Twisting the...

I’m not going to give away secrets to effects on this open media. I think it’s unnecessary. I don’t have a problem giving some quick tips on how to present different magic effects though.

One of the first packet tricks I learned was Vernon’s Twisting the Aces. It interestingly utilizes a secret move and when presented correctly can be a miracle. I’m not going to discuss which “twisting” effect is the best. Hollingworth’s and Asher’s are both worth looking into.

Instead, I’m going to discuss a presentation idea I came up on my own a few years ago and later on found out a brilliant magician, Brother John Hamman, came up with the same idea long before I was even interested in magic.

When I first started doing Twisting the Aces, I always felt the trick was more for magicians than it was for the lay audience. The reason is the spectator’s view four aces one at a time turning face up in a packet of four cards. The problem with this is most people when viewing playing cards are not in the mindset to eliminate and keep track of suits. Making the audience have to remember which suit is left or what suits have already turned over is confusing for them and an exercise not practiced enough to really make the demonstration effective.

The idea is to make the presentation easier to follow. Since we have been 5 years old we have been learning and relearning numbers in sequence so in most cases, we can recite them very quickly and effortlessly. At the same time we have been learning to eliminate numbers, or keep track of what numbers have been used and keeping it to short term memory to use in the near future.

My tip for you when doing Twisting the Aces is not to use the four aces. Instead use the sequence Ace, Two, Three, Four. Then have the cards turn over in the sequence 1, 2, 3, 4 or in reverse, like a countdown 4, 3, 2, 1.

How do we do this?

The set up really is easy and it will take you only the length to read this to learn and less time to memorize.

Have the cards in the following order: 4, 3, 2, Ace Have the ace at the face of the packet. Then cut the cards perfectly in half and complete the cut. So the sequence will now be 2, ace, 4, 3. The three should be on the face of the packet. It is at this point that you start in with the Twisting the Aces routine and the outcome will be the Ace will turn over with the 2 being next, followed by the 3 and finally the 4 being the final card to turn face up.

This makes the sequence much easier for the audience to follow making it much more enjoyable to watch. Remember, confusion is not magic.
I have tested this at my walk around magic events and have found when I use a sequence of numbers instead of just a four of a kind I have gotten a much greater response from the spectators.

Of course, do not take my word for it and instead go try it out yourself.

I’m going to leave it up to you to figure out the order of the cards if you want the sequence to count down 4, 3, 2, 1.

You can find more interesting presentations for this effect in a wonderful book by Robert E. Neale titled “Life, Death, and Other Card Tricks.” This book really is a fun read and should get your creative juices flowing when developing different presentations for your magic.

Always wishing the best,
Adam White