QUICK DEPARTURE

This uses similar techniques to achieve a slightly different end.

Ask someone to choose either the Red or Black Kings. Suppose the Red Kings are chosen. Place them face up onto the face-up Black Kings and place all four onto the face of the deck. Lift three Kings from the face with your right hand. Hold them in a Biddle Grip as your left hand flips the deck face down. Obtain a left pinky break under the top card in preparation for Marlo’s Atfus and unload one of the Kings.

Peel the top King face up onto the deck with your left thumb. Let it fall into a side-jogged position to the right. As you apparently slide it underneath the right-hand packet, leave it and the indifferent card below the thumb-break on top of the deck. This is done as the packet is moved to the left and the side-jogged King is dragged with it. Move everything to the left until it jams against your left thumb, which lies alongside the deck. Move your right hand away with two cards (RK-BK) as your left hand tables the deck face down. The audience thinks that you are still holding two Red Kings. In reality, one of the Red Kings is face up under the top card of the deck and you’re holding a Red and Black King.

Flip the Kings face down, slide out the bottom King, turn it face up, and place it on top of the other King. Say, "I’ll place the Kings back-to-back. …" Table the Kings as a squared unit. Pick up the deck and perform a Fingertip or Pressure Fan, but do not expose the face-up King second from the top. Say, "I could have you select a card in this manner …" Close the fan and flip the deck face up and add, "… but I want to see the card you select!"

Obtain a left pinky break above the two bottom cards. Use a Buckle or Pull-Down, then transfer the break to your right thumb at the back end as you grasp the deck in a Biddle Grip. Swing Cut about ten cards into your left hand, then begin peeling cards one at a time as you say, "When you see a card you like, just say `stop.’ " Suppose you’re stopped on the Ten of Hearts (10H) and it’s now the face card of the left-hand portion. Ask, "Is the Ten of Hearts your favorite card?"

Regardless of the answer, push the 10H to the right with your left thumb. Use the right-hand section to flip it face down and into an outjogged position and perform the Ellis-James Unload Move as already explained. In a continuous action, turn your left hand palm down to expose the face of the protruding 10H and say, "Remember, the selected card is the Ten of Hearts!" Turn your left hand back palm up and thumb off the facedown card to the table. Place the right-hand cards onto the left-hand portion and square-up. Hold the deck face down in your left hand.

Pick up the tabled Kings and place them in spread condition onto the outer right corner of the deck and hold them in place with your left thumb. Pick up the supposed 10H with your right hand and insert it between the two Kings. Leave it outjogged for a moment, then side-square all three cards. Take all three into your right hand and place them onto the deck. Push the outjogged card flush as your right fingers pull up slightly. Lift the two top cards, holding them in Biddle Grip and say, "The Ten of Hearts goes between the two Red Kings ..

Turn your right hand palm up to flash the other side of the packet, thus flashing the other Red King. Table the deck face down with your left hand and place the King-packet into your left hand in preparation for a Marlo sell. Lift the top King at the back end with your right thumb and fingers. Grasp the end of the facedown King and slide it out and ask, "What’s the name of the card between the Kings?"

Pretend to glimpse it, then push it flush. Say, "Watch what happens when I reverse their order." Perform a Flexible Count as you count two cards as three. The audience sees a Red King, a facedown card, and a Red King. The Red King is shown twice, but the audience will focus on the facedown card. The discrepancy passes unnoticed.

Perform Elmsley’s Prayer Vanish to disclose two Red Kings. The Ten of Hearts has evaporated. Briefly: Place the two cards onto your flat left palm, then place your flat, right palm on top. Press them together and move them to Prayer Position and say, "I pray that this works!" Cup both hands to grasp their respective Kings, then move your hands apart and hold them palm down. Release the Kings and let them drop face up to the table. Turn your hands palm up to show them empty.

Say, "The Ten of Hearts has evaporated into nothingness. Gone without a trace! But you know where all cards go when they’re lost?" Ribbon-spread the deck to reveal the 10H face up in the center and add, "They go home!"

