How to do the Charlier cut

TL;DR: The Charlier cut is the classic one-handed cut: the bottom half of the deck drops into your palm, your first finger pushes it up, the top half falls past it, and the halves close back together. It’s a real cut, not a secret move, which makes it a good first flourish. Learn it slowly with half a deck, then build to a full deck in one smooth motion.

What is the Charlier cut?

It’s a cut done with one hand. The top and bottom halves of the deck swap places while the hand holding them barely seems to move. Cardistry guides call it the most familiar one-handed cut, and more advanced cuts such as the revolution cut build on it.

Older books call it the Charlier pass. Based on our research, the earliest mention of the name we’ve found is in Professor Hoffmann’s More Magic (1890), which names it after Charlier, a 19th-century card expert known in Britain by that single name. Hoffmann thought highly of it: “It is unquestionably the best of single-handed passes.”

How do you hold the deck?

These steps are for the left hand, which is how Hoffmann and August Roterberg teach it. Swap hands if that feels more natural; either hand works.

• Fingertips, not palm. Hold the deck face down at your fingertips, a little above your palm.
• Thumb on one long side, second and third fingers on the other long side.
• Little finger at the inner end, across the short edge nearest you.
• First finger free. Curl it under the deck, ready to do the work.

Cardists call this the straddle grip. If the deck feels as if it could fall, that’s about right. Clamping it tight makes the cut impossible.

How do you do the Charlier cut, step by step?

1. Drop the bottom half. Ease the pressure of your thumb so the lower half of the deck falls into your palm. The top half stays held between your thumb and fingers.
2. Push it up. Your first finger lifts the outer edge of the lower packet until it touches the ball of your thumb.
3. Let the top half fall. Relax your second and third fingers slightly so the edge of the top packet slips past the edge of the lower packet and drops into your palm.
4. Close the deck. Straighten your first finger out of the way. The old bottom half settles on top of the old top half.
5. Square up. Tap the deck square and you’re ready to go again.

Written down, that sounds like five moves. Roterberg, in New Era Card Tricks (1897), says the stages “must blend into each other and be practically made one.” That blending is the whole skill. Hoffmann claimed he could do it fifty times a minute with a small 32-card piquet pack, and that full-sized cards are slower because the packets travel further. Don’t chase speed. A slow, quiet cut looks better than a fast, noisy one.

Why do the cards keep falling?

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
Cards spray on the floor	Grip too loose or too far back in the palm	Move the deck to your fingertips and practise over a bed or table
Halves crash into each other	The lower packet isn’t pushed high enough	Lift it fully to the ball of the thumb before releasing the top half
The top half won’t fall	Fingers still squeezing	Relax the second and third fingers a touch more
Cards fan out as they drop	Sticky or worn cards	Try a fresh, smooth deck
Full deck feels huge	Hand size	Practise with half a deck until the motion is automatic

Hand size matters more than people admit. If your fingers barely reach across the deck, start with about 26 cards. Fewer cards means shorter packets and less to control, which is the same reason Hoffmann found the smaller pack quicker.

How should you practise it?

1. Half a deck, slowly. Sit over a bed so drops don’t matter. Go one step at a time.
2. Full deck, slowly. Same moves, more weight. Expect some drops again.
3. One motion. Stop pausing between steps. Aim for a smooth roll rather than a series of clicks.
4. Without looking. Cut while you watch TV or talk. When your eyes are free, the cut looks relaxed.
5. Your other hand. Optional, but it’s a nice extra once one hand is solid.

Short, frequent sessions beat one long one. Pair it with a two-handed flourish from our guide on how to fan cards and you have a small routine to practise with.

When should you use it in a performance?

Today the Charlier cut is mostly used openly, as a flourish. A couple of cuts while you introduce yourself, or while someone thinks of a card, tells the audience you handle cards often. That quiet confidence helps.

Remember it’s a genuine cut. It changes the order of the deck, so it will lose a card you’ve kept on top. If you need the order to survive, you need a false cut instead, which our post on false cuts and the pass covers.

Hoffmann used it as a secret pass to bring a chosen card to the top, covered by a sweep of the arm. Even he admitted the move “would still be visible” without that cover, so treat that as an advanced idea, not a beginner use. Roterberg went the other way. He warned that single-handed passes made “to show off one’s dexterity” teach the audience that you are skilled, which makes your tricks easier to explain away. That advice still holds: one or two cuts is charming; constant flourishing turns a trick into a skill show.

Which cards and resources help?

• Roots Playing Cards by Room One are printed on their thinnest 270G stock and made for magic, cardistry and daily use. Thin cards are easier to hold in a small hand.
• More Magic by Professor Hoffmann is a free download of the 1890 book, with his illustrated description of the Charlier pass in the card chapter.
• The Vault: The False Shuffles and Cuts Project by Liam Montier and Big Blind Media is a video download whose cuts include the Charlier Cut, alongside the Swing Cut, Jay Ose Cut and many others.

Browse all our playing cards when you need a fresh practice deck.

Sources: Professor Hoffmann, More Magic (1890); A. Roterberg, New Era Card Tricks (1897); Magicpedia: Charlier; Wikipedia: Cardistry.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Charlier cut hard to learn?

It is one of the easier one-handed cuts. Most of the difficulty is in the first few sessions, when cards drop. Start with half a deck over a bed and build up slowly.

Is the Charlier cut a false cut?

No. It is a real cut that changes the order of the deck. If you need to keep a card on top, use a false cut instead.

What if my hands are too small for a full deck?

Practise with about half a deck until the motion is automatic, then add cards. Thinner cards also make the deck easier to hold.

Which hand should I use for the Charlier cut?

Either. Older books teach it in the left hand, but use whichever feels natural and add the other hand later if you like.