Sleight · Conjurer
The Palm
Secretly hold out one or more cards in the hand.
The purpose
Conceal a card (or several) in the palm to add, steal, or transport cards — used for productions, card-to-pocket, and switches.
Handling, step by step
- 1
Steal the card into a relaxed, naturally curved hand.
- 2
Keep the palming hand loose and in motion-justified positions.
- 3
Reproduce or ditch the card under cover of a larger action.
Drills
Relaxed hand
Palm a card and let the hand hang and gesture naturally for 30 seconds.
Success: The hand never looks stiff or cupped.
Watch for these tells
- A rigid, claw-like hand.
- Keeping the hand unnaturally still or hidden.
Tricks that use The Palm
Self Control
A card freely pointed to turns out to be the very card a spectator only thought of moments later.
Tucker's Version
A spectator cuts, peeks, and buries their card with endless cuts, yet you produce it from the deck, your hand, or your pocket.
The Nelson Downs Original
A spectator cuts near centre and remembers a card, and you produce it from the deck, your hand, or your pocket.
You Do As I Do
Two shuffled packs, you and a spectator each pick a card, and the two cards astonishingly match.
Lloyd's Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
A card the spectator chooses and a card you choose, each lost in the other's pack, prove to be the same card.
Everybody's Card
Several people each pull a card from a freely shuffled deck, yet every single one of them names the very same card.