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ROUGE ET CETERA
As the title indicates, t hi s manuscript contains
f our card routines based on red/black t heme s . There
i s also a fif th trick which isn't based on a color
theme. You can readily appreciate the logic behind
its inclusion here. As to t he content of the ms:
"Square One" is an easy card revelation using two
reds and two blacks.
"Infra Red" is a reasonably amusing, 90-second
version of the color separation or oil & water theme.
"Rouge Et Noir" is a blanket title for four different approaches to the small packet trick where the
spectator guesses the colors. These tricks were written up in a 1968 manuscript. The trick after "Cheaters"
was published in The Pallbearers Review as "Even Money
Proposition" and so does not appear here.
"All Blacks" considers the theme where you mix reds
and blacks, add more reds, but the packet ends up all
black each time. One development of the technique appeared in Chronicles #3 under the title "Identi-Kit."
"Type Casting" is the closing item. Originally done
with reds and blacks, it was simplified when the handling was changed to a face-up/face-down approach .
Not considered this time around were tricks with
red-backed and blue-backed cards. You may want to
consider combining the red/blue premise with the tricks
in the following pages.
April 14, 1979

Karl Fulves

Copyright ~ 1979 by Karl Fulves

-3-2-

SQUARE ONE
At about age 14 or 15 an attempt was made to lLnk
playing cards to tricks using a checkerboard. This
would result, years later, in routines like "Blindfold
Checkers" and "Hex Squared," both published in The
Pallbearers Review. What follows is one of the early attempts.
The spectator removes four cards from his own deck.
Two of the cards must be red, the other two black. He arranges them in the form of a checkerboard:

Then he turns all four cards face-down in place. The

magician turns his back. He asks the spectator to decide
on one card and turn i t face-up. This will be the chosen
card.

Method: Wait until the spectator has removed four cards

and arranged them in the face-up layout given on the
previous page . Note the sequence of the cards. In the
top row you may have a 5 and a 9. In the bottom row
you may have a 7 and a 2. Just remember the cards from
left to right in each row . In this example you would remember 5-9, 7-2.
Turn your back. Have the spectator make the exchanges
described on the previous page. Then he turns each card
face-up in place.
Now face the spectator. Simply note which one of the
four cards is back in its original position. There will
be only one such card and it is the chosen card.
The above routine is the original one . I later learned that it could be accomplished with fewer exchanges.
Later developments also included one where you did not
know the arrangement of the four cards at the start,
and variations where the chosen card, though unknown in
~lue to you, ended up in a p r e de t e r mi n ed position.

Then the spectator t u rns any other card face -up in

place. At the magician 's request the spectator exchanges
the chosen card with this face-up card.
Then the spectator exchanges his card with either of
t h e face-down cards. When this ha s been done, the spectator exchanges his card with the other face-down card .
Finally, the spectator exchanges his card with the
face-up card . After doing this, he turns all cards faceup.
The magician turns around. Without asking a question,
he names the chosen card .

I NFRA RED
The smal l-packet t rick wh er e reds and blacks mixed
t oge t he r my s t e r i ously separate was published by Walter
Gibson i n ~ #91. Subsequently i t became known as
Oil & Water. I have ne ve r seen magicians perform this
trick f or l a yme n s o I cannot say how ot he r s have fared
with it . I ' ve t ried various rout ines mys e l f and was
never able to extract a nyt hi ng of magical value from
the premise .
Consequently, an effort was made to re -structure

-4-

-5-

the entire premise to fit my own manner of working. I

wanted a routine that started with the colors actually
mixed, required no displacement moves or extra cards,
and was not tediously long. An amusing patter line
was also deemed desirable.

This is the basic premise. You can change it to a

patter line where you sign a pact with the devil. You
get your wish if you are able to pick two reds and two
blacks. If you get four of one color, you lose your
soul, your house and your car.

