You put the two black Jacks face up on top of the deck, and somebody's chosen card is lost in the middle. You snap your fingers and spread the deck across the table. There are the two Jacks in the middle, with their card trapped between them.
✨ Level 2: Conjurer
⏱ 15 minutes to learn
🃏 Cards
🎒 Ages 7+
A bit of setting up, or ten to twenty minutes of practice.
What you need
The secret
Get ready, before anybody is watching
Find the two black Jacks and leave them on top of the deck before the show.
Most beginner card tricks use a secret "key card" that you know, or a special order the cards are in before you start. Your friend picks a card, the secret quietly leads you to it, and then you reveal it in the most dramatic way you can think of.
What's the best card trick for kids?
The Spelling Bee card trick. You spell out every card from Ace to King, moving one card for each letter, and the right card turns up every single time. It looks impossible and it works entirely by itself.
You put the two black Jacks face up on top of the deck, and somebody's chosen card is lost in the middle. You snap your fingers and spread the deck across the table. There are the two Jacks in the middle, with their card trapped between them. It's a level 2 conjurer trick for ages 7 to 12 (grades 2nd–6th), takes 15 minutes to learn, and needs one thing you already have. Flick, the shop's rabbit, reads every step aloud with a picture, so a child can follow it alone.
The secret
Their card is already underneath the two Jacks before you start, held there by the key card you cut to. One cut buries all three together, which is why the sandwich is made before anyone sees it.
What you need
A deck of cards
Get ready, before anybody is watching
Find the two black Jacks and leave them on top of the deck before the show.
How to do it
Show the two Jacks on top of the deck and leave them there, face up.
Fan the deck and let somebody take a card, then have them put it back on top.
Put the two Jacks back on top of their card, so it is already in the sandwich.
Cut the deck once, so all three disappear into the middle.
Snap your fingers, spread the deck and show the card trapped between the Jacks.
Magic words to say
“These two are the bouncers. Nothing gets past them and nothing gets out. I'm going to lose your card in the deck, and they are going to go and fetch it.”
Pro tips
Say "we'll put the Jacks back to guard it" as you do step 3. The reason you give is what stops anyone wondering why.
One cut only. Two cuts and the sandwich comes apart, which is the one way this trick fails.
Practise the spread in a mirror so the three cards arrive together and not strung out.
If something goes wrong
If the sandwich splits, gather the cards, say "they've gone after it", and show the Jacks either side of their card by hand. The ending is the same.
Safety notes
Only from the front.
Practise in a mirror.
No fire, no flames and nothing sharp in a child's hand anywhere in the Magic Shop. Nothing ever goes in a mouth, a nose or an ear.
What kind of trick is this?
🔀 Transposition. Something jumps from one place to another. Almost every trick ever invented is one of eight kinds, and knowing which one you're watching is how magicians work out how a new trick is done.
The skill it teaches:Patter: what you say. A trick is a story, not a thing that happens. Perform it and it counts towards the Card Keeper badge.
Questions about the card sandwich
How do you do a card trick?
Most beginner card tricks use a secret "key card" that you know, or a special order the cards are in before you start. Your friend picks a card, the secret quietly leads you to it, and then you reveal it in the most dramatic way you can think of.
What's the best card trick for kids?
The Spelling Bee card trick. You spell out every card from Ace to King, moving one card for each letter, and the right card turns up every single time. It looks impossible and it works entirely by itself.