Presto Card Frame (Close-up) by Thayer Quality Magic

The Presto Card Frame was an early elegant beauty developed by Floyd Thayer c. 1905 (according to Dr. Albo on Disc 5 in The Ultimate Thayer).  There were three sizes created: Stage or Jumbo, Close-up on a stand and hand-held.  This is the middle Close-up on a stand version.  Over the years the styles have changed and have become even more ornate.  This appears to be one of the earlier versions.

Now if you are looking for a clever mechanical method you will probably be disappointed, however if you are looking for a practical frame to reproduce a card that can be fully examined, is easy to do, easy to set-up with nothing really to go wrong then this is the one you want.

Sometimes as magicians we forget about the effect and get more excited about the method.  This frame is much better than a sand frame or most other types of frames to produce a card I can think of. You can even hand the frame to the spectator to open and remove the card pinned behind the glass.  Try doing that with other types of frame!

Below is the routine I came up with and I have included the following items to bring it all home:

Includes:

• Presto Card Frame.
• Devil’s Pocket Square by Fabric Manipulation ($60 value).
• A supply of Torn Card Evolution (enough for 10 performances) ($10 value).
• Deck of bicycle Cards.

Effect: A neat empty frame with glass and removable back, supported on a small base is shown and left standing on the table for all to see.  A deck of cards is shown and shuffled and a card is chosen by the spectator. The card chosen is torn into pieces by the magician and the corner piece is clearly given to the spectator – there are no switches or sleights employed. 

The performer pulls a silk hanky from his breast pocket and displays the empty hank.  He folds the corners to create a little bag and all of the pieces of the card are added, leaving just the corner piece with the spectator.  After a gesture the hanky is shaken out and the card pieces have vanished.  The hanky is then used to cover the frame.

The empty frame, covered with a handkerchief, is left standing on the table.  A magical gesture is made and when handkerchief is removed from the frame, the card is discovered fully restored, except the missing piece, which fits exactly with the piece held by the spectator all along.

A superb close-up and parlor effect, and very simple to perform.

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