The Ruler
After
having read a booklet which included some ideas
using a carpenter's ruler by Daffen
Dundee, and realizing that playing cards
could be revealed with the ruler, the thought
evolved into this routine. This trick is part
of one of my acts and with the addition of some
other comedy impressions and gags, I can get
almost five minutes of fun.
EFFECT
A card is selected (say the 9 of Diamonds) and replaced. The performer tries to find it
but he fails. Saying that it might be better
to do some impressions, he takes out a carpenter's
ruler and does some. At the end, the ruler is
folded so that it forms the 9 of
Diamonds, the selected card!
REQUIREMENTS
You need a deck of cards and a carpenter's ruler.
These rulers are usually made of wood and consist
of twelve wooden pieces that have been hinged
together.
PERFORMANCE
Approach a spectator and force the 9
of Hearts. (The Riffle Force
is good here and is explained on page 24 in
Joking Around.) Have the card replaced
into the deck and have the deck shuffled.
Say that
you'll try to cut to the card. Do any one hand
cut and turn over the top (indifferent) card
of the deck (say the 4 of Clubs).
Wrong card. Repeat the action and name the second
indifferent card (say the King
of Hearts). Toss the deck away and say,
"Did I mention that I do impressions?"
Bring
out the ruler and shape it into the shower shown
in figure 1 (using all twelve pieces). Say, "I usually take a
cold shower every morning for twenty minutes.
Then I close the umbrella and go back to sleep!"
Fold
the ruler into the machine gun shown in figure
2 (the left hand holds two pieces of
the ruler). Say, "Here is my impression of
a left handed soldier saluting." Hold the
butt of the rifle in the right hand with the
barrel against the right shoulder as if you
were at attention. Make the standard soldier
salute with the left hand but at the right side
of the forehead with your left hand palm up.
Fold
the ruler into a shovel as in figure
3 (using all twelve pieces). Say, "A
shovel is usually used for sad occasions. Like
the undertaker who asked the man, 'Would you
prefer your beloved wife buried, cremated or
embalmed?' All three. Better to be safe!"
Ask the
spectator the name of the selected card. Fold
the ruler into the 9 of Diamonds
as in figure 4 (three pieces
are together in the 'diamond' shape) but keep
the edge of the ruler towards the spectators
so they cannot see the resulting figure. After
they have named the card, turn the ruler to
face the audience and show the 9
of Diamonds.
Notes
If during the one hand cuts you have the 9
of Diamonds on top, just do another cut
to being an indifferent card to the top.
Obviously
with the ruler you can only reveal Diamond cards.
Besides the 9 of Diamonds you can fold the ruler
into the 5 of Diamonds, the 2 of Diamonds and the 7
of Diamonds.
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