Simon Aronson is a card magic genius. I love his work. There is one trick that has fascinated me thoroughly, and that is his „Ad-Jacent“. What a great trick!
Despite having it, I wouldn’t perform it, because I am a lefty, and all the regular peek work is out of reach and impractical for me. So, here for all my fellow lefties, my simple and crude version of that same trick, dedicated with a deep and humble bow to Mr. Aronson. Despite lacking some of the „finesse“ of the original, it has some practical value (at least for me). Again, a lovely „magician’s life hack“.
You need a deck, a matching double-backer and a double-faced card, showing a Joker and an indifferent card on the other side. The double-backer is marked in the corners with a pencil dot on both sides for thinking-free handlng.
Set-up: Double-backer on top, second from top the double-facer, Joker side down (deck is face-down).
Performance: Hold deck face down. Double lift and turn the top two cards face up. Joker is seen. Thumb the Joker off the deck onto the table. Have two spectators each select a card. Make sure you don’t let them select the double-backer, for a better effect.
Prepare for the TILT. Take first selected card and insert into TILT, „loosing it in the deck“. False shuffle, keeping the top two cards in place.
Put the deck onto the table and have the second spectator place his card on top of the deck and cut it in the middle. Replace the cut. The two chosen cards are now besides the double-backer. Spread the deck face down on the table with a wide ribbon spread.
Now for the revelation. Take the Joker and begin moving it along the spread (from the end toward the middle). Have the spectator stop you, when it is about in the middle of the spread. Insert the card at this point. Make sure it is not in between the double-backer an a chosen card (easy to see because of the secret pencil markings on the double-backer).
Now immediately turn over the ribbon spread in the well-known „macho display mode“, showing your skills at turning a spread of cards over. Do it with grace and conviction. Or just cleanly turn over the spread.
The spectators see a face down card in the middle (supposedly the Joker). The cards directly to the right and left are the chosen cards! Clean-up with your favorite method …
I know, very very simple, but then – it works like a charm. A no-skill no-brainer so to say. Have fun! 🙂
