Ensuring your audience picks the exact card you want is a foundational move for card magicians. In this video international champion of card magic Erik Tait takes you through five easy and fooling ways to force a playing card. This is a crash course in essential card magic that will take your magic game to the next level.

Here’s what you will learn:

The Cross Cut Force: A classic method of card selection that many of the top pros in magic use to give the audience the sense that they could cut to any card.

The Riffle Force: Rub your thumb down the side of the deck and have your audience call stop at the exact card you want.

The Roll-Over Force: A flashy way to force the top card of the deck that makes you look like you have a mastery of your props.

The Spread Force: This looks like someone points to any card, but the really point to the card you want.

The Cut Deeper Force: A novel way for your audience to select a card that feels hands off, but is under your control the entire time.

As a bonus, you’ll learn a card to wallet routine that doesn’t use any palming, and an additional method to force a card with a gimmick you’ll carry around your wallet.

When we have questions about card magic at Penguin Magic we turn to Erik Tait to learn from his lifetime of experience with a deck of cards. This free download is the perfect entry point for beginners. Advanced magicians will love the little touches that Erik shares for the first time. Dive in to these 5 Easy Forces with Erik Tait.