Card tricks have always been a crowd favorite, but not everyone has the skill or dexterity to pull them off. The good news is that there are card tricks that work themselves, meaning they require minimal effort on your part. In this article, we'll introduce you to some of these tricks that will leave your audience impressed.
The Self-Working Card Trick
The self-working card trick is one of the easiest tricks you can learn. All you have to do is ask a spectator to shuffle a deck of cards, pick out a card, and then place it back in the deck. You then shuffle the deck and magically reveal their card.
The trick is all in the setup. Beforehand, you need to place their card on top of the deck and then shuffle the rest of the cards. When they pick a card, it will be the one you placed on top. When you shuffle the deck, you bring their card back to the top without them noticing.
The Spelling Card Trick
The spelling card trick is another self-working trick that's sure to impress. Ask a spectator to pick a card and remember it. You then shuffle the deck and spell out their card, placing one card down for each letter. When you get to the end of the word, their card will be the one on top.
The trick here is that you need to know the order of the cards in the deck. You can memorize this or have a cheat sheet. For example, if their card is the seven of hearts, you would spell out "S-E-V-E-N O-F H-E-A-R-T-S."
The Cut and Restored Card Trick
The cut and restored card trick is a classic that requires no sleight of hand. You simply ask a spectator to pick a card and then lose it in the deck. You then cut the deck and magically reveal their card.
The trick is that you need to secretly cut the deck in a way that leaves their card on top. When you reveal their card, you then cut the deck again, this time in a way that makes it look like their card is cut in half. You then magically restore their card.
The 21 Card Trick
The 21 card trick is a self-working trick that's great for large audiences. You simply fan out a deck of cards face down and ask someone to pick a card without showing it to you. You then lay out three piles of seven cards each and ask them to tell you which pile their card is in.
You then take the pile their card is in and repeat the process, laying out three piles of three cards each and asking them to tell you which pile their card is in. You then take the pile their card is in and reveal their card.
The Rising Card Trick
The rising card trick is a self-working trick that's great for close-up magic. You simply ask a spectator to pick a card and remember it. You then shuffle the deck and place it in a box. When you open the box, their card will have risen to the top.
The trick here is that you need to use a special gimmick that's hidden in the box. When you close the box, the gimmick raises their card to the top of the deck. When you open the box, their card will be the first one you see.
The Four Ace Trick
The four ace trick is a self-working trick that's great for intermediate magicians. You simply shuffle the deck and deal out four piles of cards face down. You then flip over the top card of each pile, revealing an ace.
The trick here is all in the setup. Beforehand, you need to place each ace on top of a different pile. When you deal out the piles, they will all have an ace on top. When you flip them over, it will look like you magically found all four aces.
The Invisible Card Trick
The invisible card trick is a self-working trick that's great for beginners. You simply ask a spectator to pick a card and remember it. You then fan out the deck and ask them to place their card back in the deck without showing it to you.
You then shuffle the deck and fan it out, pretending to look for their card. But instead of finding their card, you pretend to pull an invisible card out of the deck, asking them if it's their card. When they say no, you repeat the process until you finally reveal their card.
The Bottom Card Trick
The bottom card trick is a self-working trick that's great for intermediate magicians. You simply ask a spectator to pick a card and remember it. You then shuffle the deck and deal out the cards face down, but secretly keep their card on the bottom.
You then ask them to point to a card and you reveal it, but it's not their card. You repeat this process until you get to the last card, which is their card on the bottom of the deck.
The One-Handed Cut Trick
The one-handed cut trick is a self-working trick that's great for intermediate magicians. You simply ask a spectator to pick a card and remember it. You then shuffle the deck and cut it with one hand, revealing their card.
The trick here is all in the setup. Beforehand, you need to place their card on the bottom of the deck. When you cut the deck one-handed, you secretly cut to their card and reveal it.
