The Morphing Joker No ratings yet.

Effect: The spectator picks and memorizes a card. He/she then places it back in the deck and the Magician shuffles the deck. The Magician then takes out a bunch of cards and places them on the bottom, followed by the joker which is also placed below them. The Magician then does some false calculations to reveal a different card to the spectators. The cards are replaced on top and the joker is placed on them. The Magician shows the top card to reveal that the joker has actually morphed into the spectator’s chosen card!

Method

1. Shuffle the deck however you want (this trick can be performed with any deck as long as there is a joker in it).
2. Let the spectator pick a card and show it to everyone. Cut the deck and let the spectator place his card face down in between (Subtly glance at the bottom card of the other half and remember it) and place the top half on top so that his card is sandwiched in between.
3. Cut the deck several times, being careful not to separate the spectator’s card and your card. If the spectator asks to cut it for you, allow him to after you’ve cut once or twice to reduce the possibility of him/her separating your two cards.
4. Ask the spectator to pick a number between 5-15. Whatever number he chooses, look through the deck (do not let him see the faces of the cards) and locate your card. starting from the card to the right of it (the spectator’s card) count that number of cards and take them out of the deck. Place these cards on the bottom so that the spectator’s card is on the bottom. Do not let him/her see that it is his/hers.
5. Say that you also need the joker to be on the bottom. Look through the deck and locate the joker. Place it on the bottom.
6. You can now do any sort of card calculation tricks with the too few cards of the deck.

   For this, we’ll do the Year Game trick.

   1. Ask the spectator how many weeks there are in a year. When he/she answers 52, deal 5 cards face down in a pile and then 2 next to it. Mix them together and replace them on top of the deck.
   2. Then ask him/her how many months there are in a year. When he/she answers 12, deal out 12 cards face down in a pile and then replace them on top of the deck.
   3. Now ask how many days there are in a week. When he/she says 7, deal out 7 cards in a pile and replace them on top of the deck.
   4. Lastly ask how many months are affected by a leap year. When he/she says 1, bury the top card anywhere in the deck.
7. Reveal the top card. Ask the spectator whether this was their chosen card. They will say no. Replace the card on top of the deck.
8. Say that this was because the joker had played a trick on him/her and had actually hidden the card. Say that the joker will now show them their card.
9. Hold the deck in your left hand faced down with your thumb on the right hand edge and your other four fingers on the left hand edge (the reverse if using the right hand). Show them the joker on the bottom and then turn the deck faced down.
10. Execute the ‘glide‘ (use the middle, ring and pinky fingers to pull back the bottom card about 1-1.5cm) and pull out the second to bottom card (the Spectator’s card). The spectator will think that this is the joker. Place their card on top of the deck.
11. Ask the spectator to tap the deck (or perform any other magical gesture) and the flip over the top card to reveal, to their surprise, that the joker has actually morphed into the card they chose. Take a bow and when convenient, quickly shuffle the deck to make sure no-one see’s the joker still on the bottom.

Any card calculation trick can be used as this is just misdirection to lead the spectator to believe that his/her card is in the top few and not, in fact, the second bottom. Variants of this trick can include fake cuts and/or shuffles to retain the deck order while leading the spectator to believe that you have completely mixed up the cards.

Trick by Alga Mau