Effect: This card trick is quite possible responsible for more free beers than any other in history. It's not just a magic trick, it's a cleverly-laid trap guaranteed to win you a frosty cold one.
Here's how it plays out:
Your friend freely chooses a card and places it on top of the deck. You lose the card in the center by taking turns with your friend cutting the deck, then completing the cut. When both of you are confident that neither of you knows where the card is, you begin dealing the cards face up on the table. Long after your friend's card has been dealt face up on the table, you hold out the next card in the deck (which clearly can't be his card), and bet your friend that the next card you turn over will be his card. Since he can plainly see his card on the table, already turned up, he'll think you've messed up and that his victory is a sure thing!
However, imagine his surprise when you put the card you're holding back into the deck, and instead turn over his face up card on the table!
Secret: Before starting, know what card is on the bottom of the deck. For this explanation, we'll say it's the ace of spades. When you cut his card into the deck, the Ace of Spades will be right on top of it. No matter how many times you cut the cards, the Ace will always be on top of his card! When you deal the cards face up onto the table, notice which card comes after the Ace-- that's his card!
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Posted by Murphy1d on 10/26/2008 at 04:15:31 pm in Scam School
Participated in a Texas Hold-em tournament at a friend's house. Because it was a drinking-all-night event, I ended up crashing on his couch. Well, the next morning while cleaning up the house his sons (7 and 5 years old) asked me if I knew any card tricks....
The Key Card trick immediately came to mind...so I tried it out on the young-uns and was completely the coolest guy they knew. And yes, after much begging on their part, I showed them the trick so they could wow their parents.
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Posted by hogiewan on 09/25/2008 at 02:36:59 pm in Scam School
"
I was thinking the same thing. I'm waiting for the opportunity to do that. It seems like it would work great on really close friends because you can get away with being a dick if it's all in fun.
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Posted by Moocow on 09/24/2008 at 03:47:28 am in Scam School
hahaha, yah awesome advice all round there brian, thanks for that.
and yah speed, i will totally be using the thumbcuffs on my mate next time were at the pub hahaha.
but yah, thanks for the advice.
p.s. i recently discovered a way of fooling them into thinking its real setup (in fast and loose) even if its rigged, just in case they ask you to do it when your not expecting. if you put your finger between the place your meant to put it (inside one of the loops) and the ouside of the chain then its always going to stay around your finger (although its technically cheating; but then again magic isnt exactly about doing everything fairly haha). You can use this into fooling them its a winnable setup (...is winnable even a real word? haha)
N.B. it will look slightly different to the usual 'fast' status and they might notice that you put your finger outside the proper loop. So to counter this make sure you dont show them too many 'fast' setups at the start so they dont recognise that its not quite right; also if you do the fake one, dont hold it for too long so they dont get time to notice, just be like 'BAM, see told you! *undo it*'. Also the other thing is they might notice that you didnt put it in the loop, to help counter this i put middle finger in the correct loop and my index finger just on the side of it BEHIND my middle finger so its hard for them to see and then put your finger in the outside bit and pull at the same time. HOPEFULLY they wont notice and you can be like 'see told you, its just me being good at guessing your moves' (then end the trick and move on like you said brian).
anyway, thanks for the advice, keep up the awesomeness :)
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Posted by speed on 09/23/2008 at 04:01:48 pm in Scam School
"he got me to repeat the trick like 10 freaken times. so lesson learnt...only perform on people who are a bit drunk already, who know the rules and point of the game (especially for key card) and never perform the trick too many times even if they threaten to stab you in the eye with a ball point (yeaah hes a bit of a crazy friend haha).
"
That's when you pull out The Thumbcuffs
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Posted by Murphy1d on 09/23/2008 at 09:17:19 am in Scam School
I have to say this Brian...the details you gave above are PRICELESS!!
Sure, some of us need to learn the tricks before the tweaks (get it, trick or tweak...OK, moving on) but the tweaks are sometimes MORE important than the tricks.
Keep the advice coming, and thanks for all you do.
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Posted by shwooddotcom on 09/23/2008 at 08:10:36 am in Scam School
"My two favourite tricks youve shown would have to be Fast-and-Loose and the key card trick. Unfortunately my friends always find someway to stuff them up!
1st time: i let my friend pick the card, turn around, point to the top with my finger and tell her to put it on top....she puts it in the freaken middle (while ive got my back turned)...so of course the card wasnt where it should be and i look like an idiot haha."
Yeah, you've got to get a feel for your audience, especially when it comes to their ability to follow directions. And I don't know why it is, but when it comes to magic, your friends will be the first to turn on you, and do anything they can to screw up your trick. I don't understand it, but it seems to be true.
In this case, I wouldn't turn my back when they replace the card (puts you in a position to get chumped), and if I did catch them not following instructions, I'd either stop the trick with a "oh, I'm sorry. I thought you wanted to see something cool," or (if I'm feeling feisty) something like "That's weird. Last week I did this trick for a retarded monkey, and HE was able to follow directions... Let me give you just one more chance..."
Remember that YOU have the walk away power, and that you should only perform for people who really want to watch. Your friends will say they want you to perform, but what they often really want is an opportunity to take you down a peg and screw up your tricks. If someone does so, punish them. Entertain everyone around them, and stop whenever they try to join the fun. They'll eventually figure it out.
