SYNERGISTIC

SANDWICHES:
Six Sandwiches In A Single Sitting

by
Jon Racherbaumer

copyright 1991 by Jon Racherbaumer and Louis Falanga

SYNERGISTIC
SANDWICHES:
Six Sandwiches In A Single Sitting

by
Jon Racherbaumer

copyright 1991 by Jon Racherbaumer and Louis Falanga

 INTRODUCTION

Sandwich tricks are popular with cardmen, but they are

nothing more than glorified locations. A selection is not only
found, it's found at a specific place: between two other cards. From
a commercial point of view, this is not stunning effect. If you add
some juggling and derring-do (like Daryl or Comte), it can be
eye-arresting. Otherwise, the effect is a puzzling, mechanical
problem.

The best way to present these stunts to the public is in a

rapid-fire, successive way. One should follow the other in a logical,
progressive way. Each phase should be stronger, and the overall
impression should have impact and memorableness.

Recently, Geoff Latta and Dave Solomon published syner-

gistic sandwich routines. Both are interesting and challenging to
learn. Solomon presented his combinatorial effort at the Abbott's
Close-up Convention (1991), and Harry Levine (trade-show vir-
tuoso) personally demonstrated Latta's routine for me. It's patter
approach is praiseworthy.

My own synergistic effort was introduced at the same

Abbott's convention. There are six sandwiches, but the last phase
is a ftboggler.M It's based on the Hull Version or time-dislocation
effect. Eric Eicher, a fine cardman, sent me his three-phase
sandwich routine which features this powerful blow-off. If you
learn this routine, you have something to show the laity - some-
thing they'll talk about and remember.

Jon Racherbaumer
March -1991
•
EXORDIUM
Since this is a synergistic routine of successive sandwich-ef-
fects, it begins with the simplest version and progresses to
stronger, more sophisticated variations. The goal is to create
momentum and culminating interest.
Twenty years ago I wrote about sandwich-effects in THE
HIEROPHANT, pointing out that Louis F. Christianer published
an effect in THE MAGIC WAND in 1917 where a pair of red
Aces is tossed in the air, returns to the deck, and traps a selected
card. Much later, I discussed the classic card-catch in
CARDFIXES (1990) and cited its originator, Louis Christian
Emanuel Appollinaire COMTE (b. 1788). (Note the similiarity
between names. Coincidence?) I also pointed out that the effect
was more MANIPULATIVE than magical. Furthermore, we can
assume that the sandwich-effect evolved from a simple location
effect where a selection ends up NEXT to a face-up locator-card.
The sandwich notion of using TWO face-up cards cancels the
contingency option. That is, the magician cannot take either
face-down card straddling a face-up locator-card. The location in
a sandwich is SPECIFIC and UNAMBIGUOUS.

This initial sandwich is blatantly manipulative. The audience

knows that you're maneuvering their selection between two face-
up Jacks. However, they don't see exactly how it's possible con-
sidering the speed and conditions. It is Mario's Second Method
of "More Deuce Sandwiches" (THE NEW TOPS: May, 1968).

WORK:

Begin by openly removing the Black Jacks. Table them

face-up. Then have the FIRST SPECTATOR select a card. Con-
trol it to the top. The most efficient method is to use a Spectator
Peek and control it via a Side Steal.
 FIRST SANDWICH

1) Openly place the Black Jacks face-up on top of the deck. Hold
the deck in your left hand for a Spectator Peek. Approach a
SECOND SPECTATOR. Riffle back the outer right corner with
your right forefinger for the stop-utterance.

2) When the SECOND SPECTATOR says "stop," maintain a

separation at that point and say, "Please look at the card you
stopped at...Remember it." Lower the deck for a moment,
RELEASE the peeked selection to the lower section, then raise
or tilt the deck back to its original Peek Position. Riffle off the
rest of the upper section, but retain a left pinky break ABOVE
the selection.

