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The basic idea of the cop from the shuffle, as defined in

the Preliminary Note6, pg. 3, is to "palm, steal or lap the desired

card or cards during the shuffle & square-up sequence. The text

below will deal with the specific case of lapping cards from the

shuffle (palming, sleeving and methods of shuttling cards to other

spots will be deferred to another time).

I've had indifferent luck tracing anything in the literature

on lap moves from the shuffle. Up Close With Andrus (1957) shows

what appears to be such a move in Figures 72 and 73 but I could not

find any reference in the text to the drawings. The standard textbooks

do not seem to contain anything on the subject of lapping cards

during the shuffle sequence.

The first technique below is easy to learn, is covered from

all angles and can be used to lap any small number of cards. The

following two techniques, while more specialized, are not difficult

to learn.

Simplex Cop

The card (or cards) you want to steal is on the bottom of the

deck. The handling is now as follows.

1. The deck is on the table before you in preparation for the

riffle shuffle. The left hand cuts off the upper half and places it

alongside the balance of the deck.

2. The packets are grasped by the ends in the normal manner

for the shuffle. The right thumb releases the bottom card of its

packet.

3. The left thumb then releases a block of 5 or 6 cards,

letting them fall on the card just released from the right packet.

4. You have just blocked off the bottom card of the right

packet From here the shuffle is genuine: simply riffle the two

packets evenly together. At the finish the configuration is as

shown in Fig. 1. The side view shows how the chosen card has been

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blocked off or isolated from the balance of the deck.

5. You now begin the square-up action and simultaneous steal

of the desired card. The right hand pulls its packet back toward

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9. At no time does the right hand hesitate or pause in the

square-up action. Even as the copped card falls away from the

pack, the right hand continues to push its packet to the left and

into the other packet.

10. All that remains is to complete the square up in the

usual fashion.

There are several basic applications. With the deck stacked

in numerical order any named card can be stolen for a card-thru-table

or card-to-pocket effect. Note that the cop occurs before the final

square-up. Thus, after the card is stolen you can go into a push-

thru, strip out or pull thru shuffle to preserve the stack. Although

not described here in the context of the Zarrow full-deck control,

I think it obvious that the bottom card can be propelled from the

deck during a Zarrow-type shuffle.

"X" Card To Wallet

Magician removes from his wallet a card with an "X" drawn on

the back in bold lines. This card, he explains, is a factory reject.

The "X" was drawn on it to distinguish it from other cards and make

certain it wouldn't be used in card games. The "X" card is returned

to the wallet and the wallet placed in the jacket pocket.

A card is chosen at random from the deck, turned face-up and

the face signed by the spectator. Say the card is the 4C, This card

is returned to the deck, the deck shuffled and placed aside.

Magician returns to the subject of the "X" card in his

wallet. "The reason I don't get rid of this card," he says, "is

that it helps me find other cards."

The magician removes his wallet, slides out the "X" card,

turns it over and it proves to be the spectator's signed card.

Method; The basic concept of the effect is S. H. Wirabrough's

handling of the C.O. Williams "Card From Pocket," described in

the Encyclopedia Of Card Tricks, Chapter XVIII. Instead of

putting the "X" card in the vest pocket, I've placed it in a

wallet. Here are the details.

1. Mark a bold "X" on the back of a Joker from the deck you

are using. The mark will show up better if the deck is red-backed.

Place the X'd Joker in the billfold you intend to use. The billfold

goes into the inside jacket pocket.