Magic

Prologue: Even though it is a story yet it contains tips and tricks of magic throughout. Once you learn the tricks they will seem very simple to you but trust me that it isn't so. The best part about the mentioned tricks is that one requires limited or simply no preparation to do them. All that you may need are a complete deck of cards, some coins and a handkerchief. If you get bored in between then just skip to the last lines. Enjoy!


I was wandering around a fancy mall. Malls are a great place to find some educated,
dumb and bored crowds (which are the ones who are ideal for magic). I spotted a group of elder boys who were probably shopping for a friend or dining out. Great so here is what happened:

"Do you by any chance have a few minutes to spare?", I began. They were startled, it is not everyday that a 14 year old asks you this question. "Yeah....sure", said one of the kind hearted one. "O.K.", I replied.

Youngsters....they always enjoy this trick. I placed the 'four of hearts' from the card deck and began:"There was once a hotel with four rooms. One fine day, four Kings returned from hunting and took a room each." With that I placed four Kings separately on the four corners of the card. "Then some Queens arrived too, and began to stay with the kings." Now I placed the 4 queens on top of each king so that every king had a queen lying on top of him. "But the father of the Queens was not happy with this arrangement. So he ordered his trusted ministers to find the couples and to bring them back." I placed the four Jacks on top of each of the pair. So now there are four sets with the Kings in the bottom and the Queens in the middle and the Jacks on the top. "The groups took a taxi each", I said and distributed four Aces on top of each of the sets. Then I collected all the cards and formed a pile. "The taxis decided to have a race so that at on point this came ahead and then this came ahead and then this, then that." I made multiple cuts in the new deck.(Cut is a form of shuffle in which you roughly divide the deck in half and place the lower half on the upper half.) I stopped shuffling. Now I took the top card and placed it face down on the table, the second card beside it, the third beside the second, and so on until I reached the fifth card which I placed it on the top of the first card so that in the end I had four equally divided decks."On their journey, the Queens requested the ministers to keep all of them separate so that their father can't guess anything", I said,"And that is exactly what happened." I turned the piles around to reveal that all the cards of one type such as Kings or Jacks had come together.

The reaction was amazing.....they laughed for some time and then asked the most famous question that anyone would ask a magician,"How did you do that?". I kept shut, like any other person would and then left the scene to find my new "victims".

But off course I wouldn't keep you in dark, my readers. Here is the secret: Just do what I did and in case you do that correctly then you will reach the same result. In case it doesn't work then tell it to me in your review. So that is it, no hidden tricks, no tricky hand movements. Simple!!

I made my way towards an icecream shop. A pair of girls were waiting for their orders perhaps. So I decided to step in. After a brief introduction, I set to work. I made a 3X3 pile of face down cards. And asked the girls to choose any 2 rows. They selected them and I took out the other one. Now I asked them to choose a row again, then a 2 cards, and then a card and so on till only one card remained. I told them to pick it up and don't show it to me. They did so and then I requested them too keep it back anywhere in the deck. With that they handed me the deck.
I said the famous lines:"So there is no way in the world for me to know that your card was the Ace of Spades." They sat silent for some time and then realized the actual meaning of the line and burst into laughter, praises and pleads to repeat the trick. But a magician has to do his trick only once.

Here is the answer to that question that is troubling your mind: I just memorized the top card and distributed the cards in such a way that I could remember its position. Now when I asked them to choose the rows or the cards, if my card is in it then I say "Okay, lets do magic with this." And if my card isn't there then I say something like:"So lets put this aside and continue with these remaining ones."
Indirectly, I make them choose the card or in my words: "They don't play with me, I play with them." Remember one needs to have good communication skills for this and a bit of practice is essential.

I thought about winding the day with a trick on a mixed crowd of all ages. I was sitting on a chair and in front of me lay a table. As I was tired I decided that I would do the simplest trick. "Here is an ordinary coin. Here have a look at it." I told the crowd to hold it and then after everyone had seen it, the coin was returned to me(luckily). Now I kept the coin on the table lifted it and hid it inside my palm. After a lot of dark acts, enchantments and concentration, I opened my fists to reveal the coin was gone. It had disappeared into thin air. I began to act surprised, panicked and searched for the coin here and there, made two-three witty comments and left the scene with a heavy heart. Leaving the audience behind, who would never forget the magic.

