J A M E S S W A I N

The Twenty-One Card Trick

The Twenty-One Card trick has intrigued m a n y magicians,
ai' A most notably Ed Mario and Steve Draun, w h o have pub-
J J lished several superb variations. The trick's appeal seems to
i * ^ stem f r o m the fact that most laymen learned the trick dur-
j j ing their childhood, and are quick to perform it when handed a
J / deck of cards. This is a wonderful follow-up routine to use after a
* (J spectator shows you their handling of the Twenty-One Card trick.
It requires absolutely no skill whatsoever, nor does the magician
ever touch the cards.
EFFECT: A spectator removes twenty-one cards from a deck, shuffles them, then
separates the cards into three equal packets of seven cards. One card is selected from
one of the packets and remembered. The packets are reassembled and mixed by the
spectator. The spectator then spells out the performer's name, one card for each letter.
Upon completion of this process, the spectator is asked to name their selection. The
card is shown to be the last one dealt — a true miracle!

TO PERFORM: Hand a deck of cards (it m a y be borrowed) to a spectator and ask

her to remove twenty-one cards. Have the packet shuffled and separated into three
packets of seven cards. Be sure to watch the spectator as she performs these actions,
ensuring that there are exactly seven cards per packet, otherwise you might end up
with egg on your face upon the trick's conclusion.
The spectator is asked to pick up any of the three packets and give it a quick shuffle.
Then, by cutting anywhere in the packet, the spectator lifts the cards and looks at the
card cut to. Have this card memorized, then instruct the spectator to drop the packet
onto the seven-card packet on the table which is situated to her left. You should watch
the spectator as these actions are performed so nothing goes wrong.
Have the spectator drop the remaining cards from her left hand onto the other
seven-card packet (the one to her right). Have the spectator place the cards on her right
onto the cards on her left, further burying her selection.
The spectator's selection n o w lies fourteenth from the top, owing to Gene Finnell's

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clever Free Cut Principle. Now, you could immediately reveal the selection, but I
strongly suggest that you don't, as the spectator m a y repeat the steps later with their
own deck, and discover the mathematical principle which makes the trick work.
Instead, you will n o w let the spectator mix the cards, or so it seems.
Ask the spectator to cut off some cards and drop them on the table to their left,
Have her cut off another
group and drop it to the
right of the first packet (see
Photo). Have the spectator
place the packet remaining
in her hand to the right of
the two packets on the table.
You must now establish
eye contact with the specta-
tor assisting you. I do this by
saying, "Sue... please don't
forget your card!" This will
make Sue momentarily look
up f r o m the cards. The pur-
pose is to get Sue to momen-
tarily forget about cards on
the table.

Once Sue acknowledges that she's thinking of her card, point at the packet to Sue's
left (the first packet placed on the table) and have her place these cards onto the center
packet. Then have her place this combined packet onto the packet on her right. This is
Jay Ose's false cut, and is absolutely deceptive when done in this manner. As Jon
Racherbaumer likes to point out in his lectures, the Ose false cut looks real while a real
triple cut (where the packets are picked up in the opposite direction) looks false. Try
this a few times and you'll see h o w deceptive this false cut is, even when performed in
an unwitting spectator's hands!
Sue's selection is still sitting fourteenth f r o m the top. I tell Sue that by spelling m y
full name she'll find her card. She spells m y full name (James Paul Swain, which has 14
letters) and turns over the last card dealt to find her card!
Now, w h a t if your name doesn't have fourteen letters? Here are two solutions
which I've used and found to be equally effective:

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 J A M E S S W A I N

SOLUTION ONE: Before your show, find out the spectator's full name. Perhaps it
can be spelled with fourteen letters if you use their middle initial, or add Doctor, or
some other official title. Other combinations of words can be used (the name of the
company that hired you, a street address, etc.) Be creative.
SOLUTION TWO: Have the spectator name their card and then spell down to it,
dealing a card for each letter. The easiest w a y to do this is by using Mario's "Flash
Speller" f r o m Alton Sharpe's Expert Card Chicanery, which allows you to instantly
determine the number of letters required to spell to any card. Mario's formula is as
follows:
All Clubs: 10-12 letters
All Hearts & Spades 11-13 letters
All Diamonds 13-15 letters
The values of all cards are spelled with either three, four or five letters. Ace-2-6-10
(three letters). 4-5-9-Jack-King (four letters). 3-7-8-Queen (five letters). Now, since
there are only three choices for each suit, and there are only three choices for each
value, it is easy to determine the number of letters in each card. For example, suppose
the spectator says their card is the 3 of Clubs. All Clubs can be spelled with 10, 11 or 12
letters. Since the 3 requires five letters to spell (T-H-R-E-E), it must be 12, the last
number in the group. In other words, any card whose value is three letters will be the
first number of that suit; any card whose value is four letters will be the second
number of that suit; any card whose value is five letters will be the third number of
that suit. Just remember the table and the rest is easy.
Of course, if the spectator's card is spelled with 10 or 11 letters, you will w a n t to
add the word "The" to the spelling in order for the routine to reach a successful
conclusion. If the card is spelled with 15 letters, then leave out the word "of" and t u r n
up the next card.
FINAL NOTES: This trick was inspired by a routine f r o m a Jon Racherbaumer
lecture. Ed Mario's original twenty-one card routine m a y be found in Mario Without
Tears(Version #3), while Ose's false cut m a y be found in Harry Lorayne's Close-Up Card
Magic. And, a more comprehensive description of Mario's "Flash Speller" m a y be
found in Paul Cummins' "...from a shuffled deck in use..." lecture notes.

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