FREE MAGIC TRICK - The Best Card Trick Ever

Since this is a blog about amateur, hobbyist or beginning magic, I thought it would be fun to start a series of free tricks to get your feet wet.

Before you start read this early blog entitled So you want to be a magician - START HERE.

This series of free tricks are good first tricks. However, I encourage you to learn the really cool stuff that takes practice and skill. While hard to learn, these routines are the most eye-popping, jaw-dropping illusions and are thrilling to perform. So start with my blog entitled So you want to be a magician - START HERE. Then come back and learn this trick.

Here is a great, self-working magic trick that every beginner should know. I learned it as the "Best Card Trick Ever." I've also heard it referred to as the "21 Card Trick." While it's not the best trick ever, it is probably one of the best self-working tricks.

Even though it is self-working you will need to practice this 4-5 times or more to get comfortable with the presentation.

The "Best Card Trick Ever"

Set-up:

An ordinary deck of cards

Effect:

The spectator mentally selects a card from a stack of 21 cards (called a packet). The spectator shuffles the cards and hands the packet of 21 cards to the magician. The magician lays the cards into 3 columns of 7 cards and asks the spectator to point to the column with his selected card. The magician collects the cards and deals out the cards again and repeats this process two more times.

Note, the trick is done - the rest of the trick is pure acting on your part.

Now the magician deals out little piles of cards in a "star" shape. Here is where the fun begins. The spectator selects piles of cards to remove or keep. This process of removing card piles is continued until one pile is left. The magician separates the four remaining cards as asks the spectator to continue selecting cards that are removed until one card is left. Amazing, the magician flips over the last remaining card and the spectator gasps because it is their selected card. It appears that the spectator has randomly removed 20 cards and the last card remaining is their selected card.

Instructions:

Count out 21 cards and hand to the spectator. Tell them to shuffle the packet and mentally select a card. For kids and larger audiences, it may be a good idea to have the spectator write their select on a piece of paper so that the can reveal their choice at the end. That makes it a little more exciting to the rest of the audience. Take back the packet.

This is important, you must deal these 21 cards out the 3 rows of cards exactly as described here or the trick will not work. You must also pick up the cards in the order described.

Deal the cards face up into 3 columns, one row at a time, until you end up with 7 cards in each column. When dealing into a column, overlap the cards in each column. This will make it easy to keep the cards in the correct order as up pick them up. Ask the spectator to point to the column that contains his/her card.

Square up each card column into three piles - if you overlapped them they will be in the order dealt. Place one of the piles that the spectator did NOT select on top of the pile the spectator DID select. Then place that stack onto the remaining pile that the spectator did not select. In order words, the column of cards that the spectator selected should be in the MIDDLE. Therefore, the selected card is somewhere between the 7th and 15th card. You are going to repeat this process two more times.

Once again, deal the cards face up into 3 columns of 7 cards and repeat the process.

Once more time, deal the cards face up into 3 columns of 7 cards and repeat the process. Now their selected card has worked it's way to the middle of the packet. Stack up the cards as before and their card is the 11th card in the packet. At this point the trick is done - their card is the 11th card.

Some versions of this trick will have you turn over the 11th card and the trick is over. However add these next steps really misleads the spectator and makes this a true miracle.

Remember this one fact, do not forget where the 11th card is! If you forget the location, the trick will fail.

Create card stars by dealing four cards, face down in a little star-shaped pile. Create another star. Count the cards (quietly inside your head) and keep track of where the 11th card is located. You'll end up with 4 piles of 4 cards and the last pile will have 5.

Now you are going to give the illusion that you are turning the trick over to the spectator to control.

Ask the spectator to select two of the card stars.

IF one of the two card stars contains the 11th card then remove the other three card stars from the table. ELSE if one of the three remaining card stars contain the 11th card then remove the two card stars the the spectator pointed at.

Ask the spectator to select one of the remaining card stars.

IF the selected card star contains the 11th card then remove the other card stars from the table leaving just the one card star. ELSE if one of the other remaining card stars contain the 11th card then remove the card star the the spectator pointed at.

Continue this pattern until only one card star is remaining. Separate the 4 cards into a row keeping track of which one is the 11th card. Ask the spectator to select any two cards. Again, repeat the pattern of either keeping the two cards that contain the 11th card or removing the selected two if the 11th card is not one.

Now you are down to two cards. Ask the spectator to select one card. If they pick the 11th card, turn it over to reveal their card. If they pick the card that is not the 11th card, simply remove it from the table leaving just the 11th card and then reveal their card. This trick will fry their brain! Try it.