The Jack of Spades

If you took Skinny's bet, you'd be out all those hard earned winnings. He can do it, and without any word trickery. It takes a little dexterity and patience, but it's something almost anyone can do.

Simply make evenly spaced cuts in the card, alternating from top to bottom. This will leave the card able to expand like an accordion. Next, with a sharp knife (Kids, get your parents help!) cut make a serpentine cut from one "J" to the other, making sure you don't break into the slices you already made. The picture above shows where all the cuts go. Unless you're an acrobat, you may need to space the lines closer together than the illustration shows.

Now, carefully unfold the card, and you'll have a delicate unbroken circle. If you spaced the cuts right, you should have little difficulty passing through the opening.

Like many tricks, it's all how you cut the cards.

Updated, May 16, 1999:

Mike Whitehead, a Grey Labyrinth regular, has described an easier process for creating the sliced Jack. If you have had trouble duplicating Skinny's feat, try Mike's Method.