Whispering Jokers 🃏🃏

“Whispering Jokers” is a novel and bold solution to the infamous card trick known as Any Card At Any Number (ACAAN). While it involves some basic sleight of hand, it is not at all difficult to perform.

This is not a “pure” version of ACAAN. If you’re in search of the “Holy Grail”, then you’re going to be sorely disappointed with this approach—that doesn’t stop it from being a workable, impressive and, most importantly, entertaining routine for laypeople. Its psychological design makes it almost impossible to backtrack the method.

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On This Page

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

Effect

The spectator names a card. She is then given one of the two Jokers from the deck, which whispers a number into her ear. The other Joker also whispers a different number into her ear. The two numbers are added together. When she deals down to the calculated number, she discovers her freely named card!

Note: The card is not forced, and the two numbers “whispered” by the Jokers are actually freely chosen by the spectator. When the number is called, the cards are in the spectator’s possession, and they do all the dealing.

Background & Credits

I developed this trick while experimenting with “Destiny Deal” by Craig Petty (Penguin Magic, circa 2024). The approach and presentation are quite different (watch this video from Craig to learn more about his trick). However, the core technique—stealing out the specified card and swapping it with an indifferent one at the designated position in the deck—remains the same.

The concept of whispering cards is an old one. I first encountered this idea when reading The Encyclopedia of Card Tricks; see “The Whispering Queen”. (The plot was invented by New York amateur magician and painter Ladson Butler, who wrote a column for The Sphinx for many years.) However, it is usually the magician who hears the card. Having a spectator do this adds a playful twist to the traditional whispering card plot.

Requirements & Preparation

You need a deck of fifty-two playing cards and one Joker.

Method & Presentation

Have the deck shuffled by a spectator. Introduce the idea of Any Card At Any Number by saying, “I once saw a mentalist do the most amazing thing on TV—I think it was on a chat show in the 1990s. He handed someone a deck. He then asked them to name a playing card and a number between one and fifty-two. When the person dealt down to the chosen number, they found their freely named card! Now, I can’t do that trick, but I think I might be able to do something similar with the help of the two Jokers.”

Give your participant the cards and ask them to shuffle them thoroughly. As they hold the deck, ask them to name any card, e.g., the Five of Hearts. Put your hands in your pockets as if you’re looking for something. Look puzzled, then say, “Did I remove the two Jokers from the deck?” Take back the cards, then rapidly run through them, upjog the Joker, and remove it. As you place it on the table, casually flash the face of the Joker to your audience.

Next, run through the cards again, muttering something about “the other Joker, it must be here somewhere.” Locate the named card, upjog it and remove it. Without disclosing the face of the card to your audience, place it face down on top of the Joker already on the table.

Once you’ve removed the Jokers (?), replace the deck into the spectator’s hand and say, “Shall we start again? Name any playing card. You said the Five of…” Wait for them to fill in the end of your sentence with the suit of the previously named card (in this case, Hearts).

The idea here is to frame the removal of the two Jokers (?) from the deck as a mistake. You meant to take them out beforehand and put them in your pocket, but you forgot. If this action is interpreted as a mistake, then your audience is liable to forget that you fiddled with the deck after the card was named. Sneaky, huh?!

Turn to a second spectator, pick up the two Jokers (?) and say, “One of these Jokers is going to whisper a number into your ear.” As you talk, perform a casual Flushtration Count to display two Jokers (?) in your hand. The lowermost card is, in fact, the named selection.

Hand the top card (the Joker) to a second spectator and instruct him to hold the card up to their ear and ask him to tell you what number the Joker whispered to him. Hopefully, the person will play along and name a number, e.g., thirteen.

You’re now going to perform the World’s easiest Top Change. Take back the Joker in your right hand between index finger and thumb (thumb on top). As you turn to face a third spectator on your left, slide the Joker on top of the named selection and exchange the cards, taking the Joker in your left hand and leaving the selection in your right.

