Glossary of magic (illusion)

A

• Ambitious Card Routine – A common trick where a card seemingly rises to the top of the deck. Also called ACR.
• Angles – the lines of vision of people sitting at certain position in the audience which enable a secret to be spotted* usually extreme left or right or behind. If a trick is "angly" it can only be done with limited audience viewpoints.

  B

• Back Palm – to palm in the back of the hand.
• Bevel – to slide the top portion of a deck of cards back so that the back of the deck is at an angle, used in some card tricks.
• Bicycle Deck – Bicycle Playing Cards.
• Black art – the use of a stage fitted with a black velvet curtain background, using assistants and other props that are hidden by black shrouds. Careful lighting helps keep the secret a mystery to the audience.
• Blind Shuffle/Blind Cut – A cut or apparent shuffle in which the cards appear mixed but all of the cards are left completely undisturbed after the shuffle or cut.
• Burn – a subject staring at the magician's hands without averting the gaze, no matter what misdirection is thrown at a subject.
• Bentz Production- A trick made famous by Noah the Illusionist. This term is used to refer to the production of items from an empty bag.

  C

• C/S – see Copper and Silver.
• Cardician – a magician who only performs card magic.
• Cardini Single Production – a technique, invented by Cardini, that is used in card manipulation.
• Centre tear – a special way of tearing up paper billets used in mentalism.
• Change – changing one card for another.
• Charlier Cut – One handed flourish cut or pass.
• Classic force – a force performed by fanning the cards and timing the force card to land under their fingers.
• Classic palm – to palm with the centre of the hand.
• Classic pass - A way to invisibly cut a deck of cards to either get a card to a chosen position or to undo a cut.
• Clean – a hand which is empty or the condition achieved at the end of an effect where the magician has no supposedly vanished objects or gimmicked items in her hands. See Dirty.
• Cold – A deck secretly switched in during play. "Cold" because it has not been warmed up by handling.
• Colour Change – Switching of objects, typically cards.
• Confederate – an audience member planted to act in a cooperative manner.
• Convincer – a delicate gesture done in order to emphasize a wrong conception, and strengthen the audience's belief in it. For instance, a common convincer in the Chinese linking rings routine is seemingly rotating a ring to prove it has no holes in it, while actually constantly hiding the hole.
• Cooler – a card deck brought into play, normally at the end of a sleight of hand routine. The term is implying that you are swapping out a 'hot' deck with a pre-arranged deck for your finale.
• Copper and Silver – Effect using two coins of contrasting metals which change place.
• Crimp – A bend secretly put in a playing card which can be used in magic, there are many different types* used for card location.
• Cut and Restored – see Torn and Restored.

  D

• Deal – to take cards off the top of the deck. Dealing "seconds", "middles", or "bottoms" refers to a sleight in which the second, middle, or bottom card is secretly dealt in lieu of the top card.
• Dirty – a hand which contains an object the audience should not know about, or the condition at some point where the magician has "vanished" objects or gimmicked items hidden in her hands. See Clean.
• Ditch – to secretly get rid of an object or gimmick.
• Double back – a playing card with the back of a deck printed on both sides.
• Double lift – A sleight in which two cards are lifted over as one. Called a Double turnover when the two cards are turned face up.
• Dove pan – a classic effect in which a performer produces a dove from a seemingly empty pan.
• Dovetail shuffle – see Riffle shuffle.
• Downs Palm – to palm between the crotch of the index finger and the crotch of the thumb. Invented by T. Nelson Downs.

  E

• Effect – how a magic trick is perceived by a spectator.
• Egg bag – a utility bag which can be turned inside out to conceal an object or and then reproduce it.
• Elmsley count – a false count where the face or back of a card is hidden while the cards are passed from one hand to another. Named after Alex Elmsley, who invented it.
• Equivoque – a method of forcing a specific object on a spectator through a seemingly randomized selection process. See Force.