The Prediction Card Trick
The prediction card trick is a self-working trick that's great for close-up magic. You simply ask a spectator to pick a card and remember it. You then shuffle the deck and place it in a box. You then make a prediction about their card.
When you open the box, their card will have magically risen to the top. You then reveal your prediction, which matches their card.
The Four-Card Prediction Trick
The four-card prediction trick is a self-working trick that's great for intermediate magicians. You simply ask a spectator to pick a card and remember it. You then shuffle the deck and deal out four piles of cards face down.
You then ask them to tell you which pile their card is in and then reveal the card on top of that pile. But that's not all. You then reveal that you predicted their card by showing that the other three cards in that pile are all the same as the one on top.
The Spectator-Cuts-The-Deck Trick
The spectator-cuts-the-deck trick is a self-working trick that's great for beginners. You simply ask a spectator to cut the deck and remember the card they cut to. You then shuffle the deck and reveal their card.
The trick is all in the setup. Beforehand, you need to secretly place their card on top of the deck. When they cut the deck, their card will be on top of the bottom half. When you shuffle the deck, you bring their card back to the top without them noticing.
The Magic Number Trick
The magic number trick is a self-working trick that's great for intermediate magicians. You simply ask a spectator to pick a card and remember it. You then shuffle the deck and deal out the cards face down in a row.
You then ask the spectator to think of a number between one and ten. You then count down that many cards and reveal their card.
The Psychic Card Trick
The psychic card trick is a self-working trick that's great for intermediate magicians. You simply ask a spectator to pick a card and remember it. You then shuffle the deck and deal out the cards face down in a row.
You then ask the spectator to think of a color and a suit. You then reveal their card, which matches the color and suit they thought of.
The Total Control Trick
The total control trick is a self-working trick that's great for intermediate magicians. You simply ask a spectator to pick a card and remember it. You then shuffle the deck and place their card in a special spot.
You then ask them to cut the deck multiple times, each time revealing their card. This creates the illusion that they have total control over the deck.
The Mind Reader Trick
The mind reader trick is a self-working trick that's great for close-up magic. You simply ask a spectator to pick a card and remember it. You then shuffle the deck and ask them to place their card back in the deck.
You then ask them to think of their card and you reveal it by reading their mind. But the trick is that you have a duplicate of their card hidden in your pocket, which you reveal at the same time.
The Coincidence Trick
The coincidence trick is a self-working trick that's great for intermediate magicians. You simply ask two spectators to each pick a card and remember it. You then shuffle the deck and reveal that the two cards they picked were next to each other in the deck.
The trick is all in the setup. Beforehand, you need to secretly place their cards next to each other in the deck. When you shuffle the deck, you bring their cards back together without them noticing.
The Undercover Card Trick
The undercover card trick is a self-working trick that's great for intermediate magicians. You simply ask a spectator to pick a card and remember it. You then shuffle the deck and ask them to place their card back in the deck.
You then reveal their card by pretending to be an undercover agent who has been tracking their card throughout the deck. You then reveal their card in a dramatic fashion.
The Double Prediction Trick
The double prediction trick is a self-working trick that's great for intermediate magicians. You simply ask a spectator to pick a card and remember it. You then shuffle the deck and make two predictions about their card.
You then reveal their card, which matches both of your predictions.
The Reversal Card Trick
The reversal card trick is a self-working trick that's great for intermediate magicians. You simply ask a spectator to pick a card and remember it. You then shuffle the deck and reveal their card by finding the card that's face down in the deck.
The trick is all in the setup. Beforehand, you need to secretly place their card face down in the deck. When you reveal their card, you turn it over to reveal it's the only card face down in the deck.
The Time Traveler Trick
The time traveler trick is a self-working trick that's great for intermediate magicians. You simply ask a spectator to pick a card and remember it. You then shuffle the deck and ask them to place their card back in the deck.
You then reveal their card by pretending to time travel to different moments in the deck's history. You then reveal their card at the moment they picked it.