3) Perform Mario's Cover-Up Cut. Briefly: Thumb over the top

face-up Jack to momentarily show the Jacks on top. Pull it back
flush and get a left third fingertip break below it. Transfer this
break to your right thumb at the back end as your right hand
grasps the deck from above and by the ends. Both hands are
holding the deck and retain TWO breaks at this stage.

4) Undercut all the cards below your pinky break with your left
hand and transfer this section to the TOP. Almost immediately do
a Straight Cut; however, make it a Mario Slip Cut as your left
thumb holds back the top card. This top card COVERS the
face-up Jack that otherwise would be exposed during this cut.
(Tilt back the deck during the Slip Cut to provide additional
cover.)

5) Do another Straight Cut and table the deck. The peeked

selection is BETWEEN the two face-up Black Jacks in the center
of the deck. Ribbon-spread the deck to reveal the first sandwich.
The FIRST SELECTION is just below the lowermost face-up
Jack, perfectly positioned for the Marlo-Kosky Change.
•
SECOND SANDWICH

This is Mario's "Bluff Sandwich" from THE LAST

HIEROPHANT (June -1980).

1) Take the FIRST SELECTION from between the face-up

Jacks and place it into the deck. Quickly shuffle the deck, then
place the Jacks face-up on top. In the process, get a left pinky
break under the top card of the deck. Say, "The Jacks will stay on
top of the deck..."

2) As you utter this innocuous line, load the top X-card between
the Jacks via Mario's First Method in "More Deuce Sandwiches."
Briefly: Grasp the top three cards from above and by the ends
with your right hand. Peel the top face-up Jack into your left hand
and place it under the right-hand card(s). Replace the right-hand
cards on top of the deck.

3) Hold the deck face-down in a left-hand dealing position.

Riffle down the outer left corner of the deck with your left thumb.
Say, "I want someone to select another card by stopping me during
this riffling action."

4) Stop about midpoint by way of demonstration. Lift off the

upper section with your right hand, then RAISE BOTH HANDS
and tilt each section backwards so that they're PERPEN-
DICULAR to the floor. The right-hand section, held in Biddle
Grip, is directly above the left-hand portion.

5) Point to the face (bottom) card of the right-hand portion with

your extended left forefinger. Say, "If you had stopped me here,
you will note and remember THIS card..." These actions set the
stage for the Mock Action.

6) Lower both hands and assemble the deck. Secure a secret

break under the top TWO cards with your left pinky. Repeat the
riffling action with your left thumb, making it as "open" and fair
as possible. Once the spectator says "stop," look at him and ask,
"Right here?" When he affirms, raise both hands again as in Step
4. This broader movement lets you alter the conditions.
 7) Instead of lifting off the entire upper section, remove only
the two cards above the break. Since the left-hand cards (almost
an entire deck) and the right-hand pair are held in perpendicular
positions, the spectator does not see thicknesses. He sees surfaces.
His attention will be on the face of the supposed selection. Only
a portion of the deck's bottom card is exposed in your gesturing
left hand.

8) Unbeknownst to the spectator, he is selecting a card AL-

READY between the face-up Jacks. Patter: "Please remember
this card..." REVERSE the actions of Step 7 as you simultaneous-
ly lower both hands to reassemble the deck. As soon as the cards
conjoin, lift about HALF the deck with your right hand and
casually dribble them back onto the lower half as you say, "Your
card is obviously somewhere in the middle of the deck...exactly
where is anybody's guess."

9) Immediately table the deck and press on the center of the top
face-up Jack with your right forefinger. Say, "This turns the trick!"
Delicately spread the top three cards with the same forefinger
and ask the spectator to name and check the face-down card
between the face-up Jacks.
•
THIRD SANDWICH

This method was shown to me by Mario in 1970. In my notes

it's dubbed "The Submarine Sandwich" and is was slated to appear
in my M-U-M column, "At The Table." Before it was published,
however, Frank Simon independently devised a similiar method
and published it in his book. Consequently, Mario concedes
credit to Frank Simon.

