“Where’s he going?” Teenie asked.
“To the bathroom, I think,” Oliver said.
“Is he potty-trained?” Bea asked. “He can use Calico’s litter box.”
“You mean Frida’s,” said Teenie.
Frida/Calico did not seem to like this idea or the rabbit who had invaded her space. She was already unhappy with the robotic cat taking her place. She let out an unkind HISSS.
For his part, Benny waved his fluffy tail back at the cat, then shut the bathroom door.
After a moment the toilet flushed.
“Wow,” Bea said. “That is a well-trained rabbit. Great job, Oliver. We can’t get our cat to do that.”
Frida/Calico looked offended, but the twins didn’t notice. She turned to her new robot “friend” for help. The robot wasn’t much help.
“Your magic show was amazing, Oliver,” Teenie said. “You learned all those tricks and figured out the whole heist and everything.”
“You’re like a genius,” Bea added.
“He’s more like a Super Fairy,” Teenie corrected her sister.
“And your jacket even fits now,” said Bea. “It must have shrunk from getting wet.”
Oliver didn’t know what to say. He was never very good at receiving compliments—mostly because he’d never received any.
“Thank you,” Oliver said with a gulp. “I guess I did do a pretty good job. But I didn’t figure it all out on my own. I couldn’t have done it without Ben—”
Back from the bathroom, Benny gave Oliver a look. As much as he liked taking credit, the rabbit did not want to blow his cover.
“I mean, I couldn’t have done it without you, Beatriz and Martina,” said Oliver quickly.
Glad to be included, the twins clinked their empty teacups together.
“To the Unbelievable Oliver,” Teenie said.
“And his assistants!” Bea added. “Bea and Teenie and Bunny.”
“It’s Benny,” corrected Oliver. “Nothing bunny about it.”
ENCORE
How to Perform Oliver’s Card Trick
Have you ever wanted to stage a robbery—or even just a card trick? Here’s how to perform the trick called THE FOUR BURGLARS (also known as THE FOUR JACKS). The trick sounds a bit complicated, I admit, but with a little practice it becomes quite simple.
NEEDS:
—One deck of playing cards
—Two hands
—A table or similar surface
—An audience (For example, a younger sibling or supportive parent. Older siblings and unsupportive parents not recommended.)
NOTE:
To perform the trick with four jokers, as Oliver does, you’ll need to take two jokers from a spare deck of cards and add them to your deck. (Most decks include only two jokers.) Otherwise, go the traditional route and use four jacks or four kings. Or if you prefer female burglars, four queens. In fact, you can use four of any card you like. If you consider the number seven to be a thievish sort of number, then by all means make your four burglars out of four sevens.
BEFORE YOU PERFORM:
Hide backstage. Backstage is anywhere your audience can’t see you. Like inside a closet, under a table, or behind the curtains. Remember, you are not hiding because you are nervous; you are hiding because you have to prepare your deck of cards.
To prepare your deck, first remove the four jacks, or four sevens, or four of whatever card you like (SEE ABOVE). These four cards are your BURGLARS. Then remove the top three cards from the deck. These cards are your DUMMIES. Place the three dummies above the four burglars, all cards facedown.
Hold these seven cards in your left hand. Be careful to hold them square so that nobody can see how many cards you have.
Grasping the rest of the deck with your right hand, bravely go out on stage and place the deck facedown on a table.
THE PERFORMANCE:
Still holding the remaining seven cards, begin telling your captive audience the Tale of the Four Burglars: “Once upon a time, there were four jacks [or sevens, etc.] who fell on hard times, so they decided to rob a . . .” In this book, the four burglars rob a birthday party. Usually, magicians have their burglars rob a bank. You could have yours rob a candy store, a house, or an arcade—but never a bookstore or magic shop! Make the robbery your own.
As you introduce them, briefly show the four burglar cards to the audience. But do not reveal the three dummy cards hidden behind the burglars! The dummies are your secret.
Then place all seven cards (which your audience believes to be only four) facedown on top of the rest of the deck. Tell the audience that the deck is your bank or candy store or whatever building it is you want to rob.
Now it’s time for the robbery.
BURGLAR #1
Explain that the job of the first burglar is to go down to the basement of the building and disable the security cameras. Without letting anyone see the face of the card, pick up the top card from the deck and insert it near the bottom of the deck. In reality, you are moving one of the secret dummy cards, not a burglar card, but as far as the audience knows it is a genuine burglar.
BURGLAR #2
The job of the second burglar is to create a disturbance in the lobby. (This is a good time for a fake fart noise, if you have it in you.) As you tell the audience about the second burglar, pick up the next card from the top of the deck and place it somewhere near the middle of the deck. Again, be careful not to show the face of the card because it’s just a dummy.
BURGLAR #3
The third burglar is supposed to open the vault but instead heads upstairs to go to the bathroom. (“When you’ve gotta go, you’ve gotta go.”) Or for some other reason you invent. To demonstrate, place the third card near the top of the deck. Do you let the audience see the card as you move it? No, of course not. You’re not the dummy; the card is.
BURGLAR #4
The final burglar is the lookout. He or she stays on the roof to watch for police or superheroes or angry parents or whoever the burglars are afraid of—be creative. As you pick up this final card, do you show it to your audience? Sorry, trick question. The answer is yes, you do. Because it’s one of the real burglar cards. (The three dummy cards have all been moved.) After everyone has seen the last burglar, put the card back on top of the deck.
Now comes the fun part. Trouble is on the way. Police sirens. Caped crusaders. Whatever and whoever you like.
Uh-oh. The lookout sounds the alarm: Tap three times on the top of the deck of cards and make a loud wolf whistle. If you can’t whistle, just shout “ABRACADABRA!” or another magic word. This is the signal for all the burglars to come up to the roof.
Time for the big reveal. One by one, flip over the four cards on the top of the deck.
Since the three dummy cards are gone, all four burglars are now on top. To the audience, it looks as though they’ve magically risen through the deck.
To end your story, tell your audience that the burglars escape in a helicopter. Or maybe they hang-glide off the roof. In any case, let the cards flip in the air.
You’ve outsmarted your audience. And the bank.
At this point, you’ll need to pause for applause.
You can close the book now.
The magic is over.
Until next time.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Pseudonymous Bosch is the infamously anonymous author of the New York Times bestselling Secret Series and the Bad Books. Despite rumors to the contrary, his books are not actually written by his pet rabbit, Quiche. Nor is he the alter ego of Raphael Simon, a totally unrelated author who lives in Pasadena, CA, with his husband and twin daughters.
Shane Pangburn grew up in rural Illinois and now lives in Los Angeles, where he writes whenever he's not drawing, taking photos, watching TV, or otherwise working. He produces YA
LLWEST, the nation's largest Youth and Young Adult literary festival. His cartoons and illustrations have appeared in The Daily Dot, numerous college textbooks, and how-to guides. He worked as a children's bookseller and textbook illustrator before switching to literary promotion, assisting other authors on their book campaigns.
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The Unbelievable Oliver and the Four Jokers Page 6