I have occasionally made mention on this site of an incredible close-up magician named Richard Turner. Let me tell you what he does: He cheats.
Richard is the most amazing handler of cards I've ever seen. He can deal you four eights or four queens or anything else he wants. He sits there — and you'll see him do this in the video below — and he shuffles the deck and shuffles it and shuffles it and shuffles it and you'd bet your house that the cards are all thoroughly mixed.
But they aren't. He then spreads them out on the table and they're all still in New Deck order.
And then he deals Blackjack or Poker, placing each ace right where he wants it. He deals the second card in the pack and there's no way you'd catch him. You wouldn't catch him dealing off the bottom of the deck either…or straight out of the middle. I was a writer on That's Incredible! the first time I saw him and I immediately got him booked on the show where he lived up to its title.
This would be impressive even if he could see the cards…which he can't. (Oh, did I forget to mention that? Richard is legally blind. He can see a little but not much. He claims he could do the exact same act if you blindfolded him and I believe it.)
I see him up at the Magic Castle in Hollywood often. I saw him there during his most recent engagement as he dazzled not only visitors but seasoned magicians. They all shake their heads because he's doing something that they simply cannot do.
While Richard was there last time, he shot a series of videos. I'm going to be embedding them here off and on over the next week or two. I suggest you take them full-screen and pay careful attention. This is not camera trickery. He really can do this…