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An Entertaining Card Discovery

Eugene Burger
Originally published in M.U.M., March, 2004

When I was appearing at Biggs restaurant in Chicago in the mid 1990s, this was actually one of the most requested of my routines. That may surprise many readers, yet people returning to the restaurant with friends almost always asked to see “the little robot who did card tricks.” While, on the one hand, it was all very simple for me to accomplish; on the other hand, it was also great entertainment and fun. The robot provided a delightful off-beat interlude in my show.

EFFECT

A card is freely selected and returned to the deck which is set on the table. I explain: “You might think that I have no idea where your card is but the truth is that I do have a general sense. Since the deck has not been cut or shuffled, using simple estimation I could guess that if I cut the cards right here (performer cuts a group of cards from the top of the deck and places them to the side), I’m quite sure that your card is one of the top five or six cards.”

Here, I pause, smile and confess: “But I don’t know which one. That’s the problem. Fortunately, if I fail to find your card, unlike brain or eye surgery, there’s never any litigation. So, what shall I do? I think the best thing would be to turn to the men of science.”

I introduce the small plastic wind-up toy robot figure. The top five cards from the packet in my hand are dealt face-down in a row on the table. I wind the robot and place it at the end of the row. The robot walks over the cards and stops over one card. The selected card is named and the spectator is invited to remove the card from under the robot. It is the selected card.

ARCANUM

In the late 1980s, a non-magician friend gave me a small wind-up toy robot figure. When wound, it would make noise and walk across the table and, if you weren’t paying attention, walk right off the edge and fall onto the floor. My friend suggested that I might be able to use the robot in my magic. It seemed like an interesting idea but, as often happens, the little robot remained in a box for many years before I found it again and began experimenting with it—and then made a rather interesting discovery.

First, I made a mark with a Sharpie pen across the robot’s winder knob. This allowed me to turn the knob with an exact number of revolutions. I discovered that if I wound the knob with two and one quarter complete turns, the robot would walk to the third card and stop. If I wound it with three complete turns, it would walk to the fourth card. It was that simple.

PERFORMANCE

Before spreading the cards for the spectator’s selection, I crimp the bottom card. As the card is being shown to the audience I casually get a break under the top two cards of the deck and Double Under Cut them to the bottom. I now have a crimped card third from the bottom of the deck. To replace the selected card, I use a Hindu Shuffle which puts the deck’s bottom stock directly above the selected card. The deck is set on the table.

I now need only cut deck at the crimp and deal the top five cards onto the table. I deal them in a row, so their long edges are touching. The selected card is in the third position. I wind the robot two and one quarter complete turns. When winding the robot, place your fingers under the feet to keep it from unwinding prematurely. Place the robot at the end of the row, so that it is touching the edge of the end card. The robot now walks to the selected (third) card and stops.

SUBTLETY

What makes this effect so effective for bar and restaurant work—where there can be a repetition of a performer’s effects before people who have seen them previously—is the fact that the robot does not always need to walk to the same position. If the effect is being performed for people who have seen it before, the robot can walk to the fourth position (with three complete turns of the winding knob).

VARIATION

In the late 1990s, my friend Quentin Reynolds invited me to come to Ireland to help celebrate his 25th year in magic. It was a delightful affair where I was the surprise guest who performed a show and then gave a lecture for the magicians present. And, the next day, I even had the good fortune to be taken to visit the most awesome New Grange, perhaps the oldest human monument on this planet.

A few days before leaving for Dublin, I saw a wonderfully goofy wind-up toy called Nun-Zilla. It is a nun, holding a book in one hand and the compulsory ruler in the other. When wound, not only does she walk, she also shoots sparks out of her mouth. Nun-zilla seemed perfect for my first appearance in a largely Catholic country! Only two questions remained: first, would this wind-up toy work the same way as the robot and, second, would the magicians of Dublin find the routine amusing when performed by a fallen-away Protestant who looked like a Jewish rabbi or an Orthodox priest?

Happily, the answers to both questions were in the affirmative. Regarding the first, however, I found that Nun-zilla needed three compete turns of the winder knob to walk to the third card—and four complete turns to walk to the fourth card. Needless to say, I changed the line in the script that referred to “the men of science” to “When in doubt, I think the best thing would be to turn to the Church.”

FINDING TOYS

Look for wind-up toys that walk in a straight line. Look for toys that might express a plot and that work with your own personality. Some experimentation may be required but by marking a line on the toy’s winder knob, you will be able to calculate how far your particular toy will walk. You may also, for example, experiment with placing the cards in a row so their short ends touch, rather than their long ends. After only a little experimentation, I think you will discover the correct number of winder knob revolutions your toy needs to walk to at least two positions in the row.

If you work with this, I think you will be surprised at the responses you will receive.