The Halved Card



For this excellent trick, in which a destroyed card is magically restored, the performer prepares by previously cutting a card, say the Six of Diamond, into two parts. One part is discarded &endash; the other is concealed (B, Fig. 46) somewhere in the performers clothes.

Fig 46

After forcing a duplicate of this card (A, Fig. 47) the performer places the pack on the table. Using this opportunity to secretly obtain possession of the half card B, the performer places it on the selected card, the two presenting the appearance indicated in Fig. 47.

Holding both cards well together, the performer takes a pair of scissors and cuts A in two, following exactly the line of B. The upper part of A is then given to someone to look after, and the double half card shown from both sides. B is then substituted for the lower half of A, by means of the Excelsior Change. The upper half of A and the part B are then matched, and found fitting together, apparently proving that they are really portions of the same card. Part B is now destroyed by setting fire to it, and then apparently restored by exhibiting in its place the lower half of the original card A.

Fig 47

Those of my readers who do not mind a little extra expense or trouble, can bring the trick to a more sensational close by dropping the palmed half of A on the table. A is then secretly removed by the assistant, who takes it behind the scenes and quickly encloses it in an envelope. The envelope is sealed and enclosed in a second larger envelope, sealing this, and so on, until the half card is contained in a nest of six or more envelopes. This set of envelopes is given to a District Messenger Boy (who is already waiting). The messenger quickly runs out of the entrance of the theatre and, entering from the front of the house, hands the nest of envelopes to the spectator to whom it is addressed. The spectator, at the conjurer’s request, opens one envelope after the other and, inside of the innermost, discovers half of the card A, which exactly fits the other half the spectator is holding. While the assistant is occupied in getting the envelopes ready, the performer fills out the necessary time by burning B and causing its ashes to disappear.

If this additional effect, of using the Nest of Envelopes is introduced, it is advisable to have the spectator who selected the Six of Diamonds place a private mark on each end of the card, so that at the finish of the trick there can be no lingering doubt that restored half is really part of the card originally chosen.

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

Related posts:

  1. The Card And Handkerchief
  2. The Charlier Pass
  3. The Demon Envelope
  4. The Attached Card
  5. The Card Caught On The Plate

This entry is filed under Card Tricks.