Michael Ammar - Albo Card.pdf - M - animga

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.

GGe

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.”

"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:

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.

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!"

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.

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.

Michael Ammar - Albo Card.pdf

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