Tongue Twister

Date: 4 March 2024

Dai Vernon’s “Twisting the Aces” is one of my favourite card tricks and is a superb effect to perform when you want to avoid the usual pick-a-card trick. It has inspired countless variations over the years. In his book, More Inner Secrets of Card Magic, author Lewis Ganson predicted that the trick was “destined to become a classic”, and he was right. In his book Dear Mr. Fantasy, Chicago magician John Bannon went one step further by stating that “Twisting the Aces” was his candidate for the best card trick ever invented!

In this tutorial, we’ll explore a new twist on this classic packet trick, offering a fresh take on Vernon’s deceptive demonstration of card manipulation with the four Aces. This iteration of the trick respects the core principles of Vernon’s handling, such as economy of motion, while introducing subtle refinements to address some of the method’s potential drawbacks. I’ve also remained faithful to the suggested presentation included in More Inner Secrets of Card Magic.

JUMP AHEAD

On This Page

Effect
Background & Credits
Requirements & Preparation
Method & Presentation
Performance Tips & Additional Ideas
Final Thoughts

Effect

The magician displays four Aces face down in their left hand. The packet is given a twist, and one Ace mysteriously turns face up. Another twist and a different Ace flips over, the first returning to its face-down state. This baffling display continues, each twist revealing a new Ace face up in the face-down packet. However, the Ace of Spades remains face down despite repeated attempts. The magician explains that this “more conspicuous” Ace requires a firmer touch. With a confident push, the magician drives the face-down Ace of Spades through the packet, causing it to visibly flip over.

Background & Credits

“Twisting the Aces” first appeared in Dai Vernon’s More Inner Secrets of Card Magic (1960), authored by Lewis Ganson (pages 5-8). This innovative trick single-handedly propelled the Elmsley Count, now a fundamental sleight-of-hand manoeuvre, into the limelight. Originally named the “Ghost Count”, Ganson and Vernon adopted the more descriptive term “Counting Four as Four” for the false display. Today, however, magicians pay homage to its creator, Alex Elmsley, by universally recognising it as the Elmsley Count. I personally think that the name “Ghost Count” is much cooler! 👻

While not identical in method, Ed Marlo’s “Upside Down” (1947), found in his book Marlo in Spades (pages 50-52), is considered a precursor due to its thematic similarity. In this sympathetic magic routine, a spectator supposedly influences the orientation of the four Kings, which magically flip in sync with the spectator’s action. Marlo’s fascination with this effect led to him creating several other tricks involving similar card reversals.

Inspired by Vernon’s masterpiece, Larry Jennings unleashed a flurry of variations, utilising both four and five cards. These innovations ignited the “twisting” revolution, sparking a wave of creativity that continues to this day. The sheer number of interpretations surpasses what any card enthusiast could reasonably explore, let alone perform!

If you’re interested in exploring different approaches to the “twisting” plot, consider checking out Good Turns 2.0 and The Ascanio Spread, both written by Jon Racherbaumer.

Requirements & Preparation

Four Aces from a standard pack of playing cards.

Method & Presentation

Arrange the Aces into Clubs, Hearts, Spades and Diamonds (CHaSeD) order. The Ace of Diamonds should be the face card of the packet.

Display the cards to your audience, two in each hand (Clubs and Hearts in your left and Spades and Diamonds in your right). The cards are displayed in this way so that your audience doesn’t remember the specific location of any Ace. Replace the two cards in your right hand on top of the two held in your left. Flip the packet face down (bookwise) and square up.

Begin by saying, “Very few people realise that the Ace of Spades, being a conspicuous card, is difficult to manipulate. Let me demonstrate what I mean.”

Perform a Pinky Pulldown to establish a little finger break above the bottom card of the packet. As soon as the break is established, perform a triple turnover to display the Ace of Spades on top of the packet. Turn your left hand palm down, then slide out the Ace of Spades and revolve it face up. Tap the face card of the packet, the Ace of Diamonds, with the Ace of Spades, and say, “These cards are mere child’s play to control in comparison.” Replace the face-up Ace of Spades on the bottom of the packet.

Regrip the packet with your right hand, thumb on top and fingers below. Release your left hand’s grip on the packet, and turn it palm up, replacing the packet into left-hand dealer’s grip. Point at the pip on the Ace of Diamonds and say, “This is because the other three Aces have much less ink on them.” Flip the packet face down (bookwise).

