Wild Card by Frank Garcia, Peter Kane

I know that many British magicians and authors like to say that Wild Card was created by Peter Kane but this is simply not true.  It is true that when Wild Card was first released by Lou Tannen there was no mention of Peter Kane’s inspiration which ruffled a lot of feathers and that is pretty much what caused bad blood between the two ever since.  But Frank Garcia clearly states the source on the very first page of his book Wild Card Miracles (c.1977):

WILD CARD was originally inspired by an idea called ‘Watch the Ace’ by Peter Kane and described for him by Gus Southall in Hugard’s Magic monthly (April 1962). The effect was called to my attention by Bill Simon.

I like the account as detailed on Magicpedia concerning Wild Card:

Bill Simon read the Kane effect and showed it to Lou Tannen one day at Tannen’s Magic Shop shortly after it appeared. Lou asked Frank Garcia to work out a handling of the effect so Tannen could place it on the market–and this is how “Wild Card” was born. The Garcia handling is very different from Peter Kane’s. Had Lou Tannen put “Based on Peter Kane’s ‘Watch the Ace'” on the instruction sheet, Garcia would have received the credit he deserved for his superior variation. Instead, the Garcia marketed handling carried no credit and Garcia was accused of stealing Peter Kane’s trick. In fact, Garcia used only Kane’s idea of doing the routine with double-faced cards.

Having read Peter Kane’s original Watch The Ace description in Hugard’s Magic Monthly I know for a fact that I would never have performed this effect.  But the way it is explained by Frank Garcia made it much more palatable for a hobbyist with my skill set.  In fact the version that I learned and still perform today was called One over the Eight and was in Harry Baron’s book Card Tricks for Beginners.  Harry’s version is very similar to Routine #2 (pg. 17) described in Wild Card Miracles, though attributed to Dave Lederman.

Either way I thank Peter Kane for inspiring Frank Garcia to create such a beautiful card effect which is probably my all time favorite packet trick.

For a thorough listing of many Wild Card effects don’t forget to view Denis Behr’s amazing resource: Conjuring Archive.

Effect: One of the most popular packet tricks of all time. Credited to both Peter Kane and Frank Garcia, Wild Card is one of the most popular packet card tricks of all time. Just perform it for a LAY AUDIENCE and you’ll see why! The effect is pure, visual magic with an easy to follow plot. Nine cards are shown. Eight of the cards are all the same, for example – the “Jack of Spades.” The ninth card is different, let’s say it’s the Ten of Hearts. You explain that in magic, the “Ten of Hearts” is considered a Wild Card and any card that touches it will also become a “Ten of Hearts.” To illustrate your point, you proceed to slowly transform each Jack into a Ten – until all nine cards are shown to be the Ten of Hearts.

You’ll get credit for amazing sleight of hand, even though our routine is actually very easy to do and REQUIRES JUST ONE EASY MOVE that is fully explained in the event you do not already know it. If you work for real people, this timeless classic belongs in your repertoire. We supply the downloadable eManuscript in PDF format, instructions only (works with any standard Wild Card set from a magic shop, none supplied).

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