Wiles SemiAutomatic

HIGH SPOTS
Semi-Automatic
Luck Test
As you may have guessed, the title of this routine was inspired by Steve
Beam’s excellent Semi-Automatic Card Tricks books. His books prove that not
all good magic is driven by sleight-of-hand and that self-working tricks can be
entertaining and powerful.

EFFECT
After cutting and dealing the cards in what seems to be a random fashion, the
spectator demonstrates his good luck by finding not only the four Kings, but
the four Aces as well.
SLEIGHTS
• Overhand slip shuffle
• Cross cut force (Max Holden)
SETUP
Stack the deck as follows, from the top down: King, King, six indifferent cards,
King, King, Ace, Ace, remainder of deck, Ace, Ace.

PERFORMANCE
Start with a simple false cut as you address the spectator: “We are going to try
an experiment with these playing cards that will determine if you are lucky. There
are two parts to the test: a mental and a physical portion. First, the mental: I’d like
you to choose a lucky number. We want an accurate reading, so choose a number
bigger than twelve or so.”

After he has named his number, ask him to deal that many cards into a pile on
the table. Retrieve the remaining cards and say, “That was the mental test; now
it’s time for the physical... turn your head and cough!” As the audience laughs,
perform an overhand slip shuffle to move one Ace to the top while leaving the
other Ace on bottom. Briefly, hold the deck in your right hand in position for an
overhand shuffle and apply pressure to the bottom card with your left fingers.
When you pull off the first chunk of cards, take the bottom Ace along for the
62.
HIGH SPOTS
ride. Continue shuffling, running the last few cards singly to ensure the second
Ace ends up on top.
Table the deck and say, “I’m just kidding, I’d like you to physically cut the cards
about in half.” You will now execute the age old cross cut force. After the
spectator has cut the cards into two
piles, take the bottom half and place
it on top of the original top half in a
cross formation (Photo 1). At this point
in the routine, all of what little work
you had to do is completely finished
— you now just need to present the
climax.
Say, “Now we just need to check the 1

results.” Have the spectator pick up
the pile of cards he just dealt and continue, “You’ve probably seen the old game
‘She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not.’ We’re going to do the same thing to determine if
you’re lucky. Deal a card and repeat after me. ‘I’m lucky.’ Now deal the next card to
the right of the first one and say ‘I’m not lucky.’ Continue dealing back and forth.
The final card will give us the answer.”
If the spectator chose an odd number, the final card will be “lucky.” If he chose
an even number, he will end on “not lucky.” You can either work this into your
presentation, or, if the spectator selects an even number in the beginning,
simply have him start his dealing with the “unlucky” pile. This will allow him to
end on a “lucky” card. Let’s assume this is the case.
Say, “The cards say you’re lucky. Let’s see just how lucky.” Turn over the top cards
of each of the two piles to reveal two Kings. Continue, ”Wow, the Kings are
pretty lucky cards. Let’s see if we can push your luck.”
Pick up the first packet, and place the King face up on the table. You will now
deal one card for each letter as you
spell ‘L-U-C-K.’ When you reach ‘K,’ turn
the card face up on top of the cards
remaining in your hand to reveal
another King. Place the remaining
cards on top of the three already
dealt. Repeat this procedure with the
next packet to reveal the final King.
Move the newly revealed Kings in line 2

with the other two (Photo 2) and say,
63.
HIGH SPOTS
“You did well, but if you were really lucky you would have cut to the Aces!” Pick
up the upper packet of the cross cut cards, and turn it face up to show an Ace
(Photo 3). Remove the Ace and place the packet face down into the empty
space in the row. Place the Ace face up on top of the packet. Finally, turn over
the top cards of the three remaining packets to reveal the other three Aces
(Photo 4). Finish by joking, “You may be the luckiest person I know!”
3 4
COMMENTS
• Derrick Chung came up with an efficient way of setting the cards in front of
the audience. Cull the four Aces to the top followed by the four Kings, then
double undercut the top two Aces to the bottom. Casually spread through
the deck, counting as you go, and catch a break under the top twelve cards.
Pick up the cards above your break for an overhand shuffle. Run the first four
cards singly and then drop the remainder of the cards on top. You are now in
position to begin the trick.

• Do not discount the trick because of its simplicity: laymen always react
strongly to the final revelation of the Kings and Aces. In fact, the final layout
is a very important part of the effect. The display of both four of a kinds is
impressive given that the spectator handled the cards throughout most of
the routine.

CREDITS
• The double dealing principle that sets the Kings for the first phase has
been popularized by Daryl’s “Untouched” routine from his Daryl Does
Den Haag (1988) lecture notes. However, the procedure was previously
published by Bill Simon in Sleightly Sensational (1954) in a routine called “The
Mathemagician.”
64.

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HIGH SPOTS

Say, “Now we just need to check the 1

Move the newly revealed Kings in line 2

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