Expert Card Technique. Jean Hugard
directions and forming a V lying on its side, the apex of the V being towards the right, Fig. 2.
6. The moment the edges of the packets clear one another, pull the left hand packet inwards with the tip of the left second finger and let the two packets slide together in a vertical position, Fig. 3. Square the pack with the right hand.
The action transposes the two packets with a minimum of clearance. It is noiseless and very fast; the back of the right hand must be kept towards the audience, concealing the pack.
THE BRAUE PASS
Countless conjurers have attempted to devise a method of performing the pass, that is to say, to transpose the two halves of the deck imperceptibly with the hands at rest; but all such efforts have failed. We have the confessions of such experts as Erdnase and Merlin that they have spent many fruitless hours wrestling with the problem. The survival of the method of making the classic pass through the centuries proves that the basic principles are correct and the best yet evolved. The following method uses these principles but applies them in a slightly different way, with the result that the two packets are transposed with less movement and, therefore, more rapidly. The directions should be followed with the pack in hand.
1. Hold the, deck vertically in the left hand, the little finger being inserted between the upper packet, which we will call No. 1, and the lower packet, No. 2.
Press the first phalange of the left first finger firmly upon the top of the upper packet, No. 1 The sides of the cards rest upon the innermost phalange of this finger.
Rest the left thumb upon the upper side of the pack and extend the second and third fingers so that they do not touch the deck at any point.
Throughout the subsequent actions these two fingers are held away from the cards at all times.
The position of the two hands is as in Fig. 1. Fig. 2 shows the nature of the left hand grip of its packet, the cards being controlled mainly by the left first finger.
2. Bring up the right hand and cover the deck, seizing the top corners of No. 2 between the thumb and forefinger and keeping all the fingers close together. In this position, the tip of the left thumb presses against the side of the right forefinger at a point between the second and the innermost joints.
3. Pressing lightly downward with the first phalange of the left first finger against the top of packet No. 1, lift the No. 2 packet slightly upward by moving the right hand to the left and upward in a very small arc; at the same moment, with the right thumb and forefinger acting as pivots, draw No. 2 to the right by bending the right second finger inward. This action forces the upper side of No. 1 also to the right, its lower side pressing against the first phalange of the left first finger, which relaxes sufficiently to allow the packet to make its small movement to the right, Fig. 3. The tip of the left thumb remains pressing lightly against the side of the right forefinger.
4. When the two packets clear one another, swing No. 1 to the left by bending the top joint of the left forefinger inwards and let No. 2 drop on top of it, Fig. 3. Note particularly that the left little finger remains curled under packet No. 1, supporting the now assembled pack. Again, for clarity, the position of the left thumb tip against the right forefinger has been omitted.
The striking feature of this method is the heretofore unappreciated fact that a single left finger, the first finger, can fulfill the duties which heretofore have been performed by the left first, second and third fingers in controlling the No. 1 packet. This eliminates to a surprising degree the fatal dipping of the left fingers during the transposition of the packets which has been one of the great flaws of the pass.
In actual practice the pack should be held in a slanting position with the right side downwards. The pass is made noiselessly, very swiftly, and practically at the fingertips; but it requires a great amount of practice to accomplish the sleight perfectly. As with all sleights, the positions must be taken accurately and the action performed slowly until the fingers become accustomed to the necessary movements.
THE CHARLIER PASS
The shift that goes by this name is credited generally to that mysterious personage, Charlier, though this is disputed by French writers. The sleight has been the vortex of a controversy which has raged for many years: Can it, or can it not, be performed imperceptibly? Merlin, in his book, has written that the transposition of the packets invisibly by this pass is impossible; on the other hand the senior collaborator of this volume has seen Charles Bertram use it as an instantaneous color change with perfect success. Although Bertram disclaimed any special dexterity with the sleight he was able to do it eighty times a minute. When he used it as a color change he applied the pass in this way:
a. Color Change
1. Hold the pack vertically in the left hand, face outwards, with the thumb at the upper side, the second, third and fourth fingers at the lower side and the first finger curled at the bottom of the deck.
2. Move the hand outwards about six inches and call attention to the face card, naming it.
3. Bring the hand back to its original position at the same time dropping half the pack onto the left palm, transpose the two packets in the usual way by pushing upwards with the first finger and letting them fall onto the left palm upon which the packet controlled by the first finger is dropped. In making this movement turn the hand over rapidly to the right, bringing it momentarily back upwards, and drop the thumb to the inner end of the face card, Fig. 1. Instantly turn the hand up again, Fig. 2, and quickly move the thumb over the face card from the bottom to the top, Fig. 2. Accompany the action with some such remark as this: “You see, I merely rub my thumb over the card and it changes completely.”
The illusion depends upon the rapid twist of the wrist downwards and upwards and the passage of the thumb over the face of the card which conceal the smaller movements of the cards completely.
b. To Control a Card
It must be conceded that this pass cannot be made invisibly with the hand at rest and without cover, but this can be done under cover of the right hand when the pack is hidden momentarily in taking it by the ends between the right thumb and fingers.
Perfect cover can also be provided, without the intervention of the right hand, in this way:
After you have split the pack and a selected card has been placed on top of the lower packet, quickly raise the hand above your head, saying: “Who’ll shuffle the deck?” Make the pass as the hand is raised, the upward motion making the transposition of the packets easy. At the end of the action let the pack rest on the left thumb, the fingers pointing upwards, Fig. 3.
This method of bringing a card to the top, when combined with the one-hand top palm in handing the pack out to be shuffled, is one of the best methods of controlling a chosen card yet devised.
THE FINGER PALM PASS IMPROVED
This pass, although fairly well known to expert card men, has never, to our knowledge, appeared in print. With the modifications now made in it, revealed here for the first time, the pass becomes a very valuable one. The misdirection is perfect and the execution easy.
1. Hold the pack in the left hand as for dealing, the little finger holding a break at the point at which the pass is to be made.
2. Bring the right hand over the deck and grasp it between the right