IN
VINO
VERITAS
Jake Keane
IN WINE,
THERE IS
TRUTH
Copyright © 2024 by Jake Keane
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or distributed in any form without prior written permission from the author, with the
exception of non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. You know the score, don’t share another magician’s secrets, it’s
kind of a dick move. Break this sacred code and you will become intimately acquainted with a multitude of demonic, many-
tentacled creatures far worse than any human lawyer.
INTRODUCTION
I’ll keep this short and sweet as I have a fetish for tangents.
The following trick is simple and direct, but some may consider it
lacking in justification. Why the magical moment actually happens
narratively isn’t as clearly defined as I’d like.
Perhaps you can find a story that fits the effect? If not, this may
just exist as a fun juncture; visual for the sake of being visual; an
impossible moment designed to elicit a reaction.
Sometimes that’s all a trick needs to be. Sometimes I spend too
long thinking about these things when just letting the effect exist
is all that’s really needed.
THE EFFECT
Your left hand is absolutely ruined. The result of one-too-many
idiotic games involving a knife and a level of dexterity only
possessed by grizzled action heroes from the eighties.
Originally, you’d rented out the remote log cabin as a place to
relax, drink beer, and catch-up with a few close friends you
hadn’t seen in years. But over the course of a few nights, things
had steadily degraded into absolute chaos, degeneracy, and
Kafkaesque levels of absurdity.
It would be easy to assume the picturesque forests of Drammen
in Norway where an idyllic escape of some sort. Truth be told,
you just needed to blow off some steam and get hammered.
.Stabbing the knife down into the handrail of the porch, you turn
back around and start to head inside. But before your hand even
touches the door handle, a Nordic-lilted voice calls out from the
darkness of the trees.
“Room for two more? We’re staying the other side of the lake and
heard the music and English accents. We brought wine.”
Within a few short hours, Astrid and Nora have charmed you and
your friend group endlessly. Everyone is beyond tipsy, party
games have been played, lips have loosened, and the cultural
exchange of a traditional piss-up around a table is going well.
But someone lets slip about your mystical trade and the work
you do. Then drunken pleas are made, and before you know it…
You hand Astrid a battered deck – sipping the last of the wine
from your glass – and she selects a card, looks at it, and places it
back atop the deck as instructed.
“Think of the card for me. I get the impression you’re an explorer;
you take chances and push boundaries. It’s probably got you in
trouble in the past, but it’s also a huge part of who you are...
You’re thinking of the Seven of Diamonds.”
Astrid laughs and nods her head as you pick up the deck with one
hand and slide the selected card out from the top, tilting it so it’s
visible to all in the cabin.
“But knowing what card someone picked is pretty easy, you’ve
probably seen it before? I think with someone like you – a person
who hunts down experiences in life – showing you something
you’ve never seen is more your style.”
Bringing up the wine glass in your other hand you flick the card
from the top of the deck. The entire cabin is shocked to hear a
clink of glass and see that the card has somehow fused through
the stem of the wine glass! It spins around in place before
stopping on the base of the glass.
“Realistically, this should be impossible. This is the kind of magic
you’d hoped for when you asked to see something. Astrid, you’re
a proactive person, very hands on, so you’re going to help me
with this next part.”
You pull the card from the stem, ripping it down the centre on
one side, then place the glass down on the table and finish
tearing the card into quarters. Then you place the pieces in
Astrid’s hand and close her fingers around them as you speak:
“I’m going to ask you to hold on to these pieces while I pour
another drink, and I want you to think about all of the things in
life you thought were impossible. Dreams and goals that seemed
unreachable, but your heart still wanted them.”
You get up from the table to find the bottle of wine and pour
yourself another glass as the whole of the table stare at Astrid in
confusion. Then you sit down and take a sip. A quiet moment
passes peacefully and the room seems frozen in time.
“Open your hand slowly for me, Astrid, and think about all the
things you used to believe were impossible.”
Her fingers unfurl and everyone at the table leans in. Resting in
her palm, the four pieces of card have restored themselves. She
unfolds the Seven of Diamonds to reveal the playing card is in
one piece again, besides the hole in the centre…
THE METHOD
There’s no secret arcane knowledge hidden within these pages.
