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Visit Lance Burton’s Web site to see videos of his magic tricks.
• A deck of cards with a white border around the design on the back.
1. Hold the deck of cards facedown. Fan out the deck and tell a friend to pick a secret card. Turn your back as your friend shows the secret card to the other people in the room. The only person who can’t see the card is you.
2. While your back is turned, secretly flip over the deck, so all of the cards are faceup. Make sure the cards are neatly stacked. Then turn the top card facedown on the deck so the deck appears to be facedown.
3. Turn around and take the secret card from your friend. It should still be facedown so you can’t see it. Slide the card into the middle of the deck. Make sure that all of the cards are lined up evenly in the stack. Your friend won’t suspect anything because the whole deck appears to face the same direction.
4. Hold the deck in the palm of your left hand, with your fingers along the right side and your thumb on the left.
5. With a dramatic sweep of the hand, turn your left palm down so that you are flipping over the deck as you place it on the table.
6. Wave your hand over the deck as if you’re casting a magician’s spell. Remember that the card on the bottom of the deck is facing the wrong way. Don’t let your friend see it. Then, starting from the top of the deck, flip over the cards one by one until you come to the faceup secret card.
Art by Stuart Armstrong
Photograph courtesy Lance Burton
To learn more about Lance Burton, read “All Hands on Deck” in the February 2001 issue of WORLD magazine. Click here to receive WORLD each month, or call 800 437 5521 (U.S. and Canada only).
