Expert Card Technique. Jean Hugard

      This peek is a gamblers’ subterfuge and has, to our knowledge, never before been divulged. As with so many moves which come from the gaming table its originator is unknown. At first thought this peek may seem to be a dangerous practice but, actually, it is very deceptive. It carries the recommendation of having completely gulled every magician against whom it has been used by Charles Miller, the Western card expert. The feature of the sleight is that, unlike most glimpses, the operator deliberately looks at the pack during the process. It appears to the spectator that he bends the pack merely to straighten an upward bend in it. The moves follow.

      1. Take the pack horizontally in the left hand at the inner end, the thumb above and the forefinger below, so that it rests on the side of the forefinger, Fig. 1.

      2. Seize the pack by the ends with the right hand, keeping the four fingers together covering the outer end, and with the left thumb push the top card to the right, just far enough to expose the index at the right upper corner.

      3. Retaining the hands in this position, bend the pack downwards at the outer end with the right fingers, as if to remove an upward bend. Look directly at the pack as you do this and you can sight the index of the top card through the arch formed by the right thumb and fingers, Fig. 2.

      THE GLIMPSE AFTER THE PEEK

      The method usually given for ascertaining the name of the chosen card after a spectator peek is this:

      A card having been noted by a spectator by lifting the corners of the cards and looking at the index of one … hold a break and turn the left hand over to the right bringing the cards face up. With the tips of the left fingers press the packet now below the break to the right, bringing the lower index into view. The action is covered by the position of the hand.{8}

      The following methods are new and practical:

      a. 1. Retain a break with the left little finger after the spectator has sighted his card and place the right hand over the deck, with the thumb, first and second fingers at the ends, and take the break with the right thumb.

      2. Allow the face card of the upper packet, the spectator’s card, to drop off the right thumb against the tip of the left little finger. Move this finger a quarter of an inch to the left, forcing the inner end of the card diagonally out of the left side of the pack at the inner end, exposing the index. Remove the right thumb, allowing the break to close and simulate the squaring of the ends with the right fingers.

      This preparatory action having been completed, the index of the card is sighted in the following manner:

      3. Place the left thumb against the face of the deck at the outer left corner and turn the pack face inwards, at the same time moving it into an upright position. The jogged index is now at the lower end.

      4. Turn the right hand palm upwards and grasp the pack between the right thumb, at the upper end, and the first and second fingers, at the lower end. Sight the exposed index as you turn the pack face downwards and at once push the jogged card flush with the tip of the right little finger, Fig. 1.

      It will be noted that the jogged card is concealed from the spectators, first, by the back of the left hand and second, by the back of the right hand as the pack is changed over from hand to hand.

      This sleight is also useful for determining the name of a card lying at a given number. In such case you thumb-count to the desired number and transfer the break to the left little finger (page 142). Proceed as above, sighting the index of the card as the pack is transferred from hand to hand.

      b. One of the most effective bits of byplay which can be used by the card conjurer is to name the card sighted by a spectator when, apparently, only the spectator can know its name. Audiences derive more genuine amusement from the surprised expression upon the startled spectator’s face than from many a more elaborate trick.

      1. Holding the pack as for the spectator peek (page 110), ask a spectator to break the pack open and sight the index of any card, specifically requesting that he refrain from selecting the bottom card, which you tap to emphasize your request.

      2. After the spectator has sighted a card and the left little finger is holding a break at the inner end of the pack, shift the left thumb flat against the left side of the pack, curl the first finger under it, and square it with the right fingers. The edge of the upper packet rests on the tip of the little finger and can be moved to the left by bending this finger at the outermost joint.

      3. Turn the pack face upwards. With the left thumb tip pressed against the side of the deck near the outer corner, the inner index of the selected card is brought into view automatically, the packet above the original break now being jogged a little to the right. The face card of this packet is the chosen card. After turning the pack face upwards the little finger no longer holds the break, the pack being supported by the left second and third fingers and the thumb, Fig. 1, page 134.

      4. Tap the face card of the pack with the right fingers, saying, “You didn’t think of this bottom card, did you?” at the same time sighting the index of the desired card under the base of the thumb. The misdirection is all that could be asked for: it is impossible for any onlooker to note the condition of the pack, and best of all the jogging of the upper packet is entirely automatic and cannot possibly go wrong at the most important moment.

      5. Turn the hand over again, bringing the pack face downwards, square the cards and move a little away from the assisting spectator. Pause, look over your shoulder at him and say, “You’ll be sure and remember that five of diamonds, won’t you?” If the timing of the question is correct, and the intonation of the voice makes it an offhand query, in many instances the spectator will nod that he will remember the card; then abruptly he will realize that you have named his card and his features will mirror his surprise eloquently.

      The reader, upon first using this trick, will find that it is one of those rare feats from which everyone derives pleasure, particularly the operator, who finds his reward in the consternation depicted on the spectator’s features.

      Max Malini, the diminutive gray master magician, made of this little diversion a high-spot in the extraordinary salon entertainment with which he travelled the world. A dominant, vibrant personality, impeccably clad in the court garments of European royalty, he would request a spectator to “Dink of a cod, one leetle cod.” When the internationally famous conjurer turned the pack over, tapped its face, turned away a moment and then in his peculiarly gravel-toned voice growled, “You won’t forget dot den off clubs, vill you?” his startled victim’s mouth invariably dropped open, his eyes bulged and his eye-brows became two soaring question marks, a sight so irresistibly comic that Malini’s audiences rocked and roared with unadulterated joy at the sight.

      COVER FOR THE GLIMPSE

      a. The Gamblers’ Method for a Single Card

      We will suppose that you have brought the chosen card second from the top and that you wish to ascertain its suit and denomination.

      1. Hold the pack in the left hand as for dealing and remove the top card between the right thumb and forefinger taking it at its lower right corner.

      2. Turn this card face upwards, at the same moment moving the pack, with the left hand, from a horizontal to a vertical position, with the back of the card in the right hand resting upon the outer right corner of the pack, concealing it. Direct the spectator’s attention to the exposed card proving that his card is not at the top.

      3. With the ball of the left thumb at the left outer corner of the pack push the top card down a little and then outwards, holding the other side of the card flush with the pack, Fig. 1. This action will bend the middle of the card upwards and enable you to glimpse the top card easily.