(intense rhythmic music)
(vocalising)
- Hi, I'm Daniel Madison, welcome back.
Thanks for being here, thanks for choosing
to spend some time with me today.
I really do appreciate it.
In this video, I'm gonna
teach you the French Turnover.
Now, this is a move.
This is a move that I've been
practising  for many years.
It's a move, sleight-of-hand technique
that's designed to convince your audience,
your participant, you are
only holding one playing card,
when secretly, deceptively, sneakily,
you are holding, actually, two.
This is a utility move
that can lend itself
to so many different ideas in magic.
The idea of handling those
two playing cards as one
so freely, so fairly,
there will be no question
in your participant's mind
that you are only
holding one playing card.
And it will 'cause them
to respond like this.
(upbeat music)
(gasping)
(crying)
(blowing raspberry)
Hi, I'm Daniel Madison and
this is the French Turnover.
(yelling)
Right into the mechanics.
I begin with the deck in
a standard dealing grip
and I pull down with my pinky,
allowing two cards to pop away like this,
so that I can hold the break.
So, I'm holding my double
right from the beginning.
This break here is very important.
What happens next is,
my hand, my right hand,
face down, is gonna come over like this,
as if to take the deck.
As it does so, the thumb
is gonna go under there,
in this gap, but now,
these two playing cards
are now held down by my thumb.
Finger two, finger one is on the end here.
Now, my thumb is gonna work
its way underneath diagonally,
to somewhere around about over here.
As I do this, finger two of this hand
is gonna go all the way over
and hold those two cards
on this outer corner.
So, it goes like this.
Now, the pressure from my thumb.
I don't let go, really,
of either side of this
until my finger has made contact
with the two cards here.
So, like this.
Now, I can loosen the
grip between the thumb
and finger two of this
hand, allowing this card
to be completely held like so.
So, my thumb's on this side,
near the bottom corner.
Both playing cards have been
pulled into my hand here,
into the flannel part of your hand.
I believe that's called the flannel.
So, from here,
to here.
So, that's part one of this, if you will.
Part one is just taking
those two playing cards from the deck.
Now that I'm in this position,
I'm gonna do two things at once.
When I grab here, I'm
gonna turn the card over.
At the same time, I'm
gonna begin the rotation.
'Cause, ultimately, this
is what's gonna happen.
We're gonna pick the card up.
The cards, should I say, and
they're both gonna spin around
into my hand like this.
Now, you can kinda see how
that works as I'm doing it.
The first part, make sure you've
got the grip correct here.
Make sure that you're comfortable,
that those two playing cards
are gonna stay together.
Now, as you turn them,
both playing cards, over,
you're gonna let gravity
work with you as you help
these playing cards spin.
Now, the pivot point, now,
as soon as you pick up,
you'll feel the pivot point.
My thumb and finger one.
Both cards are now clipped
between my thumb and finger one.
So, I can let go.
I don't really wanna let go, though.
Gonna use finger two to pull those cards,
both cards, to rotate around like so.
And they're gonna spin the whole way round
and hit the clunge part of my palm.
I think that's what it's called.
So, it looks like this.
Now, in order for this to happen,
you can't grip tightly with
finger one and the thumb.
You can't grip tightly.
It's got to be a very relaxed grip.
If you grip tightly, both
cards are gonna end up here.
They're also gonna separate,
because these playing cards
are experiencing different
kinds of pressure,
one from the thumb, one from the finger.
So, that pressure needs to be very equal.
And the only way to be
sure that you're gonna have
an equal pressure is to
be very gentle with it.
So, like this.
And like this.
Now, this is the main thing
that you're gonna have to
put a lot of practise
into, this part here.
For me, I've practised
this for a very long time
and it doesn't matter to
me if the cards separate.
Not during practise.
They have to separate during practise
for you to understand
how you're gonna be able
to keep these two playing cards together.
This is the most important
part of the sleight.
It's the most dangerous
part of the sleight.
It's the most convincing
part of the sleight.
It's the whole point of
this, it's the whole reason
why I do it, because it's so convincing
that that's only one playing card.
Thank you, Charlie.
So, thumb underneath, grab
the corner, spin them round.
So, once you pick up here,
as soon as you start turning
the playing card face up,
you start the spin.
