Pick a Card, Any Card... Trivia Quiz

Answer: He's appearing to make the cards "jump" from one hand to another.

"Springing" is not a card trick per se, but an attractive flourish. Card magicians will spring the cards because of the impressive look of the move, and because it can create an impression in the minds of the audience that the magician is able to make the cards do anything he likes.

Some magicians eschew flourishes like springing because they don't want to appear skilled or polished at all with the cards. The reasoning goes that onlookers will be much more surprised at the results created if the magician doesn't appear "slick" or polished in his motions.

Answer: Caused you to unknowingly select a card of the magician's own choosing.

A force is one of the requisite moves of the card magician. There are dozens of forces a magician could choose from, ranging from the very simple to the ridiculously complex. But, once a magician knows the card that a spectator has selected, he can reveal that card in any number of ways--limited only by his own creativity.

Answer: He hid your card inside the palm of his hand.

Palming is one of the most famous tricks of the card magician. Almost everyone has heard of card palming, and yet when done by a professional, it is nearly imperceptible even when one is looking for it. The magician in this instance might be preparing to "find" your card in your pocket, or in his pocket, or in your hair--or if he's creative, he might do something even more spectacular.

Answer: The signed card keeps rising to the top of the deck, despite being repeatedly placed in the middle.

The "ambitious card" is a famous routine, and has dozens of methods and variants. All of these routines, however, center upon a card that mezmerizingly jumps to the top of the deck, no matter how many times it is clearly placed elsewhere. It can be a baffling trick, and in the hands of a good performer, a most entertaining one.

Answer: Used the location of a known card in the deck to help find the location of another card.

A key card is an innocuous-looking card or group of cards used for measurement or location. In simple tricks, your card may be found right next to a key card, but to a magician with good mental faculties, it's an easy matter to find a card that is, say, seventeen cards below the key card. And who would think to look at a card seventeen cards away from the selection?

It's worth mentioning that you will almost never see a card magician willingly get any sort of gunk or stick-um on his cards. Very few things make good magic go bad as quickly as sticky fingers or sticky cards.

Answer: The card appeared to change into another card right as you were watching it.

The Erdnase change and Bertram change are two of the more famous color changes. The wonderful effect of these moves is that one card can change into another card in full view, right as you are watching. When they are skillfully done, the effect can be jaw-dropping.

Answer: Giving the appearance of shuffling and cutting the deck, without actually doing so.

A false shuffle, or false cut, is simply a mechanism of appearing to shuffle or cut the deck while actually retaining the original order of all or part of the deck. There are several ways to shuffle or cut the cards falsely.

Answer: Diverting the attention of the audience in order to perform a move.

Misdirection is typically a magician's best friend. Strictly speaking, a high percentage of card magic can be performed without any kind of diversion. That said, diverting the attention of the audience for a brief second can be valuable insurance for a magician, especially if he is performing a particularly difficult sleight or unusual move.

Misdirection can be accomplished in any number of ways. I myself have personally witnessed creative magicians use smoke, fire, sweeping movements, funny costumes, loud noises, attractive members of the opposite sex, animals, and--perhaps the most effective--humor. A good laugh can relax the gaze of even the most suspicious onlooker.

Answer: A marked deck.

There are several different kinds of trick or "gimmicked" decks, each of which can be used in varying situations. One of the more popular trick decks, a marked deck, has some sort of printing, ink, or mark on the backs of the cards, allowing someone in the know to read the cards instantly and inconspicuously. Another easy-to-use trick deck is a one-way deck. A one-way deck is any deck that is not symmetric--a card placed backwards into a non-symmetric deck is very easy to find. There are hundreds of other examples of trick or gimmicked decks, far too many to discuss here.

Trick decks are a mixed bag for a card magician. A magician that is overly dependent upon gimmicks simply needs more skill--an audience quickly catches onto, and won't appreciate, a continual switching of card decks.

On the other hand, the effects that a magician can achieve with a doctored deck far outstrip the effects that can be reached with a real deck of cards. Imagine, for example, if a "non-standard" card inserted into a deck could spontaneously combust--or were magnetic. Having possibilities such as these, while gimmicky, is often too crowd-pleasing for the magician to resist.

Answer: No

No, it's very uncommon for a magician to give away any secrets, even the smallest or most obvious clues. It's much more likely that he will skillfully change the subject--he might thank you for coming to the show, or make up an outlandish story to explain away his mistake, or even politely refuse to discuss his stage work.

The primary reason for this is obvious--giving away his secrets would damage his livelihood. Personal pride, though, is another reason that you won't get much out of a magician--someone who worked so hard on a skill has at least some degree of personal investment in the effect it has.

It's very gratifying to see your magic work, and it's humiliating when it doesn't. Being tight-lipped is partially just the magician's way of saving face.