Michael Ammar - Albo Card

Michael Ammar - Albo Card, Ultimate Magic eBooks Collection

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THE
ALBO
CARD
Michael Ammar & Dr. Robert Albo
GGetting Star
tting Started
eed
ect
Two Presentations:
ect
o Presentations:
"Lifelong Souvenirs"
"Backward in Time"
Additional Appr
o Presentations:
dditional Approaches
oaches
Getting Started
The Albo Card is one which has one section of card printed backwards, as if a torn
piece had been turned upside down before being magically reattached. In other
words, the card is pristine except for a portion in which the printing is reversed,
with back design printed on the face, and the matching portion of the face on the
back.
The idea of reversing the corner used to identify the selection before fully restoring
the card is an interesting, offbeat concept. But the Albo Card has something extra
special going for it, because when you place it face up on a face-down deck, an
optical illusion is created. The back design printed on the face of the solid Albo
simply looks like the back of the card beneath it. That's right, the
gimmick
looks
exactly
like the card with a missing corner it will soon replace,
so people can look
right at this gimmick and not realize it isn't the torn card they've just handled!
Dr. Albo first made me aware of his card design by fax, asking if I could suggest a
simple method for ending up with such a restoration. I put a crude model to-
gether, and after a bit of playing, I was suddenly struck by the powerful optical
illusion mentioned in the previous paragraph - wow! Even magicians don't run into
many illusions as perfect as this one.
When an Albo Card is face up on top of a face-down deck, an audience can look
right at it without knowing an impossibility is about to happen. This is the perfect
position for a magician to be in.
The Effect
A card is freely selected and torn to pieces. One piece is kept for identification.
The remaining pieces are magically restored, except for one piece whose
perfect fit is used to confirm the identity of the card. As a finale, you offer to
restore even this last piece. But to really distinguish the experience, you restore
the corner
backwards
, leaving them with a souvenir in a uniquely impossible
condition.
1
GGe
Ge
tting Star
The Ef
The Effect
dditional Appr
Two different presentations
In a discussion with Mike Maxwell about why a person would restore the final corner of the card, Mike mentioned
the idea of sending the card back in time, to a moment before the card had been torn. As I thought about this, it
occurred to me that an interesting play on words would be possible if you were to magically mix up going backwards
in time with the backwards restoration.
Magical mix-ups can be interesting, all the more so if there is a strong thread of logic running through it. I like the
complex notion that even though we, as magicians, can break the laws of the known universe, we're still bound by
the laws of a universe only we seem to know about. And if it's interesting to demonstrate how a certain gesture
might produce a guitar, it becomes really interesting to think the wrong gesture might result in a cigar.
On the other hand, good souvenirs that have been created by magic are so rare, I've worked out a presentation that
makes it happen by intent rather than by accident. If the result is a lifelong conversation piece, I'd rather the story
be one of success rather than permanent evidence of something gone wrong!
So this handling zeros in on the singular objective of creating a lifelong memento. Following the presentation and
handling for this particular routine, we'll look at a variety of ways to handle the three issues specific to this effect,
which are:
Vanishing the pieces.
Switching in the gimmick.
Restoring the corner.
Lifelong Souvenirs
"I attended a banquet honoring a famous magician, and one of the great moments was when a fifty-
something man came to the podium to tell about having seen this great magician perform over 40
years ago. As he spoke, he removed a small gift box from his coat pocket. Opening the box, he
carefully unfolded a few layers of tissue paper to remove a playing card. Written on the card were the
initials J.P. and the date June 25, 1956. There was also a small round hole through the card, just off
its center, and that's where the story got interesting.
"As a young boy, this man had volunteered to assist the magician in a trick. He selected a card and
signed his initials, along with the date of the performance, then shuffled the card into the deck. The
famous magician stood back, removed a fencing sword, and told the boy to throw the deck into the air.