So, it's like one, one kind of moment.
Now, sometimes, I like
to display the card here
and then spin, other times, I will spin
and then display the card here.
It kinda depends on your situation.
It's gonna be different every time.
But either way, you don't wanna rush.
You don't wanna go like this
and then put it face down.
You wanna display it at some point,
so, depends how you feel
comfortable once you've practised.
You might wanna hold it here.
So, you would pick the card up and say,
"Look, I have the nine of clubs."
Or, in most cases, I think, I do this.
Look, I have the nine of clubs.
So, I spin it first.
Either way, you're
displaying that card in a way
that looks like there's
only one playing card,
and it's the spin that allows that.
So, from this point, what I
did in this video demonstration
was when I placed both
playing cards face down,
I pulled the nine backwards like this,
and I make sure the nine
lands up with the deck
instead of the ace, so that
you don't end up like this,
with a weird card stuck out.
If you pull the nine back
and then align the nine with the deck,
when you turn that face down,
this is very convincing that
this is the nine of clubs.
And it also makes it easier for you
to take away from the deck.
This is all about conviction
and convincing people
that there's only one
playing card in play.
So, the spin makes it look like one.
Then, when you place it down, it's away,
it's separate from the rest of
the deck as one playing card.
So, from this point, you
could just reveal it.
But in the demonstration, I
like to do this little thing
where it is kind of landed in a position
where it's between my finger,
finger one, and the thumb, anyway.
So, I squeeze at the
end and I let the card
pop away from my thumb.
I have to tilt my wrist a
little bit anti-clockwise
in order for the card to come this way,
'cause if I don't, it's gonna
come up my arm like this.
So, if I wanna catch it in this hand,
I have to tilt the deck
like this, anti-clockwise.
And then it's gonna come more this way,
more towards the other hand.
Sometimes, my whole body will go like this
in order for it to come
back, but that's something
you'll figure out in practise.
By the way, the move when you
put those playing cards down
on top of the deck,
that's something that I do
with almost every single time
I do a normal double dip.
So, I'll do a normal double dip
and I'll always put it down
over the edge of the deck.
So, that's two playing cards
over the edge of the deck like this.
I think it makes it look more convincing
when it's over the edge.
It looks like it's just one playing card.
And then, especially, when
you turn it face down,
you can kick the nine back.
And now, it really is
just one playing card.
It's a very, very convincing moment.
So, here.
Kick it, kick it over.
And those are the basic
mechanics of the French Turnover.
The French Turnover is, it
is designed to be fancy.
It looks kind of pretty.
The most important part of this,
it looks like there's
very, very little control
over that playing card from the
way that you're handling it.
You're handling it at your fingertips,
and it moves around so
freely and so carelessly.
Maybe carelessly is the wrong word,
but it looks like you
don't have any control
over that playing card,
aside from the spin.
Now, when your participant,
when your audience see
that playing card spin around
in your hand like this,
you're leaving them no option to believe
there's only one playing card there,
when, really, there's two.
Just from the way that it moves.
In gambling, in card
shooting, my whole philosophy,
theory, and approach to gambling is,
I call it the dirty, the
dirty B swear word theory.
But I started calling it the soap theory.
The same thing.
In gambling, and in card cheating,
if you look like you
know what you're doing
with a deck of playing cards,
then everybody's gonna be watching you.
One of the greatest
skills of the card cheat
is to come across as if
he doesn't really know
what he's doing with a
deck of playing cards.
He doesn't handle playing cards much
He's just there to play cards,
he's just there to try and win some money.
One of the greatest skills
is to hide the skill itself.
Whereas, in magic, a lot of magicians
want you to know right from the get-go
that they're good with
a deck of playing cards.
So, they'll do a lot of
show-off kind of moves,
and pretty, and fancy moves.
And, you know, admittingly,
admittedly, admittedly?
This is one of those moves.
It's very fancy.
You shouldn't handle
playing cards like this,
because nobody does.
That being said, I
designed this to look like
the most convincing handling
of two playing cards.
When your audience sees
it, there's no question
that that's only one playing card.
There's no question.
How could that be two playing cards,
from the way that he's handling it?
How could it be?
It's a very risky, it's a dangerous move.
