The Card Stab

A deck of cards is divided into two halves. From each half a card is selected and remembered. Each spectator who selected a card returns it to the deck and performer shuffles each into its respective half. The two packets are placed together to make the whole deck again.

Performer places the deck behind a piece of newspaper and crimps the paper around the cards. A spectator is given a knife and told to stab through the newspaper into the cards. After this has been done, paper is removed. Deck is then opened at place where knife pierced it, and the selected cards are found, one on each side of the knife.

This is an effective version of an old card classic. In the original version the magician guided the knife himself in locating the cards, but in this variation the spectator stabs the knife into the cards himself and yet the cards are located.