Wagers of Sin by Max Maven

[Marty Jacobs]

I'm planning on performing this devilishly delightful routine by Max Maven (RIP) in a parlour show based on the Essex witch trials. I've written up my thoughts on the routine, including a way for your participant to win back their soul. I've also discovered a way to enable a spectator to name the number of cards dealt from the deck to use in the game (thanks to Martin Gardner and Mel Stover).

You can access the article by answering a simple question about Max (I'm doing this to stop the idly curious from learning the secret of the trick):

Thoughts on Wagers of Sin by Max Maven

I've also written a short article on "The Devil's Bedpost", given that this card is crucial to the presentation that accompanies this classic card trick:

The Devil's Bedpost

I have limited opportunities to perform this, so I thought I'd share it with others who might want to perform it using these additional ideas.

Marty

[Bob Farmer]

Having never watched that show, I have no idea what the password is.

[Q. Kumber]

Having never watched that show, I have no idea what the password is.

I've never even heard of it. I suspect I'd need a degree in technology-enhanced learning.

[Richard Kaufman]

One could easily use Google to find the answer.

[Bill Mullins]

IMDB.com is your friend

[Philippe Billot]

In cartomancy:

Unlike the five of clubs, the four of clubs is an inauspicious card in cartomancy. It describes a threat which can materialize in health problems or even an unforeseen event with negative consequences.

2-7-2-8-9-1-0-1-0-1

[PressureFan]

In a four post bed.

[Philippe Billot]

In a four post bed = dans un lit à baldaquin (in french)

It's too esoteric for me!!!

[PressureFan]

In the Revelations videos, Dai Vernon said that the four of clubs looks like a four-post bed. That's an image that really sticks with me.

[Philippe Billot]

Oh! I see...

[Philippe Billot]

Clubs look like fleur-de-lis that adorned the four post bed of the Kings of France

[Marty Jacobs]

Ha, I didn't think the password was too tricky. Sorry about that. You can find it on Max's Wikipedia page. If you still struggle to access the page, message me here, and I'll send you the direct link.

I didn't link to it directly because this is one of Max's finest tricks, and I didn't want to expose the method to non-magicians accidentally. Hence the password and exclusion from Google indexing.

I couldn't find the exact origin of the term "The Devil's Bedpost". It might have started with Italian, Spanish or French Sailors (or the English Navy). Who knows. I suspect this is one of those things lost to time. I couldn't find any reference to it beyond 1836.

Marty

P.S. I don't even have a degree in technology-enhanced learning!

[Tarotist]

Just as a matter of interest and not that this has anything to do with the trick but the meaning of the four of clubs to me personally is "creating system and order out of chaos". I don't necessarily use historical meanings in a reading although there is a touch of numerology inherent in my interpretation.

[Philippe Billot]

It's not difficult to find the password if you considere the other name of Maven.

[Marty Jacobs]

That's precisely why I didn't pick the obvious question. Plus, Max Maven is his "real name", and I thought Max would appreciate a more obscure fact. It's a great episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I saw it when it first aired, and this was also the first time I saw Max Maven on TV. I had no idea he was a real performer!

Marty

[Marty Jacobs]

Just as a matter of interest and not that this has anything to do with the trick but the meaning of the four of clubs to me personally is "creating system and order out of chaos". I don't necessarily use historical meanings in a reading although there is a touch of numerology inherent in my interpretation.

That's interesting, Mark. In traditional cartomancy, the Four of Clubs is closely associated with misfortune or preparing to overcome unexpected circumstances. But I like the idea of it signifying order out of chaos.

[Tarotist]

Just as a matter of interest and not that this has anything to do with the trick but the meaning of the four of clubs to me personally is "creating system and order out of chaos". I don't necessarily use historical meanings in a reading although there is a touch of numerology inherent in my interpretation.

That's interesting, Mark. In traditional cartomancy, the Four of Clubs is closely associated with misfortune or preparing to overcome unexpected circumstances. But I like the idea of it signifying order out of chaos.

Again this is nothing to do with the trick in question and hopefully not to go too much off topic but I feel a card can mean anything you want it to mean. There really are no rules in cartomancy. The cards and the meanings thereof are merely an assist to the practitioner's heightened intuition.
I feel it is my duty to plant seeds in a reading and with regard to that I prefer to plant positive seeds rather than negative ones.

[Philippe Billot]

2-7-2-8-9-1-0-1-0-1 are the coordinates to be read backwards to get the first description of this Max Maven trick.

The magazine is LR

[Marty Jacobs]

Again this is nothing to do with the trick in question and hopefully not to go too much off topic but I feel a card can mean anything you want it to mean. There really are no rules in cartomancy. The cards and the meanings thereof are merely an assist to the practitioner's heightened intuition.
I feel it is my duty to plant seeds in a reading and with regard to that I prefer to plant positive seeds rather than negative ones.

I completely agree about the importance of avoiding negative suggestions. One issue I had with Max's trick was the ending, which strongly suggested that the participant's soul was now owned by the performer. While this was done in a humorous way, I found that it made some people feel uneasy, especially if the situation was left unresolved. Most traditional tales of card players and the Devil end with the Devil being outsmarted in some way. That's why I prefer to offer a more positive resolution by allowing the participant to beat the curse of the Four of Clubs and win back their soul. It makes for a much more satisfying and uplifting ending to the routine.

