Cross Cut Force

A spectator cuts to a 'random card' and the magician knows it.

Preparation

Look at the top card.

Method

This is very simple!

Knowing the top card, have the spectator cut the deck anywhere, then put the rest of the deck at an angle. Now grab their attention, they will focus on you instead of the piles. Now, redirect them back to the piles and show them the card on top of the bottom pile. This was the former top card.

Now you know their card!

Comments

Loki67 22nd May 06	fools em every time!
PeteyB383 24th May 06	yeah...It is surprising....But some people are smart nad can figure it out.
Sharpeye 25th May 06	if you misdirect them enough they wont know what hit them
Eco 1st Jun 06	yes...they will focus on u instead of the piles.....as far as ive gone so far, every magic trick of cards, the spectator just stares at ur hand, stares, stares and stares...
blacktiger 4th Jun 06	Impressive. I havent used this trick in a long time. I forgot about it.
nickoftime789 6th Jun 06	Video please?
zoso91 7th Jun 06	Yes it is a good trick...
andrea 12th Jun 06	doesn't need video! Simply put your force card at top and then ask them to cut (about a half)and place the rest of deck 90 degrees on it! Then use misdirection (how he could take more or less cards)for about 30 sec and they will lost track which pile they cutted! ;)
PeteyB383 13th Jun 06	Yeah, a video would be a waste of time, If you know how to cut a deck, you can do this force.
Wexler 14th Jun 06	haha seen this done many times
dylan 24th Jun 06	this is awsome but dont do it twice
jeremycollins 26th Jun 06	Works well to start a trick
MDew 7th Jul 06	Very deceptive force, is used at all level of magic. Success of this force lies in your misdirection. If they can figure it out, then your misdirection should be improved to provide adequate deception.
andrea 8th Jul 06	This is the force that depends on your acting skills and misdirection. A great one. If done properly 100% works everytime! 5/5! Great
Dukeslapper 11th Jul 06	I also realized if u jus find out the bottom card and when u shuffle the last card u put down make it the top and they dont even realize if ur looking in there eyes
jamesismy 17th Jul 06	I use this force almost everytime i have to force a card! Its so easy and simple if Im ever in a bind and need to do and impramptu trick I just say Im counting the cards, memorize the top card, and perfom the most amazing mind reading ever! Its easy, its short, it has very little if none perperation involved and thats why every magician should know this force!
futuremindfreak 17th Jul 06	explain it better, i didn't understand it either untill i read someone's comments. when explaining a trick on the internet, it takes a lot more detail in words, because they can't see what you're doing.
jonk689 17th Jul 06	I can see how people are confused by this explanation. To clarify: Cut the deck into two halves, and put the top half beneath the bottom half, but keep it "jogged" or off to the side at an angle. At this point the card that started at the top of the deck is at the top of the half that is currently on the bottom. After you patter on about something to distract them, you can grab this card, and it looks like you are taking the card that they cut to (because you are pulling it from the middle of the deck) while in reality you just took the top card, which you know.
magikman 20th Jul 06	thanks jonk689 you explained a lot better than peteyb383, no offense, but now i understand it nice force. use it a ton
PeteyB383 20th Jul 06	Sorry about that guys. I didn't think so many people would ge t confused. But I guess that is because I understand what I am saying better than you guys understand. Sorry again.
PeteyB383 21st Jul 06	Ok buddy....Because that makes sense.
serjmalakian 30th Jul 06	simple yet decieving
magicnino 30th Jul 06	it's good, but my advice is don't do the same force twice in a row. the second time your spectators will only watch the cards instead of you. I suggest The Bottom Force also submitted by Petey. Thanks Man!
serjmalakian 1st Aug 06	i use this on occasion, and if the patter is right then they forget all about it :P
CrackCode74 4th Aug 06	The trick is a very simple trick Im going to fool my brother with this becuse he is really smart.
Keaton 14th Aug 06	a much easier wat of doing this. Instead of looking at the top look at the bottom. it looks alot less obvious.
cardtrixter 21st Aug 06	this is a great force. i use it all the time. but its true you can't use this force more than once to the same audience
jezellis 23rd Aug 06	i dont understand
joepanther08 4th Sep 06	good trick.. works all the time
Darkwings 13th Sep 06	Simple and efective good one PeteyB383