But don’t let that get under your skin...
Sadly, I know of no divine alchemy which allows you to melt solid
objects through one another and reattach torn cards. This effect
is mostly made up of the most basic deceptions within magic.
Things so simple I’d hesitate to call them sleights.
However, hiding behind simplicity is a memorable moment your
participants will want to hold close, and a connection that rings
true. And unlike the usual signed cards and throwaway trinkets,
this effect finishes with a souvenir your participant might actually
want to keep.
.Let’s start with the basics of this effect. Three cards of the same
suit and value are needed, and some preparation time is required
beforehand for you to do some dirty work.
There will be diagrams on the next two pages.
The first of the cards is placed atop the deck. You can keep this in
place with false shuffles throughout the night, or you can just
locate it and control it to the top right before this effect.
The second card will have a hole cut out of the very centre which
is the same size as the stem on your wine glass. This can be as
rough or smooth a hole as you wish, choose what you believe
looks the best.
Either side of the hole – lengthways – you’re going to make a
perfectly clean cut (refer to the diagrams on the next two pages if
you’re unsure what I mean) wider than the base of your wine
glass. This slice needs to be clean and near invisible, so use your
sharpest knife or scalpel and make sure it’s straight.
The third card will only have the hole in the centre cut out of it.
Do your best to match the second card as closely as possible,
although it’s unlikely anyone will pay too much attention. This
card is then folded into quarters as tightly as possible and hidden
in your lap or somewhere easily accessible.
The second card (with the slit in) is attached to the stem of the
wine glass, face down. To do this, you’re just sliding the base
through the cut until the hole is around the stem, and then
holding the glass while the card is loosely palmed at a slight angle
in your hand.
The pre-loaded card has the hole in the
middle for the stem and a very clean slit
either side to allow you to slip it over
the base of the glass. Make sure to use a
sharp blade. Ask a parent or guardian to
help you if you’re under 18 (and don’t
drink wine).
The pre-folded card in your lap just has
the stem hole in the very centre cut out.
If you want, you can lightly burn the
interior of the hole to sell that some
kind of magical reaction has occurred,
allowing the effect to happen.
The playing card slips over the
base of the glass through the
slit. It is then palmed and
hidden while attached to the
stem in the action of just
holding the glass normally.
You may want to experiment
with different glasses to find
one that hides the card best
when you hold it naturally, as all
hands are different when
palming cards.
The card is hidden in palm while you hold the glass and you must
force the matching card that’s on top of the deck. The easiest and
arguably most effective route to go down is just to use a simple
cross cut force.
However, any force you can accomplish with one hand will work;
dribble force on table, timing force with card pre-positioned,
even a number 37 or 9 force with the card stowed in the
respective position in the deck.
The participant is instructed to place the card back atop the deck
and you can then divine their chosen card however you wish. Or if
you’d prefer not to, you don’t even have to include this part and
can simply ask them.
I incorporate a little light reading into the scripting here, but –
again – if this isn’t your style you can choose to keep things basic.
I believe the snippets of script I included in the effect description
earlier show you why I include these elements as they provide a
small amount of narrative justification for what’s about to
happen.
There will be diagrams on the next two pages.
You pick up the deck in one hand and slide out their card with
your thumb so that you can show it to the spectators. As you’re
doing this, the other hand raises the wine glass into view.
This next part is a lot easier than it sounds. In one solid
movement, you’re going to flick your wrist as if flinging the card
towards the glass while actually pulling it back flush with the
deck. Simultaneously, you’re going to shift the hand holding the
glass and tilt it upwards to reveal the card.
Practise each movement separately until you’re confident doing
both at the same time, but it shouldn’t take you long to get the
hang of it and really be able to sell that the card has been flung
from atop the deck to the stem of the glass.
The thumb should be pulled back quick and the card repositioned
as perfectly in line with the rest of the deck as possible. Although
you can tilt your hand slightly to hide any sloppiness if there’s a
little overlap.
With the wine glass, you’re essentially loosening up your palm so
that the card can fall free as you grip higher up on the glass with
your thumb and forefinger. The glass is tilted upwards quickly so
that momentum slides the card down the base of the glass.
