How to Double-Lift Cards

Double-Lifting is a technique that just about every magician utilizes. The idea is that you lift two cards, at once, but the spectator thinks they are looking at only one card. It might seem easy, but unless you have robotic fingers (and if you do, are they noisy?), figuring out when you have two cards instead of one, or three, can be very difficult. Follow this tutorial and you will have a better idea about how to master this incredibly useful technique.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• deck of cards
• lots of practice
• mirror

How to Double-Lift Cards

1. Shuffle and cut the deck, squaring it up when you are done. Squaring up a deck refers to when you make sure all the cards in the deck are in a perfectly neat pile.
2. Riffle through the deck until you reach the top. As you riffle, your thumb should be motoring almost one card at a time, so it should be somewhat easier to feel when you reach the top two cards.
3. Keep those top two cards subtly separated in the back of the deck.
   
   NOTE - If you cannot feel the two cards as you riffle through the deck, you will need to use a pinky break to do so.
4. A pinky break occurs when your pinky props up the cards in the back, one at a time, until you have two elevated. The end result will be the same as when you riffle through the deck, only the pinky break can be easier for some people.
5. Using your thumb and index finger, turn the two cards over, presenting them as one card.
6. Reinforce that it is only "one" card by asking the spectator to memorize this card (singular).
7. Turn both cards back over being sure that they always look like one card.

Tips & Warnings

• Practice in front of a mirror.
• Practice with your siblings of relatives. They won't think you're a hack if you mess up.
• DO NOT do this in public until you have it perfected.