Copyright 2007 by Paul Gordon Blow The Roof Off Magician Fooler

Blow-The-Roof-Off Magician-Fooler
Paul Gordon
(With thanks to Mike Powers)
First published in Carbon Footprints

Do you want a startling magician-fooler?We ll,Im notus ual l

yi ntode vis
ingtricks
just to fool magicians (I usually gear my creations to fool and entertain laymen), but
this effect (according t ot heni celette
rsI vebe e n ge tt
ing)is very puzzling; very
magi cal.Itallstart
edwi t
hal ove lyMi kePowe rstricke ntit
led For t
yTwof r
om t he
November 2007 issue of The Linking Ring. In fact, it was Matt Field who initially
showed me the trick. Having seriously fooled the pants off a room-full of
knowledgeable magicians with my idea, I wrote to Mike Powers about it and he
kindly informed me that he very much liked my idea. Veryc ool,Pa ul !
were his
exact words. He gave me a little history behind the original concept, so therefore I
urge you to research a copy of his booklet, The PM Principle. So, bearing in mind the
basic concept is Mike Powers ,he rewego.Oh yes, Matt Field published my routine
in the April 2008 issue of The Magic Circular. Iperforme dt hi
sat4 Fs( Ne w York)i n
2008 and in the same year, I showed a bunch of magicians (including J. C. Wagner)
this effect in The Ruskin Hotel during The Blackpool Magicians convention. Their
response was both puzzled and nonplussed.

Now,he re
saphr as ethati ss ur etot ur ns omeofyouof fre adingf urther :Youne e da
stooge! Have I lost you? If so, you really are making a big mistake. Please at least try this
trick.

Prior to performing you need to, obviously, detail the concept to your stooge who
will be, I guess, another magician. So, from a shuffled 52-card deck you need to
control any two mates so that one is on bottom and one is 27th f
rom f
ace.I
lll
eavethe
methodology of that to you. I do itasI t
oywi ththede ck,ordur i
ngapr ecedi
ng
effect. (See footnote for my preferred method.)

Whilst in the presence of your stooge, invite someone else to assist you. As you do
this, let the stooge glimpse the bottom card of the deck (assume KC) which informs
him that his two key cards are the black Kings. (To let the stooge glimpse the card, I
simpl ys qua rethede ckont het abl
es ot hatt hef ac eoft hede ckistowa rdt he
spectators.)

Set the deck face down on the table and invite the non-stooge spectator to cut off
about a third of the deck. Ask him to shuffle this third and when done, peek and
remember the top card of this third. Ask him then to cut off about half the remainder
of the tabled two-thirds section and drop the cut-off portion onto his inhand third.
Finally, the remaining tabled third is to be picked up and dropped onto the inhand
two-thirds portion. (Just so you know, the first third is cut above the first key card and
the second cut is below t
hef i
rstkeyc ard;he nc et hea boutat hirdpat ter.)

1
 Copyright 2007 by Paul Gordon Blow The Roof Off Magician Fooler

As you recite the above instructions, reiterate the fairness of procedure and stress
that key cards are an impossibility etc., etc. For a magician audience, really ham it up!

Take the deck off the spectator and hand it to your stooge. (Dontlet him do any false
cutsorf alseshuf f
les.Ifthef ir
s tspe ct
at orde t
ectsthe m,the nthes toogeas pectwi l
l
be blown.) Ask the stooge to hold the deck face down and deal cards from the top
forming a face-up pile. Ask him, at any stage of the dealing, to deal any card face
down.St r essthewor d any.I fyouwi s
h,t alkaboutPaulCur r ysOpen Prediction
etc.
,e tc.(Ifyoudon tknow t hec onc eptofthe OP,f orgetaboutt hatpat t
erpi ece.)
But, here is what your stooge has to do:

When he commences dealing, he mentally counts the first card as 27. He then reverse
counts (counts backward); 26, 25, 24, 23 etc., etc until he sees his first key card; a
black King. Assume he sees it on the count of 15. He now continues dealing but
doe sntc ount .Howe ve r,when he sees the second key card (the other black King) he
starts counting (from and including this King) from one; 1, 2, 3, 4 etc., etc. When he
gets to 15, this is the card (the 15th card from the second key card) that he deals face
down. He then continue stode alt her e mai nderfaceupbutdoe sn tnee dt oc ount
anymor e.Thes tooge sjobi sdone .Thef ac e-down card is (thanks to the principle) the
firstspe c
t atorsc a r
d.( Makes ure,i npr actice,thatthes t
oogede alsf airlyrhyt hmi ca l
ly
so that his thinkingdoe snts how.But ,i
tmi ghtbeokayf orhi mt os tartands t
opt oa
certaine xt entbe causehec oul dbec hangi nghi smi nda ndhe sitating.Anyway,i t
s
up to you and the stooge ast ohow you playi
t.)

The rest is all build-up and presentation. Here show Ipat teri t
:Ca nIr e
iterateafew
things. Firstly, you [addressing spec 1] cut off a packet of cards, shuffled it and glimpsed a
card, which you then lost. True? You [addressing spec 2 the stooge] then dealt through
the cards and, as in Cur rysyet-properly-unsolved Open Prediction, left any one face down.
It really was as fair as that. True? True! Now, as the cards were dealt did you [addressing
spec 1] see your card? No? Well, [addressing spec 2] can you table-spread the deck very
slowly andr ev e
a lthec ardyo uf ree
lyleftfa
cedo wndur i
ngy ourd eal
?

Let the room explode with complete and utter surprise! Once again, kudos (and many
thanks) to Mike Powers. Thank you, Mike.

Fig. 1

2
 Copyright 2007 by Paul Gordon Blow The Roof Off Magician Fooler

Footnote: To set the two mates, try this: From a shuffled deck, spread the deck (face
up) and locate any two mates that reside together. There usually is such a scenario. If
not, under-spread (a la Hofzinser) cull one to position. Cut the deck bringing both
the mates to the top. Hold the deck face down and casually, as you toy with the deck,
push off five cards. Slip the top card (with left thumb) into 5th from top position.
Position check: One mate is on top followed by four X cards, then the next mate and
the rest of the deck. Perform a Straddle Faro (described earlier in the book) but lose
one card to centre (Fig. 1) using the fingers of the left hand to drag it out of the
interlaced sections. Repeat exactly.The n,doat hird regul
ar St raddl eFar oShuf fle
(no losing of a card), but ensure you cut off at least 18 or so cards to commence.
Doublecut the top card to the bottom and you are now set!

He r e
sa notherthoughtaboutt hede alingpr ocess.Whe nt hestoogeisdealing,s t
op
him when he (and you) see the first key card with this patter line: Youc a
nde ala card
face down anytime you like. Really, you can! But, beware Iha vetobeinbedbymi dnight!
Thi sisbot hfunnya ndgi vest hes toogeac ha ncetobr eathe !Onceyouveinterj
e cted
(wi tht heabovepat terl ine),he llknow hi ske y-number and can continue dealing
unt ilhes eesthes econdke y.Inot he rwor ds,youar eme rely br
eakingupt hewhol e
dealing procedure which is a relief to you, the audience and mostly the stooge!
When he continues to deal and sees his second key card (and starts the new count),
you are nearly home and dry!

As I say, try this effect (before a friend of your fools you with it) and all of the Carbon
Footprints concepts, ideas and routines.

Have fun!

Paul Gordon

This MS is copyright 2007 by Paul Gordon & Natzler Enterprises. All Rights Reserved
for both publication, recording, duplication, filming, explaining, teaching and so on. See
www.PaulGordon.net/shop.html for more magic by Paul Gordon