The following trick was the one evolved to fit these

conditions. From start to finish it takes 90 seconds,
and that includes a final "impossible" phase. It suits
my own way of working, so I tend to get a lot out of it.
You may not find it suitable to your style, or you may
find parts of it okay and parts not to your liking.
Either way you can alter the routine to your own style.

Another possibility has to do with a tie-in to poker

hands. Four cards of one color produce the lowest hand,
while any other combination produces a winning hand. All
you have to do is get a hand better than the worthless
hand to win. Naturally you lose.

The Premise
Finding a logical patter line for oil & water is
like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You know
it's there but you have to work hard to find it. Here
is one approach.
I explain that some years ago when I was in the mideast, a Shah invited me to his palace. There he suggested a little game. Informing me that he had two daughters,
one of them lovely, he said that in order to win her
hand, all I had to do was pick out two red cards and
two black cards from a packet of reds and blacks. As
soon as I succeeded, I would win the hand of this beautiful creature.
Naturally apprehensive, I asked, "And what if I
lose?" He laughed and said, "Then you win the hand of
my other daughter."
The trick begins at this point. The magician's failure to get two reds and two blacks makes him increasingly frantic as the routine progresses.

The actual "shah's daughter" patter will only be outlined here. This should provide a fair idea of the direction of the presentation. Interested readers can embellish the tale to suit personal taste.
The Routine
Required are four reds and four blacks from any
deck. You will be called upon to do a double lift, a
4-as-4 count and the Jordan count. Each move is done
just once. Each phase is different, so you are not
performing the same counts over and over. Also, because the requirements are simple, the routine can be
learned in one evening.
The routine is divided into phases in this description, but when I perform it, there is no point
at which I stop to indicate the finish of a phase.
The routine is worked right thru from start to finish
in less than two minutes.
1. The Shah's Gambit
1. Remove 4 reds and 4 blacks from the deck. As you
do, tell the story of the Shah's proposition. Place
the four blacks face-down in the LH. Place the reds

-6-

-7-

face-up on the table. You a re going t o mix the 8 cards

together in a common face-down heap. The reason for
leaving t he reds face-up but keeping the blacks f a c e down is to deliberately plant the possibility of a
method right at the start of the trick.
The audience clearly sees the four reds as they a re
being mixed with the blacks, but they do not see the
f our blacks since this heap is face-down in the hand.
Later when you show the colors have separated, some in
t he audience may suspect that you do not really have
four blacks. After all, you didn't s how them at the
start, so maybe you are trying to hide something. The
audience may not know what, but they are suspicious.
This is all to the good since their suspicion has
nothing whatever to do with the real working of the
trick.
2.With the RH pick up a red, turn it face-down and
place it onto the table. Deal off a black, take it with
the RH and place it onto the face-down tabled red .
3. Take another red from the face-up heap, turn it
face-down, and place it onto the tabled face-down heap.
4. Deal off a black from the LH packet. Place it
onto the tabled heap,but slightly downjogged or backjogged.
5. Repeat Step 2 for the remaining reds and blacks .
All eight cards have been fairly mixed together so that
the colors alternate. The top card of the packet is
a black card.
6. The RH grasps the tabled packet at the front
short end and places the packet into the LH.
7. As the RH moves to a position over the p acket

with the fingers at the front, thumb in back, the thumb

contacts the backjogged card. As this card is pushed
square with the balance of the packet, the thumb lifts
it s lightly, creating a break. The left little finger
moves into the break and maintains it.
8. The left thumb pushes the top two cards to the
right. They are taken as a unit by the RH without reversing their order.
9 . As the RH places them on the table, the right
thumb pushes the top card of the pair to the left. This
reverse spread action is done as the pair of cards is
placed on the table.
10. The RH now takes the top card of the packet between the right thumb & first finger.
11. This card is inserted into the break. It slides
in to a point where the right thumb contacts the top
card of the packet.
12 . The RH now moves away to the right, taking with
it an apparent pair of cards. Actually the top "card"
of the pair is a double. Under the double i s a single
card, fanned or spread to the right of the double .
13. The LH turns palm-down. The left thumb contacts the left edge of the tabled cards in order to
keep them in place.
14. The RH cards are now used as
under the tabled pair and scoop them
four cards are in a fanned condition
thumb and fingers. Thus the audience
cards.

