There's something about being tricked that we can't get enough of. Now, we're not talking about the type of trick where your friend asks you to walk blindfolded through the back yard and suddenly you step on a bear trap. No, that's one of those "don't try at home" vicious tricks that end up in the hall of shame. I speak from personal experience. The type of trick covered in this context is the David Copperfield trick; the Penn and Tellers of the world: Magicians.
Magic has always held a special place in our hearts, and not only because we enjoy watching it. Just like Joe Namath's performance against the Colts in the Super Bowl prompted an entire generation of children to pick up a pigskin and toss it around wearing white cleats, magicians effect us on the same level. When we see a trick that wows us, we want to replicate the results and wow people as well. It's a chain of amazing wonder that stretches back too far to measure. The first caveman to successfully pull a mammoth bone out of someone's ear was undoubtedly elected chieftain.
In the realm of magic tricks, we have the small and meager to the large and astonishing. In other words, there's a difference between pulling a 12-foot handkerchief out of your nose and walking on water across a pool with people swimming underneath. Some magicians are Merlin; some are cut-rate birthday party fodder. But this isn't about criticizing any magic; everything has its niche. And one of the most famous "types" of magic is the card trick.
Unfortunately, however, not all cards can be "tricked." Can you imagine the time you'd have at a casino if you could do magic on the blackjack table? Can anybody say "cha-ching"? Or what about your friendly Saturday night poker game and the pals you would upset by stealing every pot by sprinkling a bit of magic dust on each and every card. No, you can't do this. Even if you could, somebody would take you into a back room and show you quickly that fingernails are removable. You'd pray for waterboarding by the time they were done with you.
A good card trick is probably the first thing aspiring magicians learn. And if you're looking forward to learning the magician's secrets, well, you shouldn't hold your breath. Purveyors of magic are notorious for keeping tight-lipped about how they perform the voo-doo that they do. But if you are looking to get in on the not-so-secret art of card tricks, not everyone has such high standards. You can find plenty of literature on card tricks and a variety of videos explaining exactly how to perform a wide variety of them. Selling the step-by-step magic memos has become a huge business. In the professional world, these entrepreneurs are traitors. But in the business world, they're geniuses for tapping into one of the most encompassing niches around.
The history of the card trick is a trick in and of itself. No one is sure at what point in history cards became entertaining in a whole new way. It's widely believed, however, and it makes perfect sense, that gamblers invented basic card tricks to improve their chances of winning. You have to remember one thing, of course: When card games were in the early stages, you were highly likely to end up a murder victim if you spoke out of turn. So you can imagine how quickly the "tricks" had to evolve in order to save one's skin and get away with it.
The history of playing cards is a little easier to trace back. China and India share the credit for introducing them, and the first literary mentions of cards can be found in old texts from Spain, France and Italy. In Paris, 1408, there were general references about a man playing cards and "cheating" to win by manipulating the deck. The most famous early-era card trick was accounted by Leonardo da Vinci, who described a card trick performed by Giovanni de Jasone.
Like everything else in history, card tricks quickly began to evolve. More elaborate feats of magic, performed by more talented men and women, started to sweep the world. While a bunny coming out of a hat might impress someone the first time they see it, the trick is still not as popular as simply selecting someone's card after they see it and place it back into the deck. Going far beyond the "how'd they do that" aspect of the trick, card-wielding magicians excite due to the contradictory nature in general: Cards are something we all know and play, but performing a trick with something so simple can be astounding. Today's card tricks are even interactive. You can play along and be fooled via videotape.
Everyone wants to be tricked, and that's why card tricks will forever be popular. Now, when magicians figure out a way to consistently hit 21 in blackjack without being caught, I doubt they'll show that to anyone.