The heavy-handed card trick adds a killer twist to your magic performance.

During your magic act you will want to do at least one card trick. The pick-a-card magic trick is tried and true and will certainly amaze your audience every time. But you might want to mix it up a bit with a variation: the heavy-handed card trick.

 

The heavy-handed card trick requires a bit more effort on the magician’s part than just the pick-a-card trick, but it’s worth it. Once you master the heavy-handed card trick, you will have an important new trick for your repertoire.

 

Pick a Card

 

During the pick-a-card magic trick, fan out the cards and ask a participant to pick a card, any card. Once they have done so, take a peek at the bottom card on the deck.

 

You can turn your back to the participant so you can’t see his card, then look at the bottom card. You might glance at the bottom of the deck while you square up the deck after the card is chosen. You might even just take a look when cutting the deck. Whichever way you chose, all you need to know is the bottom card.

 

Then, bury his card with the rest of the deck. The card you remembered (previously the bottom card in the deck) is now on top of the card your participant picked.

 

Add a Story to Your Trick

 

Many magic tricks have stories to them. Some are long, intricate stories told throughout the entire trick. Others are shorter and tacked on to either the beginning or ending of a trick. Telling a story of any length with a trick not only adds to the entertainment of the trick, but also adds to its suspense. Telling the audience a story about the outcome of the trick before the outcome happens, leaves them waiting for the big finish. Now they know what’s going to happen in the end. They’re just waiting to see the trick transpire.

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How to Do the Heavy-Handed Card Trick

 

For this trick, you’re going to tell your audience something about how they’ve affected the weight of the card they chose. You may wish to tell a story like this:

“I don’t know if you know this, but when you held the card you chose, you left a bit of your fingerprints on it. This has caused your card to weigh more than any other card in this deck.”

Another story that would go well with this trick might be:

“Now, I don’t know what your card is. There are 52 cards in this deck, so how could I know? When you picked a card and looked at it, you started thinking about which card it is. The more you’ve thought about the card, the heavier it’s gotten.”

 

Weigh Your Options

 

Next, you will turn each card over in your hand and pretend to weigh it. Make sure each card is held face-up so the participant can see this. You don’t know what his card is, but you do know what the card was just before it. Look for the card you’re supposed to remember. Do not forget to weigh each card until you get there.

 

When you reach the participant’s card, weigh it, as you have the others. Be suspicious of his card. In your other hand, try a couple of other cards. Try the ones you’ve already weighed, or ones you haven’t yet. Compare their weights. Really sell this trick as if you’re actually comparing the weights of multiple cards. Then, announce that you’ve found the heaviest card in the deck: the participant’s card.

 

Your audience will love this variation on the traditional card trick. If you really sell how you’re truly weighing the different cards, you will love seeing the smiles in your audience when you actually choose the card the participant selected.