The Four Burglars is a
magic effect in which the magician shows the four
Jacks from a
deck of cards, calling them
burglars, and tells a story about them entering a
house
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...
in different ways (the front door, a window, another window, and the back door) as he places one of the Jacks on the bottom of the deck, one about two thirds of the way down, one about one third of the way down, and one on top. The magician then talks about the burglars hearing sirens and running around as he cuts the deck. The cards are then spread to show that the four burglars have gathered together in the center of the deck in the commotion, with some remark about "
safety in numbers
Safety in numbers is the hypothesis that, by being part of a large physical group or mass, an individual is less likely to be the victim of a mishap, accident, attack, or other bad event. Some related theories also argue (and can show statistica ...
."
A variation involves the four Jacks robbing a
bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...
by flying on a '
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
' and landing on top of the bank (the deck of cards). The magician places one in the '3rd floor', another in the '2nd floor', another in the '1st floor' (all the 'floors' are roughly divided in thirds of the deck like in the original version), and one to guard the helicopter. Then, they hear the police arrive and the burglars ascend the bank and fly off via their helicopter. The
magician takes the first four cards of the deck and shows to the audience that it is the four Jacks.
Method
When the four Jacks are shown, three other cards are hidden behind them. All four jacks are placed on top of the deck, and the other cards are placed in different places in the deck as the story is told.
[
Hester23BearsCh (5 May 2015]
The Jacks Rob a Bank
Retrieved 31 January 2020
References
Sources
*Todd, Joseph P. ''Big Bag of Tricks for Boys and Girls''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Four Burglars
Card tricks