Not having a strong knowledge of card effects, I am hoping for some finger pointing in the right direction. I do a halloween show for a family haunt each year. I have a kids show, But am now working on a late night show that focuses on the eerie, macabre, and visceral. There is humour in it, but even that is dark. I don't consider myself a bizarrist yet, but others might after next year.

Anyway, I want to create an effect with tarot cards where try as I might, the death card keeps returning. I lay it aside and then lay down the cards (five to seven cards) and the death card returns. Rinse repeat to the same effect. Build till all the cards are death card. I'm playing with taken ideas from six card repeat, and Wonder's wild card/Samelson's Body Snatchers. I don't think an exact routing like this exists, but I'd be happy to be wrong. I'm looking for ideas, routines, books that may help me achieve this effect.

I welcome all ideas about effects. I'm not so interested in commentary about audience considerations, liabilities, appropriateness, or the dangerous effects of rubber glue, cooking with aluminum, gluten, etc.

Thank you.

I'd look towards versions of the Homing Card.

Than you, Frank. I will pursue this course.

Since the conclusion of your routine shows all Death cards, I presume you have a lot of identical Death cards to use.

You could build a "Svengali" Tarot deck by shortening an equal number of other Tarot cards and alternating those with your Death cards. Such a deck can be riffled to show all various cards, but you can cut the deck (or a packet taken from it) anywhere and show a Death card. Then, you could take it a step further, and apply a Roughing Stick to produce a "Mirage" Tarot deck that would permit fanning the cards to show either all various cards, or all Death cards, depending on which card is on the face and where you hold the cards to fan them.

It seems that this type of gimmicked full Tarot deck would be ideal for such a routine.

I don't see these offered for sale. You might need to make it yourself, which however, is not that hard to do.

martonikus, These are excellent suggestions. I had conceived this as a packet routine. But pulling the limited cards from the deck and then show the all cards transition would prove to be an excellent kicker. I will consider this. I think the Svengali method would be the best to end.

I'm rehearsing Berland's Six Card Repeat, but using a Homing Card influenced routining. Unlike most repeats, I will be using only 4 cards. I will discard the Death card, four times only to return each time. In the final phase, the death card will finally be permanently removed. But then the three cards will be turned over to reveal they are all death cards on the back. Each of these backs will be a unique design separate from returning death card to remove any two-faced thinking.

Berland's method allows me to show the cards face. I will be working under the premise that I am doing some sort of tarot reading. Four spectators will be involved. Each will be dealt a card. I will stress that the Tarot contains life affirming cards and life threatening cards, but the for this group I have removed the life threatening cards, including death. I am only using the most life affirming cards. Thus when death appears again and again, the magic is menacing and working against us.

To do this I need something more display capable. Berland's fits that bill. Harlan teaches a routine like this and displays the cards in wine goblets. I'm definitely following his presentation ideas, including the kicker in the final phase. I'll try to post progress as I work out the details. I have to hurry. we are less than 350 days away from Halloween.

You might like Bob Farmer’s item “Headhunter.”

Johnathan,

I apologize that it’s been this long in responding. Thank you fo rthe suggestion. I purchased the effect and think I will use it in another setting. I have gone a different direction at present.

Thanks to all for pointers.

I will be applying a R/S principle to the effect. The outline of the effect is as follows:

With four spectators at a table, I bring out a deck of tarot cards. I provide some short information about the different views of the tarot. I assure them that I don’t want to freak anybody out so I will only use “positive” (or life affirming) cards; No demon cards, no imp cards and definitely no death cards. I will also only use one card for each in the interest of time. I present the four cards and name each as I show them.

I turn the packet face down and place a card for each spectator. With each reveal, I provide a once sentence positive interpretation until I get to the the fourth card. I turn this over to reveal the Death card. I apologetically take the card and lay it aside. With only three cards I tell spectator four that I will only present to the remaining three persons. I explain to the fourth that don’t want them to get another card like that and we need to move on.

I place the cards down, face up this time and the three are shown, except that I have a fourth which is the death card again. I’m puzzled, but determined. I lay the death card aside, and I repeat the deal and again, I have a fourth death card. This happens a third time. With each iteration, I get more worried and spend more time considering the well being of the fourth spectator.

After the three iterations in which the death card reappears, I finally choose not to deal the cards but just ask each to choose a preferred card so that each person has one of the three cards. I decide to wrap it up there, but just out of curiousity, I ask the fourth which of the three they would have chosen. After they tell me, I remove the other two and lay them aside. I then turn the chosen card over where the Death card appears again.

I was going for a kicker with all the cards turning, but decided that the chosen card having a death card on the back was a fitting end to the routine. It’s short, audience interactive, and I’m hoping more than a little spooky.

Right now, I am testng the best implementation of R/S or sticky doubles with a strong leaning towards 3M respositionable, double-sided tape which I picked up from a David Regal teaching of his Ambitious card. What I really want to work with is Science Friction. Currently unavailable, but hopeful to get some in the future.

I welcome any feedback on the effect and routine.

CORRECTION: I said Marlo’s Six Card Repeat. I meant BERLAND’S Six Card Repeat.

"Appointment in Samarra" (Darwin Ortiz, Scams and Fantasies with Cards, pp. 202 - 206) - use it with Tarot cards. Perfect and with great haunting presentation. A single impossible return of the "death card," but in this routine you don't need anything else.

Thank you to all who contributed to this. I gleaned much from all of suggestions. The core of my routine is based in Berland's 6 card repeat for the technique. I'm using some custom cards like Headhunter and using some of the menacing nature of the atomic card. The routine is a packet trick involving four cards, an Emsley count and some R/S (Mr. Zogs Sex Wax) in place of Rubber Cement.

The routine is simplified from the original with the Death card appearing three times and menacing the same volunteer. I rehearsed it with a couple of people and they felt distressed with Death appearing repeatedly as a fourth card when I clearly have only three. This has led me to return to a kicker ending where the three Death cards are placed in the hand of the menaced volunteer. the images vanish and appear as the back of the other three cards. The kicker is a switch done with some black art and a topit.

I like it how it plays out. I will spend the next two months rehearsing and dialing in the routine.