Many card tricks require a lot of skill and are very hard to do. Card experts can do whatever they like with a deck and make it seem like a breeze, but not everyone is that good. Although with enough practice a person can become an expert, it is nice to be able to charm the crowd with a less complicated act. The self-working card tricks are just what a beginner card magician needs. They have nice effects, and they are easy to do. As the magician becomes better at performing with cards, he or she can remove some of the self-working tricks from their repertoire.

These types of card tricks are great for magicians who specialize in other varieties of magic, but would like to enhance their routine by a few card performances.

In the book Scarne on Card Tricks, John Scarne reveals a very interesting self-worker called the Upside-Down Deck. This card trick actually comes from the famous Francis Carlyle, and credit is given in the book to the inventor.

The Effect:

The spectator cuts the deck in half - one part of the deck goes to the magician and the other part goes to the spectator. Both the magician and spectator choose a card from their decks. They switch the chosen cards, without looking at the other person's card. Each of them places the other person's card in their deck. The magician takes half of the spectator’s cards and places them face up on top of his cards, the other half is placed face up on the bottom. After he or she does his magic, the only two cards facing down in the entire deck are the two chosen cards by the magician and the spectator. It's a neat trick that does not require mad card skills or any sort of set up.

Another good book where a magician can find great self-working tricks is the Card College Light by Roberto Giobbi.

The T.N.T. followed by Intuition Effect - The trick starts out with two cards - one red and one black. They are put face down on top of the deck, and the deck is cut several times. After cutting the deck the cards are separated into two different piles. The first card on top goes to Pile one, the next card goes to Pile two, and this is repeated until all the cards are separated. Each of the two piles is shuffled and cut. The two piles are then spread in front of the spectator. One pile has only red cards and the one black card that was chosen. The other pile has only black cards and the one red card that was chosen in the beginning. This trick gets the crowd every time.

Another good self-working card tricks is Impossible, which can be found in the Classic Magic book by Larry Jennings. As a spectator spells the word Impossible, the chosen card is found.

Do as I Do card trick effect - The trick starts out with two decks of cards, one blue and one red. The spectator gets to choose a deck. The spectator than does what the magician does - shuffling and mixing the deck. Then, the two of them trade decks. Each of them chooses a card that he or she memorizes. The chosen card is placed back in the deck, and the two decks are swapped again. As the two selected cards are shown, they turn out to be identical.

The self-working magic tricks are very effective, and a lot of people enjoy them. They can be performed by both experts and beginners of magic.

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