The Tell-Tale Hearts

This is a fun trick based on a Nick Trost effect. The routine uses the “Clue Cards” plot (at least that’s what I call it). Instead of locating the chosen card in the deck, you find three cards that share the same suit and add up to the same value as the selected card. This means that the chosen card is not replaced in the deck, which removes the burden of remembering the card from the participant. For this reason, this is an excellent trick for people who might struggle to recall the name of a playing card, such as young children (especially those learning to recognise shapes and add up numbers).

The name of the trick is a play on words of the famous story by Edgar Allen Poe, The Tell-Tale Heart. ❤️

JUMP AHEAD

On This Page

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

Effect

A person selects a card from the deck, let’s say, the Seven of Hearts. The card is removed and given to the person to look after (so you can’t discover the card’s identity). Next, a few cards are taken from the centre of the deck and divided into three piles. After that, the top card of each pile is revealed; these three cards turn out to be the Four, Ace, and Two of Hearts. You explain to your audience that because all three cards are Hearts, the suit of the chosen card must also be a Heart.

Next, the sum of the numbers on the three cards is calculated, indicating that the value of their selected card is a Seven. Therefore, the chosen card is the Seven of Hearts. The participant confirms that it is indeed their chosen card.

Finally, you mention that you require the four Aces for your next trick (you already have the AH). You make a magical gesture over the three piles. Once you turn them over, your audience can see an Ace at the bottom of each pile!

Background & Credits

The trick is based on “Double Discovery” by Nick Trost from The Card Magic of Nick Trost (1997, pages 77-78). Nick’s trick was inspired by “Fair Cuts-Double Force” in Rufus Steele’s book 52 Amazing Card Tricks (1949, pages 53-54). However, the principle first saw the light of day in Gravatt and Von Deusen’s Encyclopedia of Card Tricks (1936) under the title “Prediction”. In both books, no creator is mentioned. However, Nick Trost suggested that the most likely candidate was Ralph W. Hull, who issued a one-page manuscript called “A Prediction” in 1932.

The card force utilising the handkerchief is as old as the hills, and I’m curious to know who invented it.

Update: I’ve been told by Larry Hass that the handkerchief force may belong to Ted Annemann. I did a little digging, and Larry is spot on; the way I’m using the force is essentially the same as a handkerchief force described on page 15 of 202 Methods of Forcing by Annemann (1933). In the book’s introduction, Annemann mentions that he is not claiming originality for all of the material in the manuscript but has added some of his own original forces and methods.

A similar concept to force the top card of the deck was also described in the book Tricks by Winners (Batavia Convention 1934) under the title “The Will De Sieve Card and Envelope Mystery”. Sam Durborow and Lord Amwell are also credited with inventing this particular handkerchief force.

Requirements & Preparation

As well as a regular pack of playing cards, you also need an opaque handkerchief.

Remove the following cards from the pack: AC, AH, AS, AD, 2H, 4H and 7H. Put the AC, AD and AS on the top of the pack in any order. Place the remaining cards in the following order, face up on the bottom of the deck: 2H-AH-4H-7H. The exact order of these cards isn’t critical. But the 7H must be the bottom card of the deck.

Method & Presentation

Tell your spectator you will get them to select a card in the fairest possible manner. Holding the deck in left-hand dealer’s grip, cover the cards with the handkerchief. Next, ask your volunteer to cut the cards through the material of the handkerchief. When your participant has cut some cards from the deck, secretly flip the packet remaining in your left hand over and immediately remove your hand from under the handkerchief. Deal the top card of the packet, the 7H, to the table.

Replace the cards in your left hand under the handkerchief. Once the cards are out of sight, rotate the deck again. Ask the participant to release the cards they hold through the handkerchief onto the cards in your hand. Lastly, remove the deck from under the handkerchief and place it on the table.

Even though this procedure looks pretty fair, you’ve forced the 7H on your participant and kept the top and bottom stock of the deck intact.

Fold up the handkerchief and put it away. 

Riffle shuffle the cards, retaining top and bottom stock, making sure not to expose the face-up cards on the bottom of the deck.

Place the deck face-down on the table and explain to your participant that they will randomly remove some cards from the centre of the deck. Instruct them to cut off approximately half of the cards, turn them face-up and place the cut-off portion to the right of the pile already on the table. Next, tell them to cut off about half of the face-up portion and place this cut-off portion to the right of the other two piles.