As the cards fluttered to the ground, the magician thrust his sword into the flurry. All the cards settled
to the ground except for one, which was now suspended from the point of the sword.
"The man talked about the mixture of emotions he experienced. Surely this must be his card. But that
was impossible. The magician slowly pulled the card from the sword, and when he showed its face,
the man said he felt his heart open like a flower. That card went on to become one of his most prized
childhood souvenirs.
"But what really touched everyone at that banquet was the way he carefully rewrapped the card and
closed the box as he finished his story. It was clear that he was going to keep that card the rest of his
life. Since that evening, I've been searching for ideas on how to create such an interesting gift, and
I've got an idea I'd like to try.
"Take any card you want and don't worry if I see it. Cards are typically handled with respect and care
because damaging one card actually means the whole deck is ruined. So it may seem a little crazy,
but I'd like you to tear that card in half, down its length.
"Each rip creates an edge as unique as the loops and swirls of a fingerprint- an edge that no other
tear could ever match. Continue by tearing those halves twice more, creating 6 pieces.”
2
"Because of those unique edges, each
piece has the potential to be a special
keepsake, so just like that boy back in
1956, I'll put my initials and today's date
on one of these for you to keep. Of
course it doesn't feel special yet, but
we're just getting started.”
Key issues in performing
this routine:
this routine:
1) Forcing the card. You can
simplify some parts of the handling
if you can force a card using 'your
favorite method.'
"I'll put the other pieces back into the
deck, and I'll give you that as well.
Hold the deck in one hand, your new
souvenir in the other, and give each a
small, magical sort of shake. Do you
know what that does? You don't?
Oh. It looked like you'd done that
before, so I thought maybe you'd
know what happened. The deck,
acting as role model for those
individual pieces, has amplified that
magical shake. I'll show you what I
mean. Just by riffling the deck, your
Four of Clubs raises like the Phoenix
from it's own ashes.”
2) Switching the hidden corner for
one apparently torn from the card.
3) Making the torn pieces disap-
pear, in order for the card to be
restored.
4) Switching the Albo Card for the
card with the missing corner.
5) The restoration of the final
corner.
Simple enough, and there are lots of
established methods for most of
these things, so we'll have a lot of
resources to draw upon.
2
The Pocket Card
"But wait! Remember your souvenir?
The one whose edges are unique in the
entire world? Well, this Four of Clubs
has some unique edges too, and the
very idea that those edges might form a
perfect match kind of scares me. Would
you check? It's a perfect match! Wow!
Will wonders never cease!"
Chad Long suggested the wonder-
fully efficient use of the Pocket Card
to vanish the pieces of torn card. To
make a pocket card, you need two
cards that match the back design of
your Albo Card. Trim the lower right
corner off one face down card. Put
the cards with their short, uncut
ends touching, and the whole, uncut
card face up as shown. Tape the
short ends together using clear
tape, and using the tape as a hinge;
turn the face-up card down. This
secures the outer end of the pocket
without any tape showing along the
front edge.
"Actually, restoring something that was
destroyed is one of the 7 Great Magical
Wonders, and in this case, each of these
two pieces make a perfect souvenir. So you
keep this one,
[give the small corner to the
spectator]
and I'll keep this one. And if you
put your initials on here for me, that makes
a perfect ending. Thanks!"
Carefully tape along the long sides
of the two cards. If you use clear
tape it should be invisible along the
long sides of the card. The back is
open towards you. Because the
back corner of the bottom card is
cut away, you can riffle the back of
the deck with your thumb to locate
and open the pocket. You might
want to mark this lower card for
easier visual confirmation, then
place the Pocket Card 3 or 4 cards
down from the top of the deck.
"You know, I've often thought about putting
these two pieces back together, but then it
would look just like any other Four of Clubs
with initials all over it. Then I realized that if I
REVERSED the corner, the very same edges
wouldn't line up UNLESS I used magic. With
the smallest magical rub, the edges melt
together to create one very special souvenir,
unlike any other Four of Clubs that ever
existed. And you get to keep it!"