  F

• Fairy dust – invisible substance stored in magician's pocket that supposedly makes tricks work. Excuse for going to a pocket to get rid of a vanished item. – also known as Magic dust.
• False shuffle/False cut – a shuffle or cut in which the deck is apparently mixed but, in reality, the portions of the original order is retained such as a top or bottom stock kept in order – also see Blind Shuffle.
• False transfer – a technique in which an object appears to be taken into one hand while actually being retained in the other.
• Faro – a shuffle similar to the riffle where the cards mesh perfectly. An in or out faro is performed depending on the position of the top card.
• Finger clip – a technique used to clip coins or small objects secretly. Usually used for production.
• Finger palm – to palm in the fingers.
• Flash – to accidentally expose an object or part of an object momentarily during a secret move.
• Flash paper – a magic gimmick that allows the magician to create effect in a routine. Often used as misdirection. see Nitrocellulose.
• Flourish – a showy move which displays handling skills.
• Force – where a card or other object is made to be selected by the spectator, despite the appearance of a free choice.
• French drop – A false transfer with a coin or small object.

  G

• Gaff – A gimmick designed to look like something real while accomplishing some secret task.
• Ghost count – A false count of cards.
• Glimpse – a secret view of a card or object.
• Gimmick – a secret part or object used to make the trick work.

  I

• Invisible deck – a gimmicked deck of cards where a named card appears reversed in a deck.
• Impromptu – a trick that can be performed at a moment's notice, usually with everyday objects and little or no preparation.

  K

• Key card – a known card used to locate another. See locator.

  L

• Lapping – dropping an object into one's lap to vanish it* performed while seated.
• Load – Verb—to secretly put an object into a location. Noun—An object in a secret location ready to be produced.
• Loaded – a die which comes up the same number, or an object which secretly contains another object ready for production.
• Locator – similar to a key card* a card which can be found in some way. It may be long, short, thick, rough, smooth, crimped, daubed, marked, reversed, or simply known.
• Loop – A super-thin elastic string, tied into a small circular loop, worn on the wrist. Used for levitating small, lightweight objects and many PK effects.

  M

• M5 – Neodymium magnet, used for PK effects, balances, stopping watches, and vanishes.
• Magic dust – invisible substance stored in magician's pocket that supposedly makes tricks work. Excuse for going to a pocket to get rid of a vanished item. Also called "Woofle Dust." See Misdirection.
• Magician's choice – see Force.
• Magician's rope – soft, usually white rope used for rope tricks.
• Magician's wax – wax used to temporarily attach objects. The earliest known magician's wax is beeswax.
• Manipulator – a magician with a showy sleight of hand act, often set to music.
• Mark – a subject for a con game.
• Marked deck – a deck of cards with secret markings on the back of each card to identify that card's value.
• Mechanic – an operator who is very skilled at sleight of hand, usually with cards.
• Mechanic's grip – a way of holding the pack in the left hand ready for dealing. The forefinger is on the front of the deck to help square the pack and control the cards. A lay person will hold the deck with the fingers all underneath or down the side.
• Mercury Fold – a card move in which the magician secretly folds a card under the deck.
• Misdirection – psychological techniques for controlling attention.
• Monte – a famous con game where three cards are thrown down and the mark has to follow a chosen card* due to a sleight of hand, the mark never wins.
• Muscle Pass – A coin pass that involves gripping the coin with the base of the thumb and squeezing it out of the hand

  O

• Oil and Water – a type of card effect in which shuffled red and black cards are revealed to be separated.
• One Ahead – principle often used in mentalism where the magician uses previously obtained information to stay one step ahead of the audience and supposedly make accurate predictions/guesses.
• One-Handed Cut – a card flourish in which the magician cuts the deck using only one hand.
• Out – an alternative ending to an effect.
• Overhand shuffle – a shuffle where the cards are dropped from one hand into the other in small random groups.

  P

• Packet trick – a card magic effect involving a small quantity of cards.
• Palm – to secretly hold an object in the hand in a manner which is unnoticeable.
• Pass – a secret move to transpose the halves of a pack* a way to secretly cut a deck of cards.
• Patter – The dialogue used in the performance of an effect. Patter styles may differ from magician to magician – some prefer a serious patter, while others opt for a light hearted humorous patter to relax the audience and try to catch them off guard.
• Peek – see Glimpse.
• Prestidigitation – Magic tricks performed as entertainment.
• Profonde/Pochettes – large pockets in tail coats which can be used for vanishes or productions, although not a popular method today due to fashion trends.
• Pinch – holding something between the fingers.
• Plant – see Confederate.
• PK Effect – see "Psychokinesis".
• Psychokinesis – moving things using supposed supernatural powers.
• Pull – a device of elastic which pulls object up sleeve or under jacket as in the vanishing cigarette.
• Pull through shuffle – the concluding move to a riffle where the two halves are pulled through each other and not mixed.