Face Up, Face Down

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Face Up, Face Down

Here's an interesting trick that happens in the spectators hands. Begin with two duplicate cards, let's say two Four of Hearts. Before the trick begins, put one of the Fours face up in a face down deck near the bottom. Put the other Four of Hearts, face down, the ninth card down from the top of the face down deck.

Give the deck to a spectator and ask them to count to a table any number of cards between ten and twenty. Once done, ask them how many cards they dealt. Assume they said Fifteen. Ask them to add the two digits together. using Fifteen as an example... Five and One is Six. Now, ask them to sit aside the pack in their hand and take the stack of Fifteen off the table and deal Six cards off the top. Ask them to take the top card off the stack in their hand, memorize it, and put it back on top. Ask them to now gather all the cards into a single stack, face down, and cut the deck a time or two.

Have the spectator slowly turn the deck one half of a turn - from face down to face up. Ask them to turn it a half turn a second time, and then once more. They will now be holding a face up deck. Have the spectator lay the deck on the table and ribbon spread it. One card will be seen to be upside down. After the spectator names his card, you can flip this upside down card to reveal that it is the Four of Hearts.

When the spectator dealt down to the fifteenth card, he added the two digits together. Regardless of whether he dealt to the fifteenth card or any other card between eleven and ninteen, the sum of the two added together will take you back to the ninth card when you pick up the stack of fifteen and count backwards. In our example, one plus five was six. Count off six cards and you will be back to the Four of Hearts you placed at the ninth position before the trick began. If the spectator had selected the thirteenth card - three plus one is four - and deal off four of the thirteen cards and you are again back to the ninth card... the four of hearts. When all the cards are put together right before the ribbon spread, the other four of hearts, the one upside down in the deck, is near the bottom. After a cut or two, the other four of hearts will be the only upside down card when the deck is spread. The spectator will be unable to figure how their card became upside down, as they put it in the deck themselves. As soon as possible after the spectator removes the face down card from the ribbon spread, pick up the face up cards to prevent them from seeing the 'other' four of hearts...

   

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