An 'Elf On The Shelf' Trick

Finally, your family relents. Someone asks you to perform a trick over the Christmas period. You reach for a deck of cards, and off you go.

This trick is so hands-off that it'll be almost entirely performed by two of your friends and your Christmas Elf on the Shelf!

After cutting and mixing the cards, you place the deck on the table and ask one of your friends to cut it wherever they like. They take the card they freely cut to from the center of the pack.

Next, it's your other friend or family member's turn. They cut even deeper into the deck, adding more cards to the packet your first friend cut. Once again, your second friend takes the card they freely cut to.

Now for the fun part! You collect the cards on the table and set the deck to one side, then you ask both of your spectators to walk with their freely chosen cards over to the "Elf on the Shelf" and secretly show the elf their chosen playing cards.

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When they're both satisfied that the toy elf has had a good look at both of their cards, ask them to step away so you can now approach the Christmas elf.

When you get there, lean in close with your ear close to the elf so that it can whisper the identities of the two chosen cards to you.

Suddenly, you stand bolt upright and relay the information from the elf.

You tell the first friend that they chose the four of spades, and the second friend that they chose the seven of clubs – you are correct! It's a Christmas miracle.

What's brilliant about this trick is that it requires no skill. There's a small setup, but it uses any ordinary deck of cards, and it's easy to repeat.

You do not need to use an Elf on the Shelf; you can accomplish this as a standalone piece of mentalism or use any Christmas toy or even a mind-reading pet! Okay, let's teach you the method...

The deck of cards begins in a straightforward stack – one that will take you seconds to get into if you start with a pack that's in new deck order – making this a great trick to perform if someone gives you a new deck of cards over the holidays!

Put the deck of cards into numerical order, starting with clubs, then hearts, spades, and diamonds. With the deck held face up in your hand, you'll have the king of clubs on top and the ace of diamonds face up on the bottom of the deck.

You can remember the order of the suits with the word "CHaSeD."

Spelling the word "chased" in your head will help you recall the suits, Clubs, Hearts, Spades, and Diamonds correctly. In the majority of cases, recalling this order will not be required – you'll find out why shortly.

Before you perform the trick, you might want to do some false shuffles. You can also do as many complete cuts as you like because it won't impact the order of the deck, and it doesn't matter which card is on top or bottom so long as the sequence remains in place.

If you want your friends to cut the deck, ask them to do this under the table – people are far more responsive and less likely to try any fancy shuffles when they're asked to mix the cards by repeatedly cutting them under the table.

In performance, with the deck face down on the table, ask one friend to cut a portion of the cards off the deck and place them to one side.

For this explanation, let's refer to the lower portion of the deck, the packet they did not lift and left on the table, as the "remaining cards."

Get them to take the card they cut to (the one that's face down on top of the remaining cards). Your friend can hold their selected card to their chest for now.

It's now time for your second friend to continue the selection process. Without completing the first friend's cut, ask your second friend to cut deeper into the remaining cards and place the portion that they lift into the air on top of the pile the first friend just cut from the deck.

Then get your second friend to remove the card they cut to (again, the one that's face down on top of the remaining cards). This friend can hold it to their chest, too.

All you now need to do, as the performer, is complete the second cut – lift all of the remaining cards and place them on top of the singular pile your two friends created with their two cuts.

By following these two steps, your friends will both have chosen completely random playing cards. However, you can instantly know the identities of their playing cards by simply looking at the top and bottom cards on the deck.

• The first friend's card is +1 from the card on the bottom of the face-down deck.

• The second friend's card is -1 from the card on the top of the face-down deck.

Here's a summary of the performance and method:

1. Friend 1 cuts a small pile off the deck and places it down next to the remaining cards. They then take the card they cut to and hold it to their chest.

2. Friend 2 then continues the process; they cut deeper into the remaining cards and place the packet they cut on top of the pile the first friend just created. Friend 2 takes the card they cut to and holds it to their chest.

3. You complete the second cut, and as your friends show their cards to each other or the Christmas elf, you sneak a peek at the top and bottom cards in the face-down deck. If the card on the bottom of the face-down deck is the three of spades, the first friend chose the four of spades (+1). If the card on the top of the face-down deck is the six of hearts, then the second friend chose the five of hearts (-1).

4. You can now riffle shuffle the deck to destroy all evidence of a stack if you wish.

On some occasions, you'll find a king on the bottom of the face-down deck or an ace on the top of the face-down deck.

When this is the case, it's important to recall your CHaSeD order of suits and try to image their placement within the deck. It helps to picture the deck face up in your mind, spread across the table – a +1 moves you up towards the top of the face-down spread of cards, and a -1 moves you down the spread.

If the king of diamonds is on the bottom of the face-down deck, then the first friend chose the ace of spades (+1). If the ace of clubs is on the top of the face-down deck, it means the second friend chose the king of hearts (-1).