In this upward flick of the glass, you can sometimes apply a little
rotation to the card with your middle finger so that it spins. I also
try and make contact with the glass with my fingernail to produce
a small clinking noise.
Depending on how you tilt the glass, applying a slight diagonal
movement and then a small jolt downwards can cause the card to
spin too (although none of this is absolutely necessary, just small
touches that add to the effect).
It’s important that you keep the slit hidden at this point. If it’s a
clean cut and the momentum has driven it to the base, you’ll
usually be safe. However, I tend to keep moving the glass as if
showing it to the spectators, just so that it can’t be examined
close up thoroughly.
You could glue the slit shut after you’ve placed it on the glass. I
think this is more effort than it’s worth but it’s an option.
Now for the next part of the effect. While you’re showing the card
on the glass to spectators, you can hide the deck away in a
pocket, or just palm the top card and ditch it so that they can
examine the deck afterwards.
Then you will pull on the card quickly, ripping through the end of
the card not already slit. You will then tear past the other slit,
align the two halves, and tear down the centre. So you now have
four quarters of a card.
The pre-folded card in your lap comes into play now and there
are a multitude of options for you to switch, depending entirely
on your skill level and what you’re comfortable with.
Most of you will be comfortable with a false pass/transfer. If so,
you can simply pick up the pre-folded card in your lap secretly,
bring your hand up to the table, and act as if your placing the torn
pieces into that hand, while actually retaining them in finger palm
or clipped.
If you prefer to use a switch device/wallet such as a Quiver, that’s
also an option that can be just as magical a moment if done
casually and seemingly off-the-cuff.
You can even be as bold as to just ditch the pieces in your lap
while picking up the pre-folded card. If you’re talking and
misdirection is in play, there’s very little for them to even look for
as they don’t know what’s about to happen.
From here, the pre-folded card is placed in the participant’s hand
and their fingers are closed around it. How you reveal that the
pieces have seemingly fused back together is your choice entirely
– just make it magical.
THOUGHTS
I’m not going to try and convince you this is anything more than a
card trick with a little reading thrown into the mix; that’s exactly
what it is. And I understand that my ham-fisted approach to
magic may be seen as impractical to some.
I would agree.
I’ve come to accept over the years that although I may be capable
of it, I will never be that magician ready to deliver five perfect
effects in a table-hopping set, one after the other. It simply does
not excite me, as much as I admire it.
My magic is impractical, it does take set-up and time.
But whatever I lose in the trade-off between practicality and true
experience, I consider it worthwhile. And as always – I’ll stress –
this is my approach to magic and this is my passion. I respect the
viewpoints of others and adore all forms of this sacred science.
Without sounding vain (because it comes from a different place
entirely), I want my magic to be remembered. I want it to be
something that’s spoken about. Pieces of magic like this help
achieve that for me.
I leave little dolls made of twigs hanging from trees around the
cabins I stay in. Maybe I watched ‘The Blair Witch Project’ too
many times, or maybe I just want to know I’ll make an impression
on someone even when I’m not there? Same as my magic.
Tangents aside, I try to enhance what is a basic effect with a little
light reading. This isn’t the booklet to explain cold reading or
cartomancy, but as long as you say something that feels right and
rings true, you’ll still be adding more to the trick.
I think talking about dreams and goals that are unrealised is a
good angle for this reading as it’s fairly common of most people
and gives a little narrative reasoning as to why you’re showing
them something seemingly impossible.
But if you can think of scripting and justifications that suits you,
your character, and your performance style better; go for it! You
know yourself best and what you can pull off.
If you wanted to, you could have a message written on the final
card for another moment of magic. Maybe something like
‘‘nothing is impossible” or “don’t let dreams die.” Something
wholesome that they’ll appreciate and want to keep.
Thank You
It means the world to me that you went out your way to download
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from the bottom of my heart when I say thank you for taking a
look at my work
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IN WATER,
THERE IS
GOOD
SENSE
Copyright © 2024 by Jake Keane
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or distributed in any form without prior written permission from the author, with the
exception of non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. You know the score, don’t share another magician’s secrets, it’s
kind of a dick move. Break this sacred code and you will become intimately acquainted with a multitude of demonic, many-
tentacled creatures far worse than any human lawyer.