a scoop. They move

up. The apparent
between right
clearly sees four

-9-8-

15. The LH places its packet on the table. The packet i s face-down. The audience assumes this packet
contains 4 cards. Really there are only 3 cards in
this packet.
1 6. Square up the RH cards. Flip the packet faceup. You are a t the point in the routine where the
p atter is, "The Shah asked me if I wanted these four
cards. Knowing they contained 2 reds and 2 blacks, I
immediately complied."
17. With the packet face-up, count 4-as-4 to show
four blacks. The last black card goes onto the back of
the face-up packet.
18. Flip the packet face-down . As you square it,
the RH, gripping the packet from above, allows two
cards to be released at the face of the packet. The
left little finger immediately enters the break and
maintains this break over the bottom two cards .

table.
It will be red. Deal the next card face-up on
top of it and downjogged for about half its length .
It will be black . Deal the next card, showing a red.
Deal the next, a black, but use it to scoop up the
other three cards . Thus , the last black goes in back
and under the packet and scoops up the other three
cards .
22. The scooped-up cards are placed face-down on
top of the LH packet. At this point the order of the
cards from top to face is: B-R-B-three Reds-two Blacks.

3 . Unmixers
23 . "I asked- begged, actually- for another chance
with the same four cards. The Shah obliged with a
smile."
24. The RH grasps the packet from above and lifts
o ff all the cards above the break . The LH places the
balance of the cards face-down on the table.

2. Second Chance
19. "Seeing my disappointment- not to mention fea rat losing, the Shah gave me another chance. Pointing
to the four cards remaining on the table, he asked if
perhaps I would like to choose those instead." Here
you point to the tabled packet of apparently four
cards.

25. " I See, ' the Shah said, I All the same color. You
l o s e again. '" With the packet in the RH you now perform
a J o r d a n count. The packet i s face-down. You are showing four cards all the same color, but of course it i s
the backs you are showing. This is done as a gag, but
it sets you up for a clean display of four separate
reds a moment later.

20. "I said no, reasoning that if the four cards in

his hand were black, the others had to be all red."
Pick up the tabled packet and place it on top of the
packet in the LH.

26 . " I know the backs are the same," I said . "But

we 're betting on the faces." Turn the packet face-up
and hold i t in LH dealing position . Thumb off the face
card and take i t in the RH. Thumb off the next and
take i t onto the face of the RH c a r d . Do the same with
the third red.

21."'A pity,' the Shah said. 'You would have

won eas ily.'" This leads y ou to a novel angle in
routines of this type; the colors are going to be
shown not to have unmixed. It is done very simply.
Deal the top card of the packet face-up onto the

- I
-10-

- 11-

27. The LH holds the 4th red . Ther e are two cards
squared and concealed behind it . The a udience thus
clearly sees the four reds. The instant unmix is
unexpected and should bring a reaction from the audience .

4 .The Impossible Phase

28 . " Look ," I pleaded,
" On e more c h a n c e . Let me
hold t h e cards . " As you say th is, the RH p laces its
cards o n t o the face of the LH cards. Square up all
c ards, flip them fa ce-down and drop them onto the
tabled packet.

5, t h e n all o n 4. It is d one qui c k ly and looks as if

t he c olors are hopeles sly mixed .
31 . Pl a c e t he pack et in the s pectator's hands .
Direct him to deal o ff the t o p four . "The Sh a h gav e
me the c a r d s . I kne w he couldn't tamper with t hem.
Visions o f hi s lovely daught er d anced in my h ead"
(Cert ain ly the r e a d e r c a n thin k up better p a t t e r , b u t
y o u s houl d g e t t he dri ft)
32. The spe ctator turns over the f our card s i n h is
h a n d and fi n d s they a re a l l red . Sc eptic s wi l l g r ab fo r
the tabled c ard s and turn them o v er to d iscover the y
are the f o u r blac k s.

