Pirouette
Pirouette
is a ballet term that means "a whirling around
on one foot or the point of the toe." It has
nothing to do with the trick ... maybe ... but
I liked the name! Probably what made me think
of a Pirouette was the Paddle Move, the basic
move required for this routine. Many versions
of this Francis Carlisle move have been born
(a notable one being the Nick Trost variation)
but in this routine I make use of the Karl Fulves
variation, a nice move called the Turnabout.
Effect
Two cards
are selected and left on the table. The performer
shows four Jokers on both sides. Two of these
Jokers change the color of their backs and the
other two become duplicates of the two selected
cards!
Requirements
A deck
of cards, say blue backed. You also need two
red backed Jokers and a duplicate of two cards
with the blue backs (say the 10 of Clubs and
the 3 of Hearts).
Set-Up
Keep
the 10 of Clubs and the 3 of Hearts in the deck
in a position ready to be forced. I keep them
on top of the face down deck, either one on
top. The other four cards are in this order
from top to bottom: Face down 10 of Clubs, face
up Joker, face down 3 of Hearts and face up
Joker. (It doesn't matter whether the 10 of
Clubs or the 3 of Hearts is first; they can
be in any order.) These four cards are kept
as a separate packet.
Performance
Force
the 10 of Clubs and the 3 of Hearts from the
deck to two spectators and leave the two cards
face up on the table. (I am sure you have your
favorite method of forcing two cards, but I'll
give you a simple one at the end of the trick.)
Take
out the Joker packet and fan the cards showing
two face up Jokers interlaced with two face
down cards. Square the cards and keep them in
the left hand dealing position. You are now
going to perform the Karl Fulves' Turnabout
which is a great move to apparently show both
sides of a packet of cards while really, you
are showing the same side twice. Grip the packet
as in figure 1, right middle finger on top,
right forefinger below. Turn the packet over,
end for end, to the position shown in figure
2. As the packet turns, it also turns side for
side and the same side of the packet is upward
at the end of the turn. Fan the cards again
to apparently show the other side of the cards
(two more Jokers and two face down cards) and
then square the packet.
Ask a
spectator to point to two Jokers (the face down
Jokers or the ones face up). No matter which
are the Jokers pointed at, leave the two face
down cards on the table; i.e., if the spectator
points to the two face down cards you may say,
"O.K. we'll use these because the other two
Jokers are really strange." Turn them over and
show they have a red back.
If the
spectator points to the face up Jokers you may
say, "It's funny that you have chosen these
two because they are really strange." Turn them
over and show that their backs are red.
Pick
up the other two (supposed) Jokers and with
them, touch the two selected cards (face to
face) and then turn the Jokers over to show
the duplicates of the selected cards for the
finale.
Notes
Of course,
the choice of which Jokers to use at the end
of the routine is the Magician's Choice and
it is optional. You can proceed with the revelations
without having the spectator select which Jokers
to use.
A simple
force could be the following: Have one of the
two cards you want to force on top of the deck
and one on the bottom. Table the deck and have
a spectator cut the top half which is then tabled
face down next to the bottom half. This bottom
half is then taken and placed on top of the
other, but crosswise. Show the packet of Jokers
to lose a bit of time and then lift up the top
half showing the bottom card of this portion
and the top card of the tabled half. Easy and
effective (this is called the Criss Cross Force).