To perform Vernon’s twisting motion, pinch the extreme right long edge of the packet between your left index finger and thumb. Then, in a similar fashion, pinch the extreme left edge with the index finger and thumb of your right hand, thumb on top and index finger below. Maintaining this double pinch grip, move your right hand to your right, allowing the packet to rotate one hundred and eighty degrees.

Perform an Elmsley Count from left-hand pinch grip into a high right-hand dealer’s grip. The Ace of Hearts will appear face up in the face-down packet. As you perform the false count, say, “A twist in a clockwise direction turns the Ace of Hearts face up.”

Note: If you follow the instructions exactly as outlined above, the Heart pip will be correctly oriented, i.e., the right way up from the point of view of your audience. This detail is important because it makes it more likely that your audience will recall which of the Aces has already turned over later on in the routine.

Reverse the twisting motion on the packet and, as you do so, say, “And an anti-clockwise twist turns the Ace of Hearts face down.” Replace the packet into left-hand dealer’s grip.

Repeat Vernon’s twisting motion, and say, “Another twist...” Then repeat the Elmsley Count, as you say, “...and the Ace of Clubs turns over.” When you get to the final card of the count, don’t put it on the bottom of the packet as usual, but rotate it face up end-for-end to display the face of the Ace of Spades. Flick the Ace of Spades with your right thumb a couple of times and say, “Remember, the Ace of Spades is the most difficult to manipulate.” Slide the Ace of Spades, still face up, under the three cards held in your right hand.

Flip the packet over into right-hand dealer’s grip. Say, “What do you think happens if I don’t twist the packet?” Wait for your participant to respond, then, whatever they say, reply “Nothing!” and perform another Elmsley Count.

Perform another twist on the packet as you say, “Another twist...” Perform an Elmsley Count, outjogging the Ace of Diamonds as it appears by about half its length. Continue by saying, “...and the Ace of Diamonds is face up.” Make sure that the last card of the count is injogged by a fraction of an inch.

Spin the face-up Ace out of the packet and drop it on top of the other cards. As you square up, push up on the injog, establishing a break below the top two cards of the packet. Lift the two cards, as one, in right-hand end grip. Flip the two cards remaining in your hand over, allowing them to separate slightly. Replace the double card on the packet, sidejogged to the left and then square up. Flip the packet face down.

Perform another twisting motion, followed by yet another Elmsley Count to display four face-down cards. Say, “It doesn’t matter how many times I twist...” Perform another twist, followed by a Jordan Count. Continue by saying, “...the Ace of Spades is still face down.”

To make the final reversal more impressive, we’re going to use a colour change. I call it the Tongue Change because it involves the card sticking out of the packet like a tongue sticking out of a mouth. The move is a little difficult to describe in words but isn’t too difficult to perform once you understand the mechanics at work. The change uses the Plunger Principle to great effect.

First, perform the Vernon-Christ-Annemann Alignment Move to outjog the second card from the top of the packet by about an inch or so. Next, grip the packet at its near short edge with your right hand, fingers on top, thumb below. Rotate your right hand at the wrist, turning the packet face up, replacing it in left-hand dealer’s grip. Make sure the pad of your left thumb rests on the left upper corner of the outjogged card. Contact the face card of the packet with the fingertips of your right hand. Gently push the face card flush with the outjogged card. Keep pushing until the card hits the pad of your left thumb. In this way, your left thumb acts as a stopper, ensuring the face card and outjogged card are perfectly aligned. The fingers of your right hand will hide the reversed card in the packet.

Keeping your right hand in position for cover, rotate your left hand palm down and, at the same time, turn your right hand palm up. As you do this, maintain contact with the face card of the packet with your right fingertips. This synchronised rotation of both your hands will correctly position the packet so that you can easily grip it by its short near end with your right hand, thumb on top and fingers below. Turn your left hand palm up again, moving it under the packet, returning the cards to left-hand dealer’s grip. With practice, the sequence can be performed quickly, smoothly, and as one continuous motion.

Situation Check: The second and fourth cards from the top of the packet are injogged by about half their length and are perfectly aligned. The Ace of Spades is face up, hidden beneath the top card of the packet.

