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[Grakelin]

Hey guys. I'm going to try out WoD LARPing on Saturday, and was thinking of going with a Snakeoil Salesman-type character concept, so I'm trying to learn some card tricks to make the character more believable. I've already learned a few I'm willing to share, if any of you feel like hearing. Let's trade!

[Neonivek]

Hey guys. I'm going to try out WoD LARPing on Saturday, and was thinking of going with a Snakeoil Salesman-type character concept, so I'm trying to learn some card tricks to make the character more believable. I've already learned a few I'm willing to share, if any of you feel like hearing. Let's trade!

A lot of it is simply statistics (and wow it works) but the good ones take a LOT of practice!

Anyhow try to get your hands on Flash Paper...

[Peewee]

You've only got 2 days to learn some card tricks?

Stick to the 'for beginners' books and you might do OK. It takes several hours of practice to perform a card trick well, and days of practice to do it perfectly.

[ILikePie]

I love card tricks. Learn some tricks from youtube, when you get good, learn sleights, and finally, make your own tricks. My favorite has to be "Jumping Gemini", look it up, there are tons of videos all over.

[Grakelin]

I love the guy who came in and gave me advice on what to do, but didn't actually contribute.

This isn't in the Life Advice Forum. Share your favourite magic tricks. I will give you mine.

The trick is a mind reading game. You tear up some paper into six pieces. You will ask the subject three questions (or more, if you really want to). The first two can be anything, from favourite movie to favourite food to favourite number. The last question needs to be your special geometric Socratic Plato question, in order to lock in the special ESP mindwaves. In order to keep everybody honest, you will write down what they are thinking about on one piece of paper and crumple it up, and then they will tell you what it was, and you will write it down on the NEXT piece of paper. At the end, the person will be able to unfold the pieces of paper, and if you were right, the answer will be on two pieces of paper. You read their mind!


Here is the solution to this trick:

Spoiler: THE SOLUTION (click to show/hide)

Your final question, the important ESP one (drama it up a bit, because it needs to be okay for you to be wrong on this one), is the one you write the answer to first, when you are asking the first question. Try to make it as narrowly defined as possible (50/50 is best, tricking them into a question with only one answer is even better. I usually go "Pick either the number 500 or 1000", since if they pick a number in between, instead, I can make the wrongness look like it was their fault). Then, just write down the answer to the question on the paper when they do it. If you guessed right, you will get 100%. If not, just handwave it: At least you got the rest of them right!

[Peewee]

I'll be filling this post with my favorite tricks.

No slights involved (tutorial):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLjEulT6ssM

Try to figure out how these are done WITHOUT any tutorials.

This one doesn't require too much slight-of-hand:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KrdBUFeFtY

Here's a harder trick:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr0AAXkYass

[ILikePie]

I love the guy who came in and gave me advice on what to do, but didn't actually contribute.

Well if you put it that way...

Put this one together a while ago. It involves pulling the card out of the deck at random, at least it looks that way. Have the spectator pick a card, and place it on top. Using some clever cuts, move the card to the bottom, and begin shuffling, but keep the card on the bottom at all times. I like to use some false cuts and faro shuffle. Now, it looks like the card is in the deck somewhere, but really, it's on the bottom. The next step is pick four cards at random. Hold the whole deck horizontally, and start bouncing it on the table until the cards break apart a bit, pull four cards at random from the deck, one of which is the bottom card, which is also the chosen card.
At this point you should be holding four cards, the bottom one being the spectator's card. You could just flash the bottom card and call it a day, but that'd be boring and obvious. What you do is give an elmsley count, bringing the card to the second position. From here start showing your cards one at a time, leaving the chosen card for last. And finally, reveal the card and show the world you're awesome.

[Peewee]

I love the guy who came in and gave me advice on what to do, but didn't actually contribute.

Well if you put it that way...

I think he was talking to me... You mentioned a trick, I didn't until shortly after his post.

[Cecilff2]

I remember learning this one like 10 years back. Bank Robbers
It's not very difficult either.

[Jreengus]

I know one very simple trick to make a coin disappear. Take the coin in question and claim you can make it disappear by rubbing it into your arm. Roll up your sleeves and make a fist with your left hand holding it straight up so that the palm faces outward. Take the coin with your right hand and begin rubbing it into your left arm. "Accidentally" drop the coin and pick it up with your left hand, fake passing it to your right hand instead concealing it in your left fist. Continue rubbing for a few seconds before revealing that the coin has gone.

This only really works once since it's kind of obvious if you always drop the coin, it's also more convincing if you're kind of clumsy as people will just dismiss you dropping the coin as an accident.

[Astramancer]

If you can get someone to conspire with you, you can both trick other people by using pre-arranged 'random' things.

For example, get two decks of identical cards (same backs and everything).  Your 'totally random stranger in the crowd' friend picks a card "at random" from the deck (using a "it's on the bottom but it doesn't look like I grabbed it from the bottom" trick is good here) and shows it to the crowd.  You then get other crowd members to cut the deck between shuffles.

When you perform your voodoo to get the chosen card, you are not pulling out a card from the deck, but rather an identical copy of the pre-arranged "random" card.  Having a plant can make for some rather impressive magic tricks.

You can go even simpler and just do "mind reading," either with cards or other things.  Pick a "random" stranger, have him write down a "random" number.  And you guessed it!  Amazing! 

Sadly, my brother and I tricked my sister with this, she didn't catch on until we told her -- she was too busy looking for hand signals and totally failed to consider that my brother would say "Wow! You got it!" regardless of what I said he was thinking.

[FallacyofUrist]

Now, I know this thread is a bit old(putting it lightly), but I'm fairly sure you're supposed to bump an old thread that has the subject you want rather than creating a new one, if such an old thread already exists, so...

Anyways. I'm taking on card tricks as a hobby, it's gone pretty well so far, and I'd like some advice for general skills and specific tricks for a beginner to learn.

[Natuph]

There are a lot of useful tutorials on youtube especially regarding the simple tricks for beginners. You can start with How to Float and Spin a Playing Card in Midair, good luck)

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I can't believe you've revived a seven year old thread. And the only person who posted then and is still around is friggin Neon Pathos!

[misko27]

Damn Neo, a forum legend.