Trap-ease’, a very visual sandwich effect that is
perfect as a short trick to be performed on its own in a walk around setting
or as a stunning phase to add to a more lengthy sandwich routine. A recent
flick through some of my notes revealed that I have something of a pen-
chant for sandwich effects. I have literally dozens of different methods and
approaches jotted down and I think I know why. It is because the premise is
so direct and easy to follow that it requires very little from your spectators
but gives back a lot in return. The plot is so straight forward you could per-
form most sandwich effects in complete silence and everyone would still
understand exactly what is taking place. Now, if you can add something
visual to the mix then you’re in a very nice area and that, I think, is exactly
what ‘Trap-ease’ does. I hope you agree. Enjoy.

Effect:
Two Jokers are removed from the deck. A card is selected and signed
before being lost back into the center of the deck. Now the Jokers, which
have been nowhere near the deck or the selected card, are given a flick
whereby a card suddenly and visually appears face down in between them.
The card is removed and shown to be the signed selection. Everything may
be examined. It really is that clean!

You have been provided with one hand made gimmicked card. It will be of a
random value and must be paired up with its mate from the deck in per-
formance. The photographs in this documentation depict Jokers to prevent
confusion. The gimmick provided will wear out eventually as all playing
cards do and you will have to make a new one. You can make replacement
gimmicks in any suit or value you like but again, the description below
assumes you are making the gimmick from a Joker. I would imagine that a
quick examination of the card you have received will reveal all there is to
know about how they are made but in case not here are the lengthy and
complicated instructions, complete with diagrams.

Constructing the Gimmick:

Take any card with a back design that matches the deck you will be using.
Using sharp scissors or a craft knife, cut a corner from the card as high-
lighted in fig.01. Take this FIG.01 FIG.02
corner and, using clear
sticky tape, attach it to
the back of the Joker
exactly as shown in
fig.02. I wish I could tell
you it was more compli-
cated than that but it isn’t,
that’s the 'Trap-ease' gim-
mick in a nutshell.

Feel free to make as

many as you require for
your own personal use but please FIG.03
do not make them for others or for
re-sale. This is not a very nice
thing to do and I dare say your
mother wouldn't be very proud of
you. So, if you can't do it for me,
do it for mummy!

How does it work?

Take whatever card is the mate to
your gimmick and place it under
your gimmicked card with the flap
folded in and out of sight. Hold
both cards at the bottom right hand FIG.04

corner between your right thumb

and first fingers in the exact posi-
tion illustrated in fig.03. (The way
in which the two cards are held
prior to activating the gimmick is
important. For the best results,
study fig.03 closely and make sure
you always hold the cards in this
way.) Now, with your left thumb
flick the left edge of the bottom card and a face down card suddenly
appears in between them. fig.04 The appearance of the face down card
looks very good and you may find you wear your first gimmick out just con-
tinually causing the appearance of the card.

First Handling:
This is the handling I use every time I perform this trick. It is the cleanest
and most direct way to do it, hands down. There is a move at the end which
shouldn’t present any problems for anyone with a minimum of practice. If
however, it doesn’t seem like your cup of tea I have provided an even easi-
er method which I have imaginatively titled ‘Second Handling’. I would how-
ever urge you to use this handling as I feel something definitely gets lost in
the second one.

Have your gimmick somewhere in the deck. Run through the faces of the
cards and remove your gimmick and its mate, tabling them both face up,
the gimmick uppermost. Obviously care must be taken to hide the flap on
the gimmick. Explain that you will use this pair to find the selected card in a
moment.

Have the spectator select any card and have it signed across the face.
Upon the return of the card, control it to the top of the deck. If you do not
have a favourite method for this, you can use the Double Undercut as fol-
lows:

Take the deck from above in the right hand and kick cut the top half of the
cards into the left hand, offering this portion for the spectator to place his
card on top. Now place the right hands cards on top of those in the left but
keep a left pinkie break between the two halves. Now take the deck from
above in the right hand, thumb at the back and fingers at the front.
(Maintain the break with the right thumb.) With the left hand, cut half of the
cards below the break to the top of the deck. The left hand now goes back
and takes the remainder of the cards below the break and cuts these to the
top of the deck. The chosen card is now on top.