It provides a refreshing departure from conventional

sandwich effects. At this point in the routine, it adds a novel, visual
aspect.

WORK:

1) Remove the THIRD SELECTION from between the Jacks

and add it to the deck. Say, "This time the Black Jacks are placed
face-up near the bottom of the deck..." Insert both Jacks together
about twelve cards from the bottom (face).

2) Momentarily square the deck, then slowly begin spreading

cards face-down between your hands. Say, "Please touch the back
of any card." Time your patter and spreading so that the spectator
touches a card in the center section (positions 20-40).

3) Execute Mario's "Convincing Control" as you raise the spread

to reveal the selection, then lower the spread and apparently
outjog it (in situ). In reality, you outjog an X-card and run the
selection UNDER THE SPREAD.

4) With your hands lowered and the backs showing, continue

spreading cards until you reach the face-up Jacks. Upjog the first
Jack, then the next. In the process, load the selection between the
Jacks. (The selection remains aligned with the deck. Only the
Black Jacks are jogged; however, the upper end of the selection
is betweenthc Jacks.)

5) Close the spread and square the sides. Hold the deck by the
sides with your left hand and tap the lower end to neatly square
the deck. Then push the three outjogged cards inward until about
half their length remains protruding. Also, square the outer ends
of all three cards until they're perfectly aligned.

6) At this stage, the selection in set for a PLUNGER disclosure.

Hold the deck face-down in your left hand. Point out that the
outjogged selection(?) and Jacks are in different positions.

7) Extend your left forefinger and move its tip to the top ends of
all three cards. Simultaneously push these cards downward and
flush with the deck. Because of the plunger "condition," the Jacks
will push out selection down and out of the lower endoi the deck.

8) As soon as the selection comes into view, spread the deck

face-down between your hands to reveal the IN-JOGGED
SANDWICH. Let the three-cards drop to the table, then reveal
the selection between the Jacks.
•
ROAD-RUNNER SEVENS
( Racherbaumer - Eicher)

Eric Eicher sent me a three-phase sandwich routine in

March of 1989. The beguiling feature of his combinatorial routine
is its integration of what's now called the Hull Version. Eicher was
initially inspired by Peter Duffie's "Signus XII" from CLOSE-UP
TO THE POINT (1984), but everything came together when he
learned "Olram Catches A Card" which uses a technique from
Mario's "Jumping Jacks." So much for history, except to add that
Eicher calls his routine "Fast/Faster/Fastest."

The narrative hook is the subject of "speed." Each time you

trap the same signed selection, the expediency factor is increased
until (as Eicher says) the sandwich-cards "find the selection before
it was even your card\" This really whacks them!

THE WORK:

1) Contrive to get the Red Sevens and the 6D to the face of the
deck in the following order (from the face): 7D - 7H - 6D. Explain
that you're going to show them something strange and wonderful
with the Red Sevens or the Roadrunner Sevens - the fastest cards
in the deck.

2) Grasp all three cards from above and by the ends with your
right hand. Get the deck face-down in your left hand and get a
left pinky break under the top card. Show the Red Sevens and do
the switch-out technique of Mario's Atfus. This puts the 7D
face-up under the top card of the deck and leaves you with two
face-up cards (7H - 6D) in your right hand.

3) Momentarily transfer them to your left thumb and fingers,

which holds them by the sides and above the deck. This allows
you to change the right-hand grip. Grasp the inner right corner
between your right thumb (below) and first/second fingers
(above).
 4) Rotate your right hand palm up and spread the cards slightly.
The cards are now face-down. However, if you tilt them to flash
the faces, the spectators apparently see the Red Sevens. After
this "flash" drop the pair face-down to your right.

