Gabi’s ‘Oil-water two-step’

by Marko

Gabi is a good friend of mine from Barcelona, Spain. He might well be the next Ascanio because of the depth of his magic thinking and his flawless execution of card magic. He taught me this very simple and quick ‘Oil and Water’. Hope you like it.

First phase

Take 4 red cards & 4 black cards. Use what are known as ‘confusers’ (7’s, 8’s, 9’s). Hold the four black in a face down fan in the left hand and the four red in the same position in the right hand… all this after showing them, of course.

The right hand approaches the left and puts the top card of its fan (a red card) between the bottom and next to bottom card of the left hand fan. Next you place the new top card of the right hand fan (another red card) between the third and second cards in the left hand fan. Next you place the next top red card between the two top cards of the left hand fan and finally you place the last red card on top of the left hand fan. You end with an 8 card fan in the left hand.

Note: All red cards are left out-jogged until you put the last one on top of the left hand fan. Then you push all red cards flush with the left hand fan.

Show the face of the fan to the spectators so they see the colors alternate red, black, red, black… After this you hold the fan face down again and pull the fourth and fifth cards out together from the center of the fan. These two cards you turn face up and you replace them back again in the same spot in the fan only that now they are face up.

Here Gabi tells me that it’s important not to try to hide the fact that the colors of the two cards change places when you turn them face up. Instead you call attention to it and say that when you do this, the face up cards act like magnets and they pull all the cards of their color to their side of the fan. Split the 8 card fan into two 4 card fans. Place the left hand one (a face up black followed by three face down cards) on the table.

Keeping the other fan (three face down cards and a face up red) in the right hand, with your left you turn the red card face down and replace it at bottom. Square the fan, turn it face up and using the Elmsley count, you show four red cards. Please notice this: Gabi says that you can use the Elmsley count to show a quantity (four cards) but here you must concentrate on showing a ‘quality’ (red cards). So what you do is split the count thus: Count first two cards doing the Elmsley ‘business’ as usual on the second card. Throw these two first cards face up on the table (don’t worry, they won’t separate) and then count the other two cards separating them one in each hand and rubbing their faces with the thumbs as if to stress the quality ‘red.’ Finally drop them both face up on top of the two you previously dropped on table. This is done with apparent carelessness and is pure Ascanio influence.

Now for the other group of cards. Pick up the face up black card, turn it face down and use it to scoop the three face down cards. Turn packet face up and Elmsley count in the same fashion, splitting as before only this time a little faster since the spectators, having seen four reds in the other group, already ‘know’ these ‘are’ black cards.

Second Phase

Take the black cards and fan them face down in the left hand. The same with the reds, only in right hand. Place top card of right hand fan between the bottom and next to bottom card of left hand fan (careful here as it is a black card). Now put the next top card of right hand fan between the second and third cards in the left hand fan. Leave both cards out-jogged. Now here comes a nice subtlety…

Drop the two cards you still have in your right hand face up on the table — they see two reds. Take the second out-jogged card from left hand fan (red card) and say: ‘See, I don’t place this card beside the other one.’ Here you stick it besides the other out-jogged card. Continue: ‘I put it in a separate spot.’ Here you replace it between the second and third cards of the left hand fan but in doing so you lift it a little so they see it is a red card.

Take the top face up red from table, turn it face down and stick it between the top two cards of left hand fan. Finally take the last face up red from table and put on top of fan. Push all cards even with fan and ask spectator to take out the two middle cards, turn them around himself and stick them back again into fan. Separate in two four card fans and place them both on table. Tell spectatator to turn the cards face up himself. He does and the colors have separated again without you doing anything.