2. !)ee:nin::ly turn over the top car-r!
of the onckot ,
I have long been fascinate~ by such ~etamorphic card"
plots as the "General Card and the Universal Card.
Some tice ar,o, I devised an elaborately Gaffed ro~
tine, which met with enthusiastic response when de-
monstrated at various conventions around the world.
This most recent approach is a far more practical
one, as it 1s totally impromptu.
Frankly, I did not intend to release this routine.
However, several close friends suggested that if I
did not put this into print myself, it would aurely
be stolen. It is an unfortunate co~entary on the
state of things that this warning struck me as
being extremely reasonable My paranoia is your
{;ain. I genuinely like this rout in,,;; I hope it
pleases you. /'
.
~
ll
Phil oldstein
Janus , 1980
The routine begins with the observation, "Most peop~e
have a favorite playing card. Let me show you mine.
Take the deck, and openly remove the joker. (If there
is no joker, use a deuce or a one-eyed jack.)
Invite three spectator to each remove their favorite
card. These three cards are arranged in a face up fan,
w~th the first selection at the back of the fan, the
second in the center; the third at the face. (FOr the
purposes of this explanation, we will assume that the
aelections are an ace, deuce and trey.) Drop the joker
tace up onto the face of the fan.
State, "I don I t know Why these three part1cular cards
are your favorites, but I can tell you wny the joker
is mine. You aee, in many card games, a joker can Bct
BS a 'wild card l - - it cBn substitute for any other
card. In a moment, the joker will do precisely that:
it will substitute for each of your three selections,
in order."
1. Flip the packet face down. Call off the order of
the cards -- ace, deuce, trey, and Joker -- as you
(apparently) reverse their order. In fact, yo~ per-
form an Elmsley Count. (Refer to description at the
end of this manuscript.) The audience belleves the
order to now be, from the top: joker, 3, 2, A. The
actual order Is: A, joker, 2, 3.
.A
Ii1 "ac t , .10 a Dcub Ie 'Iur-nover-, 'the joker- \",i11 nhow,
so 1111 f1PPCI'U'S to be fair.
3. Sbat e t.ha t you \'si11 bury thcjo~ccr t'nce up \'Iithin
the pocket. Openly transfer the bottom card to the
'top; use an Blr.lSley Count to display the Joker- face
up among three face down cards. Square the packet.
4. State, "The first duplication is produced tlith a
BMp of the finp.;crs. I' Snap , then l4.:lmsley Count the
car-ds , the last card {~oinr; to the bottom of the
pncke t , The rnce up card will show o e the ace.
:'. The ace is apparently flipped face down. In fact,
perform a Triple Turnover~ (The order of the packet
is now: joker, face up 2, A, 3.) The audience be-
lieveathe top face down card to be an ace. The
right hand takes away this top card. Simultaneously,
the left wrist turns inward, to conceal the race up
deuce now atop the packet.
6. Say, "To turn the joker back to its original
form" all I do is blow n Blow on the card 1n the
right hand, then snap it face up. It 1s again the
joker.
7. The joker is replaced onto the left handstock,
face up. As the joker i13 returned to the packet, the
left wrist turns out, returning the packet to hori-
zontal position. The audience assumea you to be hold-
ing a face up Joker on top or three face down cards.
8. State that you w111 repeat the effect. The joker
is again put face up within the face down packet
once again, transfer the bottom card. to the top.
Elmsley Count to show the joker-: among three face
down cards.
9. Sna~ your rin~erB. Elmsley Count, the last card
going to the bottom. The face up card showing is
the deuce.
10. To cause the deuce to revert back to joker con-
dition, proceed as follows: the packet is held in
the left hand. The right hand grasps the cards from
above, fincers at the outer edge, thumb at the
inner edGe. The right hRnd removes the center pair
of cards, squared as one, using the basic action
of a Partial Ascanio. Th!S is to.say, the left
thumb retains the top card (face up 2), the left
fingers retain the bottom card (race down 3). The
riGht hand strips away the SQuared center'pair
(~ace down ace above face up joker).
(T~~ above action QaY be easIer for JOU if you
use'" Buclcle or Pull-Down action on the bottom
car~ of the packet.)

