41. Perplexing Pencil

Effect: A pencil adheres to one hand and then to the other.

Secret: The secret is a small pin pushed into the pencil. Hold the pin between the fingers of your right hand. The pencil seems to stick to the fingers. Bring your left hand to the pencil. Turn to the left and revolve the pencil between your hands. This causes the pin to move from your right fingers to your left fingers. Remove your right hand and the pencil is now apparently stuck to the left fingers. By reversing this movement, you can move the pencil back to the right hand.

42. Making Money

Effect: Three coins are placed in your hand. When you open your hand again the number of coins has increased to five.

Secret: Before your performance secretly stick two coins to the underside of your table with Plasticine. Place three coins on the table. Let everyone see that your hands are empty. With your right hand, scoop the coins from the table into your left hand. At the same time, the left fingers reach under the table and take the two hidden coins. Open your left hand and the coins have magically multiplied.

43. Royal Flush

Effect: Five cards change into a Royal Flush.

Secret: Take the Ten, Jack, Queen and King of one suit and cut them in half diagonally. One half is glued on to one of four other cards of any value and suit. Add an Ace to the group and fan out the cards. It looks like five ordinary cards. Lift the cards so the backs are towards the audience. Take off the Ace and show it, as you secretly turn the other cards end for end. Replace the Ace and then let everyone see the faces. They have changed into a Royal Flush.

44. Cut And Restored Ribbon

Effect: A ribbon is cut in two then restored.

Secret: You need a piece of ribbon a metre long and another eight centimetres long. Sew the short piece to the middle of the long piece. Provided you keep it moving, the short piece will not be noticed. Fold the ribbon in half and pull the centre up through your fist. In fact you pull up only the short piece. Cut through the short piece and then cut away the rest of it (including the stitched bit).You have cut the ribbon in two but you can now show it completely restored!

45. Money Making Matchbox

Effect: Two coins are placed in a matchbox and the box is closed. When the box is opened again the number of coins in it has increased to three.

Secret: Open the matchbox and hide a coin between the top of the drawer and the cover of the box as shown. Place two coins in the box and push the drawer shut. This forces the hidden coin to drop into the drawer. Make a few mystical passes over the box and then open it. Say: "That's the way a magician makes money!".

46. Card Off

Effect: A card escapes from a string.

Secret: A card and an envelope have a hole in their centre. The envelope is secretly prepared with a slit at the bottom. Put the card in the envelope but secretly push it part way out of the slit. This is hidden by your hands. Seal the envelope. Push the string through the hole. Secretly push the card back into the envelope.

Ask two spectators to each hold one end of the string. Cut the bottom off the envelope and pull out the card. It seems that the card has penetrated the string by magic.

47.An Impossible Escape

Effect: A handkerchief escapes from a sealed tumbler.

Secret: A coloured handkerchief is placed in a tumbler. It has a fine thread attached to one corner which hangs over the outside of the glass. A second handkerchief is placed on top of the first. Another handkerchief is placed over the glass and secured with an elastic band. Reach under the handkerchief covering the glass and pull the secret thread, pulling the coloured handkerchief from the glass into your hand. Pull it into full view then remove the elastic band and covering handkerchief to prove that the coloured handkerchief really did escape.

48. The Mystic Seven

Effect: You predict which pile of cards a spectator will choose.

Secret: One a piece of paper, you write: "You will choose the Seven pile". The paper is then folded and given to a spectator for safekeeping. You now take several cards from a pack and arrange them in three facedown piles. The three piles are formed as follows: Pile One: Any seven cards. Pile Two: The four Sevens. Pile Three: An Ace, a Two and a Four (which add up to seven). A spectator is given the choice of any of the three piles. Whichever pile is chosen the prediction is always correct.

49. Sweet And Sour

Effect: You tell the difference between sweet and sour by means of an amazing mental ability. Secret: On a sheet of card write the words "SWEET" and "SOUR" and tear the card into nine pieces as shown.The pieces are dropped into a bag and mixed up. When you reach in and take a card, you know immediately whether the word on it is "SWEET" or "SOUR". This is possible from the way the card is torn. The "SOUR" pieces have only one straight edge. The "SWEET" pieces have two straight edges, with one exception which has no straight edges whatsoever.

50. Magic Stamp Album

Effect: An empty album becomes magically filled with stamps.

Secret: You need an exercise book to make this trick. Go through the book and cut a narrow strip from the edges of every other page. On every double page where the short edge is to the right, stick some stamps. The pages where the short page is on the left should be left untouched. Flick through the pages with your right hand and it will look like an ordinary exercise book. Say some magic words and flick through the book again using your left hand and the book is filled with stamps.