29. Pick up the packet and place it in LH dealing

position. Then deal t h e eight cards i n t o two face-down
rows as follows:

765

That is, you deal from left to right i n the top row,
then from right to left i n t h e n e x t row . I t is important
when you deal the cards to flash the 3rd card so the
audience sees i t is a r e d. As y o u deal the top r ow,
t i me the deal so you say, " We' l l put the reds here "
j u s t as you flash the f a c e of t he r e d card at position 3 .
Simi larly ,when you d e al t h e bottom row, flash the
face of the last card (p o s i t i o n 8) j u s t as you say "And
the b l a c k s here."
30. Now pic k up the card at 8 and place i t on top
of the card at 1. Place these cards on top of the card
at 1 , then t hese on top of the card at 1. Co n t i n u e this
way, placing all cards on 6, then t h e s e on 3 , these on

ROUGE ET Na IR
The "Rouge Et Noir" vari ations d es c ribed here are
all taken from a 1968 manu s cript, copies of which were
sent at the time t o Roy Wal t o n , Jack Avi s and others.
Some changes were made in the interim. First, in t h e
original notes I credited Daley with the basic premise .
La t e r I came acro s s the basic e ffect in an old maga zine .
I think it wa s Stanyon's, but on re-check i ng I c a nno t
fi n d the write-up.
In any event, the trick was a scribed to another
magician. Rath er than c on f u s e the issue with speculation, I'll leave the matter of prope r credit to whoever
claims to h ave fo und t h e earliest reference.
The material in t his section i s offered a s p ossible
new avenues i n h andling the Rouge Et Noir premi s e. I f
this s eems t oo lo f t y a claim, thes e ide as may b e
t houg ht o f as mere v ariations on a theme.

-13 -

-12-

New Noir
Required are four reds and 3 blacks, arranged so
the colors alternate. There will be a red card on top
and bottom of the packet after it is stacked.
The packet is fanned as you say you have four reds
and four blacks. If you like you can use any of the
familiar counts to show 4 reds and 4 blacks. At the
finish of the count the packet should be back in the
order given above .

6. If the tabled packet contains two reds and two

b lacks, cut one red card to the top of the packet . The
order of the other cards does not matter .

1
j

8. "Actually, it is these four that are red." Now

deal off the next four cards, reversing their order.
Place the balance of the packet aside or on top of the
deck.

Tell the spectator you would like to test his ability at guessing the colors. As you talk, double cut
the bottom card to the top . The routine now begins .

he
on
of
as

9. Turn the packet in hand face-up and count 4-as-4

to show four reds .

1. Deal off the top card and ask the spectator if

thinks this card is red . If he says yes , place it
the table. If he says no, buckle the bottom card
the packet and feed this first card into the break
you apparently place i t on the bottom of the packet.

10. For an optional finish, place these four cards

face-down under the other three, deal off the top 4,
then false count to show four blacks.

2. Deal off the next card and again ask the s p e c tator if he thinks it's red . If he says yes, deal it
onto the table . If he says no, slide it into the
buckle break.

Rouge I
Four blacks and four reds are used in this version .
Here the spectator guesses whether a card is red or
b l a c k ; if red , the cards go into one heap; if black, into a separate heap.

3 . continue until yo u have four cards on the table.

Pick up the tabled packet as you say, "Let's see how
well you did."
4. The tabled packet can only contain one of t wo
possible color combinations, three reds and a black,
or two reds and two b lacks.
5 . If the packet contains three reds and a black ,
place the LH cards face-down on the table. Arrange
the RH cards so that the odd color is third from the
face. Turn the RH packet face up and count 4-as-4
to show four reds.

