W ILL ALMA

M.I.M.C. a O N D O N )
THANKS
TO
LEIPZIG !
 Thanks to Leipzij f
T he cleanest m ethod of passing three freely selected ca rd s
from one packet to an o th er, w ith a borrow ed pack and
w ithout preparation
and
A C onvincing M ental Effect

B O T H F U L L Y D E S C R IB E D IN T H E M IN U T E S T
D E T A IL
by
VICTOR FARELLI

FOREW O RD
by
G E O R G E A R M S T R O N G

Including
B IB L IO G R A P H IC A L A N D H IS T O R IC A L N O T E S ON
T H E T H IR T Y C A R D T R IC K
and
A S H O R T T R E A T IS E O N F A L S E C O U N T IN G

IL L U S T R A T E D W IT H F O U R T E E N P H O T O G R A P H S
O F T H E A U T H O R ’S H A N D S

P u blished by
GEORGE ARMSTRONG
LONDON
1948

W 'L L / ‘ : 7 P A C E
2!' • -T.
 F IR S T E D IT IO N , 1948

C opyright by the A u th o r

A “ MA G I C W A N D ” P U B L IC A T IO N

T he right to reproduce the contents, o r any p art thereof, is

strictly reserved

P r i m e d in E n g l a n d a t TH E 1IORLEY PRESS, 20-22 M arket P a rad e , Rye Lane

P e c k h a m , L o n d o n , S . E .1 5 N ineteen H u n d r e d a n d F o r ty - E ig h t
 . . . a fairly brilliant effect, executed with borrow ed cards,
will prove ten tim es m ore convincing to a m odern audience
than the m ost elaborate and astounding feat im aginable,
perform ed with a pack belonging to the conjurer him self. . .”
F A R E L L l 'S C A R D M A G IC .
(C hapter VIII. )

‘ . . . T he conditions under w hich I constantly perform ,

im prom ptu, and w ith spectators a t close quarters, have forced
m e to elim inate from m y repertoire all card tricks which
depend upon prepared cards, set-up decks, etc., leaving me
only those possible w ith a borrow ed deck and pure sleight
of han d . . .”
L O U IS Z IN G O N E .
(T he S phinx, N ovem ber, 1931.)

5
T o the M em ory of a G ie a t A rtist
N A T E L E IP Z IG

(1873— 1939)
 Contents
F R O N T IS P IE C E : N A T E L E IP Z IG ................. 7

F O R E W O R D by G eorge A rm strong ................. 9

T H E R O U T IN E ........................................................... 10
T h e R e q u irem en ts ... ... ... ... 10
T h e A ssistants ... ... ... ... 10
W o rk in g and P resen tatio n ... ... ... II

SU PPLEM EN TA R Y NOTES ............................... 22

A. T h e ‘‘B luff’’ F alse C o u n t ... ... 22
B. T h e S tandard False C o u n t ... ... 22
C. C ards w ith C o n trastin g B acks... ... 24
D. Selected C ard s and ■C o n trastin g Backs 24
E. C hoice o f P acket to be U sed ... 25
F. A n A m using Bit o f C om ed y ... 26

AS A M E N T A L E F F E C T ............................... 27
Is T h e re a F o o lp ro o f R o u tin e ? ................. 30

A P P E N D IX I. B IB L IO G R A P H IC A L A N D
H IS T O R IC A L N O T E S ( 1853 - 1947 ) 32

A P P E N D IX II. F A L SE C O U N T IN G ................. 40
T h e G en u in e (N oiseless) C o u n t ... ... 40
T h e F alse (N oiseless) C o u n t ... ... 44
H ow L eipzig U sed th e F alse C o u n t ... 45
T h e H arriso n False C o u n t ... ... 47
T h e L atest F alse C o u n t ... ... ... 50
T h e A rm stro n g False C o u n t ... ... 51

L ’E N V O I ........................................................................ 53

8
 T h e S tate L ib rary o f V ictoria
"A L M A C O N JU R IN G C O L L E C T IO N "

Foreword
C - f f A D my only object been 10 get a quick return for outlay,
J could have easily produced this book in a cheap
lorm , but as I consider the routine described in these
pages to be the best and “ cleanest ” yet invented for causing
three freely selected cards to pass from one packet to another
(using a borrow ed pack and w ithout previous preparation). I
asked Mr. Farelli to describe every phase of the trick in the
m inutest detail and to supply as m any photographs as he might
judge necessary.
1 can testify that the “ Basic M ove ” (paragraph 9) is ab so ­
lutely indetectable in Mr. F arclli’s hands, and any conjurer
should be able to acquire it after a little practice. T h e great­
est attention, how ever, m ust be paid to the lucid instructions
given by the au th o r who inform s me that the " m o v e ” in
question is sim ilar to one used by N ate Leipzig him self in
an o ther routine.
Mr. F arclli’s ow n version, in w hich the effect becom es a
gem of im prom ptu “ M entalism ” should not be overlooked.
M uch practical advice, the fruit of m any years professional
experience in dilfcrent parts of the w orld, is given in the S u p ­
plem entary N otes, and in A ppendix I, section IV, there is the
suggestion fo r a novel form of the trick.
Students of m agical history will certainly be interested in
the Biographical and H istorical N otes appended to this little
volume. T he inform ation contained in these notes is also of
practical value as a perusal of them and of the w orks referred
to therein, will enable the reader to w ork o u t new versions of
the ever popular T h irty C ard Trick for himself.
T h e Noiseless False C ount, fully explained in A ppendix II,
will be. I think, a revelation to the m ajority of present-day
m agicians, how ever great their know ledge and experience.
O nce again I can testify th a t in Mr. F arclli’s h ands it is per­
fectly deceptive. Mr. C harles H arrison's excellent m ethod of
false-counting is also a valuable addition to the book.

G eorge A rmstrong.

9
 THANKS TO LF1PZIG

THE ROUTINE
✓"■OM M ONLY called the T h irty C ard T rick, or P ocket to
Pocket, this brilliant effect, in its various form s, is
certainly the very best trick w ith ca rd s th a t can be p er­
form ed with success in a theatre, no m a tte r how large. It is
also an excellent “ close w ork ” effect.
T he version ab o u t to be described is based on the m ethod
m ade p o p u la r— and invented by— th a t genius of the p aste­
boards, the late N ate Leipzig, of New Y ork, with the addition
th a t the m agician proves to th e satisfaction of the audience
th a t the three cards th a t pass from his hands into a second
packet are really those freely selected by different m em bers
of the com pany.

REQUIREM ENTS
A new white handkerchief, neatly folded.
A borrow ed pack of cards of good quality.
T here m ust be two chairs on the platform , and the assistance
of two m ale m em bers of the audience will need to be obtained.

TH E ASSISTANTS
In view of th e fact that the two assistants will need to stand
u p and count the cards, and th a t one of th em —acting on the
perform er's instructions— will have to leave the stage for a
few m om ents in order to get three cards selected, I am of
opinion that it is advisable to obtain m en, an d n o t ladies.
Probably m em bers of the younger generation m ay n o t object
to seeing a conjurer ordering w om en ab o u t, b u t no m atter how
tactful he m ay be, th e old er people dislike the practice, and
it is they who have the m oney, and who engage private en ter­
tainers. A p art from th at, and, as alm ost every experienced
professional m agician will agree, m en are m ore reliable as
helpers in tricks of this nature.
See u nder th e caption “ L ady V olunteer A ssistants ” in my
book, L en d M e Y o u r Pack, C h ap ter V.

10
 THE ROUTINE

W O R K IN G AND P R E S E N T A T IO N

1. T he S tart. H aving obtained the assistance of tw o m ale

m em bers of the audience, get one to sit on a chair on your
left, and the o th e r on your right. T h e latter should bring with
him a pack belonging to him self, o r one borrow ed from
an o th er m em ber of the com pany.

G ive the folded handkerchief to the helper on your left and

request him to put it in his pocket.

2. P relim inary C ounting. A fter the helper on the right has

shuffled the pack, get him to stand up and to count ten cards
— faces dow n and one by one in a loud voice on to the
u p turned palm o f your right hand.

When he lias done this tell him to count anoth er ten on

to the palm of your left hand, and to put the rem ainder of the
pack in his pocket.

O bviously, while the counting is being done, you stand with

y o u r left shoulder tow ards the audience. Sec diagram below.

3. Selection of T hree ('a rils. G ive the assistant on your

right the p acket of ten cards that he has countcd into y o u r
right hand, requesting him to go dow n into the auditorium
an d to allow th ree sp ectators--s e a te d in th e fro n t row — to
select a card each.

11
 THANKS TO LEIPZIG

Before he leaves the stage, fan out th e rem aining ten cards
— still held in th e left hand— tow ards your L E F T with the
help of the right thum b. F igure 1.

F igure O ne

A s you do this, explain to th e assistan t how h e is to fan

his cards when he goes dow n am ong the spectators to have
cards selected. T his provides an excuse fo r retaining p o s­
session of one of the packets. It should hardly be necessary
to point o u t to the reader th a t the perform er should talk in
a fairly loud tone of voice so that th e spectators m ay h ea r the
instructions.

4. E xposing th e B ottom C ard of th e P ack et. W hile the

volunteer assistant is having three cards selected, hold your
packet in the left hand as show n in F igure 2, so th a t all may
see the bottom card, b u t d o n o t nam e it o r draw any atten tio n
to it. We shall assum e th a t it is the ace o f clubs. (Please
do not hold the packet in the R IG H T hand.)

