Howdy folks!!!

I promised I would tell you my favorite trick in the JG Thompson Jr. book "The Living End".


Go back and read my last blog post if you don't know what I'm talking about. :)

Well it happens to come from "the professor" Dai Vernon and it's a beautiful idea.

It's a transposition of two cards that looks sooooo clean.

The basic idea is this:

You will cause a two card transposition by creating a impromptu "duplicate card" by actually using a "pseudo duplicate".

You'll display the seven of clubs hiding the corner PIP and miscall it as the eight of clubs.

This is my handling....

Begin with the seven of clubs in your left pants pocket oriented so that when you reach in and pull it out **partially** you can easily grab the index corner by thumb and finger displaying it so it looks like the eight of clubs. All they'll see is clubs. 


Ask the spectator to take out the two red Aces and to sandwich any card facedown in between them so you can't see it.

Fan the deck and pull out the eight of clubs and openly place it into your left pocket, placing the card in gamblers cop. Cop the card out adding it back to the top of the deck.

False shuffle and then get a break underneath the top card of the face down deck. Pick up the three cards from the table and square them on top of the deck adding the fourth card beneath. Lift up all four cards and table the deck momentarily.

Place the packet in your left hand and transfer three cards from the top to the bottom, righting the aces when you come to them. Then transfer three more to show that all of the cards are actually facedown. Replace the packet on top of the deck and ask them to watch closely:  slowly deal the top three cards turning the first and third face up.

this will reveal the two red aces and a face down card in the middle which they assume is their card 

Turn the deck face up and riffle the cards causing the tabled cards to flutter.  Simultaneously cop the bottom card and table the deck.  Your right hand spreads the tabled packet of cards as the left hand reaches into the pocket, deposits the palmed card and withdraws the seven showing it as the eight of clubs.

Have a spectator name his card for the first time and then show the transposition.

Just drop the seven back down into the pocket.  The right hand slowly turns over the center face down card to show the eight.  Slowly with an empty hand pull out the selection!  

This is such a strong effect! With a little thought you can clean up/simplify the handling even more. And don't forget the selection can be signed making this even stronger.

(if you sign the seven of clubs and the eight of clubs yourself then you have an even stronger signed transpo)

Vernon was always trying to simplify.  Can we simplify it more?  Can we eliminate one of the palms?  All of them?  Let me know if you have a good solution.  I do.  ;)

enjoy!!! 

Kranzo