Inside Job

This charming story-based card trick is my extended handling of the well-known “Four Burglars” card plot. This classic card trick is also called “The Four Robbers”, “The Four Bank Robbers”, or occasionally “Cops and Robbers”.

The magician displays four Jacks (or Kings), calling them “burglars,” “thieves,” or “robbers.” He tells a story about them breaking into a house, hotel, or bank, represented by the deck. The Jacks are then distributed throughout the pack. Each location represents an entry point—such as a back door or window—or a room or floor in the building. 

The four Jacks or, as they’re known in this trick, the “Four Burglars”. Photo Credit: tomograf via iStock.

There are two common endings to this popular trick: either all four Jacks magically gather together in the centre of the pack, or they assemble on top of the deck. In most variations, the four criminals escape from law enforcement by fleeing across the rooftops or flying off in a waiting helicopter. However, in some variations, the Jacks are captured by two police officers, e.g. the two black Kings.

In “Inside Job”, the four Jacks target a high-end hotel in New York City. After stealing money and valuables from the hotel’s safety deposit boxes, they escape via the rooftop. However, during the second phase, they get caught by two undercover police officers during another raid on the hotel, trying to steal a valuable diamond necklace. But there’s a final twist—the seemingly innocent doormen turn out to be the true criminal masterminds behind the daring hotel heists. This presentation was inspired by the notorious real-life robbery of The Pierre Hotel in 1973.

JUMP AHEAD

On This Page

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

Effect

You recount a story about four criminals who got away with “a daring diamond heist in the heart of New York City.” You explain that the four Jacks represent four career criminals, the deck represents an expensive hotel in New York City, and the two Jokers are the doormen of the high-end establishment.

The first Jack, a master of distraction, is openly placed on the bottom of the deck. His sole purpose is to divert the doormen’s attention. The second “burglar” is swiftly pushed into the lower third of the pack; he navigates the hotel’s corridors with the grace of a cat, heading straight for the vault to break into the hotel’s numerous safety deposit boxes. The third Jack is lost in the upper third of the deck; he meticulously plans to ransack empty rooms, his eyes scanning for valuables, such as money, watches and jewellery. The fourth and final Jack, a vigilant lookout, remains on the top of the pack to act as the “early warning system” and alert the other gang members if he spots the cops approaching.

The doormen hear some unusual sounds and decide to call the cops. Just as the police cars are about to arrive, the lookout spots them and signals to his accomplices. In a swift and coordinated move, all three of them sprint up the stairs to the rooftop. You deal the top four cards of the deck face up on the table, and to the astonishment of your audience, all four Jacks are miraculously back on top of the pack!

This is where the classic version of the trick ends. However, this variation has an additional phase.

A precious diamond necklace (represented by the Ten of Diamonds) is delivered to the hotel to be put on public display. The doormen hide the necklace each night in a different secure location in the hotel before going home (the two Jokers are set aside). The Ten of Diamonds is cut into the deck, and the cards are thoroughly shuffled by a spectator to simulate the diamond necklace being hidden in an unknown location somewhere in the hotel.

The four burglars return to the hotel under the cover of darkness to steal the necklace. However, unbeknown to the criminals, two police officers are hiding in the hotel (the two black Kings are cut into the deck).

The four Jacks are distributed to different locations in the deck as before: one on the bottom, one in the lower third, one in the top third, and one on top. The cards are ribbon spread face up on the table. The four Jacks are trapped between the two black Kings in the middle of the pack—the undercover police officers have captured the four burglars!

Unfortunately, you explain, the Jacks were not convicted of any crime because they were not in possession of the necklace when they were arrested. The police, their determination unwavering, searched high and low, turning the hotel upside down, but the necklace was nowhere to be found.

So, who stole it? The two Jokers are spread to reveal the Ten of Diamonds hidden between them. It was an inside job; the doormen did it!

Background & Credits

The first phase of the trick is my handling of “The Four Burglars”. The exact origin of this ancient effect is unknown, but it has been a popular trick for a long time and is often featured in beginner magic books. My version includes some refinements by the English TV magician Paul Daniels. It utilises the Doorkeeper Principle, allowing a performer to begin the trick from a shuffled deck.

The second phase was inspired by a precursor of “The Four Burglars”, published in A Notable Discovery of Coosnage (1591), written by the famous playwright Robert Greene.