In my experience, many people have real faith in fortune telling and cartomancy, regardless of whether you tell them that it's just for the purposes of entertainment. Furthermore, a reading can have a strong placebo effect on the person receiving it, as I'm sure you're aware. Like you, I would prefer for any lasting effects to be positive rather than negative!

[Tarotist]

I don't know anything about the trick but if that is the ending I agree with you. People take these things seriously especially if you are performing in a serious manner. Readings do have to have a positive vibe about them.

Incidentally serious professional psychics tend to bristle if you use the expression "fortune telling" with them. Try it the next time you meet one and see what happens!

[DennisLisi]

I have a similar card-counting force that I use in a trick whose name I forget. All you need to do is memorise where you put the force card--top of deck, seventh from the top, etc.

Ask the volunteer to cut the pack, making two piles--one for each of you. Note which half contains the force card.

Tell him or her to remove any number of cards from one packet and place it on the other. If he or she wishes, more cards may be moved in either direction (from one pile to the other).

Just mentally calculate where the force card is, by adding and/or subtracting.

If you put it on top--and they take ten cards from that stack and remove them to the other, then it's ten down. Then if they want to move three cards from that pile and put them back on the original pile, the force card is seven from the top of the other pile.

Now "To be fair", you exercise your right to do likewise. You can secretly put the force card anywhere you want it, by removing seven cards from the force pile and putting them on the other (thus returning it to the top), or take thirteen, to place it six deep.

As for the poetry, it's quite awful. I suggest doing a better job, or eliminate it entirely. The quality of your presentation depends on the artistry of every detail. Your incantation should be as well conceived as your patter.

[Marty Jacobs]

Dennis, I wasn't asking for feedback on my poetry. Max Maven wrote the original poem. I've modified it slightly to involve two force cards. If it was good enough for Max, then it is good enough for me.

Your suggestion for an alternative forcing procedure is more helpful. I like the idea and might play around with it. Thanks.

Marty

[DennisLisi]

No real offence intended. I'm just fussy that all

I'm straining to remember exactly how my routine goes. I think I instructed the volunteer to move no more than twenty-some cards altogether, as there are roughly twenty-six in each packet. Makes sense.

I believe the ruse is that the force card will appear at the total number of cards moved by the volunteer (if he or she moved twelve
cards, it will be twelve down), but that's simply an attempt to make it a seem logical.

This requires a bit of mental mathematics, but it's not rocket science, as they say.

[Marty Jacobs]

And no offence taken. I believe pretty firmly that we should only give advice/critiques when asked to do so. I happen to agree that the poetry could be better. I'm working on a presentation which is delivered entirely through rhyming prose. This post doesn't include my actual performance script, which I'm still working on.

I think the two-pile ruse is a good idea that could work for this situation.

One issue with this routine is that it doesn't feel much like a game despite being meant to. To address this, I plan to include a gambling demonstration where the participant loses some money to me. Afterwards, I will perform "Wagers of Sin", allowing them to win their cash back. I hope this will make the experience more engaging and enjoyable for them.

[DennisLisi]

Well with the two-pile system, the "wager" could be the volunteer's choice. Which stack does he think his card is in? Of course you can force the outcome of that with one of Max's favourite concepts--equivocation.

You could easily incorporate your second force card into this bit. Same set up really.
You just need to remember that the order of the two force cards is reversed when the volunteer removes them from one pile to another. You can restore your original order by simply doing your part in the "competition".

I would write a couple of verses that suggested that if the volunteer is successful, he owes his soul to a devil or demon, but that if he can draw an Ace (or whatever), it will be the "key" to liberate him from servitude.

[DennisLisi]

Actually I'm not sure how the patter goes. If the volunteer is unsuccessful, or "loses" he could owe his soul. But I prefer the idea that you are offering a way of cheating, and that if it works, he owes you.

Either way would make a good routine.

[Marty Jacobs]

Yeah, the narrative isn't clear in my write-up. My blog is really a public notebook of what I'm working on at the moment so I don't forget things!

I want the participant to lose their soul but be given an opportunity to win it back. The game involves finding the Four of Clubs, which results in the player losing their soul. However, they are given a slim chance to win it back by finding another card such as an Ace, Jack or Queen (whichever works best with the script/poem). To ensure that the player has a way to reclaim their soul, I plan to include some fine print in the contract that the participant signs.

This story is similar to " A Game of Life and Death" by David Parr (this is why I mention it in the article). In this trick, your spectator cuts to a red Queen, narrowly missing the "death card" (Ace of Spades).

[DennisLisi]

Having little else to do, I wrote a little ditty that conforms to Max's format at least (eight syllable lines, two couplets)--

Or if thou woudst redeem thy soul
But pay me back, this modest toll;
Draw, by means of God’s good grace
The key to Heaven’s gate--an Ace

[Marty Jacobs]

Having little else to do, I wrote a little ditty that conforms to Max's format at least (eight syllable lines, two couplets)--

Or if thou woudst redeem thy soul
But pay me back, this modest toll;
Draw, by means of God’s good grace
The key to Heaven’s gate--an Ace

Thanks, Dennis. I like this a lot.

Marty