The Devil’s Card Box (Original) by Herbert Martin Paufler

What a amazing idea from the talented German Craftsman and Inventor!

This is the rare original box invented by Herbert Martin Paufler c. 1977 and subsequently published as the article  “Die Augen links – die Augen rechts” (Zauberkunst, February, 1980).  Paufler’s box is finished in natural wood and the unique idea is very clever.  The routine supplied in the original article is fairly brief, but the genius in this item is the method, not the published routine. Once you have the box you could create quite a few routines – the principle is very flexible.

This box was re-released by Eckhard Boettcher c. 1993 and manufactured by Uli Kigele as Diabolus-Kassette with more routines and a very distinctive black and red look. But the method was exactly the same.

I am just scratching the surface of what this box can do.  It is a utility box that permits two specific events. But with some thought you can do even more. The reset is quick and you can show the box cleanly.  You can make things appear, vanish or change and there are no flaps to deal with.

I have included a copy of the original article from Zauberkust and also the more detailed instructions from Boettcher (with a rough google translation too).  If desired I will also include a video with tips for the performance you see in the Speed Demo.

Warning: The mechanism that makes this work is fairly delicate and you have to twist the skull head just a small amount in either direction.  If you force it you could break it 🙁  But as long as you treat it with respect it will last a long time.  For this reason however, I would not hand it out to the spectators.

Effect: The Devil’s Card Box is introduced and a deck of cards is removed from the box.  The cards are freely shown to be all different and the spectator chooses any card from the deck.  They return it face down into the face down deck and place it back into the Card box.

The magician asks the first spectator to stare into the eyes of the Devil and in an instant he asks “Did you feel that?”  The lid is lifted and the whole deck has turned over.  Taking the cards out and searching through the deck all of the cards are face up except for one card that is face down – it is the spectator’s card.

A second spectator is asked to cut the cards anywhere and they mark the cut.  The performer asks the spectator if he is ready to dance with the Devil and then look at their card.  The spectator is asked to bury the card in the middle of the deck – there is no doubt their card is buried in the middle of the deck. And the deck is placed face down back into the card box.

The magician asks the second spectator to stare into the eyes of the Devil and in an instant asks again: “Did you feel that?”  The performer asks the spectator the name of their chosen card and slowly lifts the lid – staring back at the spectator the chosen card has turned over and has jumped to the top of the deck.

We have just been playing with playing cards here, but with a little bit of thought you could use specially themed cards and really freak them all out 🙂

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