Situation Check: The AH, 2H and 4H are on the bottom of the left-hand pile, and the three Aces are on the bottom of the face-up centre pile.

Gather the piles, starting with the one on your left. Place it on top of the centre (face-up) pile. Then, place the combined pile on top of the remaining one on your right. After doing this, square up the deck and turn it over.

Spread through the cards until you reach a block of face-down cards. Upjog all these face-down cards as you continue to run through the deck. Square up the cards, then strip out the face-down portion, placing it on the table. Discard the rest of the face-up cards, as they’re not needed for the rest of the trick.

Situation Check: The face-down pile will automatically have the three Aces on top and the three “clue cards” (AH, 2H and 4H) on the bottom.

Ask your participant to deal the cards into three face-down piles in rotation (as if they were playing a game of cards).

Turn over the top card of the right-hand pile. This card will be one of the three “clue cards”. Let’s assume it is the 4H. Then, turn to your participant and say, “This card tells me you didn’t pick the Four of Hearts!” Next, turn over the top card of the middle piles and remark, “And this card tells me you didn’t choose the Ace of Hearts!” Finally, turn over the top card of the left-hand pile and say, “This card tells me that you didn’t select the Two of Hearts either!” Your audience will likely be unimpressed with these unremarkable revelations, causing their expectations to lower.

To reveal the identity of the chosen card to the audience, point out that all the cards are Hearts, then say, “...so this means that your card must be a Heart. Is that correct?” Wait for your participant to confirm that this is the case. Continue by saying, “And if we add up the value of these three cards, we get one, two, three, four, five, six, seven hearts. This tells me that your card must be the Seven of Hearts!” As you count, tap the pips on each card with your finger, giving your audience time to appreciate the situation. This revelation should get a much better reaction from your audience.

Wait for the previous effect to sink in, and then say, “For my next trick, I need the four Aces.” Turn the 4H and 2H face down, returning them to their respective piles. After doing this, pick up the AH, keep it face up, and put it in front of the three piles (closest to your audience). Finally, flip over the three piles to display an Ace on each face.

Performance Tips & Additional Ideas

To ensure the trick is as baffling as possible, you must emphasise the fairness of the selection process and the cutting of the deck.

The trick would be improved if the use of the handkerchief was better justified. A pocket handkerchief is no longer an everyday item, so its inclusion is somewhat incongruent (unless it matches your performance persona or how you usually dress). However, you could wrap the deck in the handkerchief, much in the same way some fortune tellers store their Tarot cards in a silk wrap. This would make its introduction and use more logical. 

Another way to justify the prop is to ask your participant to hide their chosen card in the folds of the handkerchief without looking at it. This makes the trick similar to the murder mystery game Cluedo (Clue in North America), in which the murderer’s identity is hidden from everyone in a cardboard sleeve until the end of the game. Not only does this make the trick more theatrical, but it also provides a way to develop and strengthen the “Clue Cards” plot. When taking this approach, you can explain that the chosen card represents the unknown identity of a murderer. You could, perhaps, introduce the King of Hearts as the murder victim.

Using the cut force without a handkerchief for cover may also be possible (although I’ve never tried to do this). Hold the deck of cards in your left hand and ask your participant to cut the cards. Explain that when a pack of cards is cut, you actually select two cards, one on the face of the upper portion and one on the top of the lower. As you explain this, point towards the face card of the packet held by your participant. While everyone is looking at this card, secretly flip the packet in your left hand over. Then, say, “However, we’ll use the card we cannot see,” and deal the top card of the portion you hold, sight unseen, to the table. After that, take back cards from your helper and drop them on top of the cards in your left hand. However, just before you release the cards from your grip, rotate the lower portion in your left hand. The larger action of taking the cards from your participant will hide this secret action.

Afterthoughts

This fun and easy-to-perform card trick is well suited to a parlour or after-dinner setting. If performing this after a meal or banquet, you could borrow one of the cloth napkins to perform the force. While arranging the cards using sleight of hand in front of the audience is possible, I prefer to prepare the cards in advance in anticipation of an impromptu performance.

“The Tell-Tale Hearts” makes for an excellent “transition trick” because you’re left with the four Aces, which you can use to perform your favourite Ace Assembly, or maybe a packet trick using the four Aces like Vernon’s “Twisting the Aces” or “The Last Trick of Dr Jacob Daley”.