I was re-reading Card College 3 today when I came across an effect called "The Four Seasons." In this, the magician talks about how the deck of cards was made to represent the calender, and how the four suits represent the four seasons, how the values added up equal 364 (365 plus jokers), etc. He lays out the four aces, which are said to represent the four seasons. Three indifferent cards are shown and placed on top of the first. This whole packet is cut into the deck as the magician says something along the lines of the season Spring passing. This process is repeated with the remaining three aces, as summer, fall, and winter pass. And the effect concludes with him saying, "But the memory of the four seasons lives on!" as the four aces are all shown to be dealt out together from the top.

Now, I like the whole idea behind this effect. However my problem is that the presentation just isn't for me. It seems like something I'd read out of a book like Royal Road to Card Magic. Don't get me wrong, I love that book, but the presentations, for the most part, are not very modern. They could work for someone else, but definitely not me.

So, finally I get to my point. Does anyone have any good ideas on how I could modify the presentation of this effect? I really see some potential in it and would ultimately like to perform it. Any ideas?

-John M.

Well the presentation could be modified instead of the method. If you are into XCM than you could do it in a kind of table top flourishy style to keep your spectator's eyes entertained while you patter it up. This would make the trick more interesting while impressing your spectators with your cardistry.

Or if it is method you are looking to modify I have an idea that might help but PM because I don't want to run the risk of reveling something.

Maybe I wasn't clear enough, but I do indeed want to modify the presentation. I like the method how it is, but it's the whole patter behind it that I don't like. For example, you can do a classic Ambitious Card where one card keeps rising to the top, or you can do David Regal's version (Tenacious Climber) where the chosen card is a puppy which always answers to the call of it's owner. Same method, different presentation.

Hi John.

What exactly do you like about this trick? I have to admit the description doesn't do much for me - from the sound of it (I don't have the book, so I can't be sure unless you have a video link to a performance) it starts like an Ace Assembly, but the overall effect is that the Aces are cut into the deck and then found at the top.

To me, it's not just that the presentation is uninteresting (although that is a problem) it's that it doesn't seem pertinent to what's actually happening with the cards. Losing and finding the Aces has nothing to do with the passing and remembering of the seasons as far as I can see.

My advice would be to determine what you like about the trick and go from there. If you like losing the Aces in the deck and finding them in a magical way, there are other tricks that do this in a less convoluted way (one that jumps to mind is "Always Cut the Cards" by Larry Jennings.)

If you like the opening stuff about the parallels between cards and calendars, there are a good number of tricks out there that make use of this presentation too. Here's a video that I like (it's evidently from an Al Leech book but I'd be willing to bet that all the necessary sleights are in the Card College books). There are also some good ideas out there by John Bannon, Greg Wilson and Darwin Ortiz, to name just a few.

Hope this helps.

~Mike