Marucci's Bizarre Bazaar

Under the Protection of the Fairies
by Peter Marucci

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Anything to do with Tarot cards holds a certain fascination with most people, magicians included (and, especially, bizarrists).

The following routine is roughly based on an idea from a now-defunct Magigram magazine, the house journal of the equally defunct Supreme Magic Company of England.

The routine in the magazine was called the Lincoln Imp, after a gargoyle at Lincoln Cathedral.

Here it is called "Under the Protection of the Fairies".

Effect and Presentation:
“To the average person, Tarot cards conjure up scenes of the devil, death, and destruction. That can be true sometimes. But, to guard against these supernatural forces, it is also possible to call on the protection of the fairy kingdom. And we shall do so, tonight.”

The magus takes a pack of Tarot cards out of his pocket and shuffles them face down. He then turns them face up and deals 20 to the table in one, overlapping row.

“Our modern playing cards are based on the Tarot deck; pentacles became our diamonds, swords became our spades, cups became our hearts, and wands became our clubs. Those different suits are all represented here and, with them, all the power of the Tarot deck. It will take a very sincere person to be able to win the protection of the fairies. Are you that sort of person? We'll find out; name a number, between one and 20 aloud.”

When the spectator names the number, it is counted to and that card as well as the card on either side – one higher and one lower number – are removed. The middle, or chosen, card is placed face up on the spectator's hand, while the other two are placed one on each side of her hand.

“You chose (number); if you had chosen one less, you would have ended up on this card (turn over the lower number card, showing a plain back) and if you had chosen one higher, you would have ended up on this card (turn over the higher number card, showing a plain back). But you chose the card in your hand and you ended up under the protection of the fairies (turn over the chosen card showing a picture of a fairy on the back).

Working:
Take a Tarot deck (I just use the minor arcana) and count off 20 cards (I prefer the court cards, because the names are written under them; it just makes it a little easier for the spectator.) Turn the cards face down and paste pictures of fairies on 10 of them (I got the pictures from the Internet clip art gallery but you can use any source; the pictures can be all the same or all different or some the same and some different).

Alternate the fairy cards with the blank cards and put the whole 20 face up on the face up deck. Turn the deck face down.

You now have a deck of 56 cards (if you are using the whole minor arcana); the top 36 cards are normal while the bottom 20 have alternating fairy and plain backs.

Tell your tale of the power of the fairies and the power of the Tarot and turn the deck face up and deal off 20 cards in an overlapping row, starting at your left. The first card has a plain back, the second a fairy, the third a plain, the fourth a fairy, and so on.

Then ask for a number to be said aloud, a number between one and 20.

This is the “fun” part!

If the number is even, count from your left to the card and slide it out, along with the card on either side of it. The chosen card will have a fairy back while the other two will have plain backs.

If the number is odd, have the spectator – who should be facing you – count; if she counts normally, she will count from her left (your right) and land on a card with a fairy back, while the cards on either side have plain backs.

Withdraw the cards and continue as in Presentation, to reveal the plain backs on the unchosen cards and the fairy back of the spectator's chosen card.

Second Thoughts:
If you don't want the spectator to count the cards, that's fine; you can do it yourself from your right (actually, it will look normal from the spectator's point of view). It's just that the spectator's counting makes it a little more convincing.

You can false shuffle the cards before you start but, in that case, don't use the court cards as the 20; your audience may wonder why all the court cards ended up together despite the shuffling!

You can dress this up as much as you want, using a ring to mark the chosen card (a skull ring, an Elvish ring from Lord of the Rings, a special “poisoner's” ring and a Borgia story, the list is endless).

But, above all, be entertaining!

Peter Marucci