Top Palm

The Top Palm is a card sleight used by the performer to palm the top card of the deck. Many different handlings of the move have been devised, including single- and multiple-card palms into either hand, and even several techniques using only one hand.

Publications

Single-Card Top Palms

• To Palm a Card: Robert-Houdin and Professor Hoffmann, tr., The Secrets of Conjuring and Magic (1878, pp. 70-71).

Vernon's Topping the Deck

• Topping the Deck: Dai Vernon, Select Secrets (1941, pp. 7-10).
  • Top Palm (Dai Vernon): Lewis Ganson, Dai Vernon's Further Inner Secrets of Card Magic (1961, pp. 35-38).
  • The Top Palm (Dai Vernon): Roberto Giobbi, Card College, Vol. 2 (1996, pp. 273-275).

• The Vernon Palm: Dai Vernon, Revelation (2008, pp. 297-301).

Bauer's Riffle Action Palm

• RAP (Riffle Action Palm): Ron Bauer, The Ron Bauer 2008 Lecture (2008, pp. 23-28).

Loewy/Hugard Palm

• Palming the Top Card with Left Hand Only: John Northern Hilliard, Greater Magic (1938, p. 201).
  • The Hugard Top Palm: Jean Hugard and Frederick Braue, Expert Card Technique (1940, pp. 57-58)
  • Loewy Palm (Dai Vernon): Stars of Magic, Series 6 No. 3: The Travelers (1950; 1961, pp. 99-100).
  • The Lowey Palm As It Should Be Done (Charlie Miller): Genii, Vol. 32 No. 3 (November 1967, pp. 126-127).
  • Professor Loewy Palm (Francis Carlyle): Roger Pierre, The Magic of Francis Carlyle (1975, pp. 89-90).
  • The Loewy Palm: Roberto Giobbi, Card College, Vol. 3 (1998, pp. 712-713).

• Left Hand Palm: Edward Marlo, The Future Classic (1953, pp. 12-14).
  • Future Classic PalmJon Racherbaumer, Marlo Without Tears (1983, pp. 255-258).

One Hand Top Palm

• One Hand Top Card Palm: Jean Hugard, Card Manipulations No. 1 (1933, p. 2).
  • Palming the Top Card, One Hand Only: John Northern Hilliard, Greater Magic (1938, pp. 200-201).
  • One-Hand Top Palm: Jean Hugard and Frederick Braue, Expert Card Technique (1940, p. 177).
  • One Hand Top Palm (Judson Cole): Arthur Buckley, Card Control (1946, pp. 69-70).
  • The One-handed Palm: Roberto Giobbi, Card College, Vol. 3 (1998, pp. 705-707).

• Top-Palm: Cliff Green, Professional Card Magic (1961, p. 147).

• One Hand Top Palm (Francis Carlyle): Roger Pierre, The Magic of Francis Carlyle (1975, pp. 38-40).

• One Hand Top Palm: Walt Lees, Four Professional Card Tricks (1981, p. 16).

• Refined One-Hand Palm (Edward Marlo): Jon Racherbaumer, Card Finesse (1982, pp. 74-77).

• One Hand Top Palm Cover (Edward Marlo): Ron Bauer, The Ron Bauer 2008 Lecture (2008, p. 23).

Multiple-Card Top Palms

Erdnase

• Top Palm, First Method S. W. Erdnase, The Expert at the Card Table (1902, pp. 83-85).

Berg Palm

• Berg's Top Palm (Joe Berg): Arthur Buckley, Card Control (1946, p. 68).
  • Mike Maxwell, The Classic Magic of Larry Jennings (1986, p. 10).