The only magic trick I know…

Want to amaze the grandkids?  This could be a fun game for your holiday get-togethers. 

Pick out any 21 cards out of a deck of playing cards. Totally doesn’t matter which ones.  Feel free to shuffle them as you would any cards. 

Now, the cards are in your hands, their face down, back of the cards face up (like this):

Begin dealing them out, flipping the cards face up, in 3 columns of 7 each:

• First row, 3 cards, left to right
• Second row, three cards, left to right
• Third row, 3 cards, left to right
• …
• …
• …
• Seventh row, 3 cards, left to right

All 21 cards should be used now (3 columns, 7 per column)

Should look like this:

Ask grandkids to pick out a card (in their mind) and remember what it was (or, for more fun, ask them to write it down on a piece of scratch paper and not tell anyone what it is). More dramatic that way.

Ask them which column their secret card is in (column 1, 2, or 3?).  Don’t let them say what it is or point to it. Just “which column is it in.”  Let’s say, for example, they say their secret card is in column 2.

[To demonstrate, in the above picture, I'm picking the Ace of Spades in column 2, second from the bottom]. 

Now you, as the magician, scoop up the three columns (from the top down) making sure the column they say their card is in stays in the middle of the two other scooped up columns. 

• In other words, if they said their card was in column 1, then column 1 should be sandwiched in between columns 2 and 3, as you scoop them up. Whatever you do, don’t shuffle the cards in between or it messes up the trick.

• Since, in this example, they said their card was in the 2nd column (just as my Ace of Spades is in column 2), the second column will be sandwiched in between columns 1 and 3 as you’re scooping them up.

• As you are scooping up the columns, be careful to keep the cards straight without accidentally mixing them up within each column. 

Now with the cards you just scooped up, redo the 3 columns of 7 cards each for a second time. 

[My Ace of Spades is now in col 1]

Again, ask the grandkid which column their card is in (their card may or may not have changed columns). Again, make sure and sandwich that column in between the other 2 columns. 

For the 3rd (and last) time now, redo the 3 columns of 7 cards each. This time, when they tell you which column their card is in, you will know what card it is because it will be the middle card of that column.  

[My Ace is now in column 3, middle card]

Now the “acting drama” really gets exciting. Since you know in advance what the magic card is (again, it will be the middle card of that column) you can really "ham it up."

Scoop together the cards and just violently, crazily mix them up (remembering the magic card).  

Keep them flipped upwards on the table so you can see the cards. One at a time, eliminate the “wrong” cards: “this one’s out, this one’s out, this one’s out...”. You get down to the last 2 cards (all along knowing in advance what the right card was). Excitement is mounting and their eyes dilated, you get rid of that last wrong card and are left with the right card [myAce of Spades in this example]. Ask the kid to reveal the scratch paper card.  Voila!  It matches! They are in awe of you!  They might accuse you of memorizing the cards and that’s how you know.

                                            

There are other variations on how the game can end. You can keep cards all face down and randomly turn them over, one at a time, and say, no, no, no (not this card) no, no ….. yes! (when you flip up the card that you know it is).  

You can also just scoop up the columns for a fourth time, turn them over, and the magic card will be the 11th one out of the pile (11th card of the 21 cards). 

Let me know if you tried it or if you got confused anywhere.  I can redo the phrasing if it’s unclear.

Q: Do you know any magic tricks to share with us? 

(by PrimalSoup)