Other noteworthy versions of the “Burglar” plot that are worth exploring include:

• “The Burglars” by Howard Thurston in 200 Tricks You Can Do (1926)
• “The Burglars—A Story Trick” in Card Manipulations No. 1 (1934)
• “The Burglars—A Second Version” in Card Manipulations No. 1 (1934) 
• “The Burglars” by O.W. Meyer in More Card Manipulations No. 1 (1938)
• “The Four Burglars” in Modern Conjuring by J.C. Cannell (1940)
• “Cops and Robbers—a Variation” in Expert Card Technique (1940)
• “The Three Burglars” by Karl Fulves in Self-Working Close-Up Card Magic (1995)
• “Cull the Police” by Harapan Ong in Close Culls (2014)
• “Burglar’s Big Break Out” by Tom Gagnon in Gagnon Unfiltered (2019)

Requirements & Preparation

You need a regular deck of playing cards, which includes two identical Jokers.

Method & Presentation

Run through the face-up deck and upjog the four Jacks as you reach them. Strip them out of the spread and hand them to a spectator to examine. Begin your presentation by saying, “With the help of the four Jacks, I want to tell you a story about a daring hotel heist in the heart of New York City.”

Phase One

Remove the two Jokers and place them on the face of the deck. Explain to your audience that the two Jokers are the doormen for an upscale hotel in New York City. Spread the cards face up, displaying the two Jokers at the face of the deck, as you say, “You know it’s a posh hotel when it has doormen.”

As you square up, catch a left little finger break below the top four cards of the face-up deck. Lift all four cards off the pack and, using the pad of your left thumb, pull the face card of the packet (a Joker) back onto the face of the deck. Keeping the remaining three cards squared as one, place them on top of the deck, maintaining a left little finger break between the three-card packet and the rest of the cards. 

You’re now in a position to steal off the three cards behind the four Jacks. Take back the Jacks and say, “This is a story about four burglars, all called Jack. Confusing, I know! They decided to rob an upscale hotel in New York City.” Drop the Jacks onto the face of the deck and square them up, secretly adding the three cards above the break to the back of the packet. Lift all seven cards, as a block, off the deck, holding them in right-hand end grip. Your audience will assume that both Jokers are still on the face of the deck when, in actuality, only one remains.

Turn your left hand palm down and place the deck on the table. 

Situation Check: For the purposes of this explanation, we’ll assume that the Jacks were in CHaSeD order from the face of the packet. Therefore, the cards should be in the following order: JC-JH-JS-JD-Joker-X-X. The face-down deck is on the table. One of the Jokers is on the very bottom of the deck. However, your audience thinks both Jokers are on the bottom of the pack. 

After stealing the cards from the face of the deck, readjust the packet, displaying two Jacks in each hand, by reverse counting the cards into your left hand, creating a small fan and holding the last four cards as one in right-hand end grip. Next, grip the top two Jacks, including the three indifferent cards hidden between them, with the fingers and thumb of your right hand. Briefly display two Jacks in each hand, then slide the right-hand cards, as a single unit, underneath the two cards held in your left hand and square up. 

Note: This reverse count and re-adjustment should be done in a relaxed and casual manner. There is no need to overprove that you’re holding four cards or rush through the displacement. Holding the right-hand packet in an end grip naturally shields the thick edge from your audience.

Call attention to the Jack of Hearts on the face of the packet and say, “The leader of the gang was known as ‘lumberjack’ because he always carried an axe to help him break into properties.” Turn the packet face down and drop it on top of the pack. As you continue to talk about the four burglars and their nefarious plans to rob the hotel, rapidly reverse count the top four cards into right-hand dealer’s grip and then slide them back on top of the pack. Done casually, this should look like you’re simply emphasising the number of burglars involved in the hotel heist. I usually clip the packet against the top of the deck with my left thumb, keeping it sidejogged, after completing the reverse count. You can then regrip the packet in a right-hand end grip and flash the Jack on the face of the packet (the Jack of Spades, in this case) before dropping it back on top of the pack.

You could also talk about the Jacks landing on the hotel roof in a “stolen helicopter” as you drop the packet on top of the deck. When you reverse-count the cards, say, “The four Jacks got out of the helicopter...” This helps to better justify the handling of the cards.