5. R eplacing the Selected C ards. Im press on each spec­

ta to r th a t he m u st rem em ber the nam e of the card th at he has
chosen, and, as a precautionary m easure, tell each of them to
show his card to his neighbour, b u t n o t to let you see th e face
of any card.

12
 THE ROUTINE

As you give these instructions, rem ove the ace of clubs

from th e b o tto m of the p acket w ith your right han d , and use
it as a “ pointer,” thereby draw ing attention to it. T h en
replace it at the bottom of the packet still held in the left hand.
As you do this, it is as well to let the audience catch sight of
the face card o f the packet o f nine cards,

F igure T w o
(P erform er’s V iew : L ooking dow n at left hand.)
N ow request the helper to fan out his packet for the return
of the three cards just selectetd.
Illustrate w h at you m ean by fanning your packet— tow ards
the left as before. F igure 1 ante.
6. M arking Off and C uttin g T hree C ards. P lace y o u r
right thum b on the back of the third card from the bottom of
th e fan, and keeping y o u r eyes on th e helper in the audience,
casually cu t the three bottom cards to the top. Insert th e tip
of the left little finger between the three top cards and the
rem aining seven.

13
 THANKS TO LEIPZIG

7. Position. T he perfo rm er holds ten cards, faces dow n,

in the left hand. T h e card im m ediately above th e left little
finger is the ace of clubs.
T h e helper is in th e audience collecting the three cards Be
careful a t this juncture, to see th a t all th e cards are really
replaced in the fan, and n o t retained by som e sly jo k er! I
know — experientia docet—th a t such spiteful tricks are often
attem pted . . . and not alw ays only on beginners.

8 . T he H elper R etu rn s to the Stage. W hen the helper has

retu rned to the stage, get him to sit on the chair on y o u r right,
and request him to shuffle the packet th a t he holds.
T hen ta k e the cards from him w ith your right hand gripping
them lengthw ise as show n in Figure 3. (Back of hand
upw ards.)

Figure T hree

9. The Basic “ M ove.”

(a) T u rn the right shoulder tow ards the audience, facing
the assistant on the left.
(b) W ithout any hurry, bring th s h an d s together, and,
keeping your eyes fixed on the assistant, ask him to rem ove
the handkerchief from his pocket, and to unfold it.

14
 THE ROUTINE

(c) Still looking intently tow ards the helper, calmly place
the right h an d packet on to p of the other a t the sam e tim e
pressing the three “ m arked off ” cards on to th e face o f the
upper packet (with the little finger of the left hand).

Figure 4 is a view of the hands and the cards as seen from

the front. T ak e particu lar note of the position of the left
th u m b as it lies along the edge of the packet of tw enty cards
in the left hand.

F igure Four

(d) Seven cards are below the left little finger. Thirteen
cards are above that digit. T h e low erm ost card of the thirteen
is the ace of clubs.

(e) R em ark to the a s s is ta n t: “ Spread it our, please." A s

you say these w ords, separate th e hands, gripping the lower
packet betw een th e thum b and m iddle finger of the right hand
an d retain the upper packet in th e left, F ig u re 5.

(f) W hen you m ake the above request to the assistant bend the
body S L IG H T L Y forw ard. (R eaders w ho have seen Leipzig
perform will rem em ber how polite he invariably was to the
m en w ho helped him on the stage. T h e reason he used to bow
when addressing them was to cover certain m a n ip u la tio n s!)

15
 _____ ______________ THANKS TO L E I P Z I G ____ __________________

10. W arning ! Do n o t m ake the pass an d T H E N separate

the hands. T h e “ sw itching ” of the two packets is done as
the hands are separated. (In a sense, the pass is not actually
m ade: one packet is exchanged fo r the other.)

Figure Five

As the h an d s are separated, th e left hand m oves a few inches

tow ards the perform er’s left and the right hand m oves, ab o u t
a foot, T O W A R D S the assistant, and ab o u t the sam e distance
tow ards the audience.
T he position o f the left thum b is m ost im p o rtan t, an d the
conjurer M U S T keep his eyes on the helper.
T h ere is a tendency to raise th e left thu m b at the exact
m om ent w hen the hands m ove a p a rt as th e “ switch ” is m ade.
T he greatest care should be taken to avoid this.

11. Wrapping Up th e C ards. Still keeping the h an d s ap art,

turn the left han d p acket (thirteen cards) face upw ards in the
left han d and hold it, as show n in Figure 6 . with th e ace of
clubs in view .1

• T h e tu r n in g o f th e p ack et c a n be d o n e easily a n d n eatly b y b r in g ­

ing the tip o f t h e left t h u m b u n d e r n e a t h it (a gainst th e b o t t o m card),
a n d press ing u p w a r d s, See M o d e rn M agic, p a g e 37, Fig. 26. V .F .

16
 THE ROUTINE

A s you tu rn the packet over, advance the left han d tow ards
the assistant. In stru ct him to drape the handkerchief over the
cards and to w rap them up. (See Supplem entary N ote E,
post.)

F igure Six

12. Position. Both helpers are sealed. T h e one on the left

is in charge of the handkerchief T he perform er holds seven
cards in his right hand as show n in Figure 5 ante.

13. T he “ B luff ” F alse C ount.

(i) Place the seven cards, faces upw ards, in the left hand,
letting the bottom card be seen by th e audience. W e shall
suppose th a t it is the king of hearts.

(ii) R equesting the spectators w ho chose cards to “ co n ­

cen trate ” on them , fan the cards w ith your left th u m b tow ards
y o u r R IG H T . R e m a rk : " I am going to try to fin d yo u r
three cards.”

(iii) Insert the left little finger between the two bottom cards
an d the rem aining five. Square up the cards, w ith both hands,
letting the king of hearts rem ain in view.

17
 THANKS TO LEIPZIG

(iv) W ith the right hand, cu t off the five cards (as one) and
place them at the bottom of the packet, counting softly to
yourself “ one ” , and letting your lips move. Figure 7.

Figure Seven

(v) C ut one card to the bottom , counting (softly) " tw o .'’

(vii) Pause a m om ent, and look at the spectators w ho selected

the cards, again im pressing upon them th a t they m u st “ co n ­
centrate.” T hen raise the left hand (back tow ards th e au d i­
ence) so that the face card of the packet can be seen only by
yourself. Proceed to cut cards, one by one, counting softly up
to ten.

(viii) T hese sim ple m anipulations will bring the king of

hearts to the fact of th e packet once m ore, which is exactly
w hat w ould have happened if the packet h ad really been
com posed o f ten cards.

(ix) T h e m agician should N O T state th a t the p acket co n ­

tains ten cards. T h e im pression conveyed should be that the
perform er is endeavouring to find the cards selected, and
that he is merely checking them autom atically. (See S upple­
m entary N otes A and B post.)

18
 THE ROUTINE

14. P assing the C ards.

T he First Card. A sk the first spectator to think of his card.

T h en , holding the packet face dow n in the right han d , tell the
helper on y o u r right to blow on the cards. As he does so, riffle
the edge of the packet with your right thum b, and m aking a
m otion tow ards the man with the handkerchief, say “ G o ! ”
T h e S econd Card. T ran sfer the packet to the left hand, and
having told the second spectator to " concentrate,” approach
the helper on your left. R equest him to draw in his breath
sharply. (I have been doing this “ gag ” for years, and it
alw ays causes a laugh.) Riflle the cards with your left thum b,
and say '' Pass]
T h e T hird Card. Inform the third spectator that you will
pass his card yourself, and, standing in the centre of the stage
- -with the right shoulder tow ards the audience—rillle the cards
with the right fingers, saying: “ Pass! ” (See M odern Magic,
page 27.)

15. C ounting the F irst P ack et. C ount the seven cards,
one by one, and give them to the assistant on your right to
hold. (See S upplem entary N ote F, post.)

I do not think it is necessary, or even advisable, to get the

three spectators to adm it th a t the cards have left the packet.

16. C ounting tlic Second Packet. R equest the helper with

the han d k erch ief to stand up and to rem ove the cards from
its folds.
T a k e th e handkerchief from him , and put it in your pocket.
E xtend your left hand, and tell him to count the cards, one
by one and in a loud voice, on to your upturned palm.
L et him c o u n t u p to ten. then count with him , as loud as
you can, “ E L E V E N T W E L V E , T H IR T E E N ! ” (D on’t be
afraid of shouting.)
T h e vast m ajority of th e audience will think th at the trick
is over, and if you have presented it well, there will be a
round of applause.
Tell the assistant to be seated.

19
 THANKS TO LEIPZIG

17. Selected C ards Safely A rrived. O bserv e: “ L adies and

G entlem en, three cards have passed fro m one p acket to the
other, but it rem ains to he seen if I have succeeded in passing
the three cards A C T U A L L Y S E L E C T E D from our frien d ’s
packet.” Indicate th e helper on your right, and co n tin u e:
E ven m agicians m a ke m istakes but we shall see soon if I
have been successful this tim e, or not."
H olding the packet of thirteen cards, face dow n, in th e left
h and rem a rk : “ W hen these gentlem en see their cards, I want
them to call o u t ‘ S to p ! ’ ”
C ounting “ one,” push the top card into the right fingers
and hold it. face tow ards the audience, as depicted in F igure 8 .

