Jacked Up

Let me start by saying that there are going to be people out there who are ticked off that I’m giving this one away for free. This is one of those effects that people like to keep to themselves… so easy, so amazing. This was originally released in the original Stone Cold Magic Book (no longer available) in 2003. Then in 2007, it was released on Jay Sankey’s Underground Jam. This effect generated more emails than any other effect I’ve released… So make sure you take the time to really read through and practice this effect before using it. It’s a killer.

Effect:
Two cards are selected from a blue backed deck.  The two cards are then inserted, by the spectator, into the deck.  The two selected cards both turn out to be Jacks, and the cards next to the insertion point of the deck are the other two Jacks.  Then for the kicker, the rest of the deck turns red.  Everything is examinable. View Video Demo.

Setup:
Using a red deck, remove the four Jacks and discard them.  Get the four Jacks from a blue deck and place them on top of the deck.  Put the whole thing into a blue card box.

Note:
A large portion of this effect is face up shuffles.  You can use either the Hindu Shuffle or the Overhand Shuffle.  For the purposes of the description, I will use the overhand shuffle (my favorite).

Presentation:
Remove the deck from the case with the back (blue) side facing the audience.  Do some over hand face up shuffles retaining the top four cards.  Be careful not to expose the fact that most (all but four cards) of the deck is red.  Next, deal of the top two cards face down on the table in front of the spectator.

Next, do a face up overhand shuffle, but maintain one blue card on top and shuffle one to the bottom (Note: you can also do this by means of a face up double undercut). The end result here is that you have a face up deck in your hand with a Jack at the face and a Jack at the top (which is the bottom because the deck is face up).  Now shuffle off the face up Jack into your left hand.  Then shuffle small packets of cards slowly onto the left hand’s Jack.

Tell the spectator to tell you when to stop.  When he says stop, have him place one of the face down cards on top of the face down left hand’s packet.  Then place the balance of the deck, which is in your right hand, on top of the face down card.  The situation now is a face up deck with a Jack at the top (which is the bottom because the deck is face up), then in the middle, you have the spectator’s face down Jack (in a face up deck), and on top of the face down Jack is a face up Jack (it was at the bottom of the right hand’s pack before you placed it on the left hand’s pack a minute ago).

Now slowly do an over hand shuffle again by thumbing small slow packets from the right hand to the left hand. When he tells you to stop, have him place the other face down Jack from the table onto the left hand’s packet.  Then place the remaining cards from the right hand onto the left hand’s packet.  All the work is done now.  The rest is acting.

The situation is this: you have a face up red deck.  In the middle of the deck, you have a blue backed face down Jack below a face up blue backed Jack.  Then, somewhere else in the deck, you have another blue backed face down Jack below another face up blue backed Jack (see fig. 1).

Do not spread the cards at this point. The picture is just to show you the layout of the deck.  Place the face up deck on the table to the left.  Spend a minute recapping the effect.  I usually say something like this, “You have had a chance to place these two cards anywhere, in the deck that you wanted.  Let’s find out where you placed them.  Ribbon spread the deck face up, and remove the blue face down card and the card directly to the right of it.  Repeat for both sets of Jacks. Place them above and in front of the spread (see fig. 2).

Keep the identities of the two face down cards a secret for the time being.  Now, as you carefully (don’t expose the red) square up the cards and re-spread them face up, act as if this is the first time you notice that both cards that the spectator stopped at were Jacks.  Then mention that it would be quite a coincidence if the face down cards were the other Jacks.  Then turn them over and reveal the “coincidence.”  Stop for a minute as if the effect were over.

I usually shake his hand and congratulate him for a job well done.  Then I pause and say, “You know as amazing as that was that you found the four Jacks, what I don’t get is how you found the only blue cards in a red deck.”  As you say this, turn the Jacks over onto the table leaving them face down exposing their blue back.  Then do a gambler’s turnover spread to show the backs are all red.  Then I conclude by saying, “Man!  That’s Jacked up!” View Video Demo

Please “like” this trick: