Albion Aces

A playful version of Herb Zarrow’s “Revolving Aces” with a two-phase “Spectator in Trouble” plot. 🇬🇧

I’ve just published another edition of Corrupting the Classics, one of the regular columns I write as part of my email Ruseletter. This particular edition covers Herb Zarrow’s “Revolving Aces”, a classic piece of card magic published in Harry Lorayne’s Close-Up Card Magic.

Here’s what happens: the four Aces are openly placed in different parts of the deck. You demonstrate to the spectator what you want them to do by cutting to the Ace of Spades. The spectator fails to locate an Ace three times in a row, instead finding the King, Queen, and Jack of Spades. With a flourish, you reveal the Ten of Spades face up in the deck, completing a Royal Flush in Spades! Remarkably, the spectator successfully dead cuts to the three remaining Aces, bringing the routine to a spectacular conclusion!

“Albion Aces”, a new variation of “Revolving Aces”. Image Credit: Marty’s Bag of Tricks.

You might be wondering why I named the trick “Albion Aces”. This trick was first published in Genii Magazine under the title of “Emerald Isle Aces” and credited to the celebrated Canadian magician Dai Vernon. It received this evocative name in honour of Vernon’s purported Irish heritage. Having Scottish, Welsh, and English heritage myself, I decided to name my variation “Albion Aces” to celebrate my deep connections to the British Isles. As you may or may not know, Albion is the ancient name for Great Britain.

You can learn the trick by reading the latest edition of Corrupting the Classics.

Read Corrupting the Classics #4: Revolving Aces 👈

I’ve been exploring the concept behind “Revolving Aces” for years, and this is one of my better variations. The trick cleverly employs the Christ Force multiple times to effectively force the four Aces onto a spectator in an exceptionally fair manner. I hope you take the time to learn, practise, and perform this two-phase card trick. Don’t overlook the silly yet entertaining “manifestation” presentation. It offers a memorable hook for the multiple location effect, and plenty of playful interaction with your spectator.