“Bait”

instructional booklet
by P.K. Son
 http://2DeeMAGiC.com
This is a 2DeeMAGiC product.
Any illegal copying or reproduction of
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“Bait”
by P.K. Son

Introduction
First off, why is this trick called “bait”? Well, it was originally known as

“the stupidest trick in the world”, but that’s not the best name in the world,

now is it? Hence, “bait”. Umm.. and we come back to our original question,

‘WHY?’ Well, it is because it weeds out, or should I say, ‘kills’ the average

heckler by disarming them with ‘bait’. No, check that, it takes care of even

the toughest hecklers. And little do they know, they are their own bait.

Situations
Situation 1. Let’s say you’re having an exceptionally rough day of

performing for hecklers. They grab the cards out of your hand, they ask

you to show both your hands empty, they peek at cards prematurely, in

other words, they just tackle you to the ground and you are tired of it.

What do you do? Do you walk away? Do you punch them in the face?

Situation 2. Or, let’s just say you want to start off a routine a little bit
differently from others. But you know that if you don’t do the normal ‘pick

a card, and I’ll find it’ bit then they might think you’re not the magician

they thought you were. What do you do? Do you prove them wrong? Do you

do something they haven’t seen before?

Situation 3. You’ve been performing for the same crowd 4 hours straight

and you can’t remember any other card trick. No matter what you think of

you’ve already done it. What do you do? Do you do the same tricks over

again, hoping they forgot?

There could be more situations that this trick will help you out. But, I’ll

just skip all that and go into the actual effect.

Effect
The magician is tired. He claims that the spectator will do everything

this time. So indeed, the spectator shuffles the deck, picks a random card

(let’s say it’s the 2 of diamonds), shows it to everyone, and puts it back into

the deck. Nothing special yet, but it’s coming up. The spectator is asked to

look through the shuffled deck that the magician has never even touched

and pull out the selected card and leave it on the table. The magician makes

a couple of magical gestures and Voila! The selected card! The king of

spades! WHAT? That’s not your card? But I thought you left your own card

on the table yourself? But.. it’s the king.. your card wasn’t the king? Then

what was it? The 2 of diamonds? Interesting… Look, inside the deck
(magician turns deck over), is one card face down. And it just so happens to

be your 2. of. diamonds.

Method
OK, OK, the method is simple. So simple you might be relieved that this

particular booklet was free. But NEVER underestimate this trick. Actually,

I would go as far as to say that beginners might have a bit of trouble

coming up with a follow up trick. It’s so impossible to the spectator’s eyes

that if done properly this can even be used as a closer.

The method. A double lift and a simple cut.

Now, you will learn in detail how to do ALL these moves. (which means

just the double lift, cuz there’s only one move throughout the whole trick)

Plus, you will learn the more (much more) important presentational aspects

to this trick. And last, like I promised, how to use this trick to kill hecklers.

The Moves
First, the double lift. I’m sorry, but this trick does use a double lift. Even

though there are an infinite number of tricks out there that does not

utilize the double lift, there are as many number of tricks that DO. So, like

riding a bike, once you get the hang of it, you will always have this skill you

can count on. Now I am going to teach you the double lift method used for
this trick. I am sorry, but I don’t know the name of the double lift. I’m sure

there is a specific name for this double lift but, well… Anyways, for this

trick the double lift is a little different from what I would normally do.

And I’ll explain why in a moment. First, allow me to explain the double lift.

The Double Lift. A double lift is flipping (or showing) two cards

superimposed as one. So, what you’re basically doing is flipping the top two

cards as one.

I usually use the Strike Double, aka Instantaneous double. That will also

be taught, but first, the double lift best used on this trick.

As shown in the picture to the left,

you will need a break under the top card

(get the break by pushing off one card

and pulling back undercover of you

reaching for the card on the table) and

laying the selected card on top of the

indifferent card resulting in having a break under the two top cards.

Now you’re gonna pull the two cards

diagonally down as one. The cards should

be pushed a little forward. Which will

help you with the next move. Don’t

worry too much about the cards not

aligning perfectly. They’ll be aligned and

squared in the next move.

Now that the cards are turned over, and you have that little bit pushed
 forward, you are now ready for the

squaring action.

The index finger is in position for

pulling the two cards slightly down while

pushing them inward flush with the rest

of the deck. This will allow you to

maintain the break.

Now, keeping the break is not used in

the original handling of this trick. It

isn’t needed. But if you’re going to be

using the double lift in the future,

(which you will) please practice the

flipping part and the aligning part. Practice them until they look just like

how you would actually flip a single card. (or maybe the other way around,

from now on, flip singles like you would doubles)

For the sake of completion, here’s how I execute my doubles. The

Strike Double. Here, the get-ready (getting the break) is the only

different part. Usually getting a break beneath the top two cards is

accomplished by pulling up the top two cards using your thumb, or pushing

off two cards and pulling back while getting a break. The Strike Double is

also called the Instantaneous Double because there is no get-ready. But

you will have to practice this double a bit more than others. Because there

is a small knack-ish part in the move, you will require a little bit more

familiarity with the method.

 If you look at the picture to the left,

you will see the cards are beveled

slightly to the right with the left thumb.

