How To Do The Elmsley Count

Effect: This very useful move, allows you to count some cards in your hand keeping some of the cards hidden from your audience's view.

This makes the Elmsley count invaluable as a way to vanish cards and make cards appear from nowhere.

The tutorial above, will show you the basic handling involved with the sleight but although the mechanics of the trick are relatively simple, some practice will really pay you dividends.

Alongside the double lift, this truly is one of the biggest and most rewarding steps that you can make on the road to be coming a successful card magician.

You need :

A small amount of cards ( four is a sensible amount to start with ).

A little patience and plenty of practice.

Method: The tutorial video is one of the better ones explaining the basics and key points of this extremely useful move, named after the acclaimed Scottish magician, Alex Elmsley. Don't worry that the video is 12 minutes long as you will reap the benefits of this knowledge one thousand fold if you are keen on learning card tricks.

It is important to anyone wishing to practice their magician skills, to first concentrate on a few basic sleights as you will find that the majority of the most popular card trickery all use the same basic moves such as the two on this page.

You should find that spending some time brushing up on these moves will be a very efficient use of your time.

It is a good idea for every cardician to have a copy of The Royal Road To Card Magic book available for reference.

Although written a good while ago, this is one of the most valuable and respected sources of magic tuition available today.