When I first saw "The Homing Card," I knew that I wanted to add this card trick to my walk around sets. The routine has lots of inherent comedy that builds and only uses regular cards that you remove from a deck. Also, at the end, you're clean.
Indeed, I would consider it a major accomplishment if I could ever perform this one even half as well as the great Fred Kaps when he appeared on the Ed Sullivan show. Kaps definitely set the bar.
Homing
In "The Homing Card," you state that you're going to perform a trick with five red cards. Unfortunately, you find that you have four red cards and a black card. You throw away the black card and again find that you still have a black card. This is repeated until you have a single red card, which ultimately turns into a black card.
(Watch the Kaps video, it's infinitely better than my description. There's also a video of a great performance by Joe M. Turner.)
I got interested in "The Homing Card" after watching Bill Malone's "Malone Meets Marlo," Volume 1. While Malone's routine requires no difficult sleights, it's rather confusing because each phase is different and distinct. Sometimes you're pulling cards from the top and other times from the bottom. This one takes practice to perform flawlessly.
I've been performing this one for the past couple of weeks at my restaurants and it's getting great reactions. I like the way that the routine starts as if I've made a mistake that causes my spectators to laugh along with me. But by phase three, they realize that something else is going on. I'm pleased to have this one in my repertoire.
More Reading:
In the Works: "Mona Lisa's Secret"
Tales From the Tables: Magic of Love
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