Expert Card Technique. Jean Hugard

pointing towards the pack, at the completion of its transfer to the left hand.

      The action must be accompanied by a slight turn to the left, bringing the back of the right hand towards the spectators. It can be done in an instant and without disarranging the rest of the cards in the slightest degree.

      b. This method of palming is used in most cases for a color change. The curling of the right forefinger on the top of the pack seems to pre-elude any possibility of palming and also exposes a great part of the back of the pack. The low position of the right wrist prevents the spectators on the operator’s right from observing the movement of the face card. Here is the method:

      1. Hold the deck in the right hand, the thumb lying along the inner end, the outer end grasped between the second, third and fourth fingers, and the first finger curled on the back. Hold the wrist low so that the palm of the hand is on the same plane as the top of the pack, Fig. 2.

      2. Place the deck upon the left palm, much as for dealing, but with the left thumb lying along the left side, Fig. 2.

      3. Draw back the left fingers under the pack, holding them rigid, until the tip of the third finger rests against the right side of the face card near its inner corner, and with it push the card to the right until it extends diagonally from the pack about an inch, Fig. 3.

      4. Grasp this card between the top joint of the right little finger and the right side of the palm.

      5. Carry the pack away in the left hand, bend the right second, third and fourth fingers, curling the card up into the palm and straighten the right forefinger, pointing with it to the pack.

      THE CROSSWISE PALM

      This sleight is an innovation; heretofore cards have always been palmed from a pack the length of which paralleled the length of the palming hand. This new action steals the cards from a pack held breadthwise, a fact which apparently makes a palm impossible as will be seen from the description following:

      1. Hold the pack by the ends between the left thumb at one end, the second, third and fourth fingers at the other, the first finger being curled in with its tip resting against the bottom card, Fig. 1.

      2. Place the right hand over the pack, the thumb at the center of the inner side, the second finger at the center of the outer side and the forefinger curled on top of the pack, Fig. 2.

      3. Lift the cards to be palmed with the tip of the right thumb; raise and straighten all the other fingers so that they extend over and above the left end of the pack.

      4. With the right thumb push the packet outwards so that it pivots on the tip of the left second finger and swings diagonally half an inch across the pack, Fig. 3. The right end of the packet remains pressed against the left second finger until, at the completion of No. 5, the packet is palmed.

      5. Press downwards with the right little finger at the outer right corner of the packet, A, levering the cards directly up into the right palm, Fig. 3. Close the fingers, gripping the cards, turn the hand towards the right and move it slowly downwards, squaring the sides of the pack between the thumb and fingers.

      6. Finally, grip the deck at-its lower end between the right thumb and fingers and hold it thus for a few moments at least.

      NEW VERTICAL PALM

      This sleight will be found especially useful when, in the trick of passing a number of cards from the left hand into the trousers pocket, the conjurer finds himself with the last three, four or five cards (de-pending upon the routine used) to send upon their invisible journey. To execute this special palm:

      1. Display the last few cards in a fan in the right hand. Square the cards with the left fingers and, holding the packet face out with the sides horizontal, grasp it between the left thumb and first and second fingers near its lower left corner, Fig. 1.

      2. Place the right palm over the face of the packet, in the same position one would use to actually palm the cards, and swiftly draw the hand upwards. This action should be quick and casual, as though merely squaring the ends of the packet, and immediately afterwards the right thumb and fingers must be drawn along the sides in a similar squaring action. This gesture is a feint to prepare the spectators for that in the course of which the cards actually will be palmed.

      3. Fan the cards once more in the right hand, requesting the spectators to remember them, and again take the packet horizontally between the left thumb and first and second fingers at the lower left corner, exactly as before. Place the right hand over the packet lengthwise and palm it, but in drawing the hand upwards, re-retain the face card with the left fingers and carry away the cards behind it, the left thumb aiding in the action by pushing these cards upwards, Fig. 2. Turn the right hand downwards immediately to square the sides of the remaining card as in the feint.

      With a minimum of practice, it will be found that the cards behind the face card can be palmed in a flash, the right hand merely moving upwards over the face of the packet to square the ends and then lengthwise to square the sides.

      The one remaining card (supposedly several cards) is then placed in the left hand against the palm and the cards palmed in the right hand are carried to the right trousers pocket to be produced therefrom in due course.

      THE GAMBLERS’ SQUARING PALM

      This is another subtle sleight which has come to us from the gaming table and it is, therefore, designed for use when seated at table. The mode of execution is as follows:

      1. Hold the pack in the left hand between the top joints of the thumb, at the middle of the left side, and the second and third fingers at the middle of the right side, the first finger doubled in against the bottom card and the little finger holding a break below the cards to be palmed.

      2. Place the right hand over the pack so that the joint of the thumb and the first joint of the little finger will be at the sides of the pack near the outer corners and the first joints of the first, second and third fingers rest on the outer end, Fig. 1.

      3. Grasp the packet to be palmed at its outer end, between the side of the thumb and the side of the little finger, and lift it half an inch, at the same time move both hands towards the table top to tap the inner end of the pack against it.

      4. Move the right hand forward, apparently to square the top end of the pack and by this action lever the packet to be palmed up against the right palm, Fig. 2, where it is retained by the pressure of the thumb and little fingers on its sides, Fig. 3. The hand, with the cards palmed, can then be placed flat on the table.

      The sleight can also be executed in tapping the pack on the left hand. The angles of vision must always be studied during the action.

      THE GAMBLERS’ FLAT PALM

      a. By the use of this method of palming the hand can be placed flat on the table and can be lifted again, retaining the card, with perfect freedom.

      With a