Finding the Card
In a card stab effect, a spectator selects a card and returns it to the deck. In some versions, several spectators select and recall cards.The magician uses a knife to find them, either by skewering them as they lay face down on the table (the magician can be blindfolded as well). Or the knife can be thrust into the pack and the location of the thrust reveals the location of the chosen card or cards.
On the Table
Johnny Thompson offers a take on Max Malini's version. He's blindfolded and then spreads the cards onto the table face down (Thompson uses a cutting board to protect the table). By stabbing his knife into the cutting board, he impales the selected cards onto the tip of the knife, one at a time.
Paul Potassy offers another on-table card stab where he is blindfolded and locates the card. Daryl finds a selected card by stabbing through a newspaper that's laid over and covers cards that have been spread across a tabletop. This is quite baffling. Of course, in these Malini style card stab effects, you end up puncturing the cards.
In a Napkin
Michael Ammar offers a take on a Nate Leipzig effect. In this version, the deck is wrapped in a napkin and the magician locates two cards by thrusting a knife into the center of the obscured pack. When the deck is opened at the point of the knife’s entry, it's discovered that the selected cards are on each side of the blade.In a similar vein, Frank Garcia allows a spectator to stab his own signed selection. To lay-people, the end result will look similar to that of Ammar’s version, but the method is different.
Jeff Sheridan offers a version based on a Milbourne Christopher concept where he stabs a card from a deck that's suspended in a bag that's been fashioned from a paper napkin.
Steve Dacri demonstrates how to make the card stab play huge as he stabs two selections right out of the air. It's a flashy method for stage that relies on a card fountain. Dacri also shows how he uses the effect in corporate work to showcase a product.
Magnificent Seven
With seven magicians, you can learn five different card stab styles and learn seven different methods and approaches that will work in different environments.If you are looking for such an effect, this DVD can be well worth it.
-Wayne N. Kawamoto
MSRP: (US) $19.95
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