And it's something that you won't perform,
that you shouldn't perform,
you shouldn't even risk
until you are 100%
confident that you can spin
those playing cards around
and have them stick
together without separating.
Now that, that is a difficult thing.
It has taken me a long time to master.
I don't wanna talk too much.
I know all this is important.
I know a lot of people watching
don't like a lot of talking,
but I always say it.
In magic, and in sleight-of-hand,
the deceptive practises,
you have to cover every angle.
And if I didn't cover everything,
I would be the worst teacher.
And I try to be the best
possible teacher of what I do.
So, from the ground up, I'm
gonna show you everything.
You know the mechanics already.
I've taught you the mechanics.
This one is more about
body language and behaviour
than anything else.
Once you've got the
mechanics, the rest is down
to the way you behave, the way you move,
how long you--
(toy squeaking)
Thank you, Charlie.
How long you hold that playing card,
how you present it, and
what you do with it.
For me, when I did this on film,
when I did it for this
film, it was a matter
of making it look pretty
and not really a trick.
It was just a card changing for another.
Ace of spades, king of diamonds.
Just to demonstrate the move itself.
So, to demonstrate it,
I usually do the move,
the French Turnover, then put
it down overlapping the deck,
so it looks like a single playing card,
which is what it is, and
then I do this flip move
to achieve the change.
And it's all just fancy and pretty,
but the main principle
of this is to be able
to display what looks
like a single playing card
when, really, it's two.
I mean. (scoffs)
One of the biggest mistakes
and one of the worst things
you see in magic with playing cards
is when magicians take
their deck of playing cards
and they turn the card over like this.
Being so stupidly careful not to show
that there's two playing cards.
And by doing that, they're showing you
that there's two playing cards.
Who in the world turns over
a playing card like that?
That being said, who turns
over a playing card like this?
I tell you who turns over
playing card like that.
A magician.
A magician who's only turning
over one playing card.
If I was turning over one playing card,
I wouldn't.
It wouldn't be like this.
It would be carefree.
I like, there's a few
people, I won't name 'em.
There's a few people who
handle doubles really well
and in this free manner
and it was Bebel in Paris
who I named this whole little thing after.
Not after his name, but,
obviously, the French shuffle.
Because, when I saw him
handling playing cards,
it reminded me, and it made me realise
that my whole approach and
theory is being dedicated
to sleight-of-hand mainly for
gambling and card shooting.
So, I make it look like I don't
really know what I'm doing
with playing cards as part of the act.
But when I saw him handling playing cards,
it made me realise,
this is the same thing in an opposite way.
Like, you're handling playing cards
as if you don't really care about 'em,
but you're doing it in a fancy manner,
like the way you spin
playing cards around.
It's like, I don't care
if I drop this card,
I'm just freely holding it.
And in the act, in acting like that,
then why would it be a double?
Why would I be holding two playing cards?
So, the whole point is just
to turn over two playing cards
and show it as one.
The bonus is that nobody's gonna question
if there's one playing card or not.
It's just a fancy way of doing it.
What you do with it next is up to you.
I only did the move, I only did this move
as a way of demonstrating it to the film.
I'm not suggesting anybody does that.
Maybe just incorporate this and use this
as a way to do a double lift,
to do a double turnover.
It's the way that I do it.
Usually, I would turn over just like this.
Two cards just like this,
over the edge of the deck.
Usually, that would be the way,
but every now and again, it
just feels right in the moment.
The crowd you might be with,
the participant you might be with.
You might be with Susan
Sausage and she's very happy
to see playing cards spinning around.
And I certainly wouldn't do it in a moment
that wouldn't call of it.
Like, you have to feel it, you
have to feel the right moment
to do the right thing.
Like. (sighs)
I hate to say this, but David Blaine,
when I've seen him on
TV doing double lifts,
he does it like this crazy thing.
I know a lot of people, a
lot of people do it, too.
And I was surprised that I'd
seen professionals doing that,
even on TV, 'cause it's such a weird way
to turn over playing cards.
That being said, the
double lift that he did
that looks like this kinda
spins 'round on the back,
kinda pivots on the
clunge part of your hand
and then pops off to
kinda prove that it's one.
That being said, it's a good double,
it's an effective double.
But it's for a specific moment in time.
