Napkin, Please
Predictable Surprise, Carney's wonderful adaptation of Erdnase' "Card Under Hat," is the start of a powerful three-phase routine with a deck of cards and a paper napkin. The magician writes a prediction on a napkin and sets it aside. A card is selected by a spectator, shown to the audience and replaced face down into the deck, but jutting out in plain view.The magician shows that the prediction on the napkin matches the card that was selected. The napkin is laid down and the selected card is pushed into the deck, and surprise, the napkin found to cover the selected card.
In the second phase, Straggler, the deck of cards is wrapped in a napkin. When the magician snaps his fingers, the cards of the deck appear to penetrate the napkin and drop out, ultimately leaving the selected card in the napkin. In the third phase, Final Trace, the deck is wrapped inside the napkin and vanished. This excellent napkin routine is powerful and visual and can be performed impromptu with no setup.
Animated Match
In Suicide Match, the magician brings out a matchbox that seemingly opens itself and then a single match lifts and presents itself to spectators. After lighting the match, which is then balanced on the magician's finger, the match vanishes with a wave of the magician's hand. This effect offers a great way to present a light to someone who is smoking. No complicated sleights here, but there's definitely a knack that requires practice.Hammanesque is an offbeat effect where a packet of black cards (spades and clubs) turn, one-by-one, into red cards (diamonds and hearts). At the end, the entire packet consists of red cards. This one relies on a Hammond-style count that Carney has adapted and evolved into a spread. The move is convincing and looks natural.
Triumph
Halves in the Mist offers a routine where two coins are vanished and "hung" in the air. The key moves that allow a magician to vanish a coin and apparently show the backside of the hand are difficult. Of course, in the hands of Carney, the moves look great. This one will take lots of work, and even if you master it, can only be performed for two or three people because of the angles.As the name implies, Triumph Rip Off offers an effect where a selected card is mixed into a deck, which is then shuffled with face-up and face-down halves, seemingly blended every which way. At the end, the magician seems to pull all of the face-up cards through the face-down cards in a visual way. Of course, a single face-down card turns out to be the selected one. Carney offers a different approach on a classic.