Situation Check: The cards should be in the following order (from the top of the deck down): Joker-X-X-JS-JD-JC-JH, followed by the rest of the deck.

To continue with the trick, slide the first “burglar” under the deck (actually a Joker). This, fortuitously, positions the second Joker where it is supposed to be: on the face of the pack with the other Joker. Say, “The first burglar went to distract the two doormen…”

Next, push the new top card (an indifferent card) into the lower third of the deck as you say, “…as one of the other burglars snuck in through an open window on the ground floor. He went straight to the vault and started breaking into the hotel’s many safety deposit boxes.”

Push the third burglar (another indifferent card) into the top third of the deck as you say, “Another climbed the fire escape, broke in through an upper floor window and started ransacking empty rooms for valuables, such as cash, watches and jewellery.”

Finally, turn over the top card of the pack to display the Jack of Spades or, as you call him in the story, “the lookout man.” Continue by saying, “He carried a whistle, and his job was to stand on the roof and watch for the police.”

Next, turn to your audience and say, “The doormen heard some suspicious noises coming from the building and called the police. The lookout man saw the police cars approaching, so he signalled his accomplices. All four of them ran up the stairs to the rooftop…” Riffle the cards and then say, “…and made their escape.” Turn the top four cards over one at a time to reveal the four Jacks on top of the deck. Turn the cards face up and ribbon spread them across the table to prove to your audience that there are no extra Jacks in the deck. The two “doormen” (Jokers) are still on the face of the deck, which makes the method for the effect even more puzzling, even if you’re familiar with the traditional handling.

This is usually where the trick ends. However, I’ve added a second phase, which provides the routine with a more satisfying and well-rounded ending.

Phase Two

Run through the deck and upjog the two black Kings. Strip them out of the pack and drop them to the table. Explain that these two cards are “undercover detectives that have been tracking the criminal exploits of the Jacks in an attempt to arrest them and bring them to justice.”

Spread through the cards for a second time to locate the Ten of Diamonds. Upjog the card when you find it, strip it out of the spread and drop it on top of the two Jokers on the face of the deck. As you do this, say, “The detective devised a cunning plan to capture the Jacks. They arranged for a priceless diamond necklace to be put on display in the hotel’s grand ballroom.”

Spread over four cards as you say this, then square up, establishing a left little finger break below the top four cards of the face-up deck. Turn your left hand face down and place the pack on the table.

Turn the four-card packet face down bookwise and hold it from above in right-hand end grip. Next, slide the bottom card to the left with the aid of your left fingertips. As you do this, contact the top card with the pad of your left thumb. This will enable you to strip out a double card from the centre of the packet. Place these two cards, held as one, sidejogged on top of the packet to form a three-card fan.

Square up and retake the packet in right-hand end grip. Peel the top card (a Joker) of the packet into your left hand, allowing it to rotate face up in the process. Do the same with the next card (the other Joker). This will leave you holding a double card in right-hand end grip. Turn this hand palm up to display the face of the Ten of Diamonds. At the same time, push over the top card in your left hand with your thumb to clearly display the two Jokers, as you say, “Each night, the two doormen hid the diamond necklace in a secret secure location somewhere in the hotel.”

Using the fingers and thumb of your left hand, flip the two Jokers face down, then drop the double card held in your right hand on top of the two cards. Immediately thumb over the top card of the packet, jogging it to the right. With your right hand, cut the pack somewhere near the middle, lifting the cut-off portion by a couple of inches. Thumb the top card of the left-hand packet onto the lower portion of the deck and then drop the cards in your right hand on top of it, burying the Ten of Diamonds (?) in the centre of the pack.

Turn the packet in your left hand face up bookwise, then perform a Flushtration Count on the three-card packet, holding the last two cards as one. Put the Jokers into the card box as you say, “The policemen asked the two doormen to go home for the night to make the prospect of stealing the diamond necklace more appealing to the criminal gang.”

