Tiny Tantalizer

This magic trick is a clever variation of "The Tantalizer", a time-honoured classic from The Royal Road to Card Magic. While some magicians find the original boring because of the repetitive dealing, the trick's powerful revelation never fails to impress.

Enter the "Tiny Tantalizer"! By using only a small packet of cards, I've streamlined the dealing process, which makes it easier to keep your audience engaged. The effect also uses a mentally selected card, which makes the feat even more mysterious and intriguing. Best of all, this trick requires no sleight of hand, making it perfect for both beginner and experienced magicians alike.

JUMP AHEAD

On This Page

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

Effect

In this magic trick, you engage a spectator in a guessing game using fifteen playing cards. First, the participant mentally selects one card, which is then lost somewhere in the packet. Next, you divide the cards into three piles, and the person is asked to locate the pile containing their chosen card. This is repeated for several rounds, at which point the number of piles is reduced from three to two. Finally, to increase the odds of your opponent winning, you give them all the cards except one. Despite this, the remaining card you have is the selected card.

Background & Credits

This trick combines the Redistribution Principle, made famous by the Twenty-One Card Trick, with the revelation from "The Tantalizer" (see The Royal Road to Card Magic for the original method using a full pack). The self-working mixing procedure has been borrowed from Paul Curry's "A Swindle Of Sorts" (Paul Curry Presents, 1974).

Requirements & Preparation

A regular pack of playing cards.

Method & Presentation

To perform this card trick, start by handing the pack to a spectator and asking them to shuffle the cards. Once thoroughly mixed, ask them to deal fifteen cards into a pile on the table, then choose one of them, remember it, and give the cards a quick mix.

Take the cards back and deal them into three piles, each containing five cards. Tell your spectator that you're going to play a "simple guessing game" with them. If they can find their selected card, they win. Next, ask them which pile they think contains their chosen card.

The outcome of the game doesn't matter. If your participant locates the correct pile, congratulate them. If they don't, say, "Why don't you try again?" Let them have another go, this time with better odds. Again, it doesn't matter if the person is successful or not. This silly game lets you know which of the three piles contains the mentally-selected card.

When you reassemble the packet, you must place the pile containing the selected card in between the other two for the method to work correctly. To create the impression of randomness, pick up the pile containing the chosen card and say, "Would you like me to put it here... or here?" indicating the two piles on the table. After they make their choice, pick up the remaining pile and place it on top of all. Although this decision is inconsequential, as the pile containing the selection will always end up in the middle of the stack, it adds to the illusion that the cards are being mixed haphazardly.

To further enhance the illusion that the cards are being randomly mixed, perform a "deal or switch shuffle" on the packet. Offer the participant the options of "deal" or "switch". If they choose "deal," take the top card of the packet and deal it to the table. If they say "switch," remove the top two cards from the packet, switch their positions and drop them on top of the pile on the table as a pair. Keep repeating this process until all cards are in a messy pile on the table. Although this appears to mix up the cards, all it does is reverse the order of the packet.

Repeat the "game" two more times, following the same procedure each time. This will secretly position the mentally-selected card eighth from the top of the assembled fifteen-card packet. Repeat the deal or switch shuffle, or not if you prefer (you can perform it more than once if you like because the selected card is the central card of the packet, which means reversing the order of the cards will not change its position in the packet).

Continue by saying, "Using three piles makes the game too difficult. Let's make it a little easier by only using two." You will now perform a shortened version of "The Tantalizer" from The Royal Road to Card Magic. 

Deal the cards into two piles, alternating the deal between yourself and the participant until no cards are left. The first card of the deal must always go to your opponent; otherwise, the trick will fail! Next, pick up your pile and deal cards as before, putting the first card on top of the participant's pile. Repeat the process until you have one card left in your pile.

Ask your participant how much they want to bet on their selected card being in their pile. No matter what they say, tell them to deal their cards into a face-up pile. Their card will not be there. Slowly turn over the card in front of you to reveal their thought-of selection.

Performance Tips & Additional Ideas

The key to a successful performance is to make the game element of the trick as entertaining and fun as possible. Try and get some poker chips to run it like a casino game. Give your participant a few chips to gamble on the game's outcome for each of the four rounds. If they guess correctly, you make a one-to-one payout, like in Blackjack. During the final round, encourage your participant to go "all in" and bet all their chips on the final revelation (give them some more if they've lost them all).

If you're performing this in an impromptu situation, you could substitute the pokers chips for pennies, matchsticks, or sweets (a good option when performing for children because you can let them keep the sweet they win).

There is a danger that your participant might lie about the identity of their card to win the game. If you're worried about this happening, you can ask them to write down the name of their card or whisper it to another spectator. You could also forgo using a mental selection and designate the winning card yourself, e.g. the Ace of Spades or the Queen of Hearts. This approach has the added benefit of not requiring your participant to remember anything. It might also strengthen the gambling theme of the trick. You could call the Queen of Hearts the "money card" and present the trick as a three-card monte style con (you could even refer to it as "fifteen-card monte"). However, I still think that the trick is more impressive when using a thought-of card. 

When you don't have much time, you can use an alternative selection and placement procedure with the trick to cut out the first phase that uses three piles. Instruct your participant to shuffle the fifteen-card packet. First, tell them to deal the cards into two even piles, retaining the last card in their hand; this card is their "random selection" that they need to commit to memory. Next, tell them to place their selected card on either pile, pick up the other pile, give it a quick shuffle, and then drop it on top of all. Finally, mix the pile using the deal or switch shuffle. You can perform this shuffle as often as you like because the selection is the central card of the packet. As this mixing procedure only reverses the order of the cards, it won't ever change the location of the selection, no matter how many times you perform it. While this procedure is much quicker than the Redistribution Principle, it doesn't allow your spectator to think of any card or shuffle the packet after they've made their selection.

Afterthoughts

This trick has a lot going for it. When performed well, it is a lot of fun and, because it only involves fifteen cards, doesn't take too long to perform. The method is also very pleasing because the placement procedure positions the card correctly for the Tantalizer deal without needing any displacements or adjustments.