How to do a two-card transposition

In a two-card transposition, two cards that everyone has seen swap places, and one of them has been under a spectator’s hand the whole time. The method taught here uses the double lift: lifting two cards as one. Once you can do a clean double lift, you can learn this in an evening.

What does the audience see?

You show the top card of a shuffled deck, say the seven of clubs, and deal it to your right. You show the next card, the four of diamonds, and deal it to your left, where the spectator puts a hand on it. You take the seven and drop it on the deck. You say “Pass”, and the card on the deck is now the four of diamonds. The spectator turns over the card under their hand. It is the seven of clubs.

What do you need?

• Any ordinary deck in good condition. A fresh deck from our playing cards range makes the double lift easier.
• A table and one spectator on your left.
• A double lift you can do without hesitating.

What is a double lift?

A double lift is a sleight in which you lift the top two cards of the deck together, squared, so they look like one card. Before the lift, get the tip of your left little finger under the top two cards to hold a small gap, called a break. Then turn the two cards over together as one, show the face, and turn them face down again on the deck.

Practise turning a single card over first, then make your double lift look exactly the same. For other ways to secretly manage a card, see our guide to card control techniques.

How do you do a two-card transposition?

1. Use the top card. Have the deck shuffled and say any card will do, so you’ll use the top one.
2. Show the first card with a double lift. Double lift to show, say, the seven of clubs. Turn both cards face down on the deck and name the seven aloud.
3. Deal to your right. Deal the top card face down to your right. Everyone thinks it is the seven, but it is really the card that was under it.
4. Show the second card with another double lift. Double lift again to show, say, the four of diamonds, and turn both cards face down on the deck.
5. Deal to your left. Deal the top card face down to your left and call it the four of diamonds. Ask the spectator to put a hand on it. It is really the seven of clubs.
6. Get a break. Slip the tip of your left little finger under the top card of the deck to hold a break.
7. Return the “seven”. Pick up the card on your right, glance at its face without showing it, and say you have the seven. Place it on top of the deck and square it with the card below your break, so you are ready for another double lift.
8. Make them change places. Ask the spectator to keep a firm hold on their card. Say “Pass” and double lift to show the four of diamonds on the deck. Then ask them to turn their card over: the seven of clubs.
9. Clean up. Casually turn the top two cards face down, give the deck an overhand shuffle and put it down.

Why does it work? Each double lift shows the second card from the top while the top card stays hidden. That puts the seven under the spectator’s hand before the transposition seems to happen.

Where did the two-card transposition come from?

Cards that change places have a long history, and we can’t name an originator. The Conjuring Archive’s index of two-card transpositions begins with a French entry dated 1786, “Faire changer un roi de coeur en as de pique, et un as de pique en roi de coeur” (making a king of hearts change into an ace of spades, and the ace into the king).

In our free library, Professor Hoffmann’s Modern Magic (1876) includes “To make two cards, each firmly held by a different person, change places” (p. 101). Jean Hugard’s Modern Magic Manual (1939) teaches both the double lift and a trick called “Two Cards Change Places”. We don’t claim the older methods match the one taught here.

What are the common mistakes?

• A double lift that looks different. If your double lift looks stiffer than a normal turnover, people notice. Turn single cards the same way throughout.
• Spreading the two cards. Keep the two cards squared when they are face up, or the hidden card shows.
• Showing the returned card. In step 7, you only glance at the card on your right. If its face is seen, the trick is over.
• Forgetting the spectator. The moment works because their hand has been on the card the whole time. Remind them of that before the reveal.

The double lift also powers the Ambitious Card routine, a good next step. You can find more in our card magic collection.

What helps you take it further?

• Modern Magic by Professor Hoffmann (1876), free from our public-domain library. Its card chapters cover the pass, the force, false shuffles, palming and the change.
• Card Tricks and How to Do Them by A. Roterberg (1902), free. It covers changes, the glide, card palming and false shuffles.
• Wow Jumbo 2 by Katsuya Masuda. The jumbo-card edition of WOW, in which a different card visually changes into the spectator’s signed card. The instruction video explains an easy way to do a double lift with jumbo cards. Jumbo cards are not included.

Frequently asked questions