wocho21 17th Sep 06	Simple, don't do it twice in a row
riddler 17th Sep 06	if you really want some good misderection do the eybrow wave and say your reading there mind
Jorjay 14th Oct 06	want to know a good diversion? yell in their face as loud as you can, and really startle them. When they look up at you like your an idiot say that you wanted to make sure they were paying attention; then finish the trick
S3Z4R 16th Oct 06	Hard to do with lots of children around ...
brammm 18th Oct 06	but you always got to chearch the card in the deck and thats suspescious
hellomoto 27th Oct 06	so obvious!
dinod 9th Nov 06	If you are not good in misdirecting, then this is close to impossible for you to pull of.
krizz 12th Nov 06	This is a quite good force
Dreca 14th Nov 06	Lets face it if you're good at misdirection its a really easy trick, but then again most tricks are. It's a great trick to practice your misdirection because one peek at the deck and anyone with half a brain will call the bluff. This a good example of where a good magician is need to make an unimpressive trick worth while.
boyzone 16th Nov 06	i know this trick
magicman88 16th Nov 06	this is a nice little force for inexperienced spectators
tpiercey 22nd Nov 06	Im sure its a good trick but for someone who dosent already know it, its a poor explaination. Ive been reading over and over, still dont know how to switch piles.
tpiercey 22nd Nov 06	Im sure its a good trick but for someone who dosent already know it, its a poor explaination. Ive been reading over and over, still dont know how to switch piles.
plons 30th Nov 06	a simple force.
muk1234 1st Dec 06	A good force, but there are better ones
brodieboy 1st Dec 06	This is still one of my favourite forces. No sleights, no Maths!
nblan10 2nd Dec 06	sooo simple
kiki21 3rd Dec 06	actually worked
Danieljjskt 4th Dec 06	It only depends on misdirection.
shade2193 7th Dec 06	Wow this will be good.....thanks
Obang 16th Dec 06	I like the elimination force better.
magicalmaster 1st Jan 07	easy and very effective.
bryanbell 2nd Jan 07	I can't believe how easily people fall for this! I'll tell them, ok so it looks like you picked 22 cards, and I've even had grown adults go, "No...it looks more like 19" They think that the number has to do with the trick, when it does...for misdirection only though, haha love it.
Jonii 6th Jan 07	So, just to clarify, you first give deck to spectator, instruct him or her to cut deck somewhere around the middle, and then put the halves on the table. Then you just start misdirecting, making oh so natural move of putting bottom half on top of top half. And when it is time to continue the trick, spectators just remember someone cutting deck and magician marking something.
unh01yfury 7th Jan 07	not really a force though, but nice
Shorteo 10th Jan 07	I like this force but i wouldn't do it to much
LJGym9 13th Jan 07	simple force, kind of obvious though
godlyprince 16th Jan 07	i like to pick up the piles and make an easy break then preform the pass.its no on the real top. much less suspicious.
Hawk 22nd Jan 07	Old but good, gets them every time.
Drizzt 24th Jan 07	Dude I may suck at magic (level 6)but I find this method quite easy and succesful. Ty dude
wanabe 26th Jan 07	or you could use a pinkie break and then riffle through and open at the break.. that make it so they can watch the entire time. you riffle through the dick and then have them say"stop" and open it to the pinkie break that way there is no need for a distraction.
thestarfishkid 13th Feb 07	The misdirection I use is after I have cut the decks and forced the card, I look at the spectator and explain the trick I am going to do. Normally I never explain the trick but if I use this force its ok. One of the first forces I learnt and still one of the easiest and best ones around for all magic users. A classic
Beginner 18th Feb 07	Great force need to be nice and fast with the cards
Phate 22nd Feb 07	It's a force that works every time, nothing else to say.
Vadredant 4th Mar 07	its partially misdirection and partially filling their head with some other thoughts. I practice on my family, and i noticed that if i just simply made them look away and chat a bit, they would notice. However if i gave them something to worry about, or think about, they would forget about the manner the deck was cut in. overall, simple, effective if used right.
htyhty 8th Mar 07	the biggest thing you should do is talk to them for a while becuase if you dont they might focus to hard on the deck of cards and know what it is it happens sometims trust me.
Gamerfreek11 8th Mar 07	This is pretty cool, i like it i cant wait to go and try it out!
anbu 8th Mar 07	could you use a pinky break insted of turning it 90 degrees?
