Gone Catfishing
A very easy and humourous packet trick that uses four ordinary cards, a single Elmsley Count and a clever self-working placement procedure.
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Effect
Background & Credits
Requirements & Preparation
Method & Presentation
Performance Tips & Additional Ideas
Notes
Effect
A randomly-selected Queen transforms into a King of the same suit while being held by a participant.
Background & Credits
This trick was inspired by "Numerology" by John Guastaferro, which can be found in his excellent ebook Seven Wonders (first published in 2014).
After playing around with John's delightful routine, I discovered that the underlying concept works well in combination with the Down-Under Deal and the Under-Down Deal (also known as a Duck and Deal). I think this minor alteration makes the revelation clearer, or at least more focused, because your participant is left holding a single card—the selection—rather than it being the only face-up card in the packet.
John's automatic placement procedure is based on one used by Jim Steinmeyer in his trick "Three Card Monte" on page 25 of his book Impuzzibilities, first published in 2002.
The presentation was inspired by the hit documentary Catfish directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, and the subsequent MTV show of the same name.
Requirements & Preparation
The trick uses three Queens and one King. First, remove the Queen of Clubs, Hearts, and Diamonds from a pack of playing cards, along with the King of Spades. Next, subtly mark the King on the back, e.g., add a pencil dot to opposite corners of the card or colour in part of the back design with a marker pen.
Arrange the four cards in the following order: QD-KS-QH-QC (QC is at the face). Put the packet in an envelope or wallet.
Method & Presentation
Remove the cards from the envelope/wallet. Next, perform a face-up Elmsley Count, apparently displaying four Queens. The Queen of Clubs will appear twice during the count, but this should go unnoticed so long as you do not mention the individual identity of the cards as you display them.
Flip the packet face down and deal them to the table, one card at a time. Select a male spectator to help you (try and pick someone who looks like they can take a joke). Explain that he will pick himself a blind date using the "mystical power of numerology".
Say, "Let's both think of a number between one and ten. Have you got one? By the way, I don't want to pick the same number as you, so tell me, is your number odd or even? It's even. Great, in that case, I'll think of an odd number...three."
Note: You will always say two or three, depending on their response. If they say "odd," you say "two"; if they say "even," you say "three."
You're now going to complete John's Numerology Sequence. Say, "I'm going to turn away. When I do, you're going to mix the Queens, based on your secret number, like this..."
"Transfer one card at a time from top to bottom equal to your secret number. Do it quietly so no one can know your number."
"Now, transfer cards from top to bottom equal to MY number...three."
"I want you to have the last word, so transfer cards equal to your secret number one more time. Perfect. No one can possibly know the order of the cards."
You genuinely do not know the participant's number, yet you know exactly where the selection lies. The above procedure will always result in the force card, the King of Spades, being on the bottom or top of the packet. If your number is even (two), it will be on the bottom. If your number is odd (three), it will be on top. Look at the top card. If you see your secret mark, then the King is obviously on top. If there is no mark, it is on the bottom.
Note: Strictly speaking, the marked force card is not necessary. However, it takes all the thinking out of the routine and provides a fail-safe, making it very difficult for you to mess things up. As Harry Anderson was fond of saying, touches like this make your magic cocktail proof!1
If you haven't marked your force card, you can perform an all-around square up on the packet and peek at the bottom card. If it is a Queen, then you know that the King is on top of the packet. Alternatively, you can use John's idea of using the number of syllables to help you work out whether the King is on top or bottom: 'Odd' has one syllable, as does the word 'top'. Likewise, 'even' contains two syllables, and so does the word 'bottom'.
In our example, your number is three (odd number, one syllable), so the King will be on the top. Say, "We're now going to eliminate three of the Queens. Transfer the top card to the bottom of the packet. Next, deal the top card to the table. Move the top card to the bottom, then deal the top card to the table. Do this one last time. Not even you know what Queen you now hold, correct?"
