Card Trick Glossary
Card magic has its own little language, and the write-ups on this site use it now and then. Here are the words you're most likely to bump into, explained the way I'd explain them across a kitchen table. Under most of them I've listed a few tricks where you can see the idea in action, so you can learn the word and the trick at the same time.
Accomplice
A friend who is secretly in on the trick. Usually they leave the room, come back and "read" the chosen card, thanks to a signal from you. Rehearse your signals together until they're invisible.
Used in: ESP, On Tap, Easy Eights, 9 Cards
Break
A tiny gap you secretly hold in the deck, usually with the tip of your little finger (a "pinky break") or the fleshy base of your thumb. It marks a spot so you can cut or lift right to it later. From the front, the deck should look perfectly square.
Used in: Cutting the Aces, The Levitating Card, Trapped Trick
Control
Any method for secretly moving a chosen card to a place you know, most often the top of the deck. The spectator thinks their card is lost in the middle; you know exactly where it is. A control can be a sleight, a false shuffle or just a clever cut.
Used in: Trapped Trick, 3 Card Monte Variation, The Time Traveler's Triumph
Court card
The Jacks, Queens and Kings, also called face cards or picture cards. Lots of story tricks use them as characters, like thieves, kings and princes. Some tricks remove them entirely so only number cards are left.
Used in: Amazing Reversed Court Card, Four Kingdoms, Predicta-pair
Cull
Secretly pulling particular cards out of the deck, or gathering them together, while you spread through it as if looking for something else. It's a more advanced move, but the idea behind it is simple: you get the cards you need while nobody notices you looking. Practice it with the cards spread between your hands at a relaxed pace.
Double lift
Picking up two cards from the top of the deck as if they were one. You show the face of the "top card," which is really the second card down, then put both back. It's the engine behind many transformation and "it came back to the top" tricks.
Used in: The Ambitious Card, The Color Transfer, Liar, Liar, Another Changing Ace Trick
Duplicate card
A second copy of a card, usually from another deck with the same back design. With a duplicate hidden in your pocket or the card box, a card can seem to jump somewhere it couldn't possibly be. Just make sure the backs match.
Used in: WOW 3x, In The Box – Color Flip, Magic Card Jump
Effect vs. method
The effect is what the audience sees and remembers: "my card jumped to the top." The method is what you actually did to make it happen. Most tricks on this site describe the effect first and the method second. Always think about the effect when you perform; nobody cares how clever the method is.
Used in: The 3 Thieves, Kings Robbery, Back Flip
Equivoque (magician's choice)
Giving the spectator a "free" choice that always ends up where you wanted. If they pick the thing you want, you keep it. If they pick the other thing, you say "great, so we'll discard that one." It only works if you say it smoothly and never explain the rules ahead of time.
Used in: Mind Reader, The Bottom Card, Force
False cut
A cut that looks real but leaves the deck in the same order it started. Some are just a few packets moved around in a way that ends up back where they began. Use one when you've arranged cards and don't want to lose your setup.
Used in: Another Ace Location, The Story of Cactus Pete, Mystical 8s Prediction, In The Box – Color Flip
False shuffle
A shuffle that looks like it mixes the cards but keeps some of them (often the top or bottom card) exactly where they were. The simplest version is an overhand shuffle where you quietly hold back the bottom card each time. It's one of the most useful tools in card magic.
Used in: Calling The Shots, Count Down, The Invisible Switch, The Bottom Card
Fan
Spreading the cards in a curved arc in one hand so that everyone can see the faces, or so a spectator can pick one from the backs. A neat fan makes even a simple trick look polished. Newer decks fan much better than old sticky ones.
Used in: Pair 'em Up, Back Flip, Easy Card Find
Faro shuffle
A perfect shuffle: the deck is split exactly in half and the two halves are woven together so the cards alternate one by one. Because it's perfectly predictable, a faro can move cards to exact positions. It's hard to learn, but magicians love it.
Used in: Aces for Cardmen Only, Count Down
Force
Making the spectator take a card you chose in advance, while they believe they chose freely. Some forces use sleight of hand, others use counting or a choice that isn't really a choice. Once you know their card, any revelation you like becomes possible.
Used in: Force, WOW 3x, Bert's Deception
Glimpse
A quick, secret look at a card, usually the bottom one, while you're doing something innocent like squaring the deck or shuffling. Don't stare. A glance of half a second is plenty, and the less you seem to look the better.
Used in: Psychic Prediction, Paper and Predictions, Calling The Shots, Eight Threatening Kings
Hindu shuffle
A shuffle where you hold the deck by its ends in one hand and the other hand pulls small packets off the top, letting them drop into the palm. It looks very fair and is handy for forcing and glimpsing a card. It's a good one to learn if your overhand shuffle feels clumsy.
Impromptu
A trick you can do on the spot with any borrowed deck, without arranging anything first. These are the tricks to learn first if you like being ready whenever somebody says "show me one." There's a whole category of impromptu tricks.