Like, you wouldn't do it all the time.
Like, for the camera right now,
I can't do that for the camera.
'Cause I have to break my arms
and stand like a stranger to do that.
Like, I would do it if
someone was looking down
and I felt like it was the right,
like if you were looking downward,
it's kind of a nice way to
turn a playing card over,
and it kind of lends itself to the idea
when you're practising
 doing that very one.
It lends itself to the
idea that you can do
that same double and
then, without it pivoting,
without it kind of popping off,
if you can practise
that, you can then get it
to look just like this,
instead of this whole thing,
this whole magician-y thing.
You can actually grab it here, and then,
as soon as the pivot starts,
you can lift it away and
show one playing card.
So, I'm not saying avoid
doing certain things
and don't do certain things,
as much as I criticised
the double that I've seen David do.
I do it, but I do it at the right time,
at the right angle.
The reason I brought it up is,
when I see David Blaine--
(toy squeaking)
Thanks, Charlie.
I knew you agree.
When I see David Blaine
doing that double lift,
he does it every single time,
no matter what the angle.
So, he will break his arm
sometime to show you that.
You need to pick the right time to do it.
And it's the same with this double,
and it's the same with any.
So, this one, I'll do
it in the right time.
With the right timing, in the right place.
Looking closely at the move itself,
at the turnover itself,
once you've gone underneath our top card
and you've got your grip here.
There's nothing worse than
rushed sleight-of-hand.
Than someone rushing their sleights.
Nothing worse than someone.
To get away from the drama,
to avoid any complications.
I'm a huge fan of dangerous magic
and dangerous sleight-of-hand,
and it's kind of wrong of me.
I shouldn't say that,
shouldn't encourage that,
but like the gambler's cop idea,
I like walking around with a
gambler's cop wherever I go.
And when I perform for an audience,
let's say I do a deck vanish.
So, I steal the deck.
And so, this card looks like
the deck to the audience
and I've stole the deck away
in a gambler's cop in this hand.
To a few people in this crowd
who I think are good enough
to be in on it with me
and won't say anything,
right in front of everybody,
I'll show them this
and get a laugh out of them.
And then bring it back, 'cause the person
I'm showing the trick to doesn't see it,
and it's kind of a double.
The reason I mention that,
the whole idea of danger.
I love it.
And although, as much as
I don't want to encourage
or advise people to
practise things like that,
it really is a good way
to practise getting good
at dangerous and risky sleight-of-hand.
Hand moves, techniques.
I think confidence is
the word I'm looking for.
You need a lot of confidence
with all sleight-of-hand,
and this one requires a lot of confidence,
because even though I consider myself
at the best possible level
to do this sleight-of-hand technique,
I wouldn't be teaching it otherwise.
I feel fully confident to perform this
in front of anyone, anytime, anywhere,
with any deck of playing card,
without those playing cards separating.
I know, because I've done it
for years and years and years,
and I'm at that level to do it.
But to get to that level,
you have to take risks.
Don't do this until you
feel confident enough.
But, by all means, practise
in the right situations.
Practise when it might go
wrong and it doesn't matter.
Do that.
I've done that so many times.
The whole idea of holding
a playing card up.
Nothing else, going up to somebody,
a woman, female, a "whammen."
And saying "Name any playing card."
She says the queen of hearts,
you show her the queen of
hearts and walk away like a god.
Like a dog.
What?
And if it goes wrong.
So, I hold the playing card.
Name any playing card.
She says five of hearts
for some stupid reason.
Stupid reason.
I turn it around and say,
"Yeah, that never works."
Getting things wrong.
It doesn't matter, it
really doesn't matter,
and it helps you practise.
Now, that being said, sleight-of-hand
and the practise of sleight-of-hand,
a lot of sleight-of-hand, if
you get it wrong for somebody,
it's really damaging for
you and for the trick
and for your reputation.
So, again, you gotta
choose the right place
to do things like that.
For me, I don't mind getting it wrong.
You make a joke out of it.
You know, part of magic, part
of modern magic, especially,
is the fact that we shouldn't
take it so seriously.
Look at us.
Look at what we do, look at what we do!
We're nerds.
We're biggest, we're the.
(laughing) We're dorks, basically.
