All Change Here

In this effective feat the Hindu shuffle is used to show that apparently every card in the deck is the same. It is an artifice that is useful in several other good tricks.

1. Have the deck shuffled by a spectator. Instruct him to remove one card and then pass the deck to a second person. Let this person also remove one card and then return the deck to you.

2. Have the selected cards returned to the deck, and control them to the top by means of the Hindu shuffle so that the top card is the second spectator's card.

3. Hold the deck in your left hand and with the right fingers and thumb at the ends remove the top half, at the same time making the backslip and thus placing the second card on top of the lower half in the left hand. Place this packet aside for the moment.

4. Ask the first man to name a number, say between five and fifteen. Suppose he calls ten. Have him name his card, say the five of hearts. Place the packet you hold in your left hand and count off ten cards, pushing them off one by one with your left thumb, and taking them one on top of the other in the right hand. On reaching the tenth card, turn your right hand with the back upwards, and slap the counted cards face upwards on to the cards still in your left hand. "There it is!" you exclaim. "The tenth card, the five of hearts!" Immediately remove these face-upwards cards and spread them, showing the five of hearts with nine cards above it. Close the spread, place the packet underneath the cards in your left hand, and place all face downwards on the table.

5. Pick up the other packet, and in the course of an overhand shuffle place one card above the second spectator's card at the top. Address him, saying, "Will you kindly name another number between five and fifteen?" As you say this push the two top cards off the pack to the right a little, and in squaring the pack again secure a left-little- finger break under these cards.

Let us say that the spectator names the number eight. Remove the top card and turn it face upwards, counting "One" and placing it squarely on the pack. Square the deck at the ends, grasping the two top cards at the ends between the right thumb and middle finger, moving them inwards so that they protrude over the inner end for about an inch. Immediately draw out the card which is under these two–the third card–and turn it over inwards, bringing it face upwards, and lay it on the first two, counting "Two."

Remove the next card–the fourth card–and turn it face upwards and lay it on the first three, counting "Three." Continue counting cards in this manner until you have turned one less than the number named– in our example, seven. Under these, and hidden by them, is the chosen card, which is face downwards.

"I want you to be satisfied that my count is accurate," you say. Push the protruding cards squarely on the pack and slowly deal the cards which are face upwards at the top, counting them. "Seven cards," you point out. Tap the chosen card, which is now the top face-down card. "This is the eighth card, the card at your number. Will you name your card, please?"

"The jack of clubs," let us assume he says. Slowly turn the card face upwards, showing his card.

6. Drop this card, face upwards, on the seven cards which lie face upwards on the table. Pick them all up and place them at the bottom of the deck, thus placing the jack of clubs at the bottom.

7. "Now, really," you continue, "I do not as a rule explain how these feats are done. But this one is so delightfully simple that I will show it to you, and you will be able to have some fun with it yourselves." Place the packet you hold to one side and pick up the first packet, holding it in position for the Hindu shuffle . "The fact is that all these cards are fives of hearts, hence it made no difference to me what number you called. Look!" Begin a Hindu shuffle by pulling off a small packet into your left hand, then lift your right hand, bringing

its packet to a vertical position with the bottom card facing the audience squarely. Lower the right hand, continue the shuffle by pulling off a few more small packets from the top, and again lift the right-hand packet, showing the five of hearts. Repeat the same motions until only the five of hearts remains in the right hand. Drop it on top of the packet, square the cards, and palm it in your right hand.

8. Pick up the second packet by drawing it back towards yourself, and in the action add the palmed card to the top. The second person's card is on the bottom of this packet, and you show apparently that all these cards are jacks of clubs by using the moves detailed in step No. 7, with this difference: In the first movement, draw off the top card only–the five of hearts–into the left hand, so that when the action is completed it will be the bottom card of the packet. When you have apparently shown that all the cards are jacks of clubs, drop the jack on top of the packet as in step No. 7. Square the packet and palm the jack in your right hand, placing the rest of the cards on the table.

9. Pick up the first packet with your right hand, adding the palmed jack of clubs. Force it on the first spectator by means of the lift shuffle force. "These cards are all fives of hearts," you say. "Take one and put it face down on the table."

10. Put the packet down, take the second packet, shuffle the five of hearts to the top, and force it on the second spectator by the backslip force. He places it face downwards on the table before him.

11. The trick is done; it only remains to bring out the climax as strongly as possible. On turning their cards face upwards, each spectator finds he has the other man's card. Then with a flourish you spread each packet face upwards, ribbonwise, and all the cards are seen to be different, making up a regular deck.