Charlier cut – A one-handed cut. Using the foot. (KIDDING!)
Cut and restored rope – Uncannily similar to torn and restored newspaper (see below!)
Dealer’s grip – The standard way of holding a deck of playing cards. Completely and utterly boring.
Double lift – A card move whereby the top card is displayed, but actually two cards are lifted and so the face of the card displayed is actually the second card down. If the playing cards in use are particularly sticky, you may find yourself lifting all 52 cards at once – though it can be rather tricky trying to pass this off as a single playing card. GOOD LUCK!
Expert Card Technique – The go-to book on card magic. The one every magician better than you tells you you must read. Since it is very big, it also makes a handy lap-tray when eating snacks in front of the television.
False deals – The act of dealing a playing card from somewhere other than the top of the deck. So fiendishly difficult that it is sometimes easier to just deal the card from the top of the deck and then not continue with the rest of the trick.
False shuffle – A shuffle that appears real, but in fact doesn’t disturb the order of the playing cards in any way. A tidy person’s shuffle. Or for someone with extreme OCD.
Hypnotic induction (handshake method) – A type of hypnotic induction that exploits the reflex action of shaking a hand. Works on most people when perfected, though probably best not practised when greeting your gran – or on anyone who has dirty hands. Not saying that your gran has dirty hands by the way! (Unless she does.)
Mentalist – A practitioner of mental magic. And/or a mad Derren Brown fan.
Muscle pass – Technique in which a coin is transferred from one hand to the other; the muscle at the base of the thumb is used to propel the coin into the air. Looks like real gravity-defying magic when performed properly – and so not when performed by me.
Pinkie break – Insertion of the little finger to maintain a ‘break’ in a deck of playing cards, allowing the magician to cut the deck at a specific point, usually to bring a selected playing card, assumed to be in the centre of the deck, to the top (‘the pass’). Can be a bit obvious if your little finger is the size of your big toe.
Pressure fan – A perfect fan of cards, made possible through application of pressure and a slight bending of the cards. For the record, my version of a pressure fan looks more like a half-eaten taco.
Reverse cull – The act of secretly sliding (‘culling’) a playing card under a spread of cards to the bottom or top of the deck – i.e. a fun way to show off; i.e. I have no idea what this means.
Thumb tip – Essentially a fake hollowed-out thumb that can be used to hide handkerchiefs and other such small objects (though NOT wasps), allowing items to seemingly disappear and reappear from the closed fist at will. Stands out like a sore thumb if the thumb tip you use isn’t the same colour as the rest of your hand/face/body.
Torn and restored newspaper – The act of destroying a newspaper through tearing, only to show – seconds later – that it has magically restored. Relies on hiding a duplicate newspaper. Either that or – like all of the above – it needs to be accomplished by purely magical means.