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The Four Kings trick is a good beginner's card trick and one that children can easily master. There are many variations, and nearly all of them involve keeping the four kings together while leading your audience to believe that they were separated. Here are a couple of variations you can try that are sure to impress your friends!
Steps
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Separate all of the kings and three extra cards of any other type. The three extra cards can be any cards from the deck. -
Fan out the cards so that the four kings show. Keep the three extra cards hidden behind the fourth king.Advertisement -
Explain that the kings are going to rob a bank. Tell your audience that they will enter the bank through the roof. -
Stack the cards all together and place them face down on the top (roof) of the deck. The three top cards are your spares, but your audience will believe they are the kings that they were shown previously.
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Take the first spare card off the top. Without showing anyone the face of the card, say that this “king” is going to be on the first floor. Put it in the deck, somewhere near the bottom.
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Send the second "king" to the second floor. Take the next spare card off the top of the deck and place it somewhere in the middle of the deck.
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Send the third "king" to the vault at the bottom. Don't put any of the cards too close to the top of the deck, because the real kings are on top.
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Flip up the king on the top of the deck. Tell your audience that this king will stay on top of the bank to be the lookout.
- Your audience will think this is the fourth king when it’s actually the first king. The other three kings are directly under it in the deck.
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Have the top king say that the police are coming, so everybody needs to go to the top. He knocks on the roof. Tap or knock on the deck four times.
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Take the four cards off the top of the deck and show them to the audience. They should all be kings.
- Your audience thinks you mixed all of the kings into the deck, even though you were actually just mixing in the three spare cards, so they’ll be amazed when you show them all 4 kings together at the top of the deck!
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Display the four "rescued" kings alongside the deck. Invite someone from the audience to search the remaining deck for the spare kings that they will assume you inserted.
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Hide two random cards behind the second king when you fan them out. Put the kings and random cards on the top of the deck. They should be in this order, from top to bottom: first king, random, random, second king, third king, fourth king.
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Show the audience the top card (the first king). Then, send it to the bottom of the deck.
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Send the next two cards, which aren’t kings, to the middle of the deck. Do this without showing the audience the face of the cards. Since you showed them the first one, they're more likely to take your word for it that the next two are kings as well.
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Show them the fourth card (the second king). The audience will believe this is the fourth and last king. In reality, you still have three kings at the top of the deck, and one at the bottom.
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Cut the deck, putting the bottom half on top. This will put the first king back with the other three kings.
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Fan out the deck and show the audience that the kings have stuck together through it all. The four kings should all be next to each other in the middle of the deck.
Expert Q&A
Video
Tips
- If you have trouble keeping the spare cards hidden in a traditional fan, try a vertical arrangement.Thanks
- For best results, keep the audience distracted by carrying on a tale or story, known to magicians as "patter", which runs throughout the duration of the trick. The ruse will then be less noticeable to the audience. Practice to develop your skill at talking and playing the cards all at once.Thanks
- Practice this trick before you perform it, so that you work out any difficulties before you go in front of an audience.Thanks
Warnings
- Don't do the same trick twice.Thanks
- Answer any doubts from the audience with complete phrases. Don't gush and smirk when explaining that your trick only requires faith from all that it was good.Thanks
- Don't tell anybody the secret of the trick or show off the hidden cards.Thanks
About This Article
To do the 4 kings card trick, first separate all of the kings and 3 extra cards of any type from the deck. Fan out the cards so the kings are showing but the 3 extra cards are hidden behind the bottom king. Tell your audience that the kings are going to rob a bank by entering through the roof. Place the kings and hidden extra cards face-down on top of the deck. Move the top card on the deck to the bottom of the deck and tell your audience that the first king is going to the first floor. Move the next card on top of the deck to the middle of the deck and tell your audience that the king is going to second floor. Finally, move the next card on top of the deck to the bottom of the deck and tell your audience that the king is going to the vault below the bank. Flip the next card face up on the deck. Your audience will think this is the fourth king when it's actually the first king since the cards you've been moving so far were the extra cards from the beginning. Tell your audience that the face-up king has spotted the police, then tap on the top of the deck a few times to alert the other kings. Take the 4 cards off the top of the deck, which should all be kings, and show them to your audience. Your audience will think you mixed all of the kings into the deck, so they'll be amazed that they somehow all appeared together on top! To learn a fun variation of the 4 kings card trick, scroll down!
Reader Success Stories
- "So, I got into magic tricks a while back and was looking for some more tricks to perform. These were perfect for me as they are simple and I could perform them with just an ordinary deck of cards and some practice. Great trick and simple to perform." ..." more
