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Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring
·
Professor Hoffmann
103
TO
DISTINGUISH
THE
COURT
CARDS
BY
TOUCH.--This
trick
is
performed
by
means
of
a
preliminary
preparation
of
the
court
cards,
to
be
made
as
follows:
Take
each
court
card
separately,
edge
upwards,
and
draw
a
tolerably
sharp
knife,
the
blade
held
sloping
backwards
at
an
angle
of
about
45°,
once
or
twice
along
the
edge
from
left
to
right.
This
will
be
found
to
turn
the
edge
of
the
card,
so
to
speak,
and
to
leave
on
each
side
a
minute
ridge,
not
noticeable
by
the
eye,
but
immediately
perceptible,
if
sought
for,
to
the
touch.
Prepare
the
opposite
edge
of
the
card
in
the
same
way,
and
again
mix
the
court
cards
with
the
pack,
which
is
now
ready
for
use.
Offer
the
prepared
pack
to
be
shuffled.
When
the
pack
is
returned
to
you,
you
may
either
hold
it
above
your
head,
and,
showing
the
cards
in
succession,
call
“court
card”
or
“plain
card,”
as
the
case
may
be,
or
you
may
offer
to
deal
the
cards
into
two
heaps,
consisting
of
court
cards
in
one
heap
and
plain
cards
in
the
other,
every
now
and
then
offering
the
cards
to
be
again
shuffled.
You
can,
of
course,
perform
the
trick
blindfold
with
equal
facility.
You
should
endeavour
to
conceal,
as
much
as
possible,
the
fact
that
you
distinguish
the
court
cards
by
the
sense
of
touch,
and
rather
seek
to
make
your
audience
believe
that
the
trick
is
performed
by
means
of
some
mathematical
principle,
or
by
any
other
means
remote
from
the
true
explanation.
This
advice,
indeed,
applies
more
or
less
to
all
tricks.
Thus
your
knowledge
of
a
forced
card
depends,
of
course,
on
sleight-of-hand;
but
you
should
by
no
means
let
this
be
suspected,
but
rather
claim
credit
for
some
clairvoyant
faculty;
and
vice
versâ,
when
you
perform
a
trick
depending
on
a
mathematical
combination,
endeavour
to
lead
your
audience
to
believe
that
it
is
performed
by
means
of
some
impossible
piece
of
sleight-of-hand.
Further,
endeavour
to
vary
your
modus
operandi.
If
you
have
just
performed
a
trick
depending
purely
on
sleight-of-hand,
do
not
let
the
next
be
of
the
same
character,
but
rather
one
based
on
a
mathematical
principle,
or
on
the
use
of
special
apparatus.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
