Conjuring Credits

The Origins of Wonder

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Splitting a Card by Magic

This plot appeared as a proposed effect - with no solution given - in Ellis Stanyon's Magic, Vol. 10 No. 10, July 1910, p. 77, Query 103. A solution by Daiso appeared three issues later in Vol. 11 No. 1, Oct. 1910, p. 5.

It was nearly half a century before another method appeared: Brother John Hamman's “Magician's Reprieve”, in which a Ten spot is magically split into a Four and a Six of the same suit. This routine was published in The Card Magic of Bro. John Hamman S. M., 1958, p. 16. The split is a surprising side effect in a transposition and a creative way to circumvent the need for a duplicate.

In James Nuzzo's “The Magic Split,” a single card splits into two selections when turned face up. It appeared in Alton Sharpe's Expert Card Conjuring, 1968, p. 68.

Later came the “Reverse Blendo” type of effect, in which the main effect is to prominently split a value arithmetically, so the two cards add up to the original one. This effect appeared in Paul Harris's “Las Vegas Split” in SuperMagic, 1977, p. 122. Later, the effect also appeared in George Sands's “Split Card” in The Linking Ring, Vol. 69 No. 12, Dec. 1989, p. 94.