5) Get a left pinky break under the top card of the deck. Then
undercut about half the deck and immediately start spreading
them as you say, "I want you to select a card..."
Stop spreading and quickly close the spread (as though you had
forgotten something). Retain the break throughout this interlude.

6) Reach over with your right hand and grasp all the cards above
the break as you say, "Oh, I forgot....I need to take out a card for
later on..." As you lift off the right-hand section, turn your left
hand palm down and casually thumb off the reversed 7D. It drops
face-down onto the table. This is discrepant, but it looks
copacetic. The audience will focus on the dealt card. As soon as
the 7D drops to the table, turn your left hand palm up and
reassemble the deck.

7) Spread the cards face-down between your hands and ask

someone to take a card. Say, "Please note, remember, and sign the
face of that card." Hand the spectator a marking pen.

8) While the spectator is busy signing the card, hold the deck
face-down and squared in your left hand. Grasp it from above and
by the ends with your right hand. Slightly lift about half the deck
and slide it forward about a half inch.

9) Contact the top card of the lower half with your right thumb
tip as shown. Then slide the upper halfback until it's aligned with
the lower half. In the process, your right thumb injogs an X card.

10) Reach for the signed selection with your right hand as your
left hand does a One-hand Tilt (KABBALA THREE). The mis-
direction is perfect.

11) Apparently insert the selection into the middle of the deck.
Push the selection flush with the deck, then immediately turn your
left hand to disclose a side-view. This broader action lets you
release the Tilted top card without being detected. The spectators
see the injogged X card and think it's the selection. Patter: "Your
signed selection goes into the center of the deck..." Cleanly push
the X card flush.

12) Turn the deck face-up in your left hand. Pick up the lower-
most card (7H) of the tabled pair with your right hand. Flash its
face and place it face-down onto the face-up deck. Retain a left
pinky break below it, then Double-Cut it to the back.

13) Say, "We lose one of the Red Sevens into the deck. The
remaining Red Seven goes on the face." Secure a left pinky break
above the bottom three cards (7H - X - selection). Use Mario's
Kick-Count or Buckle-Break. Place the 6D face-down on top
(face) of the deck without showing it.

14) Momentarily transfer the deck to your right hand, which

holds it from above and by the ends. Transfer the break to your
right thumb at the back end.

15) Show your left hand empty and replace the deck in your left
hand, regaining the preliminary condition of Step 13. You're set
to immediately do the "sudden sandwich" of Mario's "Jumping
Jacks." (This is a precursor of the 3-Card Catch and its ancestors.)
Briefly, this is the action:

Using the same one-hand action used in Mario's Ace-Cut-

ting, jerk your left hand to the left. Retain the three bottom cards,
plus hold back the top card with your left thumb.
The rest of the deck drops onto the table and your left hand
holds a squared, four-card packet. The order of these four cards
from the top is: 6D (face-down) - selection (face-up) - X card
(face-up) - 7H (face-down). Turn the tabled deckface-down with
your right hand.

16) You can do a Single Buckle Spread to show the sandwich,

but the following spread is better. Push over the top card with
your left thumb, sliding it to a side-jogged position. Then grasp
the cards from above and by the ends with your right hand. Slide
out the bottom card (7H) with your left fingers. The ends of the
cards are aligned. The audience sees the face-up selection be-
tween two face-down cards. (Finesse: As your left fingers slide out
the bottom card, simultaneously slide the selection to the left
(about an eighth of an inch) with your left thumb. This creates a
single edge on the selections exposed side. This is another Mario
handling.)

17) Once you've exposed and revealed the selection, you can
flash the other side of the sandwich by using this finesse to "kill"
the 6D index. Place your right pinky under the outer right corner
(as though clipping this corner between your right third and pinky
fingers). When you rotate your right hand palm up, the 6D index
is hidden from view. Everything looks copacetic.

