I have been performing Card Warp for over 20 years. Here you will learn my professional routine that is easy to do, and audiences love.

Card Warp is a visual card trick where a playing card seems to turn over between the folds of another playing card. Both sides can be shown at all times. Only two cards are used, there are many variations, and everything is examinable at the end.

CARD WARP TUTORIAL

EFFECT: You show two playing cards. Each card is folded, and one is placed inside the other. Mysteriously, the card turns over while between the folds of the other card.

NEED: 2 cards

HOW TO DO IT

PREPARATION

You need two cards that you can destroy, take them from an old deck. Fold one card the long way, not exactly in half, and fold the other card in half the short way. Crease and bend the folds well. Open both cards. Tear the card you folded the long way halfway down the middle of the slightly shorter side. The reason you folded the card just short of the edge is to help conceal this tear during the routine.

INTRODUCTION

“Here is a mini illusion with two cards. Anybody can turn the cards over by folding them, that is easy.”

Take out the cards and display the faces with the rip hidden underneath. With your right hand, fold the bottom long card in half, so the tear stays hidden. Hold this card parallel to the floor, clamped shut between your right thumb, 1st, and 2nd finger. With your left hand, fold the short card in half and hold it parallel to the floor with the opening to the left.

Place the card in your left hand into the front of the fold of the card in your right hand, pressed against the crease. Clamp the long card with your right thumb above, 1st and 2nd below, keeping it closed, so the tear isn’t seen. Slide the left card toward you, beneath the rip, until it sticks out the bottom slightly. Continue to clamp the long card shut. You are going to open the cards, turning them face up.

Place your left thumb into the fold of the short card and clamp the torn front half of the long card against the short card with your left thumb above, 1st finger below. Press down on the top of the long card with the very tip of your right 1st finger keeping it closed. With your thumb, 1st, and 2nd finger of both hands, open both cards and fold them face up. Rotate the cards 180° so the long card is sticking out toward you.

CARD TURNS OVER

“I turn the card over by magic.”

Hold the short card clamped shut with your right thumb above, 1st and 2nd finger below. Slowly push the long card forward with your left thumb. It will come out face down. Push it to the point where the face-up card is no longer seen. Rotate the cards 180°. Push the face-down card forward again; it will come out face up.

DISPLAY

“You can see the exact point where the card turns over.”

With your left thumb and 1st finger slide the long card over and pivot the bottom of the card diagonally to the right. Half the card will be seen face up and half will be seen face down. Cover the tear with your right thumb above and 1st finger below. Turn your right hand palm down displaying both sides.

CLEANUP

“If I tear the card, I stop the magic halfway, and if you check, the pieces fit together.”

Slide the card back over and center it against the fold. Rotate the cards 90° clockwise. In the middle tear the cards straight down in half. Place everything on the table and lift off the top halves. You are clean.

PRO TIPS

You might notice that the version I am performing here is super simple. That is the beauty of it. It is clear and concise and there are no confusing moves. The spectator sees a quick miracle and then everything is left on the table. In magic it is ok to start a trick “dirty,” as long as you end “clean.”

When presenting this trick it is perfectly ok to just take out the two cards from your pocket. You are going to rip them so it makes sense that you are using two extra cards rather than cards from your deck. Plus, you will leave everything on the table at the end to be examined. Don’t make a big deal of it. Take out the cards and perform the trick.

I have seen magicians tell a story while presenting Card Warp. In my opinion, telling a story is completely unnecessary and takes away from the magic. The nice part about card warp is that it is a break from a conventional card trick. It is purely visual, almost like an illusion presented on stage. This trick can be performed without talking, so it is perfect in a loud environment for the performing magician.

Sometimes magicians hand their spectator one of the cards to fold the short way while they fold the ripped card the long way. I don’t think this adds anything to the trick and prefer to fold both cards myself. Also, it is crucial to make sure the tear is never seen. Holding both cards at the same time helps cover the rip.

Sometimes when I tear the cards to clean up at the end, the tear isn’t perfectly down the middle, and there is a little bit of the face-down card attached to the face-up card. It is okay. Don’t mention it, and your spectators won’t even notice. Small points like this are never discussed yet in the real world, under normal performance conditions, things like this happen.

Mentioning that the pieces fit together at the end is an important subtlety. I like to point this out before my spectator does. It doesn’t make sense, yet if you don’t mention it, and your spectator folds one of the pieces and fits them together, they sometimes think they know how the trick works.

I have heard other magicians mention that they make the tear in front of their spectators at the beginning of the trick. Never do this! Tear the card before the trick begins. I like to prepare a bunch of these and keep them in my close up bag, so I am always ready to perform this miracle.

CARD WARP MAGIC TRICK

You can also do this effect with business cards. Using business cards changes this from a card trick to a completely different piece of magic. I love card tricks and know hundreds of different ones. When performing for people, I have found that you cannot perform just card tricks. You have to vary your magic. It is nice to have different types of magic tricks in your arsenal. Card Warp done with business cards is perfect.

CARD WARP ROY WALTON

English card magic expert Roy Walton is usually credited with this trick. Though he didn’t invent it, he popularized it with his clean and streamlined handling. I urge you to look up his excellent method.