This allows you to pull up the top two

cards easily. The rest of the lift is the

same as explained before. This double

lift is my favorite because it is impossible to tell whether I am lifting a

double or a single. Plus, it’s easy to lift triples this way also.

The turnover of the selection.

You are going to be leaving the single switched-out card on the table

while cutting the deck thus turning over the selection in the middle of the

deck. If you look at the picture to the

left, you will see that the indifferent

card is pulled off the top as a single,

while the selection is just left behind

face up on the deck. The face up card

will be hidden from view because you

are going to wristkill. You are going to turn your right wrist inwards. This

will hide the selection. You have pretty good misdirection because

everybody is going to want to check the new card out. Which is perfect

timing to do a swing cut with the face up deck. Thus leaving the selection

face down in the middle of the deck.

Presentation
No matter how much you practice the double lift, you’re not getting

anywhere without a solid presentation. For each of the situations

mentioned above, the presentation will vary, of course. But I’ll be discussing

only the first situation. The rest you can probably come up with.

Usually when you are being heckled you won’t have any freedom to do

anything. Smacking them on the head seems very attractive about now. This

is actually how I came across this trick. I’ve had my share of hecklers and

have usually come out triumphant. The problem is that sometimes there are

people who don’t allow you to do anything at all. And I don’t mean the normal

heckler who you can take care of with strong enough presentation, I mean

the heckler who suddenly takes the deck from your hands and shuffles (in

the middle of a trick!), sticks their finger in the deck when you ask them to

say stop, refuses to put the selected card in the deck if you are holding it,

has NO respect whatsoever.

For people like this, there is actually only one way they are going to be

satisfied. If they pick any card from the deck (which is in their hands) and
bury it anywhere THEY want, shuffle as much as they want, and THEN you

find their card. Now this can actually be accomplished. But that requires a

lot more stuff than shown here. Plus, if you actually DO a trick the way

they want, they still won’t be too satisfied. This trick is perfect for those

sticky heckler situations.

You are going to act slightly annoyed. (not too much, remember the

spectator is the single most important part in magic) You don’t even need

much patter here. You just look at them thoughtfully for a moment, and

sigh. They will be delighted that they ruined another magician. And then

you very casually retaliate. You give them the deck. “Could you shuffle

please?” Let everybody, anybody shuffle the deck to their heart’s content.

Let the main heckler choose one card. (“can I look at the cards?”, “sure,

just make sure you don’t forget your card”) Instruct him (we’ll just call him

Richard from now on) to show everyone the card and return the card into

the deck. Let Dick shuffle the cards. (See Dick shuffle. Shuffle, Dick,

shuffle.) Let Dick’s friends shuffle. Give the deck back to Dick. Tell him to

look through the deck and find his own card.

Dick and his friends will be a little surprised, but they will play along.

Now let Dick leave the card on the table. Take the deck back from Dick.

Place the selection near you. Now comes the best part.

You start convincing them everything is fair. They shuffled the deck,

they took a card at random. They shuffled again. And now you are going to

find their card! (leave out the part where Dick put his selection on the

table.) Reach for the selection. The gang of hecklers are not going to
believe what you are trying to pull off. (It’s just plain stupid! I knew it!

There’s no such thing as magic!) You totally ignore their reactions, and just

go on. “you selected one card, under impossible conditions, I have found

your card! The… (flip card and look at the face of double) king of spades!”

(try not to let the card stay on top of the deck face down for too long,

people sometimes think you’re changing the card at that moment, so make it

look very smooth)

Now step back. (keep the deck in your hands)

They will NOT believe you. (hold on to the deck, don’t lose or drop it)

You throw the single on the table while wristkilling. Act natural. (you

don’t want any heat on the deck) Act like you’re playing with the deck while

they are checking the changed selection. (you’re actually cutting the card

into the middle) You can play with the cards pretty freely. You can even

dribble the cards as long as it’s a tight dribble. The one face up card isn’t

going to show.

Now you finish. Innocently ask if the card they picked wasn’t the king of

spades, act bewildered, act like you don’t know about anything that’s going

on. Let the change of their selected single card sink in for just a bit and go

on. Ask them what their card was, the two of diamonds? Oh, ok, look, in the

deck, (you snap, pause) face up (or face down if you’re doing it the other

way and you want one more moment before the revelation), is the two of

diamonds.

Thank you, you’ve been a wonderful crowd. Enjoy the rest of the evening.

Walk away triumphant.

Last Notes
This trick might seem like too much for just a couple of moves, but that’s

where a lot of people have the wrong concept. Presentation is most

important in our art. Magic relies on misdirection, and presentation

provides that misdirection. Sleight of hand, skill is only 10% of a good trick.

The 90% presentation is what makes or breaks a trick.

I sometimes perform this trick just for fun. And it really blows a lot of

people away. Remember, a well executed sleight should not be ever seen as

a sleight.

This trick isn’t just for hecklers, I’ve performed this on-stage, and the

reactions were wonderful. I hope you give this trick the right presentation

and practice (if you can do the double lift well, then you won’t need much

more practice, just the turnover part) and get as much mileage out of this

simple, strong magic trick.

Have fun!!

P.K. Son

If you have any questions, please ask here : 2deemagic.pk@gmail.com