Something I came up with a while ago when I was thinking about Svengali decks. It's a silly little trick, not up to professional scrutiny but it might find a place among the hobbyists here like myself
It's actually quite difficult to write down. The essence is that you take two packets, turn one over and interleave it with the first packet almost completely, so there's a few millimeters over overhang, then you can riffle over the deck in two directions to show either all faces or all backs.Longer explanation with slightly tongue-in-cheek exaggerations about the impact this trick might have: While toying with the deck, split the deck into two packets. Turn one packet over so the two packets now face different ways. Riffle or Faro shuffle the two packets together but do not completely close the deck - push the two packets together until there's about a 3 or 4 mm of overhang. Now you can hold the deck 'portrait' gripping the bottom half and riffle the top to show all faces, then rotate the deck so the 'portrait' is now upside-down (i.e. turn it like a clock rather than like a revolving door). Now riffle again and the deck is all backs. The spectator will either faint at such supernatural feats being performed before their very eyes, or assume that the cards are printed with horizontal split, faces on one half and backs on the other. Now you can split the two original packets back out by holding your thumb over the top overhang and levering the bottom overhang with your other hand, then flip one of the packets over, close the deck and it can be handed out for inspection, shattering the assumption that it is a specially printed magic deck. Finally, graciously accept the gifts and/or offers of marriage from audience, pausing only to wipe the tears of joy from the faces of the fainter-hearted spectators.
- Like I said it's a silly little trick, but maybe you can do something with it
As always, I'm keen to hear your feedback.Variations: I used to do this with reds and blacks separated, but I think the back/face contrast is better. Also, with delicate handling you can cut the deck to any named suit this way (packet one contains spades and hearts, 2 contains diamonds and clubs, don't flip. Cut at one end towards the top for a heart, towards the bottom for a club, at the other end for diamonds or clubs respectively). That requires quite a lot of set up for a fairly boring effect so meh.