51. Red Or Black?

Effect: From a pack of cards spread face down on a table, you are able to tell which are red cards and which are black.

Secret: First separate the reds from the blacks. Bend all the red cards upwards. Bend all the black cards downwards. Mix the cards together. Spread all the cards face down on your table. Throw them down haphazardly and then invite a spectator to mix them up even more, so it is obvious they are not in any special order. Ask people to point to different cards and you can tell them if they are red or black by the way they bend.

52. Homing Coins

Effect: Four coins disappear then magically return.

Secret: On two sides of a triangular stand is a ledge to hold four coins. Those on one side are loose, the others are glued in place. The stand is on your table with the loose coins on show. Pretend to take the first coin away but really let it fall behind the stand. Put the imaginary coin in a paper bag. Do the same with the other coins. As you cover the stand with a scarf, tip the stand backwards. Blow up the bag and burst it. Whisk the scarf away and the coins have returned.

53. Change The Ace

Effect: The Ace of Spades changes to the Ace of Hearts.

Secret: Place the Ace of Hearts and the Ace of Spades on top of the pack. Turn over the top card and show it is the Ace of Spades. Place it back on the pack face up. Push the two top cards a little to the right, so they overlap the edge of the pack by one centimetre. Throw the pack firmly down on the table. Air pressure causes the two top cards to turn over and the Ace of Hearts will now be face up.

54. Marvellous Memory

Effect: You appear to memorise the order of a pack of cards.

Secret: Cut a small hole in the bottom right corner of your card case.

Ask someone to shuffle the cards and hand them back to you. Look through the cards quickly, then place them in the case. Hold the case in front of you and you will see the index of the first card through the hole. Name this card and pull it from the case. Do the same with a few more until you think you have proved that you really did memorise the order of the cards.

55. Indestructible Handkerchief

Effect: A large safety pin is pulled through a handkerchief without tearing it.

Secret: Ask someone to hold a handkerchief out taut. Push a safety pin through the material, near the edge of the handkerchief. Hold the pin by the tail end and turn it towards yourself. Now pull the pin to the right. When you stop, push the pin forward so it goes back through the material. You have moved the pin from one place to another without tearing the handkerchief. What actually happens is that the material runs between the bar and the head of the pin.

56. That's Torn It!

Effect: A coin is wrapped in paper. You then tear up the paper – the coin has disappeared!

Secret: Place the coin on the paper, just above the centre. Fold the top portion of paper down over the coin.

Fold the right side of the paper around to the back. Do the same with the left side.

Lastly, fold the bottom portion back. This procedure leaves the bottom edge of the packet open. Hold the paper in your hand and allow the coin to slip secretly into your hand. Tear up the paper and the coin seems to have vanished.

57. A Capital Prediction

Effect: Acapital city is chosen. Inside an envelope which has been on full view is a paper naming the city selected.

Secret: Write a capital city on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope.

Capital cities are called and you write them down on slips of paper which are folded and dropped into a box.

In fact you write the same name on every slip – the name of the city in the sealed enveloped.

Someone picks a slip and calls out the chosen city. The envelope is opened to show you knew which city would be chosen.

58. Calculated Discovery

Effect: You remove cards from your pocket to the value of a chosen card.

Secret: Put the Ace of Clubs, Two of Hearts, Four of Spades and Eight of Diamonds in your pocket. Have the pack shuffled then put it in your pocket.

Ask someone to name a card. The four cards you hid can represent any card. For the Six of Clubs you take out the Four and the Two to make six and the Ace to show Clubs. For the Queen of Diamonds take the Eight and the Four to make 12 and point to the Eight of Diamonds and so on.

59. Ring Of Deception

Effect: A bangle passes on to a length of rope tied securely to your wrists.

Secret: You need two identical bangles and a long piece of soft rope.

Secretly put one of the bangles on your arm, hidden under your coat sleeves. Have two spectators tie each end of the rope around your wrists. Show the bangle to ensure that it is solid. Turn your back, quickly pull the secret bangle down your sleeve on to the rope and hide the bangle just shown in an inside pocket. Turn back to face the audience and show the bangle tied on the rope.

60. Match Maker

Effect: Matches appear in an empty box.

Secret: The matchbox drawer is secretly prepared by cutting it in two. One section is longer than the other. Put the two pieces of drawer in the box and fill it with matches. To show the box empty pull the long part of the divided drawer from the box. The matches will remain in position inside the cover and the drawer will appear to be empty. Close the drawer. To show the box full push the drawer from the other end. This moves both pieces of the drawer and the matches make their appearance.