Expert Tricks
This is where the real hand work lives. If you’ve been through the easy and intermediate tricks and want something that will fool people who think they know how card tricks work, start here. Fair warning: these take weeks, not minutes.
The tricks on this page lean on proper sleights. You’ll meet the double lift, palming a card, holding a pinky break, controlling a chosen card to the top, and even the faro shuffle. None of them are magic on their own. What makes them deceptive is doing them smoothly, at the same pace as your ordinary handling, so nothing looks different when the secret move happens.
Practice in front of a mirror, and practice the sleight on its own before you try the full routine. I like to do a move a hundred times while watching TV, until my hands do it without me thinking. Then go back to the trick.
The Ambitious Card is the one every card magician should learn, and it’s a great home for your double lift. The Color Transfer is a short, sharp visual. Always On Top is a proper workout for your palm, and Aces for Cardmen Only is the faro routine to aim for. If any of this feels like too much, step back to the Intermediate Tricks for a while. There’s no shame in it.
- Card Appearance Expert — August 14, 2010
A chosen card is placed as the fourth card from the bottom. The cards are shown and none are the spectator's, until it appears in their fist. - The Magnetic Cards Expert — November 5, 2009
You find a spectator’s card in the deck, then drop the deck so that only the selected cards stay in your hand. The cards appear to be magnetic. - The Ambitious Card Expert — July 17, 2009
A selected card keeps returning to the top of the deck, no matter how many times it is buried in the middle. A classic and the final surprise is a real stunner. - Another Changing Ace Trick Expert — October 1, 2008
Two red aces are covered by the spectator's hands so no switch is possible. Yet when they flip them over, both aces have turned black. - Amazing Prediction Easy — July 18, 2007
Before any cards are selected the magician writes a prediction. After a series of free choices and deals, it matches the final result perfectly. - Bert’s Deception Expert — June 8, 2007
A spectator chooses a card from one deck, but it ends up in a surprising place. A second deck and a mismatched card play a part. - Another Ace Location Expert — May 13, 2007
The deck is shuffled and then cut. Each time the magician cuts, the card at the cut point is an ace, until all four have been found. - Aroo! Expert — May 6, 2007
A chosen card is shown and handed to the spectator face down. They believe it is theirs, but a switch has happened right under their nose. - The Ace Switch Up Expert — April 19, 2007
Three aces shown in a red-black-red or black-red-black pattern change their colour order on the table. It takes a smooth, subtle sleight to hide the switch. - The Amazing Switch Expert — April 14, 2007
A spectator’s chosen card is placed under their finger, but after one tap the other card has become the chosen card, which is under their hand. - Acrobatic Aces Expert — April 8, 2007
Four aces are dealt in piles, and the spectator holds one pile. The aces then fly from the other piles into the spectator's hands. - Ace+Ace=2 Jokers Expert — April 5, 2007
Two aces are put down and quickly switched, apparently without anyone seeing. When the cards are flipped over, the aces have become jokers. - Aces for Cardmen Only Expert — March 15, 2007
From a deck that seems thoroughly shuffled, the magician cuts to the four aces one by one. A borrowed deck is fine and nothing is marked. - The Color Transfer Expert — March 12, 2007
A black joker is placed on a red card, and their colours swap places as if the red card gave its colour to the joker. It needs a prepared deck. - Always On Top Expert — March 10, 2007
A spectator's card is shown to them and lost in the middle of the deck. Remarkably, it climbs back up and is found on top. - The Absent Card Expert — March 9, 2007
A selected card seems to disappear from the deck, then turns up at the precise moment a spectator says stop. It takes smooth handling to pull off.
