Behind the Back Card Miracle

I started performing this trick when I was a teenager (a "very" long time ago!) and still use it today. It works well for children and adults. The best part is that the magic happens in the spectator's hands and they still don't know how it's done!

Here's What You Do

1. Have the spectator shuffle the cards.
2. Ask the spectator to divide the cards in to two fairly equal piles.
3. Ask the spectator to pick up one pile to use and to hand you the other pile.
4. Take your half of the deck and turn your back to the spectator. Look over your shoulder at them so attention is focused on you and say, "I'm going to turn my back so I can't see what you're doing. I want you to look through your stack of cards, pick one and remember it, and place it on the top of your stack".
5. While you are making the above statement, turn the card on the bottom of your stack upside down and then turn the second card from the top upside down.
6. After you tell the spectator what to do (and while you are secretly turning the bottom card and second card from the top upside down), drop your hands to the side. This will show that you are not doing anything "secret" while they are selecting their card.
7. Once the spectator has selected a card, memorized it, and placed it on top of their stack, they tell you to turn around.
8. Ask the spectator to hand their stack to you. Place your stack on top of their stack. You then say, "I'm going to have you place this deck of cards behind your back. Hold the deck with two hands and don't peek." Hand them the deck of cards and be sure they place it behind their back and be sure they hold it upright.
9. Now tell them, "Without looking, I want you to take the top card and place it on the bottom of the deck. Now, I want you to take the next card, turn it upside down, and slide it into the deck. Once they have done that, ask them to hand you the deck.
10. Take the deck and say, "The card that you turned upside down and slid into the deck has now found your original card and will be on top of it. It doesn't matter if you placed the upside card near the top of the deck, near the bottom, or somewhere in the middle. It has searched through the deck and found your card's location. Let's see how we did."
11. Slowly spread the deck until you get to the upside down card. Say, "This is the card you turned upside down. It is now on top of the card you picked out. What was the name of your card?" After they answer, turn the card over to show that it is, indeed, their card.

I think this is a great trick, especially for beginners. It has a strong effect and is not a trick that you will see everyone else doing. Read through the instructions a couple of times until you are sure you understand what is happening. Next, read through the instructions with the deck of cards in your hand and practice what you are doing and saying. Next, practice some more! And then, go amaze your friends and family!

Note: If you ever do this trick and turn the selected card over and it is NOT the correct one, it will be the next one down. There is a very remote possibility that the helper could stick the card in between the upside down card and their selected card when they have the deck behind their back. It's never happened to me but there's always a remote possibility so thought I would mention it.

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