7. Place this packet on top of the LH packet. Say,

"You guessed these 4 were red." As you say this, transfer the top four cards, one at a time, to the bottom
of the packet.

1. Start with the colors alternating red-black-redblack, etc. from top to bottom. You can fan the cards
and flash the faces.
2 . Turn the packet face-down. You are going to deal
the cards singly into a heap on the table, showing the
faces as you deal.

-15-

-14-

3 . Hold the pack e t fac e~down in LH d ealing position.

Take the t op c ard with t he RH, letting the upper l e f t
corner snap of f the l e f t t humb as it i s b e i ng taken t o
t h e right. Flash the face of this card and deal it
face-down onto the table .
4. Continue with the next five cards, showing each
a nd dealing eac h face-down onto the tabled he ap.
5. You are l eft with 2 cards in the LB. Take one (t~p)
of them into the RH . Turn b o t h cards face-up. This is
done b~ c u r l i ng t h e forefinger under each card a nd
snapping e a ch card to a face-up condition.
6. Wi t hout hesitation slide the RH card under the
LH card and flip both fac e-down into the LH.

a r e bla c k, he will put two cards on the face-up

cator and two cards in a separate heap ,

indi~

12 . Note where the lone red card goes (of the four
cards you gave the spectator, 3 were black and 1 was
red). If it goes into the separate heap , all is fine .
I f it goes into the heap with the face -up indicator,
say, " Yo u ' r e doing well , but your mind seems to see a
co l o r as it's opposite. Let 's try it this wa y ." Now
t a k e the face-up indicator and place it under the
other heap.
13 . Hand the spectator the remaining three cards .
Aga i n he guesses which go into which heap.

7. Drop t hese two cards onto t he tabled packet . Then

pick up the t abled packet a nd double c u t the top car d
to the bottom .

14 . At the finish, pick up t h e heap with the indic a t or card . Turn the indicator card face-down on top
o f the heap and count 4-as-4 with the packet face-up
t o show four blacks.

8. By way of a check, you should have two blacks on

top, two reds on the bottom , and a R-B-R-B block in
the c e nter o f the packet at this point.

15. Pi c k up the other heap. With the cards f a c e d own, reverse count them. Then Jordan count t o show
f our reds.

9 . Fan the face-down packet , saying , " I ' d like to

t e s t your ability to guess the colors. Some people
have natural intuitive ability at this. "
10. Remove the third card f rom the face , turn it
face-up and drop i t onto the t able. Say, " I' m going to
~and you the cards . If you think a card is black, put
lt on this fac e-up card. I f you think it 's red, put it
in a separate heap."
11. Remove the t op 4 c a r d s and hand t hem to the
spec tat o r . In guessing which cards are red and which

Rouge II
An even easier version o f the basic p lot . Required
a r e f ive reds and f ive bla c k s . Openly r emove t h em f r om
t h e d e c k and overhand s hu f fl e. This i s a n apparent mixi n g proce ss ,but i n fac t you shuffle so as to k e ep the
colo r s separate from one anothe r .
1 . Afte r the s huffle assume the blacks are on top.
Rema r k t h a t you ' d l ike t h e spectator t o guess the colors .
Hand the t op five cards to t h e spectator.
2. He s orts them into two heaps. There can be only

-17-

-16-

two possible outcomes . Either he puts 4 cards in one

h e a p & 1 in the other , or he puts 3 cards in one heap
and 2 in the other .
3. Hand him the other fi ve cards and have him d i vide
them according to his guess as t o what the colors are .
4. We'll first take the case where the first f ive
cards were d ivided 4 and 1. P ick up the heap containing
the single black card a nd place i t in LH dealing pos i tion. Say , "I think these are a ll black."
5. Buckle the bottom card of this packet. Pick u p
the other packet wi th the RH, saying, "And these shou l d
be all red . "
6. Slide the RH packet into the buckle break. Then
deal off the top five cards to show al l black. Fan t he
balance of the packet to show all red.
7. If the b lacks a r e spl it 3 and 2 , p ick up the p a cketcontaini ng the t wo blacks . Pla c e this p ack e t int o the
LH. Double buckle . Pick up t he other packet with t h e RH
and s lide i t into the buckle b r e ak. F i nish as above .

