Perform the 3 Burglars Card Trick
Combine the elements of a crime drama and a magical illusion for this entertaining card trick.
Steps
- Separate a King and three Jacks from the deck.
- Prepare for the trick by placing two Kings and the remaining Jack at the bottom of the deck in a King-Jack-King sequence.
- Begin the trick by showing the audience the three Jacks and the deck. Explain that the Jacks are three burglars and the deck is the house they're going to rob. Don't fan the deck.
- Place the first Jack on the bottom of the deck, saying that the first burglar went in through the front door.
- Place the second Jack on the top of the deck, saying that the second burglar went in through the back door.
- Stick the third Jack in near the middle of the deck, saying that the third burglar went in through a window.
- Show the King to the audience, saying that the King is a detective chasing after the burglars.
- Place the King on the bottom of the deck, saying that the detective followed the burglars in through the front door.
- Cut the deck several times, saying that the detective chased the burglars around the house all night.
- Fan out the deck, revealing a King-Jack-King-Jack-King-Jack sequence toward the middle of the deck.
- Tell the audience that, in the morning, all three burglars were caught.
Tips
- You can enhance the effect if you're careful to match the colors of the third and fourth Jacks -- for example, hide the Jack of Diamonds at the bottom, and stick the Jack of Hearts in the middle of the deck during the trick. The audience will see two black Jacks and a red one at the start of the trick, and at the end as well. You're counting on the fact that they've forgotten which red Jack it was.
- One of the most important things to realize in order to understand this trick is that the third Jack really is lost in the deck when you stick it in the middle. Of the three Jacks you show the audience at the end, only two will have been among the cards you showed them at the beginning -- the other one is actually the FOURTH Jack, which you hid between the Kings before performing the trick.
- If you don't see how the trick works right away... well, good, let's hope your audience doesn't either! But to figure it out yourself, try holding a deck with all cards face up so that you can see the progress of the Jacks and Kings after each step.
- A variation on this trick uses Aces instead of Jacks to further hide the fact that you're switching out one of the burglars. Hide the Ace of Diamonds on the bottom between the Kings before performing the trick. When you show the audience the three burglars at the beginning, hold the three Aces in a fan such that the Ace of Hearts is upside down, in the middle, between the two black Aces. The bottom of a heart looks very much like the top of a diamond, so if you hold the fan carefully, the audience should be fooled into thinking the Ace of Diamonds is one of the burglars. Now when you collapse the fan, the Ace of Hearts will be on top, so be sure to stick that one into the middle of the deck so it is lost. When the trick is over, the real Ace of Diamonds will be shown, and the audience will not notice the swap.
Warnings
- One of the most important rules of magic is to never reveal how a trick is performed. If you do, your audience will be disappointed and everyone you know will start doing your trick.
Things You'll Need
- A regular deck of cards
