Fantastic Five (card trick)

by Edward
(Redlands, California)

Effect: This is a clever, self working card discovery utilizing a prepared deck in its simplest form.

A card is freely selected by a spectator and returned to the top of the deck the pack is then given a cut. You spread the pack on the table , revealing that one card is face up. It is a five. You explain that the face-up card is your magical indicator. Then you count down five cards in the deck below where the face-up card chosen was located. Turning up the fifth card, it proves to be the card chosen by the spectator! If that were not enough, you now turn the four card that were between the face-up cards that were between the face-up card and the spectator's card. All four aces!


Secret and Preperation: To prepare, run through the pack and remove the four aces and five-card. Square up the pack and place the five face up on the bottom og the face-down pack. Place the four aces face down below the five.

Method: Spread the pack and invite a spectator to select a card. Be sure not to spread the pack too near the bottom, thereby accidentally exposing the face up five.

Tell the spectator to remember his/her card. Square the deck and place it on the table.

Ask the spectator to place the card on top of the deck.

Have the spectator cut the deck.

Let the spectator complete the cut.

Explain to the spectator that something magical is going to happen. At the same time, spread the deck to the one face-up card in the deck.

Separate all the cards to the right of the face-up five.

Explain that the face-up card is your magical indicator card and that it will help to locate the spectator selected. Since the card is a five, that must be a clue. Count down five cards in the deck..

Push the five, the four face-down aces below it, and the next card the spectator's card all forward from the pack.

Turn over the fifth card and show it to be the card that the spectator selected.

The spectator will assume that he trick is over. Not content with this, you turn over the four remaining cards to reveal the four aces. This second, added surprise, the appearance of the aces, adds greatly to the effect.