Take Off
What you will find here
in Take Off has its
origins in a trick by Roy Walton
written in his booklet CARDBOARD
CHARADES. I have changed the handling
a little bit here and there, adding some subtleties.
It is an almost impromptu routine requiring
only a very small set up and offers a heavy
impact on the audience. Try to study the routine
with the props in your hands so that you may
appreciate fully the power of each effect.
EFFECT
A selected card is placed into an envelope between
two Jacks. The card vanishes and reappears face
up in the middle of the deck!
REQUIREMENTS
A deck of cards and a manila envelope (slightly
bigger than a playing card) with a hole in the
middle approximately one inch in diameter. Cut
off the envelope flap.
PERFORMANCE
Openly remove the two black Jacks from the deck
and at the same time secretly place the J
and the Q on top of the face down deck (the J is on the top followed by the Q.) Keep the deck face down in the left hand. Place
the two black Jacks face up onto the deck. Square
them and, at the same time, add the first face
down card below the (J). The three cards are held from above in the right
hand (Biddle Grip). The left thumb peels off
the top Jack onto the top of the deck. Using
the right hand cards, flip the Jack face down.
Immediately drop the right hand cards on top,
then flip the second black Jack face down on
top.
Reverse the order of the
top two cards and take them with the right hand,
thumb on top and fingers below at the upper
right corner and show them face to the audience
as in Figure 1. The index of the J is hidden by the fingers so everything looks fair.
Do it casually, without drawing too much attention
to this subtlety. Place the two cards face down
onto the table.
Do a False Cut and then
Double Turnover the top two cards as one face
up onto the deck, showing the Q.
Repeat the Double Turnover bringing the two
cards face down, take the top card with the
right hand and place it onto the table.
With the Braue Reversal,
turn the top card face up into the deck. (At
the end of the Braue Reversal, the left hand
places its half below the right hand cards so
that you have a card reversed in the middle
of the deck). Turn the deck face down and keep
it into the left hand dealing position.
While holding the deck
in the left hand, insert the black Jack (say,
the J
) into the
envelope. You can show it on both sides as the
center pattern of the face card will be taken
for the Q. Place
the envelope (opening toward you) onto the deck,
card face down. The right hand picks up the
J and, without
showing it, places it below the envelope. Place
the J face down
on top of the envelope. The right hand from
above squares the cards onto the deck and secretly
leaves the bottom card (J) on top of the deck. The right hand moves to the
right with the envelope and the top card, while
the left hand places the deck aside onto the
table.
Perform the Eye Count
by Victor as follows: Grip the card and the
envelope in the left hand, thumb on top and
fingers below (same grip as for the Elmsley
Count). The right thumb peels off the top card
into the right hand. On taking the envelope
into the right hand, the right hand card is
retaken into the left hand and the envelope
drops into the right hand (apparently above
the first card). The right thumb then takes
the card from the left hand onto the envelope.
You have apparently shown two cards and an envelope
sandwiched between them.
The right hand turns the
J face up on top
of the envelope. Apparently the J is taken from below the envelope, but what really
happens is that the right forefinger slides
the card out from inside the envelope backwards
by contacting the card through the hole in the
envelope (Figure 2). Remove the card and show
it, then place it face down beneath the envelope.
(You now have an empty envelope sandwiched between
two cards.) The right hand then moves the top
card away and you point out the back of the
card that shows though the hole. (It is apparently
the card inside the envelope but it is really
the bottom card which is below the envelope.
The illusion is perfect). Replace the J on top.
Magic gesture! Spread
the cards and the envelope showing that the
envelope is empty. Spread the deck face down
and the Q will appear face up on the middle!
Figure
1 |
Figure
2 |
