I Will Bet
I Will Bet
I Will Bet
L L O Y D E. JONES
OAKLAND 2, CALIFORNIA
Editor, The BAT, a National Magic Magazine
Founder, Brotherhood of American Tricksters
Member Society of American Magicians, etc.
A Choice Collection
of
Easy Challenge Tricks
i^n cHewis ^J^ohrS
FIRE-EATING FINGERS
You calmly toast your fingers in
the bright flame of a match. You
e n d u r e the pain stoically, even
joke about it. W h a t a M A N !
1. M a k e t h r e e g o o d squares
f r o m eight matches no broken
matches!
2. N o w f r o m eight matches,
form two good squares and eight
trianglesno broken matches al-
lowed this time either.
T h i s trick w o r k s best on a
smooth table or bar top.
THE HUMAN PRETZEL
Drop a handkerchief on the table.
Then challenge someone to pick
it up by two corners and tie it into
a knot, without letting go the
ends. He'll wind up tying himself
into a pretzelbut not the hand-
kerchief.
THE K N O W HOW
T h e bright solution amuses
everybody. Hold the end of the
string around a finger of one
hand. Gather up some slack in the
middle of the string, make a loop
and secure it with a knot. Now
cut the loop!
f i g u r i n g this o n e out. H e p u t s
reverses it a n d s u b t r a c t s the
every time!
s i m p l e calculation you k n o w
PS-lf*vtn diiif o f a n r w e r
THE SHOW HOW on left-, p e n n y is in-fho leff
,?nd;'fnr.qhf penny
If your Victim balks at the fig- ism
ma ri^ht hand.
u r i n g , c h a l l e n g e him to p r o v e
THE K N O W HOW
The marking is fair enough,
but as you toss the match into the
air bend it slightly in the middle,
away f r o m the mark. It lands
marked side down.
THE K N O W HOW
Light your cigarette at one end,
as usual. Puff it and appear to
turn it to the lit end, to puff again.
W h a t really happens, repeatedly,
is that you give the cigarette a
complete turn back to the starting
point after each puff, instead of
the half-turn that would bring the
lit end to your lips.
T o do this, bring your hand to
your lips to remove the cigarette,
with your palm facing out, thumb
down. Grasp it between your first
and second fingers, resting the
back of your thumb on top of the
cigarette, slightly in front of your
fingers. As you turn your hand use
your fingers to give the cigarette
one complete turn, placing the
unlit end to your lips.
C a u t i o n : Avoid perfumed
handkerchiefs.
C h a l l e n g e someone to stand a
glass full of water upside down
without spilling more than a few
d r o p s . T h e n c h a l l e n g e him to
turn it rightside upagain with-
out spilling.
THE K N O W HOW
Some coins have small grooves
which make ideal balancing
points. You'll find one on the In-
dian's nose on the buffalo nickel,
or at the base of the neck on the
Liberty dime. You'll quickly feel
the knack of this startler.
Experiment for the right type
of glass and amount of water.
It's also f u n to balance the glass
on some unnoticeable crack in a
table top.
D O A S I D I D!
This dandy drives grown men to
chew their shoestrings. It's a
crumpler for the cocksure.
You twirl a loop between your
first fingers, then stop and lock it
between thumbs and first fingers.
(Fig. 3) N o w you b r i n g your
hands together and press thumbs
a n d f i r s t f i n g e r s a g a i n s t each
o t h e r . W h e n you s p r e a d them
slightly, the loop drops o f f .
(Fig- 5)
The Challenge: " D o as I did.
Twirl it, lock it, drop it."
Help your Victim follow your
i n s t r u c t i o n s . But w h e n he
spreads his fingers out, the loop
is locked between them.
THE K N O W HOW
The first secret: Twirl the loop
with your fingers back to back.
Maintain this relationship as you
lock the loop between the first
finger and thumb of each hand.
(Fig- 3)
The second secret: W h e n you
bring your hands together, push
each first finger tightly against the
thumb of the pther hand. The
loop then drops when you spread
out your fingers.
Take five minutes off to master
this baffler. Have f u n with it for
fifty years!
III. TEN TRICKY MIXERS!
THE K N O W HOW
Instruct the woman to stand u p
and press her hands firmly down
upon her head. There is no more
to it than that; in fact, a grown
man may have no more luck if a
standing boy or girl is selected as
the subject.
L I N K T H E L O O P !
THE K N O W HOW
In the starting position your
first fingers and thumbs touch
each other at their tips, turnip
shape, pointing upwards. Then
these f o u r f i n g e r s t a k e t u r n s
c l i m b i n g u p on o n e a n o t h e r .