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AWESOME! It only takes one success like this to suck you in. Glad it worked for ya.
"
This is a good example of a classic problem for magicians and con men: what do you do when faced with a problem you've never seen before? Now that you've faced it, go back and think of how you COULD have handled it. File that information away, and you'll be ready for next time.
In this case, it sounds your friend was trying to triumphantly announce that you had screwed up. One way you could reverse the situation was to say "Wow. That may be the single worst attempt to not react to your card I have ever seen."
But it may be that she just didn't understand her job, in which case you should pause, chuckle, and reiterate "Um... yeah. Remember that part when I told you to not react to your card? Because I think you just made my job a little too easy..."
Then move on to another trick.
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If it's a money issue, then step down to making it just a "gentleman's bet" with no money on the line. Then at least you get to finish the trick and still look like a badass.
"
Don't let someone steal your power by DEMANDING that you do anything. You're the show here, and you'll perform as often as you want to whoever you want and do whichever routine you'll feel like. By obeying a demand to perform under threat (whether it's a joke or not), you're giving power to that person, which allows them to feel okay about tearing down your effect. Don't do that.
If you're really worried they may actually attack you, then pull a dodge: tell him you won't do that trick again, but there's another you'd love to show him. (remember, we're up to episode 26, and you have 30 puzzles, scams and tricks in your hat).
If there's a crowd around, and you have one heckler, turn the crowd against him. Say "okay, I've got a few more, including my very best one, but I'll only keep going as long as ____ keeps his mouth shut. The moment he buts in, show's over."
You'll find a very large part of performing these scams has nothing to do with the hands, it's about socializing, and figuring out exactly what to say in the setup.
Glad you're digging the show, and let me know if you have any other thoughts.
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Posted by Moocow on 09/23/2008 at 05:00:41 am in Scam School
Hey Brian...and others
i think all the tricks you post are pretty awesome. But ive got a huge problem, my friends are weird and they always manage to stuff up the trick haha.
they happen to be pretty smart (and persistent) and as such they always manage to solve the puzzles. ive tried the one with 4 coins (make it from a diamond to a straight line one) a couple of times and its been solved each time, as well as the 4 triangles with the 6 matchsticks one.
My two favourite tricks youve shown would have to be Fast-and-Loose and the key card trick. Unfortunately my friends always find someway to stuff them up!
1st time: i let my friend pick the card, turn around, point to the top with my finger and tell her to put it on top....she puts it in the freaken middle (while ive got my back turned)...so of course the card wasnt where it should be and i look like an idiot haha.
2nd time: this time actually worked pretty perfectly i had like 4 friends watching and when i bet them the drink one of them laughed out loud and was like 'Yeah ill definitely take!' butting in before the others could say anything haha...needless to say she lost one drink haha.
3rd time: im flipping out the cards and as soon as i hit my friend's card she says 'you just passed my card'....i just stood there with a stunned look.
4th time: i chose the wrong person...turns out my mate had absolutely no money at that time (like not even at the bank). so when i got to the 'ill bet you a drink' part he was just plain old 'no'. haha.
so a bit of a mixed bag of ways to fail the trick there haha.
anyway, love the show, keep it up.
p.s. fast and loose is awesome. ive mesmerised so many friends with this one. only one of my friends broke it, he got me to set it up then when i had, he stepped back and said 'alright, you choose a side that will be fast'...he was being pretty annoying before that though, he got me to repeat the trick like 10 freaken times. so lesson learnt...only perform on people who are a bit drunk already, who know the rules and point of the game (especially for key card) and never perform the trick too many times even if they threaten to stab you in the eye with a ball point (yeaah hes a bit of a crazy friend haha).
sorry for the long post haha.
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Posted by EvanSawRed on 09/12/2008 at 01:55:40 pm in Scam School
"travislopes, I can't believe someone else knows about this trick! I've been doing that trick to my friends, in bars etc... and NOT ONE person can figure it out. I've even been asked trying to bribe money to tell them how to do the trick. I mean you even know the card itself before the trick is started. LOL!!
Thats one of my favorite tricks. I still am in awe that someone else knew of this trick way to go travislopes!
-gfxdreams"
...Actually it's an episode of the show :p
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Posted by gfxdreams on 09/11/2008 at 06:13:36 pm in Scam School
travislopes, I can't believe someone else knows about this trick! I've been doing that trick to my friends, in bars etc... and NOT ONE person can figure it out. I've even been asked trying to bribe money to tell them how to do the trick. I mean you even know the card itself before the trick is started. LOL!!
Thats one of my favorite tricks. I still am in awe that someone else knew of this trick way to go travislopes!
-gfxdreams
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Posted by shwooddotcom on 09/08/2008 at 08:22:57 pm in Scam School
"Decided to post here mentioning my success and say this show is great!
Anyways as for the key card trick, I had great success with this trick with my dad. We don't really talk and stuff anymore since we're both so busy, so it was fun teaching him a few tricks and hanging out again. The Key Card is easy to pull off and has great results. Plus anyone would love to know at least one card trick as that's what they associate with magic the most."
Dude, that's great. I'm glad you're digging the shows.
And if you get any video, DEFINITELY post it up here!
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