Cheaters
Yet another approach. I n this c a s e the i nd i c a tor
cards p lay a n acti ve rol e in the tri ck- that i s, they
figure i n the method as we ll as the effect .
1 . Start with 5 red s and 5 bla c k s arranged so tha t
the colors alt e r n a t e. Th e r e i s a black card on top o f
the packet, a red card at the b ottom .
2. Display the cards exactly as described in Rouge I,

steps 1 thru 7. It is annoying to refer the reader back

to a previous trick, but it saves about a page of text.
You have just gone thru the 7 steps indicated. There
are now, unknown to the audience, two red cards on top
o f the packet.
3 . Say, "I'll use two indicators, but in order to
k e e p this strictly according to chance, I won't let you
s e e the faces." Deal the top card of the packet to the
l e f t and the next card about 7" to the right. Both
c a r d s are face-down.
4 . "If you think a card is red, put it on top of one
ind i c a t o r. If you think it's black, put it on top of
the other indicator."
5. Double cut the top card to the bottom of the
p ack e t . Then say, "Let's see if the colors are well
mixe d . "
6. Deal the top card face-up onto the table . Deal
the next card face-up onto it , the next onto that . Then
turn the 4th card face-up . Use it as a scoop to scoop
up the other three cards. This means that the 4th card
(a black) goes under th~packet as it scoops up the pac k e t.
7 . Place the packet face-down on top of the cards in
t h e LH. Then double cut the top card to the bottom as
y o u remark , "I'll mix them a bit more so you won't know
wh i c h cards are which. "
8. Fan over the t op four cards and take them with the
RH. Then give the remaining cards in the LH to the spect a t o r . He doesn ' t know it but all four cards are black.

-18-

-19-

9. The spectator places two cards on one indicator

and 2 cards on the other indicator .
10. You have tour cards lett. Openly shift the top
card to the bottom. The packet now has a black card o n
top, followed by three reds.
11. Hand the spectator th is packet . Have him guess
the colors. Keep track of where the lone black card
goes . Say it goes onto the LH packet.

12. Say, "This is a puzzling thing . You d id very

well in guessing the colors ." Pick up the LH packet
in gl ide position but honestly remove the bottom card
(the face-down indicator). Place this card in fron t
of the RH packet .
13. Pick up the RH packet, i ncluding the indicator
at the face . Hold it in glide position . Glide back
the face card and remove the next card. Place this
card, the supposed indicator , in front of t he LH p a c ket.
14. Shuffle t h i s packet and drop i t onto t h e tab le .
Then pick up the other packet , shuffle and turn it
face -up. Say
" Th e o n l y thing you mi s s e d on were the
indicator cards . I was sure I put the r e d indicator
on the l e f t . " Remove the single r e d card from the LH
packet and drop it face -up onto t h e t a b l e.

it

15 . Th e n fan the balance of the packet and dro p

face-up onto the table , showing four blacks .

16. Handle the RH packet the same way to show a

black and four reds .

ALL aLACKS
The routine described here uses the theme that when
some reds and some blacks are mixed together , the cards
wi l l always become black. This trick was the basis for
t h e oil & water routine in Notes From Underground .