18) Say, 'That was fairly quick! The Red Sevens caught your
_!" Square the cards and turn them over and into your
left hand. The audience sees the 7H. Slide it back to an injogged
position, then do the Christ-Annemann Alignment Move to out-
jog the supposed selection. In reality, the X card is outjogged. The
selection remains between the 7H and 6D.

19) Remove the face-down X card with your right hand and place
it on top of the face-down deck. Ask the spectator to give the deck
a Straight Cut. Say, "Once again, bury your card in the middle of
the deck!"

20) As the spectator cuts the deck, transfer the sandwich-cards

to your right hand. Hold the packet at its right side between your
right thumb (top) and first/second fingers (underneath). Now
you're set to do Mario's Pinchers Move.

21) Say, "Watch closely..." Move your right hand toward the
tabled deck. In the process, push over the top two cards as one.
This action is identical to Victor's Eye-Count for the "double
pushoff of the Elmsley Count.

22) Wave the packet over the deck, then slide the top card to the
right with your right thumb. This instantly exposes the face-up
selection. If done properly, the selection magically pops into view.
Say, "The first time was fast, but this time it's even/aster/!" (Eicher
approach)

23) At this stage there are several ways to go. For example, a
K.M. Switch is workable and not discrepant. However, the follow-
ing handling features a convincing switch (a double-lift), and at
this point the audience must be convinced that you're placing the
selection back into the deck. You cannot afford to be cheeky.

24) Casually turn the selection face-down in situ. Casually

reverse-count the three cards. Say, "Not bad, considering only
three cards are used..." Reverse-count them again. The selection
remains in the center, but the casually mixing confuses the
audience about the selection's position.

25) Do your best Double Turnover to show the selection. Say,

"Watch your card closely. Once again its placed into the deck." Do
another Double Turnover and immediately deal the top card (6D)
face-down onto the deck. Give the deck a Straight Cut with your
right hand.

26) Hold the remaining two cards from above and by the ends
with your right hand. Turn your right hand palm up as you tap the
top of the deck with the back of your right fingers. This flashes
the 7H as you say, "Place your hands over the deck..."

27) Turn your right hand palm down and take the lowermost card
of the pair face-down into your left hand. You're now set to do
the Hamman, Mario, Racherbaumer, or (Trevor) Lewis
Sandwich Card Switches. That is, you take a single card between
two other cards. Then you switch the center card for one of the
outside cards. In this case, the tabled (unknown) card is the 7D,
whereas your right hand holds the SELECTION and your left
hand holds the 7H. The spectators think you're holding the Red
Sevens in your hands.

28) To keep this brief, the following switch is mine from "This
Sandwich Has No Future." Replace the right-hand card (selec-
tion) onto the left-hand card and keep them spread. Say,
"Remember the card we placed aside before we started?" Slowly
pick up the unknown-card with your right hand and fairly insert
it between the left-hand pair.

29) Say, "This is called 'making a Poor Man's sandwich.' It's done
openly and without fanfare." At this stage, you need a little
distraction to cover a secret displacement. Hold the three-card
spread with your right hand - thumb on top, fingers below.
 30) Slide out the lowermost card (7H) with your left hand, move
it forward and turn it face-up. Attention will be focussed on this
turnover. At this instant, push the uppermost card of the right-
hand pair to the left.

31) Replace theface-up 7H onto the uppermost right-hand card,

side-jogging it to the left. Grip the three-card spread with your
left hand, then slide out the lowermost card (7D) with your right
hand, turn it face-up and replace it. Everything looks copacetic,
even though the spread is reversed and the cards overlap in an
opposite direction. Because the spectators see the two Red Sevens
straddling a face-down card, everything looks normal. However,
unbeknownst to them, the selection is already between the
Sevens.

32) Say, "Now here's the strange part. You can't get any faster
than this! Your selection is between the Sevens before we begin.
Confusing, isn't it? It's like the man who left on the following day."
This is a good example of synergistic routine-making.