Читать книгу Expert Card Technique - Jean Hugard - Страница 14

With only two cards to control, the double lift is made with the hands in almost any position, before the body or at the left side, with the pack in regular dealing position or with the outer end pointing obliquely downwards. The cards being turned over are grasped either as given in the previous instructions or may instead be grasped at the outer right corner with the thumb below and the fingers above, the turnover then being similar to the deal in stud poker. The hands may be held motionless or kept slightly in motion to the left as the turnover is made.

All these are matters for the individual performer to decide for himself; the control of the two cards is so complete that variations in handling are matters of personal choice. The action in all instances, however, should be smooth and continuous, approximating a natural turnover; there is no real reason why the performer should watch the cards and this he should refrain from doing as this indifference towards the turnover gives to it the naturalness which is absolutely vital to successful conjuring.

A glaring fault of many card conjurers is the overuse of the double lift. If one has to show that a chosen card is not at the top or bottom of the deck, for instance, it can be sent second from the bottom by the overhand shuffle and the bottom card shown, also several of the top cards. A repetition of the shuffle will bring the card back to the top naturally and unsuspiciously. The double lift should be kept in reserve for tricks in which it is indispensable.

Nor should the double lift be a plaything with which to show your skill with cards; it cannot be emphasized too strongly that it is a secret subterfuge which should be used only as a legitimate sleight with which to obtain results not otherwise possible. The conjurer who makes a series of lifts—six or eight in a row—and believes that the average spectator will not reason out what is being done grossly underrates the intelligence of laymen.