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Lazy Man's Card Trick

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Lazy Man's Card Trick is a "find a card" routine in which a card is selected by a spectator, returned to the deck, and the spectator proceeds to cut the deck as many times as he or she wishes. The deck is turned face up and cut again several times. When the deck is turned face down again, the magician knows the position of the selected card in the deck. (It will between 1 and 13 cards from the top.)

It seems the method took its inspiration by an idea of Jack McMillen. In Marlo's Magazine, Vol. 3 (1979), page 329, we can read:

"Before proceeding the closest method to the four value cut and count appeared in a Larsen and Wright manuscript. This was a contribution by Jack McMillen in which, while he did not use it to have the spectator arrive at the four Aces, it was used to force one of four kings. The setup of the deck was basically the same except it ran, from the top down, the Queen to Ace and then the King. Now wherever the spectator cut he used the value of the card he cut, to count down that number into a lower position. This count forced the spectator to arrive at a King. While you did not know which King it was, no great problem to quicly, by a few questions, arrive at the actual King. McMillen's basic idea later underwent a change in that only one run of cards, Ten to Ace, was used and adapted to an Annemann effect "Count Your Card". Still later the one run of cards, now of one suit, was then used in an effect more closely ressembling McMillen's approach in that the spectator cuts the deck: however, this cutting was done with the deck face up until the spectator cut to a card of the required suit after which the deck was turned face down and the value of the now bottom card was used to count from the top of the deck to arrive at a previous selection or at a predicted card. Now as far as I know the use of a run of cards to arrive at a specific card was first recorded by Jack McMillen but if anyone finds a source previous to the Larsen and Wright manuscript, I would like to know."

This manuscript seems to be The L.W. Card Mysteries (1928) and the McMillen's effect The Prophesied Leaper

Publications

  • That Number Down by Doc Miller in 50 Tricks You Can Do, You Will Do, Easy to Do compiled by Rufus Steele (1946)
  • Think Stop in Royal Road to Card Magic page 241 (the mechanics of the trick; no attribution) (1948)
  • The Lazy Magician Does A Card Trick by Al Koran in Abra No. 450 (September 11, 1954)
  • Lazy Man's Card Trick in Close-Up Card Magic by Harry Lorayne (1962) - which he notes that Al Koran taught him the trick for the book and that the original concept came from Prof. Jack Miller.
  • Lazy Man's Card Trick in Lorayne: The Classic Collection Volume 1. - which he mentions that he was told after the fact that basic mathematical component of the effect first appeared in Royal Road to Card Magic.

References