Take the two black Kings and drop them face up on top of the deck. Spread over a few cards, as you say, “The two detectives snuck into the hotel and hid in the darkness, waiting for the Jacks to break into the hotel and steal the necklace.” Square up and catch a left little finger break below the top four cards of the pack. Next, grip all the cards above the break in right-hand end grip. Sidejog the packet in readiness for the Braue Addition. Contact the face card of the packet with your left thumb and pull it back onto the deck. Use the cards remaining in your right hand to flip the King face down. Immediately, drop all the cards remaining in your right hand on top of the deck and, without hesitation, flip the other black King face down. As you do this, make sure the card ends up injogged by a fraction of an inch. Push up on the injog and convert it into a left little finger break. Perform a Double Undercut to transfer the top card (one of the black Kings) to the bottom of the deck.

Situation Check: One of the black Kings is third from the top of the deck. The other is on the bottom.

Drop the Jacks on top of the deck, keeping them all face up. Perform another Braue Addition; this will secretly add two indifferent cards below the top Jack. Flip the top card face up to display a Jack. Openly place this Jack on the bottom of the pack as you say, “The first Jack was so brazen, he walked in through the front door!” Push the next Jack (?), actually an indifferent card, into the lower third of the deck, as you say, “The second Jack went to the hotel vault to search for the diamond necklace.” Take the next card (another indifferent one) and slip it into the top third of the pack. Say, “The third Jack started systematically searching through the rooms in the hotel to find the necklace.” Flip the top card of the deck to display a Jack, as you say, “And the final Jack went to the roof to look out for the cops, not knowing that they were already hiding in the hotel.”

Turn to your audience and say, “Once the Jacks were in the hotel, the two detectives jumped out from the darkness.” Openly cut the pack, slapping the bottom half on top to make an audible sound. Alternatively, you can perform a Turnover Pass instead of cutting the cards. This makes the trick a little more magical.

Turn the cards face up and slowly spread them across the table. Your audience will see the four Jacks trapped between the two black Kings. The burglars have been captured!

Remove the six cards from the deck, as you say, “Unfortunately, although they were arrested for breaking and entering, the four Jacks were not convicted of any crime because they were not in possession of the necklace when they were arrested. The detectives, their determination unwavering, searched high and low, turning the hotel upside down, but the diamond necklace was nowhere to be found.” Respread the cards across the table and run your finger across the spread to draw attention to the fact that the Ten of Diamonds is missing.

Address your audience for the final time by saying, “So, who stole the diamond necklace? It was an inside job. The doormen did it!” Point at the card box and let someone open it to discover the Ten of Diamonds between the two Jokers.

Performance Tips & Additional Ideas

This is the quintessential story trick. Its success depends on the quality of your presentation. Instead of setting the story in a hotel, you might prefer to call the two Joker “security guards” and refer to the deck as a high-security bank or vault. 

The Antwerp Diamond Heist, often referred to as the “heist of the century” by reporters, could also serve as inspiration for an engaging script for this routine. This robbery was the largest diamond heist ever and one of the biggest robberies in history.

You could also stage the trick in the mansion of a wealthy “high-society” couple who own an expensive diamond necklace.

To emphasise the disappearance of the Ten of Diamonds, you could also ask a spectator to deal through the deck and locate the card. This also provides an opportunity for people to see that there are no duplicate Jacks in the deck.

If you want to perform the trick without using two identical Jokers, I have devised an alternative using the four Kings. Two of the Kings hide in the hotel while the other two hide in a van outside the hotel. In this scenario, the red or black Kings end up being the surprise perpetrators of the crime. The benefit of this approach is that you can perform a version of Dr. Daley’s Last Trick with the four Kings before putting two of them in the deck and the other two into the card box.

Another interesting approach to the second phase is to put the two black Kings on top of the deck, maintaining a left little finger break below them. Perform a standard Braue Reversal, secretly reversing the two cards beneath the face-up deck. 

Next, perform a Pinky Pulldown to create a break below the bottom card of the deck (one of the face-down black Kings). You’re now going to perform what is, essentially, a Reverse Tilt/Depth Illusion. Keeping them face up, pretend to push each Jack into a different location in the deck. Instead, slide all four cards into the break. 

Cut the pack and turn it face down. Ribbon spread the cards across the table to display the two face-up black Kings with four face-down cards trapped between them.

Final Thoughts

Please do not underestimate this trick just because it is featured in many beginner magic books. This routine is popular because it combines an intriguing story with a strong effect (the multiple card rise) that captivates laypeople.

This routine brings together the two most common handlings of the “four burglars” plot to create a longer routine with a more impressive climax that plays to the strengths of this classic storytelling trick.