F igure E ight

C ontinue to co u n t up to thirteen, placing th e cards, one by

one, in fro n t of the first card. A s each spectator calls “ stop ” ,
nam e the card, and let the helper on your right rem ove it from
th e face of the fan held in the right hand.

20
 THU ROUTINE

W hen the three selected cards have been duly recognized

by th e selectors, hand the assistant the ten cards th a t rem ain,
an d take the three chosen cards from him.

R em ark to the audience: “ T h e experim ent has been per­

fectly su ccessfu l: here n v have (say) 1 H i. 1 E N O f• C L U B S ,
T H E Q U E E N O F D IA M O N D S , and the last card T H E
FO UR OF C LU BS I ! ! ”

(O bviously, it is not absolutely necessary to nam e the cards

a second tim e, but if this om itted, there will be no clim ax to the
trick and consequently, the perform er will not get a “ hand ” ).

18. Dismiss ! T h an k the helpers for their kind assistance,

and quickly dism iss them.
 THANKS TO LEIPZIG

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

W H E N first reading th e instructions given under the heading,

“ W orking and P resentation,” the student should not pay any
attention to such rem arks as “ See S upplem en tary N ote A,
post." T h e purpose of these notes is to help the reader when
he starts to learn the routine, and it is by no m eans necessary
for him to refer to them in order to find o u t how th e trick
is done.

(Aj T he “ B lu ff ’ False C ount. See para. 13 ante. A lthough

1 claim originality for this rath er crucic, but thoroughly p rac­
tical, m ethod of false counting a num ber of cards, 1 wish to
give credit to the publisher of this little book, M r. G eorge
A rm strong, fo r the ingenious idea of bringing the face card
of the packet back into its original position after th e seven
cards have been counted as ten.

Mr. A rm strong suggested th a t the perform er should hold

the packct with its face tow ards him self, and draw back the
face card w ith the left th u m b as th e cards a re tran sferred , one
by one to the back of the packet. T h is is a very sim ple m ethod,
akin to “ second dealing ” b u t m uch easier th an th a t sleight.

Personally, I find th a t the “ m ultiple l i f t ”— p ara. 13

(iv)—w hich I w orked o u t shortly after M r. A rm stro n g m ade
his suggestion to me, is still easier of execution. T h e reader
will choose the m ethod which he m ay prefer. B oth of them
are good.

(B) T he S tan d ard F alse C ount. See paras, 13 an d 14

ante. Should the reader happen to be an absolute m aster
of one of the standard m ethods of false counting, by all m eans
let him give a dem onstration of his ability in this d irectio n :
first of all counting the cards as ten, then nine, th en eight,
and, finally, seven.
 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

On the other han d should the m agician n o t be exceptionally

proficient in th e perform ance p f this sleight, he w ould be
w ell-advised, 1 th in k , to adopjl the procedure th a t 1 have
explained in detail in paragraphs 13 an d 14, ante.

O r again, he could give the packet of seven (supposed to

contain ten) cards to the assistant on his right, requesting him
to w rap it up in a second handkerchief, after the m ann er sug­
gested by M r. H erm an L. W eber (“ N am reh ”) in his printed
pam phlet F light Three.

1 know from experience th a t an im perfect perform ance of

a false count can ruin an otherw ise excellent trick.

* * *

A l,hough 1 have an extensive library on m agic in general

and on C ard T ricks in particular, the only w orks th a t I know
w here an explanation of the F alse C o u n t is to be found arc
the follow ing: —
T h e M odern C onjurer (Lajig Neil), page 89, fig. 6 .
M agicians’ T ricks (H atto n and Plate), pages 26-28, figs,
25, 26.
M odern Sleights (M acC arthy), pages 10-11, figs. 1, 2.
M ore Card M anipulations, Vol. I ll (H ugard), pages 13
and 14, fig. 1.
B u t N o t to Play (Jonson), pages 105 and 6 .
Card Control (Buckley), pages 53-54, figs. 1, 2.

T he m ethod described in the last-nam ed volum e is very

sim ilar to the one used by Leipzig. See A ppendix II.

* * *

M any ways of counting a packet of cards to show th a t it

contains few er th an is really th e c a s e ^ a s in the p o p u la r “ C ard
R ep eat ” effect—have been published, and som e of them will
be found in the books by H ugard, Jonson and Buckley m en ­
tioned in the above list. Sec also M o d u s O perandi, by E ric C.
Lew is, pages 9 an d 10 , figs. 1, 2 an d 3. A n o th er practical
m ethod is fully explained in A ppendix II.

23
 THANKS TO LEIPZIG

(C ) C ards w ith C ontrasting B acks. A bout 1932 I w orked

o u t a variation of L eipzig’s m ethod, using ten cards w ith red
backs (provided w ith the usual w hite borders) and ten cards,
the backs of w hich w ere all white.
T he basic “ m o v e ” was sim ilar to that described in para.
9 ante, b u t th e packets were not exchanged. T h ree cards
having been m arked off with the left little finger from the top
of the packet of ten w hite cards— held in the left h a n d — were
then added to the b ottom of the packet of red cards held in
the right hand. T h is sim ple manoeuvre having been carried
out, the packet of cards held in the right hand (now com posed
of ten red cards and three w hite ones) w as w rapped u p in a
handkerchief.
F o r obvious reasons, no cards could be selected from either
packet.
Instead of using cards w ith “ all w hite ” backs, blue cards
with w hite edges could be em ployed instead, b u t I found this
rath er risky. A s will readily b ; understood, should th e overlap
be too great a portion of the blue back would a t once be seen,
and the secret of th e trick w ould then be exposed.

T he practicability of R alph H ull’s p o p u la r “ N udist D eck ” ■

is due to this. Even if th e pack is fanned a trifle too widely,
there is n o t very m uch danger of the secret being discovered.
I consider this an im portant point.
F rankly, I have never used this trick in public, an d I sin­
cerely trust th a t 110 read er will write to m e fo r “ full details
of w orking,” for, m uch to my regret I shall b e unable to
oblige him.

(D ) Selected C ards anti C ontrasting B acks. Tn th e Ju n e

(1939) nu m b er of T he S phinx, Leipzig him self described a
vastly m ore sensational form of the trick in w hich three cards
— freely selected from a packet of ten cards w ith R E D backs—
w ere caused to pass into a packet of ten cards w ith B L U E
backs! A s far as I know , this version o f the ro u tin e (which
appears to be the absolute L IM IT ) has never been perform ed
save by the M aster C ard M agician him self, p ro b ab ly on
account of the very high degree of skill and show m anship— n o t
to m ention the am o u n t of “ nerve ”— th a t is requ ired to present
it in a thoroughly convincing m anner.

24
 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

If any ingenious read er can sim plify the w orking so (h at

the trick can be perform ed by u s —of the rank and file— he
will do a good service to his b rother wizards.

In this connection, I have only one suggestion to m ake,

nam ely, th a t the packet from w hich the three cards are selected
m ight be “ strippers.” T he w orking w ould then be a lot
easier and the effect just as convincing (to a “ lay ” audience)
as th a t of the original routine in w hich a Dovetail pass was
em ployed.

(E.) Choice of P acket to he Used. In the article m entioned

in the preceding note (D), Leipzig stated that after he had
secretly transferred the three red cards to the packet of ten
blue cards, he allow ed the audience to say w hich packet should
be used. It is, of course, the “ conjurer's choice ” in its usual
form , and should the idea appeal to the reader, h e m ight
em ploy it in the following w ay in conjunction with the routine
explained in this book.

L et the m agician hold th e packet of thirteen card s in the

left h an d , and with the ace of clubs in view as show n in
Figure 6 ante, the packet of seven cards being in the right
hand with the (say) king of hearts also visible from the front.
A ddressing a m em ber of the audience lie rem ark s:
‘ W hich o f these tw o packets shall we use'! Please' point to
one."

(a) S hould the sp ectato r indicate th e packet o f thirteen

cards, well and good, all the perform er need do is to proceed
exactly as described in para. 11 ante. (“ W rapping U p the
C ard s.”)

(b) If, on the contrary, the packet of seven be the one

chosen, the entertainer raises the right hand H IG H A B O V E
H IS H E A D , observing: “ W atch that packet V E R Y C A R E ­
FU LLY! ”

T h en , extending his left han d to th e helper on th at side, lie

gets the packet of thirteen cards placed in the handkerchief.

Q u ite sim ple, and, 1 think, perfectly convincing . . . to a

“ laym an.”

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 THANKS TO LEIPZIG

(F ) An A m using B it of C om edy. A s far as I know , this

has never been described in p rint, an d I hope the rea d er will
find it useful.

A fter th e conjurer has counted the seven card s— para. 15

ante— he h ands them to the assistant on his right, rem a rk ­
ing: " W e shall not require these cards any m o re. Please
put them in y o u r p o cket,” an d he adds in a w h is p e i: “ Better
count them yourself to see if there is any m ista k e.”

T he m agician im m ediately turns his back on this helper,

and w alks over to the one seated on the left. T h en , glancing
over his shoulder tow ards the m an w ho is now counting the
cards as instructed, he rem arks w ith a cheery sm ile : “ T h a t’s
quite rig h t! C ount them yourself, b u t so th a t everyb o d y
m ay see, drop them , one by one, on to m y h and.”

When this has been done, the entertain er proceeds with

the counting of the second packet, para. 16 ante.