Required are 5 reds and 5 blacks, intermixed so the

col o r s alternate. The top card is red, the next black,
the next is red and it has a large X drawn on the face.
Th e next card is black, the next red, etc .
1. Fan the cards showing the indices. Then square
up t h e packet and hold it face-down in the LH dealing
posit i o n .
2 . You now display the cards singly as described in
Rou g e I, Steps 1 thru 7, except that you do not show
the face of the X'd card. Deal this card into the RH,
say "Red," and drop it onto the tabled cards. This is
the only card whose face is not show. In performance
the slight change in handling will not be noticed.
3 . At the completion of the deal -and-show sequence,
af t e r you have transferred a single card from the top to
the bottom of the packet, deal the top four cards onto
the table in a face-down heap. The balance of the cards
are placed aside.
4. Pick up the tabled heap just dealt, turn it faceup and show that all cards are black by counting 4 as 4.
5. Cut the top 2 cards of this packet to the bottom .
Th e n hold the packet in RH dealing position .
6 . The right thumb deals the top two cards of its
p a c k e t onto the table . The LH picks up the other packet
and deals the top two cards onto the tabled cards. It
appe a r s as if you have just mixed two reds & two blacks.

-20-21-

J;lhase Two
7. You have two cards remaining in the RH. ~lace
these on top at the LH cards, then put this packet on
the table to one side.
8. Pick up the four cards just dealt onto the table, turn them face-up and count 4~a s ~ 4 to show all
blacks again.

14. The RH ta.kes the top ca.rd o ~ the tabled packet

and inserts it into the pa.cket i n the LH at a position
sec o n d from the top.
lS.Turn the packet face~up, count
t h a t you still have four blacks .

4 ~as~4

and show

9. Note throughout that the face of the X' d c a r d

never shows. Drop the packet you're holding ant the
table.

1 6 . "Still too many blacks." The RH lifts off the

top card of the packet and places it on top of t he deck.
Th e n the RH takes the top card of the tabled packet and
ins e r t s it face-down second from the top of the packet
i n the LH.

Phase Three
10. Say you'll make things a little harder. Pick up
the other packet and drop it on top of the one just
placed on the table.

17. Turn the LH packet face-up and count 4-as-4 to

show all blacks.

11. Now openly remove a card from the bottom of this

packet and place it face-down on the table . Then remove
a card from the top a nd place it face-down on the tabled
card. Remove another card from the bottom and another
from the top, placing or dropping each on top of the
tabled cards.
12. The cards in hand are placed aside. Pick up t h e
tabled cards, r e v e r s e the order of the cards a s you say ,
"We 'll just mix the colors a bit more," turn the pac ket
face-up and count 4 as 4 to show all blacks again .

Phase Four
13. "We have too many blacks as it is. To make i t
harder we'll get rid of one of them." With the packet
square and face-down in the LH, the RH takes the top
card, fingers at the front, thumb at the back, and
places this card on top of the deck.

Phase Five
1 8 . "Maybe you would have better luck," the magician
says . Remove the top card with the RH and place it on t op
of the deck.
1 9 . Hand the spectator t h e three cards in the LH.
Then spread the two remaining tabled cards and give him
a c h o i c e . This has to be a magician's choice since you
mus t h a v e him pick the black card . The easiest dodge is
the one suggested by George Blake : " Pl e a c e p i c k a card
f o r me . " If he picks the black card, hand it to him
a n d have him insert it in the packet. If he picks the
r e d card, say , "Fine , that this leaves the other card
fo r you." Now he picks up the tabled card and places it
i n his packet.
20.He mixes his four cards and then deals them faceup i n t o a tabled heap. He is usually flabbergasted to
d i s c o v e r that they are all blacks.

- 23-22-

l?hase Six
21. Take the all~black ~acket ~rom him, turn it
down and place it in LH dealing position.

