A free Nick Trost trick: "Triumph Ace Opener" ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏

Issue 8 | 6th July 2025
Nick Trost's Triumph Ace Opener
The Card Magic of Nick Trost was just reprinted and to celebrate, we're sharing one of our favorite tricks from the book. Thanks to our friends at Murphy's Magic for allowing us to share! Here it is, in Nick's words: I have been very pleased with the reception of this effect by some discriminating performers. Jon Racherbaumer performed it in one of his lectures and included it as "Flip-Flop Triumph" in his Lecture Notes (1982). When Jim Ryan saw Jon perform it, he exclaimed: 'That's great! I can use that!" Bob Lewis, one of my mentors, also saw the trick at Jon's lecture and told me later: "It's a beautiful trick!" I couldn't ask for a better compliment than that! In effect, the performer shows a face-down deck, then cuts it in half and riffle shuffles the halves together, one face up and one face down. Then the deck is cut into several packets to convincingly display the face-up, face-down condition of the cards. The deck is assembled and ribbon spread. All the cards are now face down except the four aces— which appear face up in the center. The effect is startling. Method: Beforehand, secretly reverse the four aces on the bottom of the deck and you are set. Begin by fanning the deck, without exposing the reversed aces, to show that the cards are apparently all face down. Square the deck and perform the Tenkai Move. The right-hand half is face up and the left hand half is apparently face down. (Actually this half is face up with the aces face down on top.) Riffle shuffle the halves together at the inner corners, allowing the aces to fall last. Square the deck and hold it left hand. Apparently the cards have been mixed face up and face down. With the right hand, lift off the top half. Turn the left hand palm down (turning over its half) and place both halves next to each other about two or three feet away from you on the table. The long sides of the halves are parallel to the edge of the table. (See Figure 1.)
Now perform a variation of Daryl Martinez's Triumph display: The left hand grasps the left half deck while the right hand grasps the right half. Each hand lifts off about three-quarters of the cards from its half. Cross the hands as you move them toward you and deposit about a third of the cards in each hand below the tabled packets. Then uncross the hands and deposit about half the remainder from each hand below the tabled packets. Finally, cross the hands again and drop the remaining cards from each hand below the other packets. There are now two rows of four packets each on the table. Since some cards are face up and some face down, it appears as if the cards are hopelessly mixed face up and face down (Figure 2). Now, beginning at the far end of each row and using both hands in unison, flip the packets over toward you one onto the other. When both rows have been "rolled" over, pick up a half deck in each hand and bring the hands together palm to palm, assembling the deck.
Hold the deck in the right hand and ribbon spread it face down on the table. All the cards will be face down except the four aces, which appear face up in the center.
The Card Magic of Nick Trost contains dozens of effects of this nature. We hope you enjoyed this one!
Andi Gladwin & Joshua Jay
Vanishing Inc. Cofounders
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