* * *

While on the subjcct of com edy, I am rem inded of an

article by M r. C harles H arriso n — to w hich reference is also
m ade in Section IV post— describing his version of th e T h irty
C ard T rick. In this routine, the perform er gets one of the
assistants to sit on th e h andkerchief containing th e p acket
to which three extra cards have secretly been added. L et m e
quote from the article: —
For so m e reason, probably psychological, the writer
always gets a laugh fro m the audience by asking th e assistant
to S I T on th e cards; whereas if he is a sked to place them in
his pocket, or h o ld them in his hand, there appears to be no
hum our in th e situation.”

26
 AS A MENTAL EFFECT
T 'H I S version of the trick— based on the “ sw itch ” fully
-*• described in para. 9 ante— should be presented a t close
q u arters as an experim ent in M entalism . T he clfect is th at
a single card, m entally selected from a packet of ten cards,
passes to an o th er packet also consisting of ten cards. N ot
only does the m agician cause the “ thought of ” card to pass
from packet to packet, b u t he locates the card in question.

T he following is a brief description of the m ethod of w o rk ­

ing, and although I have purposely om itted my usual “ w ealth
of detail,” I trust that the reader will understand my m ean­
ing, and that he will be able to devise a convincing prescn-
atio n , rem em bering the old m a x im : “ It's not what yo u do,
but how yo u do it.”

(i) G et a spectator to facc you and to count tw enty cards,

faces dow n, on to your left palm.
(ii) Fan the cards tow ards your L E F T . (N ot as in F igure
1.) A s you d o so, m ark off three cards with the left little
linger, and square up the cards.

(iii) Tell your victim that you will sh o w 'h im the faces of
ten cards, and ask him to rem em ber one of them .
(iv) L ift oil the three to p cards as one, and, holding your
right han d a b o u t the height o f your head, let y o u r friend see
the face of the “ triple ” card. C o u n t: “ O ne.” T hese cards
are held with the fingers a t the upper edge and the thum b at
the low er edge. (N ot as in F igure 8 .)
A s yo u do this, and keeping your eyes on the back of your
raised right hand, m ark off one card from th e to p of the
packet in your left hand. T his can be do n e very easily w ith
the help of the forefinger and thum b. T hen insert the tip of
the little finger betw een th a t card and th e rem ainder of the
packet.

(v) R eplace the “ triple ” card on top o f the card ju st

m ark ed off, and a t once raise the “ q uadruple ” card, thus
form ed, co u n tin g : “ T w o .”

27
 THANKS TO LEIPZIG

(vi) R epeat this until you have eleven cards— supposed to

be nine only— in th e right hand. (The raising of the right h and
m ust be done V E R Y Q U IC K L Y .)
(vii) Place the p acket of eleven cards on top of the packet
of nine in (he left h an d , and insert the left little finger betw een
them . C ounting: “ T E N ,” perform the “ sw itch,” and d is­
play th e packet o f nine previously in the left hand. (H old
this packet as you held the other c a rd s: H IG H in the air.)
There should be no pause o r hesitation as the exchange is
m ade. L ook upw ards A L L T H E T IM E . N E V E R glance
a t the left hand.
(viii) Position. Y ou hold nine cards in the right h an d an d
eleven in the left, but each p acket is supposed to consist of
ten cards.
(ix) D ro p the packet of eleven cards face dow n on the table.

(x) Pretending that you are trying to locate the card m en­
tally selected, hold the packet ot nine cards— faces tow ards
—and, by m eans of the Noiseless F alse C ount (A ppendix II),
co unt them A L O U D a s ten. T h is should b e d one fairly
slowly.
Place this packet, face dow n, on the sp e cta to r’s R IG H T
hand.

(xi) Pick up the pile of eleven cards, an d lay it, also face
dow n, on his L E FT ' palm . (If desired, the eleven card s could
be “ false counted ” as ten, b u t I consider this unnecessary
and a pure w aste o f time.)

(xii) Tell the helper to N A M E his card, and to call o u t

“ G o l" We suppose th a t it is the tw o of spades.

(xiii) R em ove the nine cards, one by one, from the

sp ectato r’s right hand, a n d lay them , still faces dow n, in y o u r
left hand. (This procedure is very well know n, an d it w as
used for m any years by L eipzig in his fam ous “ S to p ! ”
trick.) O bserving: “ Y o u see. y o u r c o m m a n d has been
o b eyed . . . one card has gone I ” replace the packet, face
dow n, on his palm .

(xiv) Rem ove the cards in the sam e m an n er from his left
h and, counting one to eleven. H ow ever, in this instance, you

28
 AS A MENTAL EFFECT

“ glimpse ” th e face of each card as you lay it in y o u r left

hand. W e shall assum e th a t the Tw o of Spades is the third
card from the to p .1
(xv) R e m ark in g : “ N o t sa tisfie d ! ” quickly deal the cards,
faces dow n, as before, on to his palm. T his will bring the
T w o of Spades back to its original position, nam ely, the third
from the top.
(xvi) Telling the assistant to think intently of his card,
rem ove them one by one as before, B U T D O N O T C O U N T
T H E M A L O U D . W hen you com e to the third card, hold
it face dow n in the right hand, and request him to nam e the
card he T H O U G H T of. T h en slowly turn it face upw ards.
* * *

T h e dealing (sub-para, xv) may be om itted, and the new

position of the selected card from the to p m ay be ascertained
by subtracting th e n u m b e r at w hich it originally w as from
eleven and adding one to the result. (E xam ple: 3 from 11
leaves 8 . Plus 1 m akes 9.)
H ow ever, 1 think it is b etter to delay the clim ax for a
m om ent o r so, and give the spectator m ore tim e to forget th a t
he h im self had already na m ed his card. (Sub-para, xii.)
T h is ingenious stratagem used to be em ployed by Billy
O ’C o n n o r in one o f his pet “ close work ” effects, and I was
com pletely deceived by it. But I am only a conjurer, an d ,
consequently, a rath e r sim ple-m inded fellow.
* * *

An old friend of m ine, w ho wishes to rem ain anonym ous,

suggests a quicker m ethod o f concluding the trick.
A fter the spectator has nam ed his card (tw o of spades),
take the nine cards from his hand, and deal them , faces

■An excellent m e t h o d o f “ glim p sing ” will be f o u n d in F r a n k

L a n e 's b o o k s. W ith A n y o n e 's D e c k a n d H e r e ’s H o w l , in L en t! M e
Y o u r P ack (page 19, Fig. 4) a n d in J e a n H u g a r d 's C u rd M a n ip u la ­
tio n s. N o . 5 (p age 139, Fig 15). By th e w ay, o n p age 27 in M o d e rn
M a g ic there is an illu stratio n (Fig. 15)— d ep ictin g the p al m i n g of a
c a r d — w hich gives a g o o d idea o f h o w th is c o m p a r a t i v e l y new
“ peek " can b e m a d e . V .F .

29
 THANKS TO LEIPZIG

dow n, on to the table. T h en get the helper to co u n t the

other packet, form ing a second heap. Pick u p th e eleven
cards just dealt, fan them w ith their faces tow ards you, an d
rem ove the tw o of spades.
Short and snappy and no m essing about!
* * *

■ A final word regarding the “ sw itch.” In o rd er to create

a perfect illusion, the back of the perform er’s left han d , w hich
holds the cards, m ust be alm ost parallel to his body. N O T
TO T H E F L O O R .
* * *

IS T H ER E A FOOLPROOF R O U TIN E?
F or m any years past, I have been o f opinion th a t there
is no such thing as an absolutely foolproof routine. L et th e
conjurer be as intelligent and as cunning as a professional
d iplom atist, if he wishes, in every trick there is an elem ent
of the un fo reseen : one can nevei foretell, with certainty, how
any hum an being will act under given circum stances.
F or instance, in the routine outlined above, it h as been
assum ed that the sp ectato r will think of o n e of the first
nine cards show n to him, and not th e tenth card, nam ely, the
one at the face of the packet (of nine) after th e “ sw itch ”
has been m ade. A lthough experience has proved beyond
dispute that the average person will select one of th e first
nine cards displayed, I am nevertheless convinced th a t if the
reader will perform the trick sufficiently often— say, th irty
o r forty tim es— he will ultim ately run up against som ebody
who, either by pure chance o r w ith m alice aforeth o u g h t, will
pick on the tenth card.
R o bert-H oudin has stated th a t he w ould judge a m agician’s
ability rather by th e w ay in w hich h e got out of a difficulty
than by th e skill show n u n d er usual conditions, b u t I, for
one, am under the im pression th a t w as n o t exactly th e idea
that he w ished to convey. I t would seem th a t a com petent
perform er should be able to foresee, and prenare for, various
possible contingencies.
R eturning to the trick u nder consideration, and supposing
that the helper has chosen the tenth card show n to him , I

30
 AS A MENTAL EFFECT

suggest the follow ing solution w hich is only one of the m any
ways of bringing the trick to a successful conclusion.
(a) W hen false counting the nine cards as ten (sub-para,
x ante), note the face card of the packet . . . say,.,the jack
o f clubs. A fter the false count, this card will be ori top of
the packet. L ay this heap, face dow n, on the spectator’s
R IG H T hand.
(b) T he pile of eleven cards is placed on his L E F T palm.
(Sub-para, ix, ante.)
(c) W hen th e helper orders the ja ck of clubs to pass,
proceed as follows . . .
(d) R em ove the nine cards, one by one, and, counting
alo u d , place them in your left hand. T his brings the jack
o f clubs to the bottom of the packet.
(e) M ove the eleven cards, one by one. from the helper’s
left hand to his right, counting them aloud as you do so.
(f) T ell the assistant to cut the packet, and then to hold
it, face dow n, in his right hand.
(g) R e m a rk : “ I am going to rem ove these cards, one by
o n e from your hand, and I want you to call S T O P w henever
yon wish."
(h) A s you take the cards from his hand (one by one, of
course), place them on top of the packet in your left hand.
W hen the helper says, " S t o p ] ” slip the jack of clu b s to the
top.
(j) H aving asked him to nam e the card he T H O U G H T O F,
turn it face upw ards.
* * ♦

T h e above is a version of L eipzig’s “ U biquitous C ards ”

— com m only called the “ S top ’’ trick— fully explained in
C h a p te r V I in T h e A r t of M agic, and provided the conjurer
can perform th e “ side-steal ” in an absolutely undetectable
m anner, th e illusion produced is thoroughly convincing. On
the o th e r ban d , when badly executed, the sleight in question
is valueless.
M any oth er solutions will suggest themselves to the
ingenious perform er, and it will, I think, be a good exercise
fo r the younger of-m 'y'readers to w ork out practical routines
fo r themselves.