3
Key issues in performing
I like the idea of having the spectator tear the card, but I
need the pieces to be a fairly predictable size and shape
because of the hidden corner. So I walk the spectator
through the process of tearing the card into six pieces, by
mimicing the first tear down its length, then putting these
two pieces together and tearing those into thirds.
Switching Corners
Ask the spectator to put
the pieces on the table as
he completes the final tear.
Casually take the Sharpie
from your pocket and
Finger Palm the hidden
piece as you move the cap
to the back of the pen.
Procedures
Carefully tear a corner from a normal, matching card that
approximates the size and shape of the reversed corner of your
Albo Card.
ace up about 15 cards from the
bottom of the deck, with the missing corner at the lower right
position. To complete the set up, place the Albo Card face up,
second from the bottom of the deck, with its 'torn' corner upper
left position.
ace up
Pick up the pieces with the
hand holding the hidden
piece, add it to the top of
the torn pieces and
casually thumb this extra
piece off the stack and
write your initials on the
face.
As the photo shows, this puts the printed torn corner of the Albo
Card in opposite, diagonal corners.
This casual approach to the
extra corner takes the heat
off the idea of 'switching'
corners. Give the corner to
the spectator, then pick up
the deck and riffle to the
Pocket Card. Push the torn
pieces into the Pocket Card,
and if you feel bold enough,
hand the deck to the
spectator and ask him to
give the deck a shake. If you
are uncertain about this,
don't take any chances and
hold onto the deck yourself!
If you'd like, you can give the deck a false shuffle or cut during
the opening dialogue, before offering the spectator any card.
Once the spectator commits to his selection, tell him it doesn't
matter if you see what the card is as you place the deck onto the
table and clearly show your hands empty. This routine is
structured so you are clean at all the right times.
1
4
Switching Corners
Procedures
Place the rest of the card face up
Retake the deck and pinch the lower right corner between your right
thumb and index finger. You must be holding the same end of the deck
that was facing you when the trick began, because you must be pinch-
ing the same corner that is missing from the torn card. This means
you'll be holding onto every card BUT the face up card, because you’ll
be pinching the missing corner.
With just a little practice you'll be able to riffle the upper left corner and
the selected card will jump out of the pack in a pleasingly magical way.
The left hand retakes the deck, leaving the torn card sticking out from
the front. The right hand takes the upper end of the protruding card
and pulls it to the right, so that it pivots around the left index finger,
which is curled around the front of the deck. This brings the missing
corner into view in an interesting way, but also turns the torn card end
for end. Now it faces the same direction as the Albo Card, still second
from the bottom of the deck.
Act as if that is, in fact, the
entire effect, and allow the
s
p
ectator to confirm that
the corner does match the
gap in the card.
Place the torn card on top of the deck and hold a break above the bottom two cards with your
right thumb as shown.
The right index finger picks up half the deck and kicks it over into the left hand. You are
about to do an Edward Marlo add-on move that has become fairly standard in Ambitious Card
routines. But because of the missing corner and the illusion created by the Albo Card, it
becomes a wonderfully disarming, seemingly full-view, face-up switch.
The left hand holds its packet firmly, with the index finger along the front of the deck. The
right hand, holding its packet from above with a two-card break held by the thumb, will push
the torn card forward just over an inch. The left index finger helps make sure that just the
torn card moves forward.
This should leave the right hand packet directly over the left-hand packet. The right thumb drops the two
bottom cards onto the left packet, just as the left-hand turns palm down. After a brief pause, the left
index finger pulls the torn card back, just as the left hand turns palm up.
With the proper timing, the corner is seen to be missing until the instant the Albo Card comes into view.
There is nothing to question, and yet they are already set up for the big ending, and the torn card is safely
out of the way third from the top of the deck.
5
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