SIX MORE HUMMERS

by

Bob Hummer

Author of “Fantastric,” “Half a Dozen

Hummers,” and other magical writings.

EBOOK EDITION PUBLISHED

BY TRICKSHOP.COM

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 INTRODUCTION

Bob Hummer blew into the Windy City a few years ago from God knows
where, and it was not long before the Chicago magic boys began to
blink their eyes and look twice when Hummer began to play with a deck
of cards. His tricks bore no resemblance to the effects of other card
experts. They didn’t look like anything in the books. They were
strange, fantastic and they fooled you.

I first ran into Hummer at an S.A.M. Convention. He picked up my

deck, waved it in the air with one hand, and the bottom card changed
like a flash. I still don’t know how he did it.

In his new stage and night club act the guy spins a card in the air
and the thing circles around his back and he catches it on the other
side. He’s the only magician who does it and he won’t tell how.

“I thought it up one night,” he confided to me one day.

And that’s the clue to the origin of Hummer’s weird assortment of

effects. He thinks them up.

This is his latest book. Read it carefully and you’ll find it filled
with real magic, and dramatic angles and humorous touches that could
only come from the ingenious brain of one of magic’s genuine innova-
tors.

Martin Gardner

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 THE FOUR G MEN

Take the four deuces from any deck and shave off the spots and indexes
with a sharp razor blade, making four fairly blank cards. [Or easier
yet, purchase blank cards.] Print these words in big letters on same:
THE EIGHT OF CLUBS, one word to each card. Next take the seven of clubs
and glue to the back of it a piece of newspaper a trifle smaller than
the card itself. Arrange the four worded cards in order, place the
faked seven of clubs on top of these, and put them in your right trou-
ser pocket (faces of cards toward body). With the rest of the deck in
another pocket and an old newspaper lying around handy, you are pre-
pared to do a trick that is really different and pleasing in effect.

After doing a stunt or so with the rest of the pack and accidental-
ly spying an old newspaper, place the paper on the floor. Ask them if
they ever saw the G Man Trick. Regardless of the answer, proceed to
force the eight of clubs on someone. (If you don’t succeed, read no
further). While they are shuffling the forced card into the deck, non-
chalantly put the right hand in the pocket, palming the five faked
cards. Place the same hand, with cards, flat on the newspaper (to gen-
erate electricity?). Ask your victim to hand you any four cards from
the deck.

These represent the four G Men. As you receive the cards one at a time
with your left hand, push each one under your palm as in Figure No. 1.

Each card is partly under the hand and on top of the five faked cards
so that when you raise your hand they will look like a doughnut (Fig-
ure 2). The hole in the doughnut will be camouflaged by the piece of
newspaper pasted on the back of the seven of clubs.

You will be surprised at the illusion yourself. I know because I have

fooled many with it.

Have the spectator shuffle the rest of the deck to divert the atten-
tion. Take the pack. Place it (face down) squarely over the hole in

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the doughnut (Figure 2) and even up the four G Men on the bottom of
the deck. (Really the faked cards are now on the bottom, so don’t show
them yet).

Deal the G Men (really the lettered cards) from the bottom of the deck
face down in a row upon the table.

Proudly announce that the G men have found the selected card, and that
the next card on the bottom of the deck will be that very card. Don’t
show the seven of clubs yet. Have them name the color, suit, etc.,
then turn the deck around. Some one will probably say, “That’s pret-
ty close, but not correct.” “What do you mean, pretty close?” you say.
“The G Men always get their man!” And turn the four lettered cards
over, one at a time, and watch their surprise!

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 THE CARD ON THE WINDOW PANE

Don’t think this is not real magic until you’ve tried it once.

Cut out two small triangles of black paper about this size:
[triangle cut out to fit over club pip as shown]:

You can easily get the black from a black and white magazine
illustration. Take the deuce of clubs and with a little sali-
va, stick one of the black triangles over each club thusly.

You will now have a perfect fake two of spades. The little papers will
stick on all day, but can be easily peeled off with the finger nail.
Even a shuffle will not dislodge them.

Plant the real two of spades in some spectacular fashion, and have
the fake on the bottom of the pack. Overhand shuffle, leaving fake on
bottom. Stand about four feet from spectators and tell them that you
are going to show them three cards, but they are only to remember the
third one shown.

Cut deck anywhere and show bottom card of packet. Do the same once
more, but the third time make the pass (as you pretend to cut as be-
fore) showing them the faked card to remember. Put the deck together
and throw it into a hat. Show hands empty. Roll up sleeves. Ask them
to be on the alert for palming. Reach in the hat, peel off the little
triangles and roll them into a small ball. Bring them out (or leave in
hat) between first finger and thumb. Tell them you have their card but
that it is invisible. Make a throwing motion at the window curtains,
telling them that their card will stick to the curtain. Act surprised
that they can’t see it. Say it must have penetrated right thru the
house. Raise the curtain and there is their thought of card, staring
at them from OUTSIDE the window pane. (You have stuck it there previ-
ously with a little saliva or wax).