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 THANKS TO LEIPZIG

APPENDIX I
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL and HISTORICAL
NOTES (1853-1947)
r P H E T R IC K of apparently passing a n um ber of cards from
one packet to another is undoubtedly very old, and it is
not my intention to w rite an exhaustive study of the subject.
In the first place, I w ould need to spend several m onths
w ading through thousands of old copies of various m agical
m agazines, and secondly, a com plete list of the m any versions
in existence would certainly require m ore space th an I have
at my disposal.
T he following notes, how ever, will enable the read er to
follow the gradual developm ent of the trick as it has been
m odified and im proved as the years roll on.

I. P O N S IN , J. N .— T o the best of m y know ledge the first

w riter to describe th e effect w as Ponsin in his book N o u velle
M agic Blanche Devoilee, first published in 1853-4.
English readers will find a slightly im proved version in
P rofessor H offm ann’s M odern M agic (pages 84 an d 85), an d a
literal translation of Ponsin’s text in Jean H u g a rd ’s M o re
C ard M anipulations, Vol. III. (Pages 29 and 30.)
Ponsin does not claim to have invented the trick, an d it is
to be presum ed that he obtained the secret from a professional
m agician: possibly C onus, fam ous for his skill w ith playing
cards.

II. R O B E R T -H O U D IN , J. E .— In 1868, R o b ert-H o u d in

published his w onderful text-book w hich w as tran slated into
English by Professor H offm ann u n d er the title of T h e Secrets
o f Conjuring a n d Magic. O n pages 207 to 210 th ere is a
trick called, M ene, Tekel, U pharsin w hich is a perfect lesson
on M agic and a vast im provem ent on th e routin e described
by Ponsin.
T he only defect of R o b e rt-H o u d in ’s m ethod, as h e him self
points out, is that three duplicate cards are left in th e pack
when the trick is over. O n page 93 of his book C ard T ricks

32
 APPENDIX I

w ithout A ppa ra tu s (London, 1889), H offm ann shows how the

defect m entioned by R obert-H oudin m ay be overcome. M ost
ingenious and practical!

The M ene, Tekel, U pharsin routine is also described—

w ithout H offm ann’s suggested im provem ent— in M odern
M agic, pages 86 and 87.

i l l . S TA N Y O N , Ellis.— T he next notew orthy addition to

the trick w as published in 1898 in Stanyon’s book Conjuring
w ith Cards, pages 35 to 39. It is a really convincing m ethod,
the strong po in t being th a t the conjurer touches only one of
the packets during the w hole routine. In this version, the
cards are dealt by a spectator on ;o a plate held by the
perform er, and I know that this plan is thoroughly practical
an d extrem ely good, fo r 1 have seen it used, with m arked
success, by the late C harles M orritt.

Five years later, C. L ang N eil’s book, T he M odern C o n ­

jurer, was printed, and on pages 133 to 137 a different version
of the sam e basic m ethod will be found. T his variation—
in w hich the cards are dealt on to a table instead of on to a
plate— has proved to be the m ost popular of all form s of
the trick, and it w as adopted by a host of m agicians, profes­
sional and am ateur.

T h e routine— illustrated by six photographs— is credited to

M adem oiselle Patrice, but there is reason to believe th at it
was really w orked out by her partner, the late Charles
Bertram .

T h e read er should also consult: —

Ja ck M erlin’s “ and a Pack o f Cards,’’ pages 2 an d 3.
F irst edition.
E dw ard V ic to r's “ T h e M agic o f th e ’H ands,” pages
32 and 33. •
Je an H u g ard ’s “ Card M anipulations,” V ol. II, pages 34
to 36,
W ilfrid Jo n so n ’s “ B u t N o t T o Play,” pages 101 to 105.

All four versions are based on the “ subtraction ” principle,

first published by Stanyon, and all possess original features.
E d w ard V icto r’s routine is very bold (!), but thoroughly
practical.

33
 THANKS TO LEIPZIG

IV . L E IP Z IG , N ate.— A bout 1909, I first saw N ate

Leipzig perform his version of the trick (on w hich the one
described in this booklet is based), and I understand th a t he
had already been doing it for som e considerable tim e. F or
m any years, he used it as a “ climax ” to his brilliant M usic
Hall act, and it w as the m ost sensational and convincing item
in his w onderful show . It w as copied by m any perform ers,
and it is now a stan d ard trick.
I am under the im pression that Je^n H ugard has explained
the Leipzig routine in one of his excellent books, b ut I am
unab!e to trace the item in question. H ow ever, a detailed
explanation of an original m i sc en scene will be found in an
article called “ T hirty C ard Trick w ithout Palm ing,” co n tri­
buted to the O ctober-N ovem ber (1935) issue of T h e M agic
W and, by C harles H arrison, and in which credit is given to
Leipzig as the inventor of the basic principle. See Supple­
m entary N ote (F), ante.
S hould the reader happen to be of analytical tu rn of m ind,
h e m ay have noticed that Leipzig’s routine is a com bination of
the T hirty C ard T rick and a simplified version of the C ards
Passing U p the Sleeve, except that, in this case, the cards
th at leave the perform er’s hands arrive in a p ack et of cards
(previously counted) instead of in the m agician’s pocket.
An obvious im provem ent suggests itself— w hich, as fa r as
I know , at any rate— has never been m ade b efo re: let the
conjurer cause all ten cards to disappear, one by one, from
his hands, and be found l a 'c on w ith th e o th e r ten cards in
the handkerchief.
I see no reason why this could n o t be done, b u t so far I
have been unable to m ake the w orking either “ clean ” or
convincing. H ow ever, w ith m y usual generosity (!), I m ake
a present of the idea to every reader of this book— w hether
he has paid fo r a copy o r not— w ith m y very best w ishes fo r
success in his endeavours to find a solution to the problem
th a t I have set.
R eference has already been m ade to L eipzig’s ro u tin e w ith
cards having contrasting backs. (Supplem entary N o te (D),
ante.)
* * *

A kin to the Leipzig “ tr a n s f e r ” m ethod is th a t recently

m ade public by M r. Stanley Collins in his excellent manual’,

34
 APPENDIX I

A C onjuring M elange (pages 101-2), but in this routine the

cards are dealt on to a table instead of on to the perform er's
hands.

V. H A T T O N and P L A T E . M agician's Tricks was

published in 1910, and if the reader is sufficiently interested
in th e subject, he should certainly refer to pages 101 to 108,
w here tw o m ethods are dealt with.
I regret th a t it would take up far too m uch space to
describe these m ethods at length; suffice it to say the first
variation differs in certain particulars from those described by
R o b ert-H o u d in and by Stanyon, and that the second m ethod
— using a “ a set up ” and a pack of “ strippers ”....enables
the perform er to cause a num ber of mentally selected cards
to pass from one packet to the other. T he auth o rs also
suggest th a t th e two packets of cards be sealed up in envelopes.
Bolh m ethods ap p e ar to be w orkable, but 1 do not care for
eith er of them in their present form , I think they could be
im proved.

V I. V E N E R I, E rnando.— A bout 1912, V eneri— w hom I

have h ad occasion to m ention in my little books— show ed me
an ingeniously constructed tray that he had m ade, the purpose
of w hich w as secretly to add a num ber of cards to a packet
previously counted by a m em ber of the com pany. I never
,<aw him perform the trick, and I do n o t know how he got
rid of th e required n um ber of cards from the second packet.
A b o u t the sam e period, sim ilar trays w ere placed on the
m a rk e t by various dealers in magical supplies .1

V II. C O W L , R oy.— In the F ebruary (1920) issue of T he

M agic W and, M r. Cow l claim s priority for an im proved form
of the T h irty C ard T rick, but, as often happens with p opular
effects, he is n o t the only claim ant. I do not know the rights
of th e m atter, and I offer no opinion. H ow ever, the first

'T h i s r e m in d s m e o f the m e t h o d in w hich t h e p e r fo r m e r h a s two

en v e lo p e s in the side p o c k e t o f his co at, a lo n g w ith th e cards he
w ishes to a d d to tho se just c o u n t e d o n t o the table. R e m o v in g the
e n v e lo p e s with the c a r d s c on cea le d u n d e r th em f ro m his poc ket,
h e d r o p s th e m on t o p o f th o se on the tab le, re m a rk in g to the h e l p e r :
" C h o o s e o n e o f th e e m e lo p e s a n d sea l up th e curds in it." Bold,
sim ple, p r a c tic a l. V.F .