The St.~~1.pp'"!~ ('ut pnLr , t~(;U::'l~ to
"
be f1 o Ln--Lc ~~C~ ,;0\"10 car-d, :.8
p Inced onto t:iC le~t hand s t.ock,
dOim-jo,--;cec. for half ita len;til.
(Refer to the illustration.) You
ar-e now in poai.t Ion for a PAint-
brush ChAnr;e: the ri;;ht hand con-
tnc t a the down-joi;ced card(n)
with ttie t.huab At ~he Inner ed-;e ,
t:le iJidlUC fin':ern resting on the
center of the CRrl1(s). The r'i,;),t
~,Rthl .,10'Jes its (lair ror... .ar-d , until
the dO\'II1-jo-,-'en. pa Lr- lines up l-l1t1'~
the car-de b~low ::.t. Immediately, the ton 3in l; l e
car-d t e dr-awn back to down-.jo~;r,ed post tion l,y the
rl~ht hand. The deuce instantly chanxea to the
joker. !\s thl0 change 1s ade , blow on the carde .
(as per the actions of the prp.vlouschanf~e).
11 Transfer the tv)') a:l.nl11o oprtl (ti\Q tll,mn-
Jo~"~ed nee} to the bot tom 01' the
packet. Bxp Ia Ln
th~'t you will cause the joker to duplicate the 3,
under "teat conditions"... Flip the top pair of'
cards, squared as one, face down. (You have ap-
parently just .flipped the jolcer face down.) ,.De~l
the top single card off t~ the right. Say, We 11
keep things easy to follow -- the Joker ntays
here.
12. Apparently turn ever the top card of the three-
card pRcket. In fact, perfonn a Dou~le Turnover.
The 3 will thus be displayed. Say, Here is the 3
which the joker- must dUf,llcate. To avoid confusion,
'we'll put it over here.' Flip the double face down,
and deal the top sin~le card off to the left. A
spectator 1s instructed to place hls/her hand over
the (supposed) 3, "for safekeeping."
13. Pick up the (supposed) joker from the right,
and droP it onto the packet. Snap your fingers.
Perform a Double Turnover. The (apparent) top card
is now seen to be a 3. (The spectators assume the
tabled card to also be a 3.)
14. Flip the double face down, then transfer the
top two cards 8sone to the bottom of the packet.
(This restores the selections to their original
A-2-3 order.) Blow on the packet. Ask the specta-
tors if they know what this has sccomplished. They
will say that it chan~ed the 3 back into the joker.
Say, "Yes, that I B true - but since th1s is the end
of the routine, I did it the hard way. !his three
'didn't cbange (turn up the three cards your rn
hand, spreadil'16 to display the selections) !n!!
one did1" (Point to the card being held by the
spectator.) The spectator looks snd finds the
held card to be the joker. Finis.
This routine can be utili~:ed ae the closing
NOTE,!');
phase cf R lon~er routine. Have three cards chosen
by RS many spectators. The, selections are returned,
i controlled, and revealed in three different ways.
Now, introduce the Joker, And ~o into the routine.
T. A. Waters has sUBgested that you can start by
openly removing the joker. Have three cards se-
lected and returned. Now, use the Joker to "find"
the selections (there are many such effects in
print). Thisestabl1shea a "link" between -the
joker and the selections, paving the way ~he the
follow-up routine.
Another presentational angle would be to place the
'joker aside tace down# calling it a prediction.
Have three cards selected. Display the joker, and
explain that, because it is 8 ltwild card", it will
technically be able to serve a8 a prediction for
any of the selections. The spectators WillA of
course,. be dissatisfied with'th1s statement - 80
go into this routine, to "validate" the joker as
a "flexible prediction."
John Thompson haa suggested that the final trans-
position phase (steps 12 through 14) can be done
'in the manner of the classic Scarne transposition;
the (supposed) 3 is tabled beneath a drinking
glaas; the (supposed) Joker placed on top of the
glase. At the finish,. the two are round to have
changed placeB.
The routtne can be done without a table. Simply
use the spectators I outstretched hands to hold
the dealt-out carda ~ur1ng the final phase.
copyright > 1980 by Phil Goldstein
TIlE EU'lSJZY. cotnn' 11 I 11-. .-11
eount Uled to concell the Clrd
third tr~ the top of I four-
Clres picket. 'nM handUne ia
the al&le tor count1~ r _la_II.
Nold the pICket . . Ihown It
rt,ht. The rilht hind l"u11a
the t(lP Clrd; oft to the r1eht
0" tn. count or 1. !he hIInda
COIN tolether. Ind thl rollow-
1~ Ictlonl tIkI pllee: the
rlrat Clrd; co.ea below the pICket. and 1. taken tr:J the left
f1ncerl. Aa thil hlpPlnl. thl lett tbu.b puahlla the top two
(or tbrle. i f rln clnla are lnnrhed) clrd;a of ita C"'UP
to the rlcht. The r111iht blM takel the.e two carda, aquared!.
0" tbl OOW'It ot ~2~ (IPPlnnU, OU',.I I1111Pl:J taken off flnt
thl top card; ot thl plcklt, tn." the MKt elrd on top at tt).
Po110111nc thll. JOU eenl,ll"e17 take the neltt cud 0" the count
of "3", tlMn tb. flnll1 card on top ot ell for the collnt of
""". The clrd WhIch w on top at the lun hili be'en IIbo1m
twlol. tbe urdCI) blUMn the HCOnd and bote- poIIUona
at tIM ltart OI_t bI _ dal'l~ thl count.
MASQUE is a new packet approach to the
"Universal Card" plot: a joker takes on
the appearance of three freely selected
cards, one at a time. Between changes,
the card reverts to its joker identity.
There is a surprise transposition for
the climax -- taking place in th~ spec-
tator's own hands.
There are no gimmicks, no duplicates,
not even any extra cards. You start and
end clean. No advance set-up required -
a ~ruly impromptu routin~ which can be
done with a borrowed deck under any
conditions.

,.

"MASQUE is a wonderful routine, that is

destined to become a classic of card
magic. I'll be using this."
-- John Thompson