T

he revelation of a card face upwards in a face-down deck is a favorite feat with the card conjurer, and a few of these tricks have already been explained. A card reversed in the pack is also used as a secret artifice which makes possible many puzzling feats. There is one cardinal condition that applies to all the tricks in which a card is reversed in the pack - the fact that the principle must never be used with cards having an overall back pattern. The reason is obvious, for with such decks the slightest spreading of the cards reveals part of the white face of the reversed card.

Cards with a white margin on the back allow for a spread of about three-sixteenths of an inch between cards without exposing any part of the back patterns. In fact, with a card face upwards in the deck, the cards can be spread in a fairly large fan without any risk of exposure.

We have already discussed methods of reversing a chosen card under the double lift (see page 143). Before explaining the best feats in which reversed cards play the leading role, other ways of secretly reversing a card or cards at the top or bottom of the deck must be considered.

FIRST METHOD

One of the best and easiest ways of reversing a single card, either at the top or the bottom of the deck, is this:

1. Hold the deck in the left hand, turn half left, and at the same time let the left hand drop to the side.

2. Push off the top card with the left thumb so that its side strikes against the side of your leg (Fig. 97). Move the hand

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