I Am Not Worthy: Henry Evans’ Ten Exact CutsInside MagicMagic News Updated Daily for the Professional Magician

Henry Evans is amazing, in my professional and personal opinion. I know he has been recognized by FISM and others for his contributions to card magic so I don’t think I am going out on a limb by voicing my opinion.

I saw Mr. Evans perform and lecture at the World Magic Seminar last year in Vegas. His approach, like Simon Aronson’s, is to make things look magical by the lack of apparently tricky moves. His hands are usually off the cards when the effect takes place.

The effect of Ten Exact Cuts is as follows:

“A deck of cards is shuffled by a spectator. Really shuffled. You then cut the cards into 10 packs as follows: The first pack has 1 card, the second pack has 2 cards, the third pack has 3 cards and so on.

“Now, show that the cuts are so exact that the top card of each packet is a Spade, and the Spades are in sequential order! The top card of the first packet is the Ace, the top card of the second packet is the Two, the top card of the third packet is the Three, and so on, in sequential order from Ace to Ten, indicating the number of cards in each packet!”

Great magic, but there’s more!

“Produce the Jack, Queen and King of Spades from the pack. Then, shuffle the deck once more and make three exacting cuts, dividing the deck into three packets.

“Turn over the first packet to reveal all the diamonds in sequential order, from Ace to King! “Turn over the second packet to reveal all the clubs in sequential order, from Ace to King

“The third packet reveals all the hearts in sequential order, from Ace to King. The entire deck is now in order!”

Mr. Evansperformed this award-winning Ten Exact Cuts for me and I was blown away. I didn’t buy it from him at the Seminar and that was big mistake. The trick has become scarce — even from the on-line shops that usually have everything. Since that first demonstration, I have searched for it.

Despair kicked in. I started to think it was me. It was my fault. I was not worthy of the trick because I did not buy it right away. I also began to doubt whether I was worthy of even looking for the trick.

Great magic, but there’s more!

“Produce the Jack, Queen and King of Spades from the pack. Then, shuffle the deck once more and make three exacting cuts, dividing the deck into three packets.

“Turn over the first packet to reveal all the diamonds in sequential order, from Ace to King! “Turn over the second packet to reveal all the clubs in sequential order, from Ace to King

“The third packet reveals all the hearts in sequential order, from Ace to King. The entire deck is now in order!”

Finally, I began to doubt whether I was worthy of having tinted contact lenses. The last doubt had nothing to do with the search for the effect but showed how I began to spiral into self-doubt because of one trick.

My Court-Appointed Counselor thinks the self-doubt and my need to beat myself up is not likely related to Henry Evans’ trick. She thinks — according to her latest affidavit — that it is related to my desire to avoid prosecution by appearing crazy.

Whatever.

Back to the review.

I finally found the trick and bought it right away. I was like a little kid. I immediately opened the effect, looked at the deck he provided and tried to figure it out. I was stumped. I had no idea. Maybe I wasn’t worthy after all.

But then I noticed there were instructions included. I read the instructions and within six minutes, I was able to perform what appeared to me to be impossible.

The effect is as clean as it has been described. The sleights are virtually non-existent. In fact, if have grown up in magic, I can almost promise you can do the two sleights required. In fact, if you cut a deck of cards, you can do the effect.

But the effect is so powerful that it doesn’t seem possible — even once you understand how to perform it.

Here is where my self-doubt kicks in. Maybe I am impressed with the effect because I saw Henry perform it. Perhaps it is a fine effect for magicians but the lay audience won’t understand why this is an impossibility being performed in their presence.

I took the effect to dinner with me. I found some fine people to impose upon and demonstrated what I told them was a “neat demonstration of card control.” I performed the cuts in silence and counted the cards without explanation. In two out of two performances for people who had been imposed upon, the reaction was fantastic.

This is a signature trick. While I am not worthy to have learned its secret, I will try to do it honor by performing it as often and as well as possible.

RATING: FOUR OUT OF FOUR. Buy it, read the instructions and perform it for yourself in a mirror. I think you will agree it looks like real magic.