Note: If, however, the King ends up on the bottom of the packet, then you need your participant to perform a Down-Under Deal, not an Under-Down Deal. As the name suggests, a Down-Under Deal involves the first card being dealt DOWN to the table, then the second card placed UNDER the remaining cards, and so on.
In summary, if the King is on TOP, guide your helper through an UNDER-DOWN DEAL. However, if the King happens to be on the BOTTOM, get them to complete a DOWN-UNDER DEAL instead. This is easy to remember because Australia is in the lower hemisphere or the bottom portion of the world. Thus, if the card is on the bottom, your participant needs to perform a Down-Under Deal.
Say, "Would you be impressed if I could tell you which Queen you're holding without looking at it?" Most people will agree that this would be an impressive feat. Turn the tabled cards face up to reveal the Queen of Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs. "You're holding the Queen of Spades," you say with a grin!
This joke about divining the selected card is important for two reasons: it lowers your audience's expectations, making the transformation more impactful. It also gives the impression that any Queen could have been selected. Otherwise, why would you need to look at the eliminated cards to discover what Queen your helper is holding?
Have your participant turn his card face up. It usually takes him a few seconds to register that he's holding the King of Spades and not the expected Queen. Pause a beat, then say, "Oh dear, it looks like you've been catfished!"
Performance Tips & Additional Ideas
There is a slight chance that the catfish joke might upset some people. Gender identity is a sensitive topic, so be cautious when performing this for an audience that might include trans or non-binary people. However, if you choose your words carefully, I see no reason why this trick cannot be performed by anyone. In fact, if your male participant turns out to be gay, then you can turn this to your advantage. Ask him to say the magic words "Sexo Chango!", and then reveal that the Queen is now a King! This is also a good alternative presentation if your audience is unlikely to know what catfishing is.
Although I prefer to perform this as a packet trick, you can work the routine from a shuffled deck in use. Remove the four Queens from the pack. As you do this, cut the King of Spades to the top. Put the four Queens face up on top of the pack in the following order: QS-QC-QH-QD (QS is uppermost). Perform a Braue Addition to switch out the Queen of Spades for the King of Spades. This leaves the cards in the correct order. Unfortunately, this additional handling makes the Elmsley Count even more discrepant; the order of the cards is incorrect, and the Queen of Clubs is seen twice. Even so, this disparity still seems to go unnoticed, given a suitable pause before performing the Elmsley Count.
If you don't want to catfish your participant, you can reverse the end of the trick. Switch out the Queen of Clubs, Hearts and Diamonds for the equivalent Kings using a Braue Addition. Deal these cards to the table, then follow the procedure detailed above. This will leave your participant holding the Queen of Spades. Reveal the Queen first, then say, "It is a good job you didn't pick one of these three. They're all catfish!" Show that the other three Queens have transformed into Kings.
If you don't like the catfish presentation, there is another way to frame the trick. I call this presentation "The Lady Vanishes". It relies on your deck including a blank-faced playing card. Replace the King with the blank-faced card in the setup. You can now present the trick as a mini-illusion; the selected Queen will completely disappear while being held by your participant. Your helper will likely expect the entire card to disappear, which makes the appearance of the blank-faced playing card even more surprising. However, the handling is the same, but you need to adjust the script accordingly. Of course, you could also make the three eliminated Queens vanish instead by switching them out for three blank-faced playing cards (given a suitable presentation).
Afterthoughts
There is nothing particularly novel about the method for this trick. Full credit should go to John and Jim. However, it is the silly Catfish-inspired presentation that makes it so much fun to perform.
You might be tempted to turn this into a prediction effect. I would advise against this. Introducing a written prediction casts doubts on the idea that the selection of the Queen of Spades was truly random.
Footnotes
- I once saw Harry lecture in London at the International Magic Conference (known as Ron's Day). He explained how he liked to add checks and fail-safe mechanisms to his routines so that he could still perform his tricks, even after consuming several alcoholic drinks!
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