Hand the Joker to the third spectator and have her listen for another whispered number. Let’s say they “hear” the Joker name the number seven. Transfer the selection to left-hand dealer’s grip, then take back the Joker and drop it on top.

Ask your first spectator—the one holding the deck—if she wants to shuffle and cut the cards. Once she has (or hasn’t) done this, instruct her to add the two numbers together (13 + 7 = 20) and deal that many cards into a face-up pile on the table. When she is one less than her total, in this case 19, stop her from dealing and ask her to hand you the card at her number. Drop it on top of the two-card packet in your hand.

You’re now going to perform a false count, which will make it look like you’re reversing the order of the packet, when in fact it returns the three cards to their original order. Holding the packet in left-hand pinch grip, take the top card in a high right-hand dealer’s grip. As your right hand returns to your left to take the second card, steal back the first card under the packet and push the top two cards into your right. Finally, take the single card on top of all. (I like to upjog the final card of the count and then slowly push it flush with my right index finger.)

Next, perform a double turnover to display a Joker on the top of the packet and say, “This Joker whispered the number thirteen…” Repeat the turnover, and then deal the top card of the packet to the face-down portion of the deck. Then turn the top card over, simulating your double turnover, as you say, “...and this Joker whispered the number seven, giving us a total of twenty.” Turn the Joker face down and deal it on top of the face-down portion of the deck as well. This leaves you holding the named card face down.

Lift the card to chest height and say, “Was there a reason you named the Five of Hearts?” Whatever they say, reply “Well, I’m really glad you did!” as you rotate the card to disclose its face to your audience. Drop the selection face up on top of the face-up pile, apparently replacing it from where it came from. This situation leaves the cards in an end state that reminds the spectator of the magic that has just taken place.

Cleanup & Reset

The only evidence of the trick’s method is the fact that there is only one Joker in the deck. I don’t think that this is a significant issue. However, you can have a second identical Joker in your pocket. When you finish the trick, put the deck in your pocket, secretly adding the second Joker to the deck.

Performance Tips & Additional Ideas

If you prefer, you can drop the chosen card face down onto the face-up pile at the end of the routine. This enables your participant to turn it over, shifting the focus from you to your volunteer.

Although the premise of talking playing cards is complete nonsense—and your participants will understand this—it is essential because it explains why you’re holding the two Jokers during the trick. If you didn’t justify this, handling the two Jokers throughout would seem very suspicious and would hint at the method.

The playful nature of the trick also makes it much more enjoyable and entertaining for your spectators. Don’t dismiss or undersell this aspect of the routine. The “whispering Jokers” aspect is what makes this version of ACAAN unique, memorable and, arguably, far more entertaining than most renditions of the plot—most performances of ACAAN I’ve seen are akin to watching paint dry.

You can use the key card principle to keep the card’s identity secret until the very end of the trick. From a theatrical perspective, this is probably more effective than the traditional Any Card at Any Number presentation, where both the name and number are openly disclosed at the beginning of the routine. Hand your first spectator the deck and ask them to remove one card and remember it. Take the deck back, subtly noting the bottom card (your “key card”). Then cut about thirteen cards to the bottom of the deck and hold a little finger break above them (below your key card). Begin cutting small packets onto the table, asking your spectator to say “stop” when they wish to return their card. Once they do so, cut to the break and place all the cards above it on top of the chosen card. Without pausing, cut three more packets to the table, adding all remaining cards to the pile. This is Dai Vernon’s excellent key card placement from Dai Vernon’s Ultimate Secrets of Card Magic by Lewis Ganson (see page 159).

When you run through the cards to remove the second Joker (?), look for your key card and upjog and remove the card to the right of it (closest to the face of the deck). This approach makes the trick even more deceptive, even if it doesn't involve having a card freely named by a spectator.

Final Thoughts

This is a whimsical yet powerful version of Any Card At Any Number. It is also extremely practical because all you need is a regular deck and a single Joker. I urge you to give it a go.