35
 THANKS TO LEIPZIG

description of th e actual effect th a t I have been able to trace

is th e one w hich ap peared in th e above-nam ed m agazine
(page 232).
" W ith reference to a passe-passe effect w ith tw enty-four
cards to which publicity was recently given, / sh o u ld like to
claim priority for a sim ilar effect, based, as the other, on th e
T h irty C ard Trick, h u t possessing very different features.”
“ T h e effect is that fifteen cards are co unted from th e pack.
T hese are put, w ith o u t exchange, into an unprepared em p ty
envelope. T h is is deposited straight aw ay in a spectator’s
pocket. A second set o f fifteen cards is sim ilarly placed in
an envelope, which is left in view on the table. T h e three
freely selected cards then pass from o n e envelope to th e other,
a nd cards and envelopes m a y be exam ined.”
“ There are no fa k e d trays or other apparatus, and there
is no false or difficult m o ve in the trick.”
I have no know ledge of R oy C ow l’s m ethod, b u t G eorge
A rm strong inform s me that it will a p p e a r in a book shortly
to be issued by th e M agic W and Publishing C om pany. F o r
all I know to the contrary, the m ethod m ay be entirely
different to the one attributed to Zens.

V III. Z E N S , M ichael F.— A lthough for ab o u t tw enty

years I have been acquainted with one m ethod of obtaining
the result described by M r. Cowl, the first book in w hich I
found an explanation of a very sim ilar m ethod w as M y Best,
by J. G. T hom son, Jr. (Philadelphia, 1946). T he item to
which I refer is called T h e Im proved “ Z ens ” C ard s and
E nvelopes (pages 55 to 58), and I think that it is a re-print
from one of the m agical periodicals.
O n page 378 in the sam e book there is a statem ent to the
effect that Mr. Z ens invented the “ C ards and Envelopes ”
exactly forty years ago, nam ely, in 1907. N o fu rth e r in fo rm a­
tion is given.

IX . D E V A N T , D avid.— In 1922, L essons in C onjuring

appeared, and C hapter I in that excellent book is devoted
to a detailed explanation of the M aster’s own version of the
T hirty C ard Trick. A s the w onderful sim plicity of the m ethod
appealed to me, I im m ediately adopted it in preference to
all others.

36
 APPENDIX I

In 1927, M r. D evant and 1 added a num ber of im prove­

m ents to the trick, and, in its new form , I used it constantly
until m y retirem ent from th e professional field in 1939.
W henever it was possible to do so, I used—even on the stage
— a borrow ed pack of cards.

X . F A R E L L 1 , V ictor.— In C hapter X II of Farelli’s Card

M agic (published in 1933), I described tw o alleged im prove­
m ents on D cvant’s m ethod in w hich a num ber of white
backed cards were caused to pass into a packet of cards with
coloured backs.
I still think th a t they are good tricks, but 1 am n ot so
enthusiastic ab o u t them as 1 w as w hen 1 first introduced them
to the fraternity. Experience has taught m e that no card trick
is absolutely convincing to an audience unless a borrow ed
pack is em ployed.
A n A m erican m agician— I think it was Le P aul—also had
a routine in w hich cards with contrasting backs were used,
b u t I have no know ledge of the exact clfcct obtained, and
still less of the m ethod of w orking.
(See Supplem entary N otes (C) and (D) ante.)

X I. H U G A R D , Jean.— In Vol. I l l of the M ore Card

M anipulations series (printed during the late W ar), the
a u th o r gives a detailed explanation of a routine called
“ Infiltration ” (pages 31-33), based on the now popular
R ough and Sm ooth principle. Briefly, the effect is
as follows. T en cards— with R E D backs—are dealt by
th e perform er into the left hand of a spectator. A nother
ten cards— with B L U E backs— are dealt into this assistant’s
right hand. A fter suitable by-play, three red cards pass into
the packet of blue cards.
M r. C harles H arriso n and his son (Ch. H arrison, Jr.) both
m ak e a big success of this trick, and I can recom m end it
w ith every confidence to all m agicians who arc partial to the
R o u gh an d Sm ooth principle. Personally, like M r. Edw ard
Victor, 1 prefer to rely on sleight of hand.

X II. D A L E Y , Jacob (Dr.) and A N N E M A N N , T ed.— In

Full D eck o f Im p ro m p tu C ard T ricks— a m ost interesting and
valuable com pilation by J, J. C rim m ins, Jr., published in N ew

37
 THANKS TO LEIPZIG

York d uring the hue W ar— a m ethod of obtaining a result

akin to the one referred to in Sections V II an d V IIJ is
explained (pages 53 and 54). Some preparation is required,
b ut no duplicates are used.
In the sam e book, tw o novel “ C ard T ranspositio n s,’’ due
to the ingenuity of L. V. Lyons and O. H. Paulson, are
described.
X III. W E B E R , H erm an H, (“ N am reh ” ).— A few
m onths ago, Mr. W eber produced his m anuscript. F light
Three I w hich trick, like the one explained in this b ook, is
based entirely on the Leipzig m ethod, w ith the notable
addition that the perform er convinces the spectators th a t the
three cards th a t pass from one packet to the oth er arc really
the same cards that were freely selected by them . A borrow ed
pack can be used.
R ESU M E
The result of the com piler’s very incom plete “ investiga­
tions ” m ay be resum ed briefly as follow s: —
1 PO N SIN . First explanation of the trick.
II R O B E R T -H O U D IN . M arked im provem ent in
m ethod and presentation.
III S T A N Y O N . F irst reference to the “ sub tractio n ”
idea.
IV L E IP Z IG . F irst m ethod w ithout palm ing. See
also N ote (D), ante.
V H A T T O N and P L A T E . F irst m ethod in w hich
cards m entally selected are used.
V I V E N E R I. T he first, o r one of the first, to em ploy
a tray.
V II C O W L. T he first—a t least as far as the com piler
has ascertained— to describe in p rin t the effect
of the routine usually attrib u ted to Zens.
V I 11 Z E N S . T h e first to publish—to the b est of the
com piler's know ledge— the secret of the routine
in question.
IX D E V A N T . T h e sim plest, and possibly the m ost
convincing, m ethod of all.
X F A R E L L I. T h e first to publish a version of the
trick in which cards w ith contrasting backs are
used.
XI H U G A R D . T he first to publish a version based
on th e R ough an d Sm ooth principle.

38
 APPENDIX I

X II D A L E Y and A N N E M A N N . T he first to devise

a routine w hich— although based on the ones
referred to in Sections V ll and V111 (Cowl an d
Zens)— can be perform ed w ithout the use of
duplicates.

X III W E B E R . First to publish a routine in which

chosen cards pass from one packet to another
using a borrow ed pack and w ithout any previous
preparation.

* * *

T he au th o r wishes to apologize to all present-day m agicians

to whom he may have failed to give credit, and he begs them
to believe that this is due to ignorance, rath er than to neglect,
on his part. In m itigation, he pleads that the w riting of other
books on M agic prevents him from undertaking the vast
am ount o f research work th a t an exhaustive study of the
P ocket to Pocket T rick would entail.

* * *

C onsidering th e great popularity of the m any versions of

the trick in question, it seems strange that several of the
standard w orks on Magic neglect to describe the elTect. F or
instance, no m ention of it is m ade in Sleight o f H and (1877),
D aw n’s A r t o f M agic (1909), H ofzinser's C ard Conjuring
(1931),G reater M agic( 1938), M agic w ithout A pparatus (1945)
C ard C ontrol (1946),to m ention only a few bigger books d e ­
voted entirely to conjuring with cards, or containing leng­
thy chapters on the subject.

39
 THANKS TO LEIPZIG

APPENDIX II
FALSE COUNTING
TN T H E course of my com paratively long career-—I am an
-*■ “ old tim er ” am ong the young m en, and a young m an
am ong the very old— I have seen m any card experts use the
false count, and although som e of them were very clever,
I have never com e across one who could equal N ate Leipzig
in the perform ance of this particular sleight. H e was th e
recognised m aster of them all, not only by his w onderful
“ finger w ork,” but more especially by his acting w hich was
greatly enhanced by the hu m o u r that he introduced.
F or the sake of clearness, 1 shall divide my description
of this sleight into two distinct parts. In the first part, I
shall explain exactly how the genuine co u n t should be m ade,
and in the second, I shall show how the various m ovem ents
may be duplicated when doing the false count.

THE G EN U IN E (N O ISE LESS) COUNT

First. H old ten cards in the right hand, face of p acket
tow ards the audience. If desired, the cards m ay be fanned,

F igure N ine

40
 APPENDIX II

very slightly, tow ards the left T he packet projects, to the

extent of ab o u t half its length, over the back of the right
hand, the right edges of the cards being pressed very nearly
into the fork of the right thum b by the tips of the right
lingers. F igure 9.

Second. T he left hand approaches the right to draw off

a card. T his is shown in the sam e illustration.

T h ird . T he hands m eet, and the cards are com pletely

hidden from view, but only for an instant. F igure 10.

