How to do the four burglars card trick
Learn the four burglars card trick: four jacks go into different parts of the deck and end up together on top. Setup, story, tips and history.
By The Online Magic Store
· 4 min read
In this story 9 sections
In the four burglars, you show the four jacks, tell a story about burglars breaking into a building, and push the jacks into different parts of the deck. Then they all turn up together on top. Three extra cards hidden behind the jacks do the work, so there is no sleight of hand. Based on our research, the earliest mention we’ve found is Professor Hoffmann in Modern Magic, 1876, with four kings instead of jacks.
What does the audience see?
You fan the four jacks face up and introduce them as burglars. One by one, they break into a building, which is the deck: one goes in through the basement, one through a window low down, one through a window higher up, and the last waits on the roof as a lookout. Then the police arrive and the burglars run for the roof. You deal the top four cards and all four jacks are there together.
What do you need?
- An ordinary deck.
- The four jacks.
- Three other cards. Kings or queens work best (more on that below).
How do you set it up?
- Take out the jacks and three extras. Hold the jacks face up in a small fan.
- Hide the extras. Square the three extra cards neatly behind the jack at the back of the fan, the one the other jacks overlap. From the front, people see four jacks and nothing else.
- Know the order. When you close the fan and turn it face down on the deck, the three extras end up on top, with the four jacks right under them.
Professor Hoffmann gave a practical tip on the extras in his kings version: use knaves or queens, because they are harder to tell apart from kings if someone catches a glimpse. With jacks as the burglars, the same idea points to kings or queens as your extras.
How do you perform it?
- Introduce the burglars. Show the fan of jacks, keeping the faces toward the audience and the back of the packet toward you.
- Load them on. Close the fan, square it and place it face down on top of the deck.
- The basement. Take the top card without showing its face and push it into the bottom of the deck. “The first burglar goes in through the basement.”
- The low window. Take the next card and push it into the deck about a third of the way up from the bottom.
- The high window. Take the next card and push it in about two-thirds of the way up.
- The lookout. Turn the top card face up. It really is a jack. “The last one stays on the roof.” Turn it face down again on top.
- The getaway. Tell them the police sirens are coming, snap your fingers or tap the deck, and say the burglars all ran for the roof.
- The reveal. Deal the top four cards face up, one at a time. Four jacks.
The three cards you lost in the deck were the extras. The four jacks never moved.
How do you make it stronger?
- Tell the story well. The method is easy, so the story carries the trick. Give each burglar a line and keep it short.
- Show the lookout. Turning the top jack face up in step 6 is a convincer: it proves at least one burglar is where you said.
- Square every card cleanly. Push each extra all the way in, so the deck looks normal before the reveal.
- Deal the reveal slowly. One jack at a time builds the finish.
What are the common mistakes?
- Flashing the extras. Keep the fan tight and the back of the packet toward you. Practise in a mirror.
- Showing the face of an extra. Never turn up any of the first three cards you push in.
- Losing count. Three cards go into the deck, and the fourth is the jack you show. Rehearse the count until it is automatic.
- Letting someone shuffle. A shuffle before the reveal ruins it. Keep control of the deck until the end.
Where does the four burglars trick come from?
Based on our research, the earliest mention we’ve found is Professor Hoffmann in Modern Magic, 1876, under the title “To place the Four Kings in different parts of the Pack, and to bring them together by a simple Cut” (pp. 47 to 48). His version uses four kings with two extra cards hidden behind the second king. The kings are apparently scattered through the pack, but three end up on top and one on the bottom, so a single cut brings all four back together.
Today’s burglar story, with jacks and three extras that leave all four on top, follows the same principle. If you enjoy story tricks like this one, see our guides to the twenty-card trick and the key card trick.
What helps you take it further?
- Modern Magic by Professor Hoffmann, free from our public-domain library. It explains cards, coins, watches, handkerchiefs and stage apparatus step by step, with the original engravings, including the four kings trick this one grew from.
Find more in our card tricks collection or our new to magic range.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a special deck for the four burglars?
No. You need an ordinary deck: the four jacks and three other cards.
Why use court cards as the extras?
Court cards are harder to tell apart at a glance. Professor Hoffmann suggested knaves or queens as the extras in his kings version for exactly that reason.
Can I let the audience shuffle first?
They can shuffle before you take out the jacks, but not once the jacks and extras are on top of the deck.
Who came up with the four burglars?
Based on our research, the earliest mention we’ve found is Professor Hoffmann in Modern Magic, 1876, as a trick with four kings brought together by a cut.
