Quick Question About The Biddle Trick

May 26, 2009
65
5
About the biddle trick , when you show them the 5 top card one by one , do you do it fast or slow. And how do YOU get a good grip of their selection , do you keep a break below their card or what ?
 

Jv

Jan 11, 2008
1,223
26
I definitely find that a slow and steady count works best, and when you try to speed up the counting, basically haste makes waste. ;)

I agree, I go more with a slow and steady count as well.

V.
 
Sep 20, 2008
50
0
Israel
Too slow is suspicious, just show them the five cards at a natural rate.
There is nothing worse than going too fast, them not noticing if their selection was there or not, and being asked to show them the five again.
 
Apr 15, 2009
21
0
I go preety fast at the biddle trick. For me seems more fair than if I go too slow, because when you go pretty slow, they think you are doing a move. If you are going enough fast for them to see the cards and you are smooth it's just perfect.
 
Mar 6, 2008
1,483
3
A Land Down Under
If you go too quick they feel like you are trying to hide something. The move in the Biddle trick is something so minute that you can do it really slow and open as there is essentially nothing to see. Aaron Fisher said it in the Paper Engine about going slow to respect the audience so they can really experience the effect.
 
Aug 24, 2008
264
0
29
Greece
If you go too quick they feel like you are trying to hide something. The move in the Biddle trick is something so minute that you can do it really slow and open as there is essentially nothing to see. Aaron Fisher said it in the Paper Engine about going slow to respect the audience so they can really experience the effect.

got the words outta my mouth. I was gonna quote Aaron......

George
 
Apr 28, 2008
596
0
I show them each card very slowly, there's really no need to go fast, the move is completely invisible even when done slowly. There is no reason for there to be any suspicion at this point. However, going fast will suggest that you're trying to cover up and as soon as they suspect that you might be doing something the reaction is going to be significantly weakened even if they don't actually see anything.

I go preety fast at the biddle trick. For me seems more fair than if I go too slow, because when you go pretty slow, they think you are doing a move. If you are going enough fast for them to see the cards and you are smooth it's just perfect.

I can't agree with this at all, in my opinion you're completely wrong. Spectators do not think you're doing a move if you go slowly, they think you have nothing to hide. Spectators generally expect sleights to be extremely fast moves, 'the hand is quicker than the eye' type stuff. They really aren't prepared for, and have no concept of, sleights that happen in a casual action. The steal in the biddle trick is completely invisible anyway, if they see you slowly count off the cards how could they possibly suspect a sleight? Whereas if you go quickly they're far more likely to think you're hiding something.

This applies to most other moves as well. Such as the Elmsely count, rushing it because you're worried they will see the same card twice is probably going to give it away, they're more likely to ask to see the cards again and suspect something isn't right. Slowly and smoothly and it appears that you're being very open and have nothing to hide, the audience will pick up on this and assume nothing is happening.
 
May 4, 2009
131
1
I count the cards. I go "card number 1... (pause) card number 2... (pause) card number 3..."

I try to make it as fair looking as possible. Also, if I get nervous and start to fumble the card, it's easier to recover if I'm going slow. If I was going really fast and then paused to square up the deck, it would look super suspicious.
 
Jun 22, 2009
395
0
I count the cards. I go "card number 1... (pause) card number 2... (pause) card number 3..."

I try to make it as fair looking as possible. Also, if I get nervous and start to fumble the card, it's easier to recover if I'm going slow. If I was going really fast and then paused to square up the deck, it would look super suspicious.


Don't you feel you are leading them to count along with you? wouldn't that make them pay more attention?

I think instead of saying card # 1, # 2 etc. You could call it out as first, second, third that way they are not counting the cards with their eyes their just listening.

Just a thought.
 
May 4, 2009
131
1
Here is something I'd like to through out.

Twice I've had a spectator say, "why is the card upside down?" I could practically see the gears in their head cranking as they searched for clues.

I said "well, I used to not put the card in upside down and it would take too long for the person to find their card. Some people would take forever, so I stick the card in upside down now so the spectator finds it faster."

Both times the person really ate up that answer and didn't question it at all.
 
I go slow, but not to slow. I also name the cards as I am going through like "king of spades, 4 of spades, 3 of hearts etc" that way it seems very fair and they are confirmed both visually and audibly that their card was in the five.
 
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