The Four-Ace Trick
Effect: You’ll magically locate all four Aces in a deck of cards.
Materials Needed:
- A standard deck of playing cards.
Instructions:
- Before you begin, remove the four Aces from the deck and set them aside.
- Explain to your audience that you’re going to magically locate all four Aces in the deck.
- Shuffle the remaining deck to mix the cards well.
- Spread the deck face down in front of your audience, and ask a volunteer to select any card. Instruct them to remember the card but not to show it to you.
- While your volunteer is looking at their selected card, discreetly glance at the bottom card of the deck. Remember this card.
- Have your volunteer place their card back into the deck at any location they choose.
- Now, you’ll perform a false shuffle. You can use a simple overhand shuffle that keeps the bottom card (the one you remembered) in place. This creates the illusion that you’re shuffling the deck, but the selected card remains in the same position.
- After the false shuffle, tell your audience that you’re going to find the first Ace. Hold the deck in your hand and make a magical gesture or say a few magical words. Then, dramatically reveal the top card of the deck. With any luck, it will be one of the Aces! Act surprised and pleased.
- Repeat this process to find the other three Aces. After each magical gesture, reveal a card from the top of the deck, and each time, it should be an Ace.
- Finish the trick by showing all four Aces that you’ve magically located.
This card trick is straightforward and relies on a bit of misdirection and audience management. Practice your presentation and patter to make it more entertaining, and you’ll have a fun and impressive card trick for beginners.