General Card

General Card (also known as Everybody's Card) is a classic plot in card magic where after a number of spectator's have drawn a card and returned them to the pack. They are asked to call out the names of the card selected and they are all the same card.

First described by Girolamo Cardano in his Piazza Universale (1582) describing a trick he saw performed by Francisco Soma.

Also known in French as "La Carte Générale".

Described in Robert-Houdin's "Conjuring and Magic" (page 245) under the title "The Metamorphoses"

Variations

• "Sleight of Hand" by Sachs (page 119)
• "Modern Magic" by Hoffmann (page 87)
• "Tricks with Cards" by Hoffmann (page 120)
• "New Era Card Tricks by Roterberg (page 162)
• The Art of Magic By T. Nelson Downs (page 71)
• Everybody's Card The Royal Road to Card Magic by Jean Hugard

Universal Card

A classic card plot similar to General Card in which a single card (like the joker) transforms to one at a time to match each of the selected cards.

Variations

• Karl Fulves in Pallbearers Review, first folio, winter 1967, page 135.
• Derek Dingle's
• Brother Hamman's (in his book)
• Max Maven's (in Focus)