The rising card is a classic yet mesmerizing trick that never fails to amaze an audience.
With just a deck of cards and a little bit of practice, you can learn to perform this trick and quickly become the life of the party.
And that’s exactly what we’re here for.
In this article, we’ll show you how to do the rising card trick in the easiest way.
We’ll first explain the trick…
Then we’ll tell you how it’s done…
We’ll even throw in some pro tips to help you improve.
Can’t wait to get started?
Let’s jump right in!
What is the Rising Card Trick?
The rising card trick starts off with a magician showing 3 cards.
They ask someone to choose any card – one, two, or three – and memorize it.
Let’s say the volunteer chooses the 2nd card.
The magician then puts the 3 cards facedown to the top of the deck.
They pick up the first card and stick it somewhere in the middle. They pick up the second card (the chosen card) and stick it in the middle of the deck too.
After that, the magician shuffles the deck and places it inside its box.
Then, the magician will most likely throw in some magic words or fancy hand movements.
Amazingly enough, the chosen card will mysteriously rise from the box they are holding.
Even in print, the trick sounds mind-boggling.
It gives the illusion that the card is being controlled by an invisible force, creating a truly magical effect.
What Do You Need to Perform the Rising Card Trick?
You’ll be happy to know that you don’t need much to perform this awesome trick.
You’ll only need 3 things:
- A standard deck of playing cards. Make sure it has a box as you’ll need that for the trick, too.
- Scissors/Exact-o-knife. You will need these to cut a hole in the back of your card’s box.
- An audience ready to be amazed. Of course, you will need people to watch and admire your card tricks. It can be your family and friends… It can be a random stranger… It doesn’t matter.
How to Do the Rising Card Trick
Okay, there are SO many ways you can perform this trick.
You can get really creative with it.
But for now, we’re just going to show you one of the easiest ways to perform the rising card trick…
Step 1: Preparation
Start by cutting a rectangular hole in the back of your card box.
The hole has to be large enough that two fingers can easily access the deck of cards inside.
It’s best to mark it off for precision.
Also, make sure your box is empty. We don’t want to ruin a good set of playing cards.
Step 2: Setup
Bring up the 3 top cards from the deck.
The audience sees only 3 cards…
But you’re actually hiding a fourth one at the back.
This is so that when you start placing the cards in the middle of the deck, the chosen card will always remain on top.
Let’s explain this.
From our example above, the person chose the 2nd card.
So the first card you place in the middle of the deck is the dummy card that was hidden at the back.
The second card you place in the middle is then the first card instead of the second chosen one.
That leaves the chosen card at the top.
So when you place the whole deck inside the box, you can easily access the top card (the chosen one) and make it rise through the hole you made.
Step 3: Presentation
Begin the trick by asking a volunteer to choose one of the three cards.
Have them memorize it.
You can make up a whole performance of how you can draw that special card out from the deck or whatnot.
You can even make it more amazing by doing a “false” shuffle after you place the chosen card number in the middle of the deck.
As we said, you can do some fancy hand movements when willing the chosen card to rise.
You can make the card rise slowly or quickly.
Remember, when it comes to card tricks, your performance has a BIG say on the crowd’s reaction.
So it’s not just about executing the trick to perfection…
It’s also making sure you have a great presentation planned out.
Tips for the Risking Card Trick
To help you improve, here are some tips to consider:
Tip #1: Practice! It’s normal to feel awkward especially if you’re not used to handling a deck of cards. Keep working on your card-holding and card-raising technique until it feels like second nature.
Tip #2: As you perform the trick, maintain eye contact with your audience. This will divert their attention from your hands and add to the mystery of the trick.
Tip #3: Start with smaller and slower movements when raising the card. This gives an air of suspense because your audience will wonder whether or not you got the right card.
Tip #4: Use misdirection techniques to enhance the trick. For example, ask a spectator a question or perform a gesture with your other hand to divert attention from the rising card.
Tip #5: Rehearse your presentation. Having a well-prepared script and confident delivery will enhance the overall performance and make the trick more engaging.
Conclusion
And that is how to do the rising card trick.
Super easy, right?
But as we said, there are so many ways to perform this trick.
Just look online and you’ll find a whole array of videos with different techniques.
But for this guide, we showed you the easiest way to do it — so you can get started right away.
So go ahead and Practice! Practice! Practice!
And when you’re ready, go ahead and blow some minds.
In the future, you can even add to this trick to make it even more mind-blowing.
But let’s start here…