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Now let them look in the hat or anywhere else for the “extra” two of
spades!

I have done this with a borrowed deck by stealing the two deuces be-
fore I borrowed it.

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 DOUBLE THOUGHT

You will find this mathematical monstrosity much more impractical than
it appears on paper. No threads or hairs, nor is the trick dishonest.
Figures never lie.

Effect: Spectator removes five cards from the deck: a 10 spot, a deuce,
a four, a Jack and a Queen (any suit). The five cards are shuffled and
he is told to think of any two of them. One must be a court card, the
other a spot card. For instance: A Jack and a two, or a Queen and a
five, etc., there being six possible combinations. Let us suppose he
has shuffled the five cards and has thought of a Jack and a two spot
(deuce).

Performer gives spectator the five cards, turns his back and asks
him to concentrate on the spot card he is thinking of. Then he is to
transfer a number of cards (one at a time) from the top of the packet
to the bottom of same. The number transferred to correspond with the
number of spots on the thought of card - in this case he would trans-
fer two cards to the bottom. If he thought of a ten, he would transfer
ten, etc.

Next he is to think of his court card (in this case a Jack) and spell
the first name of this card (Jack or Queen) and transfer one card to
the bottom for each letter In this case four cards would be trans-
ferred to spell the word Jack. (Altogether six cards have been trans-
ferred in this instance). The five cards are now given to magician be-
hind his back. Performer concentrates a moment and without seeing the
cards, returns them to his victim, asking him to “shuffle them as this
makes the trick easier.” (?)

Magician now takes the cards and after looking them over with much
mental agony, places two of them face down upon the table. Upon asking
the name of the court card, performer turns one card over - it is cor-
rect!

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“What was the spot card?” asks the magician.

With a magnificent and awe inspiring flourish the other card is

flipped over - it is the spot card! After you have repeated this a
dozen times, give your audience a box of aspirins, or they will be too
tired to figure it out.

Secret (if you still want it).

The secret lies in knowing the total of the cards transferred. For in-
stance if (as in above case) you know that six cards have been trans-
ferred, there is only one combination possible to make six: namely,
a Jack and a Two. (Two spots on the deuce and four letters in the
word Jack). Also a Queen and a Ten is the only combination that could
transfer 15 cards, etc. But the way you find out this total is a deep
secret.

Here it is: Take the four Jacks from your deck and run over the top
and bottom edge of each with a razor blade. This will add a buff or
ridge to the edge of the card that can be felt behind your back in an
instant (an old trick). If a card thus treated is placed in the deck
it will show an edge whiter than the other cards. This can be overcome
by rubbing cigarette ash over the edge, blackening it to match the
others. Now when the spectator removes five cards as specified above,
he naturally must get one of the Jacks. After he has shuffled them and
just before he thinks of his two cards, note how many cards are above
the Jack.

After the counting and spelling has been done the first thing for you
to do behind your back is to transfer from top to bottom as many cards
as you noted were above the Jack. Next feel for the faked Jack.

1st: If it is on the bottom, the total of the cards transferred will

be 6. (Cards thought of must be a Jack and a two spot). Without look-
ing at the cards hand them for shuffling. You already have the needed
information.

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2nd: If the Jack is second from the bottom, the total of the thought
of cards will be 7, namely Queen and Two.

3rd: If Jack is third from bottom, total will be 8 (Jack and 4).

4th: If Jack is fourth from the bottom, the total will be either 9 and
14 (Queen and 4) or (Jack and 10). See note below.

5th: If Jack is on top or fifth from bottom, total will be 15 (Queen

and 10).

You just say in your mind as you feel thru the five cards: “6, 7, 8,
9 or 14, and 15.” You don’t have to remember the combinations for if
you have the total you can easily find the combination to satisfy that
total.

Note: In this case, which happens rarely, you don’t know whether the
total is 9 or 14. So just place the faked Jack on the bottom and hand
the cards back, saying: “You’ve made a mistake in spelling your court
card. Please spell it again”.

Now by one touch of the index finger you feel if the Jack is still on
the bottom. If it is, the total must be 9. If not, the total will be
14. Let him shuffle them immediately and proceed as usual. You will
have fun playing this trick on yourself, as you should a few times.

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 A RARE COIN STUNT

I don’t think this little but effective deception has ever appeared in
print. Anyway, I’ve been asked about it many times, so here it is.

Effect: Coin is placed in right palm, hand closed and turned over.
Empty left hand is placed on back of fist containing coin. Both hands
now make a quick motion upward, left hand is raised, and there is the
same coin lying on back of the right fist, apparently having penetrat-
ed flesh and bone.