T h e i r m o v e m e n t , in s u m m a r y ,
after the first position, goes like
this:
1. Right thumb to left first fingerraise
right first finger;
2. Left thumb to right thumb;
3. Left first finger to right first finger;
4. Left thumb to right first finger and
raise left first finger;
5. Right thumb back to the left thumb and
the right first to the left first finger.
i
5
THE SHOW HOW
Learn this with your fingers,
well ahead of time. Pick them u p
with snap, in rhythm.
THE HOHTE CARLO MATCH RACE
From a pile of thirty matches two
players take t u r n s r e m o v i n g
matches. At each turn the player
can choose any number he wants
from one through six.
The winner guess who!
captures the last match.
THE K N O W HOW
T o fix the outcome, cautiously
remove one or two matches at a
time, until you force the Victim
to take his turn f r o m one of the
following victimizing choices:
2 piles with equal numbers
3 piles with either
1 match each
1, 2 and 3 matches
1, 4 and 5 matches.
N o w no matter what he tries, you
can leave him the last match.
E V E R Y O T H E R OHE
THE K N O W HOW
Arrange the top thirteen cards
beforehand in the following or-
der (reading from the top down)
7, Ace, Queen, 2,8,3, Jack, 4,9, 5,
King, 6, 10. Deal as described
above.
THE K N O W HOW
Previously stack thirteen cards
of a suit in the following order
(reading f r o m the top d o w n ) : 3,
8,7, ACE, Q U E E N , 6,4,2, JACK,
K I N G , 10, 9, 5. N o w deal as de-
scribed. You can't miss!
' I L B * T YOU ^ ^
THE K N O W HOW
As you hunt f o r the three
Queens slip the fourth Queen on
the bottom of the deck. Tell your
Victim to mix his Queens well,
place them on the top, middle and
bottom, and cut the deck a few
times. His first cut brings three
Queens together.
THE K N O W HOW
Note the bottom card of the
deck and keep track of its heap.
It's your clue heap. When you
gather the cards put the clue
packet on top the Victim's card.
His card is now next to the bottom
card and comes after it when you
deal.
Hold the deck faces down, and
deal faces up. To create a little
flurry, deal past the selected card
a dozen cards, then hesitate and
say, "The next card I turn over
will be yours." It is! Find his card
and turn it over, face down.
THE C A R D S J U M P !
THE K N O W H O W
You secretly confuse one red 8
and 9 with the other. While you
seem to be looking for just the 8
of Hearts and 9 of Diamonds,
plant the 8 of Diamonds and 9 of
Hearts at the top of the deck.
(See? You too are befuddled by
them!) Give your Victim his red
eight and nine to bury in the pack.
Now, to show off secret skill,
riffle the pack with your thumb.
(Orif you are cleveryou can
even keep the two cards on top as
you make a riffle-shuffle.)
Tap the pack and reveal the
substitutes at the top the other
red 8 and 9.
THE K N O W HOW
The secret formula is, reading
f r o m t h e t o p d o w n , 2-1-2-3.
Thus if you use Queens and Aces,
arrange them to read from left to
right, two Queens, one Ace, two
Queens, three Aces. Now turn the
packet over, faces down, and deal
as described.
THE K N O W HOW
. ,x Ninth As you tap, count to yourself,
Top touching any card on each beat.
On the seventh beat, tap the nine
in the circle and tap backwards,
counter-clockwise. When he says
" S t o p " you'll be touching his
card.
E Y E S IN YOUR F I N G E R S
Your Victim deals himself any
three cards face-up on the table
and thinks merely thinks
of one of them. You put them in
your pocket and feel for the
thought-of card. First you remove
one, and then a second. Each time
you say doubtfully, " N o this
couldn't be it," and, without
showing it, replace it in the deck.
Then, as if for dramatic effect,
you ask your Victim to name his
card. Triumphantly you remove
it from your pocket. It hardly
seems possible!
THE K N O W HOW
Ahead of time, secretly place
two cards from the deck in your
pocket. When the Victim deals
his cards on the table, memorize
them in order and slip them be-
hind the two cards.
The first cards you remove are
the planted ones. When the Vic-
tim calls his card you can easily
choose it from the three you mem-
orized.
THE K N O W HOW
While toying with the cards
secretly scramble a royal flush to
the top of the deck.
Deal out five hands of five cards
each and turn each hand over a
moment to show how ordinary it
is. Turn them back and gather
them, one packet at a time, with-
out disturbing their order. Pass
the deck to the talented Victim.
The cards are now stacked for
him. He'll have no troubleex-
cept in explaining how he did it!
THE K N O W HOW
Have the Victim hold his pencil
tightly between his fists, exposing
four or five inches of its length as
a striking surface. Fold the dollar
bill once lengthwise and pretend
to sharpen its edge.
