3- EXASPERATING

EXASPERATING

by

Carlos Genoveses and Jean Devriès

Effect. The four Aces are assembled in the left hand. Turning up one or two of them, in vain they recover their starting orientation. The effect is repeated several times. Even if they are put back into the deck, they reverse themselves obstinately!...(see Video).

Performance.

After a previous trick the four Aces are, face-up, on the table.

1°/ Holding the face-down deck in the left hand obtain a little finger break below the top card. Use both hands to gather up and place the Aces, face-up, onto the deck (Photo 1). Squaring the Aces against the base of the left thumb, secretly add the deck top card onto their back. With the right Hand in Biddle position grasp up the five cards (Photo 2).

Show again the Aces: use the left thumb to peel them, one by one, spread, onto the deck (the fourth Ace is a double card)(Photo 3). Close the small spread and pick up the packet (five cards). Set the rest of the deck onto the table.

Saying “A simple trick using the Aces..”, turn the packet, book fashion, face-down, in the left hand (Photo 4). At this point, the face-up indifferent card is in 4^th position. Elmsley count the cards, displaying the back of “four Aces”. Now the indifferent card is under the packet. The principle of this count (here 5 cards counted as 4) is illustrated in Photos A,.....E.

2°/ Turn up the top Ace and slip it in in-jogged position below the packet. Turn up the new top Ace, leaving it out-jogged. Show the spectator this situation: two Aces face-up, the others face-down between them (Photo 5). Push the out- and in-jogged Aces flush (Photo 6). Turn the packet, book fashion, then hold it from above with the right hand. Use the left finger tips under the packet to draw, only, the three inferior cards, spreading them towards the left, in this way displaying the face of both other Aces in the centre (Photo 7). Close the spread into the left hand.

Magically flick the back of the packet (Photo 8) and immediately execute an Elmsley count to show that the four Aces “stay” in the same direction, in other words, face-down!...

At this point the cards are in the following order: Ace, Ace, indifferent card, face-up Ace, face-up Ace.

3°/ Without waiting, tilt the top Ace face-up towards the left onto the packet (Photo 9). Do the magical flick. Turn the packet,book fashion, and Elmsley count the cards to show the Aces remain face-down!...

Repeat the same operation with the new top card: the Aces stay still face-down, obstinately!...

4°/ Finally, execute the first test (§2°) again, placing both top Aces, face-up, in out- and in-jogged position respectively (Photo 10). But here, after squaring the cards, do the magical flick, turn the packet, book fashion, and, directly, Elmsley count the cards (do not execute the bottom card spreading). The count must be of the “under” type; in other words, casually place the last card counted under the packet. The Aces appear, once again, oriented in the same direction: face-down!...

To confirm this situation turn up the packet and, holding it from above with the right hand, use the left finger tips to spread the three inferior cards leftwards, displaying the four Aces, face-up. Be careful not to disjoint the upper Ace double card (Photo 11).

Close the spread into the left hand. Turn down the packet swivelling it between the tips of the right thumb and second finger (Photo 12). Casually, in continuation of the move, draw the inferior card and place it onto the back of the packet. Keep the cards in left hand dealing position.

At this point the indifferent card is, face-up, below the face-down Aces.

5°/ Now, without waiting the spectator's reaction, set the deck onto the centre of the table (Photo 13) and invite the spectator to cut it in two halves. Just as he does, discretely, turn the left hand, palm-down, which turn also the packet (Tenkaï move). Then take the Ace packet which seems face-down from above with the right hand (Photo 14) and deposit it onto one of the halves. Bring the other half onto the whole.

Take back the reconstituted deck. Execute two Faro shuffles, more or less perfect, which separate the Aces, scattering them among the other cards of the deck. In the course of this operation just make sure that the Aces should not be flashed (Photos 15a, b).

Magically flick the deck and turn it face-up. Pass the cards, slowly, from one hand to the other. As a face-down is encountered, drop it onto the table (Photo 16). Finally turn up the four so tabled cards, revealing they are the Aces (Photo 17). To conclude say something like: “Stubborn cards, why are you always face-down...?”