To activate the colour change, push down on the packet with the second finger of your right hand. Rest the pad of your right thumb on the two injogged cards. Then, in one swift, sharp movement, firmly push the two cards flush with the rest of the packet. This will cause the face-up Ace of Spades to pop out of the opposite side of the packet (like a tongue sticking out of a mouth). The illusion created is that the face-down Ace of Spades is pushed through the packet and somehow turns face up in the process. The injogged cards must be pushed flush quickly because the change is a little discrepant (if done slowly, the card appears to be too long).

Before you perform the Tongue Change, say, “The only way to make the Ace of Spades face up is to give him a gentle shove!”

Once the Ace of Spades emerges from the packet, spin it out with the aid of your right hand and then drop it on top of the packet. Turn the Ace of Spades face down and then flip all the cards face up. Hand the cards out for examination, whether anyone asks to see them or not! The final reversal is so magical-looking that some people are bound to suspect that you’re using “trick cards”.

Performance Tips & Additional Ideas

Vernon advocated the use of a fingertip-to-fingertip Elmsley Count to make the handling of the cards seem as fair as possible. I prefer to use Alex Elmsley’s original grip: from left-hand pinch grip to a high right-hand dealer’s grip. However, this routine works just as well at the fingertips.

Sometimes when you perform the alignment move during the Tongue Change, the face-up Ace of Spades will stick to the card above it and accidently come along for the ride, ending up outjogged as well. If this happens, use your left index finger to discreetly push it flush with the packet before doing anything else. 

When setting up the cards for the Tongue Change, there is a lot of movement involved, which might look suspicious. To ensure that your audience is prepared to see the quick reversal take place, I recommended that you pause before activating the change and tell people to look at the back of the injogged card. This will give them time to anticipate the reversal of the Ace of Spades and appreciate it better. Although you don’t say it directly, you want your audience to assume that the injogged card, second from the top of the packet, is the Ace of Spades.

The change can be unpredictable with slick playing cards. For this reason, it is better to use worn cards.

When turning the Ace of Clubs face down using Vernon’s handling, a triple turnover is called for. The above-described handling avoids this multiple turnover but introduces a discrepancy: when displaying the four cards, two of them should be face up instead of all four being face down. However, nobody seems to notice the inconsistency.

Even so, by posing the question, “What do you think will happen if I don’t twist the packet?”, you divert the attention of your audience, making them less likely to notice the illogical aspect of the display. Therefore, I believe that asking this somewhat redundant question is essential.

Personally, I prefer the discrepancy over the block turnover. because it enables me to clearly show all four cards face down before the Ace of Diamonds turns over.

There is another way to avoid the triple turnover. Perform a standard Elmsley Count, putting the last card on the bottom of the packet and leaving the Ace of Clubs face-up on top. Push off the Ace of Clubs with your left thumb and grip it with your palm down right hand, fingers on top and thumb below, at its top right-hand corner. Display the face of the card to your audience, raising the card to chest height, as you say, “The Ace of Clubs is very compliant...” As you do this, before a Pinky Pulldown on the packet, establishing a little finger break above the bottom card of the packet. Lower the card and insert it into the break, as you say. “If I put the Ace of Clubs on the bottom of the packet and snap my fingers...” Perform a triple turnover and then say, “...the Ace of Clubs jumps back to the top!” Turn the Ace of Clubs face down and continue on with the routine as described above.

I like this approach because it adds an additional moment of magic while avoiding both the triple turnover and the display discrepancy.

Final Thoughts

I’ve always been a little disappointed with the suggested revelation of the Ace of Spades in Vernon’s original handling. Here’s Lewis Ganson’s description from the book:

“Do not count the cards again, but to gain greater effect, hold the packet with the pinch grip at the middle of the sides, and swivel out the bottom card to the left with the left fingers. Now pull the top card to the right with the right thumb and forefinger. Pause, then reach to the right outer corner of the two middle cards with the right thumb and forefinger and slowly pinch the two middle cards apart, revealing the face-up Ace of Spades. This handling heightens the effect for the climax.”

While this approach does work, adding a more visual colour change to the end of the routine greatly improves the impact of the climax on your audience. Done correctly, people will swear that they saw the Ace of Spades flip face up as you pushed it through the packet. In this respect, the Tongue Change has a lot in common with Roy Walton’s “Cardwarp”.

The Tongue Change is a versatile colour change that works well with sandwich routines, small-packet printing, and wild card effects. I encourage you to experiment with the change to see what you can come up with.

After performing “Tongue Twister”, I usually extend the routine by performing a rendition of Dr. Daley’s Last Trick using the same “card manipulation” presentation.