~ace

22. Say, "Still too many blacks. 1t Now the RH grasps

the packet from above. As it pretends to lift off the
top card as before, it really lifts off the top three
cards and deposits them on top of the deck.
23. Pick up the remaining tabled card and place it
under the card in the LH. Act as if you are about to
turn the packet face-up and count to show 4 blacks, but
then change your mind and say, "Let's get rid of one
more black."
24. The RH takes the top card of the packet and
drops it on top of the deck. Pause, act puzzled, and
say, "Now there aren't enough ."
25 . Snap the single red card face-up and toss it onto the table. The remaining blacks have vanished.
(Aha, you will say, why did he draw an X on that
card at t he beginning of the trick if he never intended
to use the X. The answer is this . I have a picture of
Satan, drawn with r e d ink , that measures about an i nch
square. This was pasted to the face of one card, and
this i s the card referred to as the X' d card in the previous text . S ince the face of this card is never seen
until the finish, it forms a surprising conclusion, and
also affords an e xplanation as to why this red card r e mained and the blacks v a ni s h e d )
In 1 96 8 I had special cards made up for a routine
called "The Curse Of Dr i n k . " Four of the cards had engravings of Victorian-type drunks. The other four cards
showed Cary Nation , the a~vocate of Prohibition . The
idea was that the "Nation" cards refomed the drunks,

s e n d i n g them on their way. On the last card, the X'd

car d not seen until the end , all the Cary Nations are
d one away with b y the ultimate tmbiber F here y o u turn
o v e r the last card and show a picture of. W,C. Fields .
Ha n d l i n g is exactly as given above.
There was also a version using a story about a
h o u s e of ill fame, somewhat along the lines of "Song
At Twilight" in Transpo Tricks.

TYPE CASTING
In a book advertised as offering four tricks, it
wo u l d appear pointless to include a fifth. This is
e s p e c i a l l y true if the book is supposed to deal with
c o l o r tricks and the final routine does not, because
t h e r e then exists a situation where a trick is included
in a book where it doesn't belong .
"Type Casting" started out as a red/black trick but
the handling was streamlined & appears here as a faceup/ f a c e - d o wn trick. When originally devised, I did not
know exactly why it worked, only that it should. Perhaps
s o me o n e out there can provide a proof.
Although independently developed, the routine is
c l e a r l y related to a Hummer cut-and-turn over premise
t h a t appeared i n his face-up/face-down booklet. In
t h e present trick , the spectator turns over blocks of
cards rather than pairs.
1. Patter to the effect that all personality types
a r e stored in computer memories. Naturally each type is
g i v e n a different number . Stare at the spectator, then
s a y , "I think you're either a 5-4 type or a 6-3 type.
Le t me say definitely that you're a 5-4 type."

-24-

2 . As you patter, remove the top 18 cards tram the

deck. Don't make it look like counting. Remove the
cards in twos and threes until you have 18 cards.
3. Let the spectator shuffle the l8~card packet.
Turn your back. Instruct him to reverse a block o~
c a r ds on t op of the packet and a block o~ c a r ds on the
bottom. Each block should contain at least 2 cards.
4. When this has been done, take the packet behind
your back. When you get the packet, deal the cards from
hand to hand, reversing every other card.
5. Then deal the top 9 cards off the packet and
take them with the right hand.
6. Bring the packets
and you really are a 5-4
cards facing one way and
dramatic effect and then

out into view. "If I'm right

type, then we should have five
four the other." Pause for
add, " . .. in each packet."

7. Spectator checks and he will find , for example,

5 face-up cards and 4 face-down cards in each packet .
Or he might find 5 face-down and 4 face-up cards. Note
that you said nothing as to which outcome he could exp e c t. You merely remarked that there would be a 5-4
split between cards facing one way and cards facing
the other.
The trick works itself. There are times when it
will not work with both packets because of a lopsided
reversal of cards. For example , if the spectator reverses the top single card in place, thel\reverses the
bottom 10 cards in place, y ou will end up with a 5-4
split in one packet, but a 6~3 split in the other.
If this happens, it enhances the trick. Simply remark that he is a 5-4, but that his wife, girlfriend,
lover, etc. is a 6-3, a perfect combination.

l
)

(Published by Karl Fulves, Box 433, Teaneck,NJ 07666 )