nathanielcuri 11th Mar 07	instead of just looking at the top card before hand, you could glimpse the bottom and "shuffle" it to the top. this way you can make it seem more like its unplanned
jkersey 21st Mar 07	^^that's the way I always do it. Riffle shuffle, glimpse the bottom card when you square up the deck, then overhand shuffle it to the top as you introduce the trick.
peaceout 27th Mar 07	misdirection is really easy in this trick so u will have to practice over and over to master this trick
dahomiboi 14th Apr 07	instead of this little cross thing, I would just pick them both up and secretly switch them so they think theyre pciking out of the bottom half
preet 16th May 07	one more way to do this.let the spectator cut the deck then you take both the piles put the bottom pile on the top as you do this insert a finger break and cut the deck from your finger break and just reveal the top card.No one will know this......simple
nyle 18th May 07	It is simple but yet very good. Misdirect them well and they won't know what him em.
Yexo 19th May 07	This is a simple force. It seems so obvious but spectators anren't very smart...=D
tookie4eva 2nd Jun 07	this works so well it seams so simple but no one ever figures it out
oddbit 15th Jun 07	It's strange. So many people who say this works just as it is. So many others who want to jazz it up with more cuts and passes. The point is getting away with the simplicity and not having to do the cuts extra cuts and passes. I know you're nervous about the spec figuring it out, that maybe your misdirection isn't good enough. Just get the spec involved in the trick with a line like, "Look at me and I want you to concentrate on the card you just cut to." Now you've broken their train
schuamster 4th Jul 07	does this actually work? are they fooled? or is it obvious ?
easterrhyming 23rd Jul 07	the spectator must really focus on the deck in order to figure this one out. maybe you could say something like "hey, look, you cut the cards, you cut to this card by your own free will, please take your card" and have them take their card. that always distracts them
TaylorHalo 27th Jul 07	i dont get it
mfaron 1st Aug 07	This trick is really easy to do and it fools people every time. I don't think the explanation is very good though. If you get the "how to do street magic" dvd from Ellusionist then you can see it done in the first trick.
mfaron 2nd Aug 07	let me try and clarify: Know the top card of the deck using any method (I like using the overhand shuffle). Then, ask the spectator to cut the deck at any spot. When they cut it, put the bottom half of the deck ON TOP of the top half going in the opposite direction. The two halves should form a cross (+) or a T-shape. Then, get their attention and tell them a story or explain what you are going to do. Get their focus off the cards. Then, go back to the cards and take off the top part of
kaiarz 6th Aug 07	jonk guy thanks you explained it good and petey no offense but thanks for inventing or posting
moe 12th Jan 08	if you talk enough it will fool anyone. i done this trick with 8 friends of mine all gathered around me and not even one of them noticed! very strong effect and really shocks them Personally i just question them why they picked out so many cards and if they think the halves are even and i just keep asking them questions about the patterns on the back of the cards, anything to divert there attension off the split
mikerobe007 2nd Aug 08	It's interesting how well it works. I definitely thought it wouldn't, but you'd be surprised! If you can get them to choose where the cut is, then you can patter on about how it was an absolutely free choice while you distract them. Quite amazing! (Unless they choose significantly less than half of the deck, then you could be in trouble).
dinglefritz 12th Nov 08	This force works well if you add the misdirection. It's a time delay thing as oddbit said just get the spec involved in trick and you will succeed.
zariith 27th Dec 08	It may seem like a force for beginers but i've seen a person do it at the Magic Castle and get away with it. Very misleading and works very well.
MacGyverMagic 12th May 09	For the people who refer to this as a trick, please remember it's in the sleights section. It's only a tool to make a trick rather than a trick on its own. Personally, I think this force is exposed so much in beginner magic sets that it has become pretty much useless.
poise 18th Jun 10	for the misdirection I like to stare directly into their eyes and tell that you are going to show them a trick they really have to pay attention to and if they dont it won't work. This is usually all it takes.