Figure Tef#

N ote how the left thum b points diagonally tow ards the
perform er’s right, projecting over the right upper corner ol
the top card.
When the left hand is in position in front of the right-
B U T N O T B E F O R E - the tip of the right thum b pushes
one card tow ards the left (under the left thum b), and alm ost,
b u t n o t quite, into the fork.

Four. Pressing on the right upper corner of the protruding

card with the left thum b, the hand m oves tow ards the l e f t -

41
 THANKS TO LEIPZIG

and diagonally upwards— carrying away the first card.

Figure 11.

Figure Eleven

It will be observed that the knuckles of the left hand are

alm ost parallel to the ceiling. Particulai notice should be
taken of the new position of the left thum b which now points
tow ards th e m agician's left.

Five. A nother seven cards are counted in this m anner,

leaving one card in the right hand. O bviously, each card
is taken B E T W E E N the left thum b and the card previously
removed. A s the cards increase in num ber, they are squared
up neatly with the left fingers.

Six. T he last card is seized betw een the forefinger an d

thum b o f the left hand, and given a “ fillip ” w ith the right
m iddle finger. F igure 12.

42
 APPENDIX II

Figure Twelve

All ten cards are then squared up with both hands.

* * *

Caution! T he right thum b should N O T. at any stage ol

the counting, push a card over the side of the packet until
all the cards are concealed from view as show n in Figure
10. T his is V IT A L .

T he T hum bs. T he m ovem ent of the left thum b, each

time that it draw s oft a card, is very noticeable from the
front, w hile th a t of the right thum b is absolutely invisible.

Slight Movement of the Right Hand. As the student will

soon discover for himself, the right hand will m ove
“ instinctively ” ab o u t tw o inches o r so tow ards the right
each tim e that the left hand— having rem oved a card from
the packet— travels diagonally upw ards tow ards the left. No
attem p t w hatever should be m ade to avoid this.

Silence and Speed. T he counting should n ot be too

hurried, neither should it be painfully slow. A bove all, it
should n o t be in the least “ jerky,” but sm ooth and deliberate.

43
 __THANKS TO LEIPZIG

1 have ju st checked the tim e tak en to count ten cards

(w ithout giving the “ fillip ” to the last one), and the result
is five (5) seconds exactly.
W hen the reader can count at the sam e rate, he should
pass on to the next section.
W hen a greater speed is attem pted, it is extrem ely difficult,
n o t to say im possible, to avoid m aking any noise as the cards
a re pulled aw ay with the left thum b.

T o prevent each card from “ snapping ” as it is rem oved

from the right hand, the best plan is to hold the card s in
the left hand rath e r loosely. I consider this to be a valuable
“ tip.”

W hy from R ight to Left ? M ost people are accustom ed to

co u n t cards from the left hand into the right, and the neces­
sary m ovem ents for doing this have becom e autom atic.
C onsequently, it will be easier to learn th e new m ethod if
the cards arc counted as explained above, and the reader
will have nothing to “ unl'carn.”
T his sleight is also useful in the well-known ellect of th e
C ards Passing U p T h e Sleeve, and, as m ost experts will
agree, it is better to count from right to left w hen doing
this trick as the cards arc in the co rrcct position for
“ m arking off ” prior to being palm ed.

P ractice. It is suggested th a t the student should practise

this m ethod of counting until it becomes second nature to h im :
this should not take m ore than a few m inutes a day for
ab o u t a week. H aving acquired proficiency in the geuuine
count, he will then be able to learn, th e “ false ” version
w ithout undue labour.
It will probably take longer to learn th e first m eth o d th an
the se co n d !

T H E F A L S E (N O IS E L E S S ) C O U N T
P rim o. H old a packet of S E V E N cards as show n in
F igure 9.
L et the h ands m eet. F igure 10. N ote position of left
thum b.

44
 APPENDIX II

S ecundo. T h e packet being entirely concealed from view,

draw off three cards, one by one, w ith the left thum b, pu sh ­
ing them alm ost into the fork of the left thum b w ith the
tip of the right thum b.

A fter each card has been pulled aw ay, the position will
b e as depicted in F igure 11.

T crtio. D o n o t push off any card under the left thum b,

b u t m ove the left han d — tow ards the left— as if a card had
been rem oved.

T he position will again be as in Figure 11, the thum b

pointing tow ards the perform er's left as before.

Q uarto. “ F alse count ” two m ore cards, leaving four in

the right hand.

Q uinto. C ount, genuinely, three cards into the left hand.

Sexto. G rip the last card as in Figure 12, and give it a

“ fillip ” as shown. Square u p the seven cards, supposed to
be ten, w ith both hands.

* * *

T he R eal Secret. T h : m ovem ent of the left th u m b — which

is very pronounced— m ust be exactly the sam e, w hether a
card has been draw n aw ay o r not. T his is the BASIS of
the illusion produced.

W hen pretending to rem ove a card, there is a tendency

to “ rush." T h is m ust be avoided at all costs.

HOW LEIPZIG U SED TH E FALSE COUNT

F o r th e sake of com pleteness, I shall explain, as well as I

can, how L eipzig used the False C ount, in connection with the
trick on which the one described in this booklet is based.

T he perform er and the two assistants stood in the centre

of the stage, and faced the audience. T he helper on the

45
 THANKS TO LEIPZIG

m agician’s left held a handkerchief w hich was supposed to

contain ten cards, b u t the actual num ber was thirteen.

H olding the seven cards ab o u t a foot from the eyes of

the m an on his right, Leipzig counted ab o u t four o f them ,
th en turning— not too quickly— to the left he com pleted the
counting “ under the nose ” of the assistant on th a t side.
There was no “ break ” or p a u s e : during the second o r so
that he faced the audience, he continued to count at the
sam e even rate.

The result of this manoeuvre w as th a t the actual false

counting was done while facing the audience. W hen facing
the two assistants, the counting was genuine, and th e packet
was held at an angle of ab o u t forty-five degrees to allow
the helpers to see the cards being draw n aw ay, one by one,
by the left thum b. T he packet w as N O T held vertically (as
depleted in Figures 9, 10 and 11 ante), except w hen the co n ­
ju rer was facing the audience. See diagram below.

Still facing the helper on the left, Leipzig started to co u n t

the packet once m ore. H aving run through the first few
cards, he sw ung ro u n d —did the false counting while facing
the audience—and com pleted the (genuine) count u n d er the
eyes of the m an on the right.

Subsequently, the packet was counted as nine, and, finally,

as eight. In each case, Leipzig m ade use of th e “ tu rn ” as
above explained.

The seven cards, supposed to be eight in num ber, were

then given to the assistant on the right to hold. T h e last
card having been “ passed,” the m an w ho w as in charge

46
 APPENDIX II

of the packet w as instructed to count the cards, one by one.

on to th e m agician’s outstretched right hand. T h e thirteen
cards were then rem oved from th e handkerchief, and counted
on to the conjurer’s left hand. I had better add that Leipzig
did not “ fillip ” the last card as show n in Figure 12 ante.

* * *

A lthough I know how the C ard M aster perform ed some

of his tricks, I cannot hope to give any idea of his lovable
personality, his m arvellous show m anship, o r of his persuasive
an d charm ing m anner. A s John M ulholland rem arked in
the N ovem ber (1939) issue of “ T he Sphinx " IVc shall
never see his like."

* * *

A Possible Im p ro v em en t. Perchance th e enthusiastic

reader— all readers of my books are enthusiasts or they would
not trouble to study the m inute details given therein— may
decide to im prove the sleight by producing a “ snap ” or
“ click ” each tim e a card is draw n aw ay (or supposed to be
draw n away), by the left thum b.
Personally, I do not think that this is at all necessary, and
it will certainly be found that it is extrem ely difficult to m ake
the “ false click ” sound E X A C T L Y like th e genuine one.
T h a t is the difficulty, but it is not insurm ountable.
As described in the text, the sleight produces a perfect
illusion in capable hands, as the reader will soon be able to
prove to his own satisfaction. T he task is by no m eans
arduous.

TH E HARRISON FALSE COUNT

T his m ethod of false counting— basically different from all

others— has been used by th e inventor, M r. C harles H arriso n ,
since his early youth, and in his hands the illusion produced
is absolutely perfect. It has never been published before,
and although easier to learn than the Noiseless C ount
previously explained, it is better fo r certain tricks.

47
 THANKS TO LEIPZIG

T o count seven cards as ten, proceed as follow s: —

Position. H old the p acket of seven cards, faces dow n, in

the left hand as if about to deal. R ight should er tow ards
the audience. Left hand above the right.

O ne.” W ith the left thum b push the top card over the
side of the packet. A dvance the right hand, and seize the
protruding card between the thum b and forefinger as in deal­
ing. Rem ove this card— as show n in Figure 13—counting,
“ O ne.”

Figure T hirteen

“ T w o.” W ith the left thum b advance an o th er card. M ove

the right hand tow ards the left, and place the first card on
top of the second, namely, under the left thum b. W ithdraw
both cards with the right hand. (T hum b on to p : fingers
below.) C ount “ T w o .”

48
 APPENDIX II

“ T h re e.” Push off the third card with the left thum b.
As the right hand comes to take it. let th e extrem e tips of
the m iddle and third fingers b utt against the outer edge o f the
projecting card, and push it— tow ard the left— u n d er the left
thum b which M U ST N O T M O V E . Figure 14.