Used in: Back Flip, Slap Happy, Cutting the Aces
Key card
A card you know, placed right next to the spectator's card so it can find it for you. The classic way: glimpse the bottom card, have the chosen card put on top, then cut. Now your key card sits right on top of theirs, and you just look for it.
Used in: Cut To It Share, The Mirrored Mind Reader, Get Money, The Time Traveler's Triumph
Mentalism
Magic that looks like mind reading, prediction or other mental powers, rather than tricks with your hands. With cards, it usually means naming or predicting a card the spectator only thought of. The presentation matters even more than usual. See the mental tricks for plenty of examples.
Used in: The Impossible Location, The Predictive Ace, The Mathematical Mind-Melder
Misdirection
Steering where the audience looks, and what they think about, so they miss the secret part. It can be as simple as looking at the spectator while your hands do the work, or asking a question at just the right moment. People look where you look.
Used in: The Invisible Switch, The Teleporting Joker, The Morphing Joker
One-ahead principle
Calling out a card you already know, then secretly looking at the card you "checked," so you're always one card ahead of the spectator. At the end you lay them all out and they all match what you said. It's simple, sneaky and very convincing.
Used in: Calling The Shots
Overhand shuffle
The everyday shuffle most people learn first: hold the deck in one hand and slide small packets off the top into the other. It's gentle on the cards and easy to control, which is why so many false shuffles are built on it.
Used in: That's Odd, Cut To It Share, Calling The Shots
Palm
Secretly holding a card hidden in your hand, usually curled against the palm or fingers, while the hand looks empty and relaxed. It's a key move for making cards vanish or appear. Practice in front of a mirror until the hand looks natural.
Used in: The Changing Card, Always On Top, Aroo!, Sneaky Aces
Patter
The things you say while you perform: the story, the jokes, the instructions. Good patter gives the trick a reason to happen and gives the audience something to follow. Many easy tricks are almost all patter, with the cards acting out a little story.
Used in: The 3 Thieves, The Hotel, Four Islands, The Story of Cactus Pete
Peek
Much like a glimpse: a sneaky look at a card the audience doesn't notice. Some writers use "peek" for a look at the spectator's card itself, or the card next to it, as the deck is cut or spread.
Used in: Chased, Mind Reader II, Pair 'em Up
Prediction
Writing down or setting aside a card before the trick starts, then revealing at the end that you knew what would happen. The secret is usually a force, a glimpse or a count that you controlled from the start.
Used in: Amazing Prediction, Kathy's Prediction, Mystical 8s Prediction, Paper and Predictions
Reversed card
A card turned face up inside an otherwise face-down deck, or the other way around. A chosen card that suddenly appears reversed is a lovely surprise. It's also a sneaky way to spot a card while the deck is behind your back.
Used in: Back Flip, Easy Card Find, Fool Proof Reversed Card
Riffle shuffle
The shuffle where you split the deck in two and let the corners flick together with your thumbs, the one you see at card tables. It mixes cards well, which is a problem if you need to keep two cards together. Some tricks tell you to use it, and others warn you not to.
Used in: Calling The Shots, Cut To It Share, Fool Proof Reversed Card
Self-working trick
A trick that works automatically if you follow the steps, with no sleight of hand at all. The method is usually counting, dealing or a bit of setup. They're perfect for beginners, and there's a whole category of self-working tricks.
Used in: Magic 21, All the Aces, Lucky 13
Setup
Anything you arrange before the trick starts, like putting four aces on top or a certain card on the bottom. Some write-ups call it "preparation." The best setups are done when nobody is watching, so the deck looks completely ordinary.
Used in: The 3 Thieves, King of the Hill, Royal Hotel, Switcheroo
Sleight of hand
Any secret move done with your hands, like a palm, a double lift or a false shuffle. The word "sleight" just means skill or cunning. A trick with no sleight of hand is called self-working.
Used in: The Ambitious Card, The Color Transfer, Magic Riffle
Spectator
The person you're doing the trick for, especially the one who picks the card. Treat them kindly. They're your helper, not your opponent, and a happy spectator is the best review a trick can get.
Used in: Magicians Apprentice, Do It Yourself Discovery, The Lazy Magician
Stack (stacked deck)
A deck, or part of one, arranged in a secret order. Some stacks follow a pattern you can work out from any single card, like the "Eight Kings Threatened to Save" rhyme. Others are just a few cards placed where you need them. A stacked deck can be cut many times without spoiling the order.
Used in: Chased, Eight Threatening Kings, The Mathematical Mind-Melder
Top and bottom of the deck
When the deck is face down in your hand, the top card is the one you could deal first, and the bottom card is the one facing your palm, whose face you can see if you tip the deck. Unless a trick says otherwise, "top" and "bottom" always mean this with the deck face down. Lots of tricks start with "look at the bottom card."
Used in: The Bottom Card, Always On Top, Magic Riffle
Twenty-one card trick
A famous self-working principle: deal 21 cards into three piles of seven, ask which pile holds the chosen card, gather that pile in the middle and repeat. After three deals the card is always in the exact center. Many tricks dress it up in different ways.
Used in: Magic 21, 21 Finds Your Card, Sim Sala Bim