Now get set. Come down two
strokes. On the count of three
bring your first finger, pad side
down, and the bill down through
the pencil. Hide your finger be-
hind the bill, and withdraw it dur-
ing the follow-through.
THE K N O W HOW
This is well worth the little
7p
practice needed beforehand. Toss
and reach for the coin, palm out,
and grasp it firmly. You will find
that whenever you wish you can
appear to catch the coin but can
actually catch it in your sleeve al-
most as easily as in your hand. Aim
for your wrist.
The most sharp-eyed Victim
will be deceived, in spite of the
fact that your palm faces toward
him. Practice before a mirror. See
for yourself.
THE K N O W HOW
Have the Victim hold the hand-
kerchief in a t/-shape as you did.
Reach for both ends at the same
time, but as you reach, your left
arm goes in behind your left side
of the U and up to grasp the end
held by his left hand. At the same
time your right hand and arm pass
through the U up behind your left
wrist to nip the end held by his
right hand. Now pull and you
have a knot!
THE K N O W HOW
Here are your moves in slow
motion:
1. Lay your right hand palm up
on the center of the handkerchief.
2. Pick up the right end with
your left hand,bring the end back
across the crotch of your right
thumb, and over your right hand
to a point just in front of the left
end. Hold it there.
3. Now turn your right hand
over palm down and bring it un-
der your left arm to nip the left
end with the first and second
fingers.
A. Hold tight. Pull your hands
in opposite directions. There's
your knot!
You'll soon be too fast for Vic-
tims to follow.
Now work out another solu-
tion from the principles of THE
C A N N O T KNOT.
THE' F I F T Y - F I F T Y LIGHT
Light a paper match. Suddenly
you remember the other fellow.
Zip! You have split your match
into tivo lit matches, and are
handing him one of his own.
THE K N O W HOW
That was a loaded question.
The upright matches hardly ever
catch fire from the burning one.
The flame creates a tension in the
wood, and pops the middle match
up into the air!
THE K N O W HOW
Put one match on the table.
Now lay eleven matches across
the first match, alternately from
each side, heads facing each other,
matches touching. W h e n you
have stacked them along the
whole length of the first match,
put the final match on top of the
others, parallel to the bottom
match. Lift the bottom match
gently and all will come up to-
gether.
A M AR T
Page Sixty-six
k z - l x
CONTENTS
Here They Are 5
T h e Show H o w : Tips for Tricksters . . . . . . . <5
I. C A N Y O U D O T H I S OR T H A T ? . . . . . 7
Fire-Eating Fingers . . . . 7 The Human Pretzel 12
Frown-Maker 8 Double Balancing Act . 13
Tear It Till the Tears Come . 9 Now Get Them Off Again 14
Fun With Eight Matches . . 10 Cut But Still Hanging . 15
The Matchless Challenge . . 1 1 Ring On, Ring Off . . 16
III. T E N T R I C K Y MIXERS 27
Think of a Man, or Better, Doorway Through a Card . 32
The Card That Won't . . 33
Her Personal History . . . 28 The Little Woman of Iron . 34
Finding Out Her Secrets . . 29 A Good Party Tie-Up . . 35
Wise Guy Meets His Match . 30 Link the Loop . . . . 36
How Strong Are Your Fists? . 31
IV. D O AS I D O IF Y O U C
CAAN
N, 37
The Crazy Caterpillar . . . 37 The Monte Carlo Match Race 42
Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down! . 38 The One-Two-Three Match
You Do As I DoTo Win, Race 43
That Is . 39 A Match RaceOr a
A Neat Stack of Pennies . . 40 Rat Race? 44
A Chance to Pick Up Some The 100 Point Race . . . 45
Pennies . 41 Foul Play, Fair Dice . 46
DEAL AS I D E A L . . . . 47
Every Other One 47 The Cards Jump . . . . 52
A Speller-Outer 48 Deal As I Deal . . . . 53
Queens On His Mind . . . 49 You Count As I Tapand
Siamese Triplets 50 We'll Meet On Your Card 54
The Next Card Will Be Yours 51 Eyes In Your Fingers . . . 55
A Card Sharp In Our Midst . 56
VI. SURPRISE E N D I N G S 57
The Almighty Dollar . 57 Knot in a Flash . 62
The Fifty-Fifty Light. . 63
Heads or Tails . . . . . 59 The Race Jumps Out of
On the Count of Twelve . 60 Bounds 64
A Blind Date . . . . One Match Lifts Twelve 65
The Cannot Knot . . . 61 Acknowledgments 66
Copyright 19-16 by T H E LEWIS KOHRS C O M P A N Y , Berkeley 5, California
'ij-afeiMa
. w i
P I C T U R E S . E X P E R T INSTRUCTIONS
AMAZING FUN FOR ALL A N Y T I M E - A N Y W H E R E MAGIC