I have seen a card trick that uses a deck of cards to tell the story of the Bible. I would like to learn this trick, but I have no idea where to find any information on it. A search with a couple of search engines did me no good. I have sent a couple of e-mail messages to ‘illusionists’, but so far I haven’t gotten any responses. Do any of you folks know any details about this?
This story can also be found as a record in Christian book stores (or, at least, I have heard it on C&W or Christian radio shows a few times). I have no idea who recorded it.
This sounds reminiscent of the UL about the Twelve Days of Christmas. I’ve never much bought the idea, myself… All it amounts to, is that there’s something religious of which there’s one, something of which there’s two, etc. A deck of cards wouldn’t do much as a mnemnonic aid; one might as well just count “one two three” to oneself. On the other hand, rosaries are often used as prayer aids, and they don’t contain any more information. I suppose you could use a card deck as a rosary of sorts.
It’s probably something like “A Night At the Improv”, in which the magician improvises a story by going through the deck. It isn’t the story of the Bible, though. (Is there a story of the Bible? Never seemed terribly cohesive to me.) No, I’m not going to tell you how to do it–it’s on Michael Ammar’s “Easy to Master Card Miracles, Vol. I”. (This series of videos is excellent if you want to get into card artistry, BTW.)
The one you’re talking about it quite possibly an original by the person you saw doing it. Your best bet is probably to find that person and ask. If it is original, he probably won’t tell you how he does it. (That whole magician thing) If he did get it somewhere, he’ll at least be able to tell you where.
You might try a web search for “gospel magic”.
Sorry I can’t be more help.
Dr. J
There really are only a handful of basic tricks, with infinite variations in how they are performed, and stories are often part of the patter which each magician makes up to suit his idiom. So an answer to your query is going to depend on what exactly happened in the trick, and what story was told. The catch is that if this was a sleight of hand trick, you’ve got a lot to learn first.
I would recommend that you get a book, or even the tape DoctorJ recommended, of what they call self-working card tricks, and try to develop your own biblical patter around that trick.
But if you did want to invest the time in magic, my person favorite primer, because it’s the one that got me started, is The Magic Book by Harry Lorraine. It covers all your basic sleights and routines, and includes coin tricks, string tricks and lightning calculator tricks.
Wink Martindale, the game show host, recorded this as “A Deck of Cards” in the early Sixties with some success.