We're the biggest geeks on the planet.
Look what we do.
So, it doesn't matter if it goes wrong.
We shouldn't take it so seriously.
When it goes wrong, that's when you learn,
and that's when you learn the most.
I don't even know what I'm talking about,
and, you know, I don't
wanna waste your time.
So let's get back to
the details of the move.
The point I'm trying to get to, anyway,
is the way that I perform
this for the demonstration
where the card shoots
away, I'm not suggesting,
I'm not recommending
that anybody does that.
By all means, do it.
The whole point of this is
for me to show you a turnover.
A double lift.
A way of showing a playing card
that looks like one playing
card, that's really two.
Double lift is the most, it's
arguably the most important
sleight-of-hand technique in magic.
So, if you can't do that well,
then what chance do you stand
of having a good reputation,
being a good performer?
For me, I approach all magic,
all sleight-of-hand, all deception,
especially with playing
cards, in this same way.
You wanna be able to handle everything
as if it's a normal object.
Because magicians don't do that,
Magicians hold things in
ways that nobody else would.
You don't hold playing cards like this,
and you don't turn 'em over like this.
The way you should
approach a double lift is,
turn over a playing card
how you would normally.
Be realistic, be honest.
For me, if I was showing
you this playing card,
I'd probably do this, right?
That's real.
Or, I'd turn it over on
top of the deck like this.
Very natural kind of moves.
Very, I don't care about this.
It's only one playing card.
So, why, all of a sudden,
when we're doing magic,
do we start going, do we
start doing things like this?
It is so strange and
we expect our audience,
and we expect Susan Sausage to believe
that what we're doing is real.
The more reality you
invite into your deception,
the more realistic your
deceptions are gonna feel.
Approach everything as if it's normal.
I shouldn't even be saying that,
but magic is so damaged
and so skewed at this point
that I have to be stood here
saying things like this.
When you approach a double
lift, take a playing card,
just hold it normally, and play around
with a single playing card normally.
Then, try to do the exact same
thing with two playing cards
and see if it works,
see what it looks like.
An if it doesn't work, make it work.
That's how I did this,
the French Turnover.
I made it work.
I found myself playing
with a single playing card,
spinning it around as freely as I could.
And I thought, hold on.
That's how I should hold my doubles.
Because, then, I'm leaving no question
in Susan's mind if that's
two playing cards at once.
She's not gonna think.
She's gonna see one playing card,
she's gonna believe one playing card,
and she's gonna say, "Daniel
Madison, you're amazing."
Like she always does, you know?
Now, what you do with this
move, just like any move,
this is kind of a
utility, a divisive move.
It's a sleight-of-hand technique.
So, do with it what you will.
It's a double turnover.
For me, after I've built this habit of,
when I'm just messing
around with playing cards,
this is my practise routine.
To do the French Turnover,
just like you've seen on film,
put it down on top of the deck
and then pop it off the deck
with my thumb.
That's just become my practise routine,
and I love doing it.
It's such a funny thing to do,
and I'm not realising,
every single time I do it,
the thousands of times that I've done it,
that's me practising .
And you have to develop those habits,
as somebody who's looking into learning
and mastering deception
with playing cards.
I feel like, in this video,
I have spoken so much.
So, I'm gonna end this one here.
Let's go to the outro scene.
Susan!
Susan.
(Daniel yelling)
That was the French Turnover.
Thanks so much for
spending some time with me.
I hope you enjoyed this video,
hope you enjoy learning,
make sure you're subscribed
and make sure you get those notifications
whenever I upload new videos.
Constantly working on new tutorials.
I'm all about the advancement of magic
and sleight-of-hand as an art form.
And if I can make you laugh
a little bit on the way,
then that's a bonus for me.
Thanks for being here.
Listen, we're almost to 50,000 subs now.
That's a huge deal for me.
That's a really big deal,
and I wanna celebrate.
Somehow, I wanna celebrate.
So, keep letting me know
what you think I should do.
Let me know in the comments,
I'll be there after this video.
And also, if you do anything
with the French Turnover,
tag me, I wanna see it.
I wanna see it performed, I
wanna see what you do with it.
I'll be back very soon.
Thanks for being here.
I'm Daniel Madison, see you next time.
(intense rhythmic music)