Now draw attention to the pair of cards on the table and pick them up with
the right hand. You should handle FIG.05

them freely and move them around

to prove there are only two cards.
Also, a bit of experimentation will
reveal how to hold the two cards in
order that you may show the backs
without the flap being seen. Don’t
make a big deal out of it, be casu-
al. Now, get the cards into the posi-
tion shown in fig.03. With your left
thumb, flick the lower card sharply.
The flap will spring out, giving the
impression that a face down card
has appeared in between the other FIG.06

two.

To apparently remove the face

down card the right hand
approaches the left, which is hold-
ing the deck, as you push over the
top card of the deck with the left
thumb. fig.05. Immediately, draw
the uppermost card in the right
hand, the gimmick, onto the top of
the deck, the flap becoming flush
with the top card. The right fingers
FIG.07
go away with the lowermost card
and the top card of the deck, the
selection. fig.06. Immediately turn
both cards in the right hand over.
The signed selection comes into
view and is peeled onto the top of
the deck by the left thumb. fig.07.
Out-jog the selection diagonally to
cover the flap of the gimmick as
the right hand turns the remaining
card face up again and places it on
top of all. fig.08. The impression FIG.08

being that you simply turned the

middle card over to reveal its face.
If you now lift off all three cards the
selection will provide cover allow-
ing you to fold the flap back in with
the right fingers. You may now
remove the selected card and
there is nothing to see.

This move must be done quickly,

without hesitation. It may read a lit-
tle difficult but if you follow the text and refer to the photographs you’ll soon
get it and find that, with a little practice, it is actually very easy to do and,
despite being discrepant, appears very fair. As I’ve already said, To my
mind, this is the most direct way to remove the card.

Second Handling:
In addition to your gimmick and its mate you’ll also need to use a regular
duplicate of your gimmick. (If your gimmick is the Jack of Hearts you pair it
with the Jack of Diamonds to make the sandwich but you’ll also need to use
the regular Jack of Hearts too.) The following description again assumes
your gimmick is a Joker for ease of explanation.

You need to start with one regular Joker, face up, second from the top of
the deck. Begin the trick by removing the other two Jokers from the deck
(one gimmicked) and table them as in the first handling. Upon the return of
the signed card use the ‘tilt’ move to place their selection second from top,
directly above the face up Joker. The tilt move, very briefly:

Gain a break under the top card of the deck, but a larger break than nor-
mal. The whole inner narrow end of the top card is lifted for about 1 cen-
timetre, the card sloping downward towards the front of the deck. The fin-
gers on the right hand side and the thumb at left hold the card in this posi-
tion. Take the selection and place it into the break then push it flush. From
the front it appears that the card is being pushed into the centre of the
deck. Practice in front of a mirror and beware of your angles. The tilt move
is brilliant but sloppy handling will destroy the illusion which, when the move
is done correctly, is perfect. There is some debate about this move but it
belongs to either Dai Vernon or Ed Marlo.

Now casually slip cut the top card of the deck to the centre. (Slip Cut: The
right hand pulls the top half of the deck to the right as the left thumb retains
the top card in place, slipping it to the top of the lower half. The right hands
cards are now replaced on top.) Take a pinkie break below the top two
cards.

Pick up your Jokers and activate the gimmick as described earlier. Now the
right hand places the fan of three cards on top of the deck and all the cards
above the break are flipped over. Immediately, push over three cards in a
fan. (Don’t push too far or you’ll reveal the flap.) The selection will appear in
between two face down cards. As you lift the fan off, necktie the deck (turn
the deck towards yourself) as the left finger tips fold the flap back in.

The upside to this handling is that everything on the table can now be
examined because the gimmick is out of play but I think, all things consid-
ered, this is still the weaker of the two routines. Besides you can clean up
the first handling and allow everything to be examined, here’s how:

In addition to your gimmick and its mate you require the duplicate of the
gimmick face down on top of the deck before you begin. If you now follow
the routine you’ll find that the duplicate is still on top at the end. So, you’ve
just removed the signed selection. You are holding two Jokers in the right
hand, the gimmick is lowermost, and you have a break under the top card
of the deck in the left hand. Peel the uppermost Joker in the right hand onto
the deck and use the left long edge of the gimmicked card to flip it face
down. Now place the gimmicked Joker face up on top. Flip all three cards
above your break over and fan off two regular Jokers as you necktie the
deck, hiding the flap. This is discrepant but done casually it will fly by any-
one.