Figure Fourteen

N ote. T h e m otion of the third card is covered by the two

others. T hese tw o cards are gripped firmly by th e thum b on
to p and the first finger O N L Y underneath.

W ithdraw th e tw o cards, counting “ Three."

T h e position, as seen by the audience, will be as in Figure
13 ante.

“ F o u r.” A ctually rem ove an o th er card, counting “ Four."

“ F iv e .” Pretend to take the next one . . . " F iv e ."

49
 J H A N K S TO L E IP Z IG _________________ _ _

“ S ix .” Really rem ove th e follow ing card . . . “ S ix "

“ S even.” False count . . . “ Seven."
“ E ig h t, N ine, T e n ." A ctually take the rem aining cards,
one by one, counting, " E ight, N ine, T en."
* * *
It should hardly be necessary to m ention th a t this m ethod
can be used to false count any num ber of cards. It takes
Mr. H ariison betw een seven and eight seconds to co u n t seven
cards as ten, and I do not think that a greater speed should
be attem pted.
* * *
A very slight “ click ” is produced as each card is rem oved
—o r apparently rem oved— w ith the right fingers.
♦ * *
A lthough I have not yet attained the sam e degree of
proficiency w ith the H arrison False C ount as with th e oth er
m ethod explained in this A ppendix, 1 succeeded in doing
it sufficiently well - a f te r only a few m inutes’ practice— to
deceive t’ie inventor him se’f! 1 m ention this so th a t the
reader may realise how easy the sleight is to acquire.

T H E L A T E S T FA L SE CO U N T
(T o Count Ten Cards as S ix )
W ith a little m odification, the H arrison m ethod may be
used to show that a packet of cards contains few er th an is
usually the case.
Prelim inary. G rip the packet of ten cards, faces dow n,
with hands as if ab o u t to m ake the sta n d ard pass. W ith
the tip of the right thum b riffle off the tw o bottom cards, and
hold a “ break ” at that point with the extrem e tip of the
left finder. Do not insert that digit in the opening as when
making the pass.
Retaining the “ break,” hold the packet, face dow n, in the
left hand.
Countiiiil “ O n e ." W ith the left thum b, push the to p card
o ver the side of the packet, and rem ove it w ith the right
hand. Figure 13 ante.

50
 APPENDIX II

C ounting “ Two " am i “ T h re e ." Push the sccond card

forw ard, and draw it aw ay w ith the right hand. Do likewise
with the th ird card.

C ounting “ F o u r." A dvance the fourth card. W ith the

tips of the m iddle and third fingeis of the right hand, push
the projecting card— under the left th u m b — flush with the
other cards in the left hand. Insert th e right first, m iddle
and third fingers in the “ break,” and rem ove all the cards
above it. T here should be no pause o r hesitation as the eight
cards are draw n aw ay togethci.

C ounting " F iv e .” I uke the next card, leaving one in the

left hand.

C ounting " S ix ." H old the last card by a corner between

the tips of the left forefinger and thum b, and strike it sharply,
two o r three tim es, w ith the packet held in the right hand.
Square up all the cards w ith both hands.

* * *

In w riting the above description, I have assum ed that the

reader has already m astered the H arrison False Count.

T H E A RM STRONG FA L SE CO U N T
It w as not until the m anuscript of the present volume was
in the printer's hands, th a t G eorge A rm strong show ed m e his
original m ethod of false counting a num ber of cards. In view
of th e fact th a t this sleight is indetectable and th at the prin­
ciple on w hich it is based is entirely different to all others,
1 have requested the inventor to allow m e to include a
description of it in this book.

From the audience's point of view, the counting looks

exactly like the H arrison m ethod, but. as the following
explanation will show , it bears no resem blance to it w hatever.
»
T o count seven cards as nine, proceed as follow s: —
(a) H olding the seven cards exactly as in Figure 13, push
off the first card with the left thum b, and rem ove it with
the right hand as in F igure 14. C o u n t “ O ne."

51
 THANKS TO LEIPZIG

(b) Place the first card on to p of the second, a n d rem ove

them together, counting " T w o . ” It is im p o rta n t th a t no
attem p t should be m ade to “ square-up ” the cards as they
are counted.
(c) Lay the tw o cards on top of the third, and draw all
three aw ay, counting “ T hree.”
(d) Rem ove the next card in th e sam e m a n n er, b u t let
this card project— under the right hand packet an d tow ards
the left— to the extent of ab o u t half an inch. C oun t “ F our.”
(e) Pretend to take the fifth card, but instead of doing so,
place the left thum b on the back of F O U R T H (protruding)
card, and, m oving the right hand aw ay, leave the fourth card
cn top of the packet in the left hand and co u n t “ F ive.”
Position. In the right h a n d : three cards. (Supposed to be
five.) In the left h a n d : four cards.
(f) R em ove the rem aining cards, one by one, counting
“ Six, Seven, E ight, N in e.”
* * *
B> perform ing th e “ replacem ent ” sleight twice, seven
cards may be counted as eleven, b u t n o t as ten.
Similarly, ten cards m ay be counted as either twelve or
fourteen. A nd so on.
* * *

In concluding this A ppendix o n F alse C ounting, I may

state that all the m ethods herein described are excellent,
p ro vided they be perform ed sm oothly a nd well. T h e sam e
rem ark applies to the system s explained by o th e r writers.
M r. A rm strong com pletely deceived m e w ith his system,
but he does it perfectly. Unless flawlessly executed, all
m ethods of false counting are w orse than useless. E ven the
Bluff ” False C ount— sim ple as it is— requires practice.
(“ T he R outine,” para. 13 ante.)

52
 L’ENVOI
T H A V E often been asked how long it takes m e to produce
-*■ a book on M agic, and possibly the reader will be inter­
ested to know that three drafts of the present little volume
were m ade— a few items being re-w ritten four o r five tim es
—and th a t according to a carefully kept record. I p u t in a
hu ndred and forty hours, including the tim e required to pose
for the photograp hs. A nd the proof reading has yet to be
done.

John R a m sa y ’s R o u tin e with C ups and Balls— which is in

the printer’s h and s— and which 1 have w ritten in collabora­
tion w ith the fam ous Scottish m agician w hose nam e appears
in the title, is a far m ore elaborate affair, and it took me
exactly three hundred and four (304) hours to compile. In
ad dition, M r. R am say him self w orked for several weeks, in
the evenings only, painstakingly checking the m anuscript and
inserting the num bers of the m any photographs in the m ost
suitable places.

T he next routine to be released by John R am say will be

his w onderful C ylinder and C oins, th e m anuscrip t of w hich
is now in course o f preparation, and, as is the case w ith the
book dealing with the C ups and Balls, it will be copiously
illustrated with the excellent photographs of the originator’s
hands. A t least three drafts will need to be m ade, and 1
estim ate th a t the w ork will take ab o u t two hundred hours.
V. F.

53
 CONVINCING
COIN MAGIC
By Victor Farelli
The best in coin magic th a t is convincing to the
audience. W r itte n by B rita in ’s leading magical a u th o r
and superbly produced on a rt paper w ith 33 p h o to ­
graphs and 24 drawings.
THE CLASSICS OF C O IN M AGIC
A N D A COMPLETE C O IN A C T
John Braun (E d ito r: “ Linking Ring” ): " . . . as
refreshing and inform ative as a Dai Vernon le c tu re .”

Price 17/10 post paid

MASTERED
AM AZEM ENT
By A1 Koran & Jack Lamonte
Mainly fo r the m anipulator, but no very d iffic u lt
sleights, O utstanding new sleight-of-hand tric k s w ith
coins, cards, cigarettes and thim bles. 72 pages, profusely
illustrated.
Acclaimed as “ The best book on general sleight-
of-hand that is also original, born since Edward V ic to r’s
tr ip le ts .”

Price 10^4 post paid

The Magic W and Publishing Co.

11 M onastery Gardens, Enfield, M iddlesex.
 BOHLENO’S MYSTERIES
By H enry Bohlen
The five original routines (w ith silks, ropes, rings
and paper) w ith w hich the author, a professional magi­
cian, w on the Ring One T rophy and C o n ju ro rs ’ Magazine
A w ard at th e I.B.M. C onvention in St. Louis, U.S.A. in
June 1946. N o apparatus required w ith the exception o f
one small “ g im m ic k " (used in one effect) w hich you
probably have already.
Acclaimed as amazing value. Many professional per­
form ers now using these routines.

Price 10 3 post paid

STUNTS WITH
STAGE MONEY
By Jack Lamonte
T w e n ty -fo u r practical tricks, gags and stunts w ith Stage
Money— plus tw o methods o f sw itching notes. H ere are
w o rth w hile ideas that you w ill fin d use fo r in y o u r close-
up o r stage routines if you believe in enterta in m e n t.
N o apparatus needed fo r any o f these stunts. This
is a w e ll-p rin te d b o o kle t w ith nearly 30 drawings by the
author.

Price 5 3 post paid

The Magic W and Publishing Co

11 M onastery Gardens, Enfield, M iddlesex
THE MAGIC WAND
A N D M AGICAL R EVIEW
The Fam ous Q uarterly Book of M agic
F sta b lis h e d in 1905, “ T H E M A G I C W A N D -’ is still B ritain 's
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B ritain ’s largest a n d m o st co lou rful m agic M agazine, c o n t a i n ­
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