This article is adapted from the bestselling new book The Maker Magician’s Handbook, available at makershed.com and other booksellers.

The Effect

The magician has a spectator select a random playing card. Then they have the spectator place the card back in the deck, and have the spectator mix up the deck. The magician places the cards into a contraption called a Card Machine. A card mysteriously rises, but it’s the wrong card. Within a flash the wrong card instantly changes into … the selected card!

Note: This project is an adaptation of “Rising Card From Envelope” by Bill Severn and Pete Biro, Tarbell Course in Magic Vol. 7, page 121.

Project Steps

Prep the Envelope

1. Seal your empty envelope.

Figure A

2. Line up a playing card along the side of the envelope, for sizing, and cut the envelope about ½” past the card (Figure A).

Figure B

3. Turn the envelope so the open end faces up. About ¾” below the open end, cut or tear small half circles on either side (Figure B). This is so a pencil can slide through, but size-wise the hole should be wide enough to fit two pencils.

Figure C

4. Outline both sides of your envelope with a dark color (Figure C).

Figure D

Figure E

Now, make it your own! Create the look of your Card Machine! I chose to draw gears on one side, with images of a 9V battery, wires, buttons, and switches (Figure D). You can do something similar or make the design completely your own. On the other side of the envelope I wrote “Card Machine” (Figure E). Get creative! Think about how you want your Card Machine to look, and think also of the overall look of your show. Your props should all look like they belong with each other. They don’t need to “match” exactly, but they should complement each other: battery and wires, or stars and planets, or birds and flowers, or whatever. This helps create a cohesive theme to your show.

Hack the Pencil

ber bands and twist and wrap them onto the middle of your pencil. You’ll need to add enough rubber bands to create about ¼” of rubber banding all around (Figure F). I have three or four wide rubber bands on my pencil.

Figure G

2. Slide your pencil carefully through the two holes you created in the envelope, so that the rubber banded area is now hidden inside the envelope (Figure G).

The Performance

ber bands and twist and wrap them onto the middle of your pencil. You’ll need to add enough rubber bands to create about ¼” of rubber banding all around (Figure F). I have three or four wide rubber bands on my pencil.

Figure G

2. Slide your pencil carefully through the two holes you created in the envelope, so that the rubber banded area is now hidden inside the envelope (Figure G).

Alternate Version

Essentially, we’ve created a gear with the rubber bands around the pencil. Hack it, tinker with it, think of new ideas! Create a routine of your own!

Figure T

Figure U

Figure V

Figure W

Maybe you want the right card to rise right away! If that’s the case, place a chunk of cards right behind the jack of hearts. Experiment with this: Instead of twisting the pencil with your fingers, hold onto the pencil with one hand, and flick the envelope with your other fingers, so it spins around the pencil. If you spin the envelope with the right force, and in the right direction, by the time the envelope makes its full revolution, the jack of hearts will be sticking out (Figures T, U, V, and W)! Centrifugal force keeps the cards in place upside down. The spinning causes the “gear” to push the selected card out.