The False Jig

Any card trick with a secret setup can be made more fooling by starting with a false shuffle. In the magic literature, there are dozens and dozens of false shuffles. Most card magic experts would agree that the most convincing false shuffles are false riffle shuffles, since the mimic the way most people shuffle cards, as well as how they're shuffled in casinos. However, false riffle shuffles are arguably some of the most challenging sleights in all of card magic: the push-through, strip out, Zarrow, and anti-faro techniques all take years to learn.

Struth Novogratz has created a gimmick that lives inside your card box that turns the most convincing false riffle shuffle you've ever seen into an almost automatic move. As soon as you put your cards into the gimmicked box, your deck is then jogged in preparation for a false riffle shuffle that ends with a real squaring action. So as soon as you remove the cards from the box, you can riffle shuffle the cards together, spread the telescoped deck out on the table so the audience can see the fairness of the shuffle, and let the audience square the deck, but your entire deck is in the exact same order.

History:

This type of shuffle was popularized by Juan Tamariz, and his method in Flamenco required a fairly extensive set up, and you couldn't close the card box fully when it was set up. Christian Engblom published a version of the shuffle in Genii, but it requires the Anti-Faro, which is arguably the most difficult move in all of card magic. Struth's gimmick eliminates the set up, and the elongated box provided lets you close the box to fully protect this automatic set up.

Whether you're performing Out of This World, a Memorized Deck routine, a New Deck Order Routine, a Si Stebbins routine, or any other card trick with a set up, The False Jig makes a great trick even better when your audience is convinced that the cards are truly and fairly shuffled.