self-working magic
does not depend on hidden moves
Baby Hummer by Charles Hudson
- put chosen as third, first card face up
- turn over two and cut as many times
- turn over both odd cards
- chosen is odd one out
Gemini Twins by Karl Fulves
- note the top and bottom card
- pick out their twins as predictions
- deal from the top, put bottom twin, put the rest
- deal from the top, put top twin, put the rest
- show the twin next to the predictions
Fitch Cheney’s Five Card Trick
- audience picks out five cards
- assistant arranged four cards face up and one card face down
- magician guess the face down card
- suit order: diamonds, clubs, hearts, and spades
- improvement: put the card with the same suit in a position that depends on the sum of public values
- variant: extend it to a deck of 124 cards (1-124), choose the r+1 card to hide where r = sum mod 5
- variant: using only 4 cards, see ChenCooper2009
- variant: audience decide the hidden cards, see ChenCooper2009
- details in
Cunning Card Trick
Lazy Man’s Card Trick by Harry Lorayne
- setup ace to k of spades from bottom to top, face down
- spectator pick a card put on top
- cut the deck, now ace to k is ontop of the chosen card
- cut a few more times until spade is on the bottom
- say n of spades, count n cards from the top to get to the chosen
21 card trick
- first question reduces from 21 -> 7
- second question reduces from 7 -> 2/3
- third question reduces from 3 -> 1
- fourth deal put it into the middle of the deck (11th card)
- also works with 27 cards since 3^3 = 27
source
- Self Working, Sleight Free, No Set up, FASDIU
- What is your favorite impromptu and self-working card trick?
- Mathematics, Magic and Mystery by Martin Gardner
- Magical mathematics by P Diaconis and R Graham
- Mathematical card magic: fifty-two new effects by C Mulcahy
- Card College Light/Lighter/Lightest by Roberto Giobbi
- 10 of the Best Self-Working Card Tricks in the World
- 10 More of the Best Self-Working Card Tricks in the World
- Self Working, Sleight Free, No Set up, FASDIU