Secret: Before the upward motion the coin is held loosely in the right
hand so that there is an opening at left side of fist. At the same
time you make upward motion, the right fist makes a quick turn to the
right and back again. This makes the coin fly between the two hands.

The larger upward motion hides the smaller motion of the fist. Takes a
little practice but it is worth it and worth knowing.

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 A POSSIBLE IMPOSSIBILITY

This effect seems impossible but I have solved it by using old princi-
ples (which until recently, I thought were original).

Effect: Spectator shuffles his own cards and places pack on the table.
Handkerchief is spread over the deck. While magician’s back is turned,
spectator reaches under handkerchief and removes a bunch of cards from
top of deck. He is to cut this bunch of cards and then note the bottom
card of same - place packet back on top of deck and cut deck several
times.

Understand that the magician cannot judge the depth of cut because the
deck is covered with the handkerchief and also his back is turned. Yet
he does find the card noted, and no questions asked!

Secret: After spectator shuffles the cards, take them in your left
hand. Right hand covers the deck with the handkerchief, after which
same hand grasps pack through the handkerchief. Now while you are
talking, your left hand (which is still under the handkerchief) marks
the entire deck by making a ridge diagonally down the side of same
with the thumbnail. (See Figure 1).

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A little experimenting may be necessary to do this so as to make a
nice but not too heavy indentation hitting every card.

Next place the deck on the table and proceed with the trick as above.

After the spectator does his cutting, the deck will not look like Fig-
ure 1, for instead of one diagonal line you will see three or four of
them, one long one and some short ones. See Figure 2. (If you don’t see
one long one cut the deck until you do). Break the deck at the upper
end of the long line and you will have cut at the spectator’s card.

Remember when the spectator does his cutting, he can only see one side
of the deck, so mark the other side. I’ve mystified gamblers with this
stunt. It’s up to you to study it and make something out of it.

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 IMAGINATION

Spectator is told to shuffle his own pack and place it upon the table.
Next he is to take a good sized bunch of cards from the deck to be
used in this experiment. These are also shuffled and held in his left
hand. Ask him to imagine that he has a die in his right hand, then to
throw the imaginary die upon the table and imagine which of the six
sides turned up. (In other words, he is to think of a number from 1 to
6). Now while your back is turned, he must first cut the cards in his
left hand and then deal them from left to right in several piles, the
number of piles to coincide with the number he saw on his imaginary
die.

For instance, if he threw a three spot, (a trey) he must deal the

cards into three piles, etc. Spectator now puts the piles together (in
any order) and cuts the packet several times. The packet is now laid
on the rest of the deck and the whole deck cut a few times. Performer
now turns around, looks thru deck and removes a card whose spots cor-
respond with the number thrown with the imaginary die!

Secret: Take a packet of book matches. That part where the matches are
stuck is blackened a little with a lead pencil. Now if you rub this
blackened part lightly with your forefinger, the lead will come off on
your finger enough to do a lot of mischief. (For some unknown reason,
the book matches work better than anything else. Also they are very
handy). [Since book matches are no longer commonplace, graphite rubbed
from pencil (used as daub) may be concealed anywhere else that’s con-
venient.]

With this gimmick in your pocket, you are ready. The dirty part of the
trick (the dirt comes off the cards easily with an eraser) comes when
you explain how to deal the cards from left to right. Explain to him
that if he saw a five on his die, he would deal the cards from left
to right into five piles, and demonstrate by dealing five cards upon
the table in a row and mark each card as you deal it in the following
manner. Pick up the first card at the top right hand corner - thumb

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on top, forefinger underneath. Now as you deal it down with a snap, a
smudge will be left near the edge of the card at the corner. The next
card is marked quarter way down. The third one dealt is marked half-
way down, the fourth three-quarters of the way down and the fifth is
marked at the lower corner.

Pick each card off the deck in proper position to mark it automatical-
ly as you lay it down. Remember the marked cards as 1, 2, 5, 4, and 5.

After the five cards are down, pick up another card by the lower edge
at the middle and in explaining how the rest of the cards are to be
dealt, it will automatically be marked in this spot. This is your Key
Card.

Lay it back on the deck. Now replace the other five cards on the deck
one at a time, picking them up from left to right. Next ask him to cut
the deck several times and proceed with this dealing while you turn
your back.

Now at the finish of the trick, take the deck and look for the Key
Card. Also note the marked card that will be next to the Key Card.

The position of the mark on this card will indicate the number on his
die (top corner is one, middle 3, bottom corner 5, etc.). For instance,
if the card next to the Key is marked card number 2, then he must have
thrown a deuce, etc.

Note: If there is no marked card next to the Key, he must have thrown
a 6. If he throws an ace, which is improbable, he would have to deal
the cards into one pile so that at the finish all the marked cards
would be together.

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