Hooked on Cards by Peter Duffie

[Tom Frame]

Hooked on Cards (Ebook) by Peter Duffie $15.00
40 pages, 46 photographs, 1 illustration
Available at: http://www.peterduffie.com


I always get excited when I receive a product from the prolific Peter Duffie. His latest collection of card curios does not disappoint.

Mr. Duffie writes well and does a fine job of teaching the material. He dutifully provides appropriate attribution. The photographs are clear and helpful.


Card to Envelope: The performer places an envelope on the table, stating that it contains a prediction. A participant selects a card and signs its face. The performer picks up the envelope with his right hand. He takes the face-down selection from the participant and holds it in his left hand. He places the envelope in his left hand and drops it to the table. He is now holding the selection in his right hand.

The performer tears the selection into quarters, holds the torn pieces in a fan and displays their faces to the crowd. He removes a handkerchief from his pocket and covers the pieces with it. He whisks the handkerchief away, causing the pieces to vanish. He puts the handkerchief back in his pocket.

The performer picks up the envelope and opens the flap. A face-down card is seen inside. The performer removes the card and turns it face-up, revealing the signed selection. He places the face-up selection on top of the envelope and then he gives the selection and the envelope to the participant as souvenirs.


There is no presentational justification for the performer initially picking up the envelope, only to immediately replace it on the table. And I guess we have to hope that neither the participant nor the crowd notices that the selection magically changes hands. Yeah, right.

I don’t like it.


Lie to Me: A participant selects a card, say the Seven of Diamonds, which is then lost in the deck. The performer removes a medallion from his jacket pocket and hands it to the participant. He states that the medallion is a lie detector.

The performer asks the participant if her card was red or black. She can lie or tell the truth. He cuts the deck and then he turns the top card of the deck face-up onto the deck. It’s a red card. He turns the card face-down onto the deck, removes it and tables it face-down.

The performer asks the participant if her selection was a spot card or a court card. He cuts the deck and then he turns the top card of the deck face-up onto the deck. It’s a spot card. He turns the card face-down onto the deck, removes it and tables it face-down beside the first card.

The performer asks the participant for the suit of her card. He cuts the deck and then he turns the top card of the deck face-up onto the deck. It’s a Diamond. He turns the card face-down onto the deck, removes it and tables it face-down beside the other two cards.

The participant drops the medallion into the performer’s jacket pocket. She reaches into his pocket and removes her selected card. The performer removes the medallion from his pocket and waves it over the tabled cards. The participant turns the cards face-up and discovers that they have transformed into the other three Sevens.


I like it.


Clouseau for Workers: The performer removes the Ace through Ten of Diamonds from the deck. He arranges the cards in numerical order, displays them, squares them and tables the packet face-down.

A participant freely selects a card, which is lost in the deck. The performer picks up the Diamond packet and flips it face-up on top of the deck. He spreads the Diamonds and again emphasizes their numerical order. He closes the spread, removes the Diamond packet and disposes of the deck.

The participant freely names a number between one and ten, let’s say seven. The performer spreads the face-up Diamonds, turns the Seven face-down in position, closes the spread and turns the packet face-down.

The participant names her card. The performer spreads and counts the cards. The seventh card is face-up and it is the participant’s selection. The performer removes her selection and drops it onto the table. He removes the Seven of Diamonds from his pocket.


Here we have the author’s handling of Alex Elmsley’s classic “Diamond Cut Diamond” effect. This is a more direct version of “A Case for Clouseau” that originally appeared in Mr. Duffie’s Contemporary Card Magic.

I like it.


JackAces: The performer removes the black Jacks from the deck. He places them face-up on top of the deck, displays them and then tables them face-up, slightly spread.

The performer cuts the deck. He riffles the corner of the deck until the participant stops him. She notes her selection. Let’s say it’s an Ace. The performer loses it in the deck.

The performer picks up the face-up Jacks and drops them on top of the deck. He immediately spreads the Jacks, revealing a face-down card sandwiched between them. He turns over the sandwich, revealing the participant’s Ace. He tables the Ace face-up. He places the black Jacks face-down on top of the deck and cuts the deck.

The performer spreads the face-down deck. The two red Jacks are face-up in the spread, with three face-down cards between them. He removes these cards and tables them face-up. They are the other three Aces.


I like it.


Countless Turning: The performer displays the four Aces on the face of the deck. He squares them, removes them and gets rid of the deck. He displays the Aces again, squares them and turns the packet face-down.

The performer cuts the packet and pushes it through his fist. He spreads the cards to display that the Ace of Diamonds has turned face-up. He squares the packet.

The performer spreads the cards again to reveal that the Ace of Hearts is now the only face-up card. He transfers the top card to the bottom, leaving the Ace face-up on top of the packet. He turns the Ace face-down onto the packet.

The performer spreads the packet and reveals that the Ace of Clubs is now the only face-up card. He squares the packet.

The performer pulls the top card of the packet toward him, displaying the Ace of Clubs beneath it. He pushes the top card square with the deck and then pulls it back, revealing that the Ace of Spades is now face-up. He flips it face-down and drops the face-down cards onto the deck. The Aces are now face-down on top of the deck, ready for action.