Here is the secret: When I try to lift the coin, I slide it towards me to the edge of the table and secretly drop it on my lap but act as if I have it in my hand. Then I lean forward and then, with my free hand, place the coin in my pocket when others are looking on my other hand. From then on, it is all fun and games. The longer you make it the better it is.

I was on my way home when I was halted by a man wearing dark goggles and fancy clothes. "You want to see some magic?", he asked me. I thought it would be fun, maybe I could teach this novice something to show what a bad day he had that he choose the best magician around as his volunteer.

He put a coin on his white table, then took a glass tumbler wrapped in tissue. He placed the glass on the coin, clapped removed the paper to show that there was no coin under the tumbler. He smiled, I mastered my urge to tell him how stupid did he think I was and managed to return the smile as if I didn't know the trick.
* * *

So the man with the fancy goggles was showing me tricks. Me, the ultimate magician. So the coin should have been visible but it had vanished. Leaving that aside the man asked me to name any two cards like "Fours" or "Aces". I picked up "Queens" and "Jacks". The man thoroughly shuffled the deck and fanned the cards to show that my chosen cards were next to each other. I again calmed the fire inside me to tell the man that I knew this one too. Now he shuffled the deck and asked me to take any card from anywhere. I picked one and memorised it, the "four of diamonds", and then placed it on the top. The magician then took the deck behind his back and then brought out the deck with the top card face up. "Is this your card?", he asked me. Actually it wasn't and I said so, quite ammused thinking how did he manage to do this wrong. He made a sad face and then took the deck behind his back and then said,"Well if it wasn't that, then it couldn't be the four of diamonds." I laughed, even though I knew the trick, because of his funny way of predicting it. He checked his watch and then said,"I have to leave now, but the final trick of the day."

He took a coin and then covered his hand along with the coin in a dark handkerchief.
Then with his free hand he removed the handkerchief and the coin had mysteriously disappeared. He smiled and began packing his items. It took me a while to find an explanation for this trick. I laughed genuinely. The man asked me what the reason was. I confessed that I knew all his tricks.

"Like the first trick you showed me, you have already covered the base of the glass tumbler with white paper and then you keep it over the coin, it appears as if I am seeing the table but what I am looking at is nothing but the tumbler's paper base. Then the 2 cards turning next to each other is also a simple game of probability, as when I choose two kinds such as Fours or Queens I am actually selecting 8 cards and from then it is all probability. And that false prediction trick was also cool, but behind your back you just flipped the card face up and then showed me the bottom card while you yourself had the chosen card faced towards you. Clever and very easy. The final trick which was my most favourite one was done like this: You covered the coin with the hankie and when your other hand reached to pull out the cloth your two fingers grabbed the coin and dropped them safely in your breast pocket. I hope you do not mind if I perform this magic trick too."

"Not at all",the man sweetly replied not at all hurt or taken back,"just remember that not all magic is trickery."

With that he lifted his white stick and made his way towards the "Home for the Blind". I was dumbstruck.

After returning from the caring home, confirming that the man was genuinely blind, I bumped into a bunch of small kids, who knew that I performed magic. I did the smoke breath for them, that is , making smoke come out of the mouth without any props or preparation. "Wow!! That is magic!!",they yelled. "No", I replied, "this is just a trick".

Epilogue:So the last trick isn't exlained because I need to make sure that you write a review. I shall clarify that along with any other doubts in my reviews. Just remember that "magic" is to show not how foolish others are but how wise you are, so never get high headed (like me). Never do magic for an unwilling crowd and never reveal the secret of your tricks to anyone. Even if someone does figure it out just say that you wished that it was that simple. Also what I have presented here is magic in the crudest form. The variations and other fancy things, I leave in more capable hands than mine. I havejust provided you the design, but the real work you need to do. Use magic to break the ice, soften other's mood or even impress someone. There must be some tricks which you already knew then just read this as a reminder to perform this for somebody. Please do tell me if you like the concept and want more because I have got other trick up my sleeves. Just don't perform all your tricks in one go.

And now for the final trick, when I login the next time I see that this story has been awarded awardicons, I have received merit badges and my Gift Points have increased. How did this happen? Well for that I hope you need no explanation......