The "Thurston" System of Expert Card Manipulation
IN this chapter I propose describing a system of Card Manipulation originated by myself a few years ago. I am, however, indebted to my friend, Mr. Si Stebbens, of America, for
many valuable suggestions and ideas with regard to its conception.
The series of tricks about to be described are specially recommended to professionals, amateurs, and novices alike, as they are all absolutely new.
The whole system can be thoroughly learned in an hour, and when once this is done, the performer can exhibit tricks with cards which, to the uninitiated, seem altogether to
transcend human ability.
A few effects to be obtained with the aid of this system are as follows:
Seven or eight cards are selected (not forced) in a bunch from a previously shuffled pack. The per-former can instantly name the chosen cards.
The artist first shuffling the pack, a spectator is then asked to name any card, whereupon the performer states its correct position in the pack, and, to corroborate his
assertion, immediately proceeds to cut the pack at the desired card.
Three cards are selected by a member of the audience, and, without looking at same, are placed by himself in his pocket. The performer now calls out the name of a certain card,
which we will suppose is the eight of diamonds, and requests the spectator to take one of the three cards from his pocket, which, upon examination, is shown to be the eight of
diamonds. This is repeated with the remaining two cards.
The foregoing are but a few of the many brilliant and bewildering tricks possible of performance by the method I am about to describe.
I have for some time past been accustomed to present this series of tricks at all my private engagements, and I can, without hesitation, emphatically state that for parlor or
drawing-room work there are no better card-tricks extant.
The principal secret of the whole of the tricks herein explained lies in a novel prearrangement of the pack of cards used. The cards should, in the first place, be laid out on the
table in the order as shown on following page. The second card (the four of spades) should now be placed on the first one (the ace of clubs), then the third one (the seven of
hearts), and so on to the end.
It will be observed that each card is three higher than the one immediately behind it, the arrangement of the suits being: Clubs, spades, hearts, diamonds. The precise arrangement
of the suits is practically immaterial, and it would, perhaps, be as well for the student to adopt a system of his own. The arrangement of the Court cards is: jack-11, queen-12,
king-13, so that supposing the bottom card of the pack was the jack of clubs, the performer would instantly know that the next card beginning at the top of the pack is the ace of
spades.
The performer should, by means of his pocket or otherwise, exchange the pack he has been previously using, for a similar pack, prepared as just described.
For stage or drawing-room purposes, a very ingenious little piece of apparatus has recently been devised to enable the artiste to undetectably change one pack for another, and as
it would be most useful in this case, I think I cannot do better than give my readers a description of it.
The principal part of this piece of apparatus consists of a metal ring, 6in. or 8in. in diameter, to which is attached a black cloth bag. To the ring is soldered a flat strip of
metal, having riveted to it a spring clip. By means of a sharp point protruding from the rear, the apparatus can be easily and quickly attached to the back of a chair by pushing the
point into the woodwork (see Fig. 28).
Figure 28
In the clip is inserted a pack of cards arranged in the order I have explained, which the performer must substitute for an ordinary pack by means of the following ruse:
With the pack in the right hand, he takes hold of the chair in such a manner that the thumb only is visible to the audience, the pack and the fingers being hidden by the back of
the chair.
The left hand now takes hold of the seat of the chair, which is set on one side, as if it were in the way. During this operation the pack of cards is dropped from the right hand
into the bag, and the duplicate pack removed from the clip. If this is done neatly and without undue haste, the audience will never suspect that a change has been accomplished.
A more simple change, but which will answer the purpose quite as well, especially for an impromptu performance, is to simply place the pack which you have been using in your coat
pocket, and an instant later take out from the same pocket the prepared pack.
The performer next proceeds to make what is known as a false shuffle with the prepared pack. As this is a most useful adjunct to many beautiful experiments with cards, I will
describe two of the methods employed in its execution.
FIRST METHOD
This is one of the very many deceptive sleights originated by the celebrated Professor Charlier, and is undoubtedly the best false shuffle in existence, but owing to the great amount
of practice required for its successful accomplishment, it is rarely made use of except by professionals, but if thoroughly mastered the performer can deceive experts.
The pack is held in the left hand, and throe or four of the top cards are passed into the right. Now pass the remaining cards in small parcels alternately above and below these,
but the cards that are passed below are taken from the top of the left-hand packet, and the cards that are placed above are passed from the bottom of the left-hand packet, this being
exactly the reverse of the ordinary movement.
To pass the cards from the top of the left-hand packet to the bottom of the right-hand packet is fairly easy, they being pushed forward with the left thumb, but it is the reverse
movement that is difficult.
I recommend this style of false shuffle to the lover of deceptive sleights, but for those who do not care to devote sufficient time for its undetectable execution I herewith
describe a very easy, but at the same time effective, false shuffle originated by myself.
SECOND METHOD
The pack is held in both hands, as in Fig. 29.
Figure 29
The lower half of the pack is now removed with the right hand, but in doing so a few of the hinder-most cards of the pack in the left hand are left slightly protruding, as in Fig.
30.
Figure 30
The parcel in the right hand is now replaced on the front of the pack. If this is repeated with rapidity, the effect to the audience will be that the cards are thoroughly mixed,
whereas in reality they are only cut.
Armed with the prearranged pack, and the ability to execute one of the false shuffles, the performer is now ready to present the following series of tricks :
To Instantly Name Any Card Chosen
To Tell The Names Of Any Number Of Cards Chosen
To Tell The Exact Position In The Pack Of Any Card Named By The Audience
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