In Roy Walton’s effect, “Unaccustomed as We Are”, he posed the problem of how to perform Dai Vernon’s “Twisting the Aces” without counting the cards. This handling is Mr. Duffie’s solution to that problem.

I like it.


Matter of Facts: The performer tables a face-down packet of four cards, calling it a lie detector. A participant freely selects a card and tables it face-down without looking at it. The performer places the lie detector packet on top of the selected card.

He picks up the packet and thumbs the top four cards into his right hand. He displays the face of the fifth card and the participant remembers it. He places the other four cards on top of the selection and tables the packet.

The performer asks the participant four questions about her card. She can lie or tell the truth. He asks her if her card is a spot card or a court card. He turns the top card of the packet face-up and tables it. It is a spot card.

He asks the participant if her card is red or black. He turns the next card face-up and tables it to the left of the first card, beginning a row. It is a red card.

He asks the participant to name the suit of her card. He turns the next card face-up and tables it to the left of the other two cards. It is a Diamond.

He asks the participant to name the value of her card. He turns the final card face-up and tables it on the left side of the row. It is a Seven. The participant turns her selection face-up and it is the Seven of Diamonds.


I like it.


Twister’s Bluff: The performer transfers a royal flush to the face of the deck. He removes the flush cards and puts the deck in his pocket.

The performer turns the packet face-down and transfers the top card to the bottom of the packet. He transfers the new top card to the bottom of the packet and the face-up Ten appears on top of the packet. He tables the Ten.

He pushes the packet through his left fist and the Jack appears face-up on top of the packet. He tables the Jack.

The performer counts the remaining three cards and the Queen appears face-up between the other two face-down cards. He tables the Queen.

He pushes the remaining two cards through his left fist and the King emerges face-up. He keeps his left hand closed in a fist.

The performer claps his hands together, causing the Ace to vanish. With an empty hand, he removes the Ace from his pocket.


This is Mr. Duffie’s sneaky version of Alex Elmsley’s “Twister’s Flush.”

I like it.


Return of the Seven: The performer riffles the deck until a participant stops him. He lifts off the upper portion of the deck and thumbs the top six cards of the lower section onto the table face-down. He reassembles the deck.

The performer riffles the deck again until the participant stops him. He lifts off the upper portion of the deck and the participant takes the top card of the lower portion. He disposes of the deck.

The performer picks up the six card packet as the participant looks at her selected card. He retrieves the selection from the participant and inserts it face-down into the center of the face-down packet.

The performer flips the top card face-up onto the packet. He fans the packet to reveal that the cards are face-up except for one lone face-down card. All of the face-up cards are black. The performer turns the face-down card face-up. It is the only red card and it is the participant’s selection.


I like it.


Homing Cards: Two participants freely select and sign cards which are lost in the deck. The performer removes the first participant’s card from his pocket. As a demonstrative gesture of what has occurred, the performer places the card back into his pocket and then removes it.

He fans the face-down deck and inserts the card face-down and out-jogged into the center of the fan. With an empty hand, he again removes the first participant’s card from his pocket. He raises the fan and reveals that the out-jogged card has transformed into the second participant’s selection.


This is the author’s modest variation of Francis Carlyle’s “Homing Card” that first appeared in The Stars of Magic.

I like it.


Little Sympathy: The performer introduces a face-down packet of eight cards. He cuts it several times and then hands it to a participant. She cuts the packet and deals the top card to the table, sight unseen.

The performer retrieves the packet and shuffles it. He mixes the cards face-up and face-down. He fans the packet and reveals that the cards are face-up except for one face-down card. The participant turns her tabled card face-up and sees that it is the Four of Hearts. The performer turns over the face-down card in the fan and it is the Four of Diamonds.

Here, Mr. Duffie offers his take on Alex Elmsley’s “It’s a Small World” that first appeared in The Gen.

I like it.


Blackstone in My Pocket (Chip Kleiman & Peter Duffie): The performer tables a deck of cards. He introduces 10 blank faced cards, each with a letter printed on each face. He spreads them on the table and they spell B-L-A-C-K-S-T-O-N-E. He picks up the cards and shuffles them. He tables the packet face-down in front of participant #1 and turns away.

She gives the packet a complete cut, removes the new top card of the packet and puts it in her pocket. The performer turns around.

Participant #2 shuffles the deck. She freely selects a card and signs it. The performer loses her card in the deck and tables the deck. He scoops up the letter cards and places them in his pocket.

Without asking any questions, the performer divines the letter selected by participant #1. She removes the card from her pocket and discovers that the performer is correct. Let’s say the letter is “K”.

The performer states that the letter will help to find the second participant’s card. Participant #2 takes the deck and recites the alphabet, while dealing one card for each letter. She stops dealing when she reaches the letter “K”. She turns the card face-up, card, but it’s not the selection. With an empty hand, the performer removes her card from his pocket.


I like it.


Warning! If you’re not already a depraved pasteboard junkie, this addictive collection of card magic from Peter Duffie may cause you to become Hooked on Cards.


Recommended

[Steve Hook]

Thanks for your typically thorough and well-written review, Tom.

[pduffie]

Hi Tom;

Thank you for your candid and in-depth review. It is much appreciated.

Best Wishes

Peter

[El Mystico]

The 'move' at the start of 'Card to envelope' sounds like the old lighter/microphone switch that mentalists have been using for years. It works.