Cards Shot Against A Hat



The performer borrows a silk hat that is then placed on a table so that the crown of the hat, which has been covered by a borrowed handkerchief, is turned towards the company. Three cards are then selected, and are torn into small pieces by the people who drew them. The pieces are loaded into a Magic Pistol, which the conjurer discharges at the hat. After the shot of the pistol the handkerchief is seen to fall, revealing the three selected cards completely restored on the crown of the hat. They are removed and the hat is returned to its owner with the usual thanks on the part of the performer.

Fig 34

The preparation for this trick consists of neatly covering, with newspaper, the backs of three cards – duplicates of the ones the conjurer intends to force. The point of a thumbtack is then pushed through the face of the middle card (2) in such a way that it will at the same time penetrate a corner of cards 1 and 3 (See Fig. 34). All three are then placed on a sheet of paper similar in appearance to the one with which they are backed, the paper being then placed on the conjurer’s table. Even at a short distance it will be impossible to notice the presence of the three cards on the paper.

The crown of the hat is then placed in a careless manner directly over these cards, which by a slight downward pressure on the part of the performer become attached to the hat by means of the thumbtack. The handkerchief is now placed over the side of the hat in such a manner that when the hat is lifted and its crown turned towards the company, the handkerchief will completely hide the preparation. While arranging the handkerchief, the conjurer secretly attaches to one of its corners a bent pin or small sharp hook, to which is fastened a fine black thread passed to an assistant behind the scenes.

The three duplicate cards are then forced, and after being torn into small pieces, are loaded into the barrel of the pistol as described. At the moment the pistol is discharged the assistant gives a slight pull to the thread, causing the handkerchief to drop down and exposing the three cards attached to the crown of the hat.

This trick is from the book “Card Tricks and How To Do Them”, published by A. Roterberg.

Related posts:

  1. Penetration Of Matter
  2. Magic Versus Mnemonics
  3. Apparent Second Sight
  4. The Card Caught On The Plate
  5. The Bridge

This entry is filed under Card Tricks.