Learn an Impromptu Signature Transposition Card Trick

Whenever a magician has someone pick a card, everyone knows what's coming: the card will be found.

This expectation leads magicians to both come up with more original ways to reveal cards and explore alternative plots. In a set of tricks, variety is crucial – not only to get the best reactions, but also to make sure that people remember your magic.

Even though we make distinctions between Triumphs, Sandwich Tricks, Biddle Tricks, and ACAANs, most of the time the audience sees them all as just "card tricks." So you need to make sure the effects are different enough by giving them different flavours and involving different objects. This way, people will remember them individually.

I'm not someone who likes doing casual, impromptu performances. But whenever I have no escape from doing one, if I only have just a deck of cards, my typical set is:

I might throw in a four-of-a-kind production to warm things up, but the set above gives me enough distinction between tricks that people will remember them: there's "the box trick", "the Sharpie trick", and "the colours trick".

For Card to Box, I first verbally reveal the card in a mentalism fashion, as it is still very impressive and ticks the box of what people expect from the magician. The reveal from the card case is the surprising part they don't see coming. The signature transposition trick is the unexpected visual oddity that ends with a souvenir. Finally, OOTW is a slow crescendo that brings the magic into their hands and will have everyone in the group chatting about the trick for days.

Card to Box involves only one person from the group. The signature effect involves two people. Out of This World involves everyone. This crescendo keeps everyone engaged and adds variety to audience management.

I minimise the occasional "bonus" effects and kicker endings, and when the set ends, it ends. No more "one more trick". I strongly believe you should end your performance one trick before the moment the audience would want you to end.

At One Ahead, you can learn a very practical method for Card to Box, and an original Out of This World method.

Now you need a signature transposition method.

For lack of a better name, we'll call this trick Signature. 

That's how I have always named it in my notes.

This is an impromptu take on the Anniversary Waltz plot. In that trick, two audience members sign the faces of two cards; then, the two cards merge into one double-facer. 

Anniversary Waltz is a phenomenal plot, and a rare example of a recently created card trick that is now a classic (the routine is attributed to Doc Deason, who published it in 1990).

As with most gaffed and gimmicked plots, magicians have been exploring methods to do the tricks impromptu. Anniversary Waltz is a great plot for this, because doing it impromptu means doing a signature transposition effect with the final card being signed on the face and on the back – which is still pretty great.

The impromptu version misses the double-facer ending, but can be done with any deck of cards and still ends with a card that they might want to keep. Because the moving signature is the core of the effect, people will always jump to the conclusion that the marker is somehow gimmicked – so if you can, try to use a borrowed marker. 

In this case, a borrowed marker matters more than using borrowed cards.

Two spectators select a card each. 

The first spectator signs the back of their card, while the second spectator signs their card on the face.

After being lost in the deck, the two cards visually transpose to the middle of the deck face-up. 

Then, the first spectator's signature magically travels to the card selected by the second spectator, ending the trick with a card signed on the face and on the back by the two.

For clarity, we'll call the two spectators S1 and S2. 

Their cards are C1 and C2, respectively.

You can use any borrowed deck of cards. It's best if it's a red deck, or if the back design's colour is light enough that a signature is easily visible. The deck doesn't need to be complete. A marker is also used.

Start by spreading the cards face-up in your hands. Ask S1 to name any card that they like. They name C1. Cut the deck so C1 is now face-up, and square the cards.