Erdnase Top Palm vs Topping the Deck + a practice Etude
In Further Inner Secrets of Card Magic there is a detailed description of Vernon’s Topping the Deck, a technique that was originally published in Selected Secrets. Vernon studied the Erdnase Top Palm in depth and this is clear in the construction of Topping the Deck. For Vernon, the requirements of a good palm are:
a) There must be a logical reason for handling the pack.
b) The secret palming action itself must be part of a visible, natural and logical movement.
c) After the card is palmed, there must be a logical reason for the hand to leave the pack.
It is interesting to see how these conditions are met in Topping the Deck and in the Erdnase Top Palm. In both techniques the whole action simulates the action of passing the deck from the left hand to the right hand to drop it on the table to be cut. However, in Topping the Deck the secret palming action takes place when the deck is lifted to the tip off the left fingers in order for the left thumb to make a squaring movement along the sides. In the Erdnase Top Palm, the deck is already held by the tip off the left fingers, and the secret palming action occurs immediately after the action of squaring up the cards, while the deck is drawn into view by pulling the cards about half way from under the right hand.
One of the secrets to make the move deceptive is to naturally move the right hand away from the deck. Vernon points out that once the palm is done the hand must not be held square, must not freeze and must leave the pack at normal speed.
All in all, I consider that it is important to practice the Erdnase Top Palm in context, once the basics have been mastered. Here is a simple “etude” aimed to apply the technique under set conditions: the palm is done immediately after the shuffle, the deck is cut, and the palmed card is replaced back to the top before dealing.
a) Ask the spectator to shuffle the deck, to look at the top card and remember it, and to hand you the deck.
b) Ask the spectator what card was on the top while you execute the ‘blind shuffle to retain top tock and shuffle whole deck’.
c) Ask the spectator if he still remembers the card and, while you square the deck after the shuffle, execute the top palm-first method.
d) You place deck on the table and ask the spectator to cut and complete.
e) Pick up the deck and secretly replace the palmed card as explained at the end of the top palm-second method section while you ask the spectator to tell you in what position he thinks the named card is after your shuffle and his cut.
f) Use the second deal to find the card at the named position.