The original Elmsley effect was published in Come A Little Close. It has been given treatments by Edward Marlo, Sam Schwartz, Paul Harris, and others.

INTO THIS WORLD

This Marlo routine is a subtle opener for Out Of This World. His combination suggests how to apply the idea of synergy. It begins with two or three locations, which are puzzles primarily designed by and for magicians. In this instance, it’s an atmospheric prelude to apparently discover "psychic affinities." Its secret strategy is to subliminally convince the audience that the cards are thoroughly mixed. More important, a spectator, not the magician, mixes the cards. This is decidedly different from false shuffling and provides a relaxed state of mind for the subsequent presentation of Out Of This World or Juan Tamariz’s Blown Away.

Preset the deck into Reds and Blacks (Divided Deck). Say, "I’m looking for someone mentally compatible. Someone with the right affinity." Position the deck for an Overhand Shuffle and perform the Ireland Red-Black Shuffle by casually shuffling off small blocks until you reach midpoint, then run cards about six cards, one at a time, then shuffle off to the end. This retains the Red-Black separation. Suppose the colors are from the top: Red-Black.

Table the deck and cut it into three equal packets by cutting from left to right. Leave the lower third at the left, leave the middle section to its right, then place the top third further to the right. For the purpose of this explanation, mentally number the packets from left to right 1-2-3. Packet 1 consists of Black cards. Packet 2 consists of Red-Black cards (a mini-Divided Deck). The Red section is at the top. Packet 3 consists of Red cards. Hand Packet 1 to a spectator on your left and say, "You look like a perfect candidate. Please shuffle this cards, then note and remember the bottom card." Point to the top of Packet 2 on the table and add, "Place your packet on top of this packet." Hand Packet 3 to the spectator on your right and say, "You look like a winner." Repeat the instructions and have him replace his packet onto the tabled portion. So far, the procedure looks fair.

Pick up the deck and glimpse the bottom card. Suppose it’s the QS. Have one of the spectators perform several straight cuts. Take back the deck and spread the cards with the faces toward yourself. Quickly locate the QH and cut it to the face (bottom). The deck is now divided into four Color groups. Their order from the face is Black-Red-Black-Red. Ignore the first Black-Red group.

The first Black card of the third Group is the first spectator’s selection and the first card of the next Red group is the second spectator’s selection. Separate the spread at the first selection, leaving it at the face of the left-hand portion. Turn your left hand palm down and thumb off the selection face down to the table. Turn your left hand palm up and feed the left-hand Black cards onto the face of the right-hand section. In other words, Black goes onto Black.

Stop when you reach the second (Red) selection. Separate the spread at this point and thumb off the second selection face down. When your left hand turns palm up, replace its Red cards under the right-hand cards. The deck is now restored to its divided, Red-Black condition. Reveal the selections and say, "Yes! You guys are great subjects."

Repeat the process if you wish, saying: "Some skeptics say it’s a trick! Others say its dumb luck. Let’s try it again." This time make the three packets by dribbling cards in accordance to the spectator’s wishes. Hold the deck in a right-hand Biddle Grip and dribble or release cards from the bottom. Let them fall to the table and say, "When I do this, say stop." By this time, all the cards have been released. When you pick up the deck and start to dribble the cards, the first spectator will stop you before you reach midpoint. This ensures that only one color is in the first packet. Dribble some more cards, timing their release so that you pass the midpoint. The rest is obvious. Repeat the selection-shuffling process and then reveal the two selections to successfully end the second phase. Afterward the cards are still in a Divided Deck condition, yet you have subconsciously implanted an important impression: the deck is mixed. This is a passive, indirect way to inculcate the impression, but it’s absolutely convincing. As David Williamson says, "There’s a difference between belief and conviction." In this case, the spectator is convinced that the cards are mixed. You’re set to entertain with a version of Out Of This World or Blown Away.