Do you want to know what I think is the Marbo Card Penetration secret?
Then join me to discover how the solid steel ball can slip through the playing card.
Similar to all the magic trick secrets articles published here, they are just my speculations.
The Marbo Card Penetration secret is based on viewing the demo video clips.
John Synder Jr. Magic Creator
This solid through solid penetration trick was invented by John Snyder Jr. back in 1944.
Snyder started out as a professional stage magician.
Then in 1940, he turned to creating and manufacturer of magical tricks and puzzling effects.
Read about Snyder in the article “Merlin’s Workshop” in Popular Science Monthly September 1944 on pages 188 to 190.
These days Snyder’s works are in eBay and auction websites.
His creation “The Atom” is identical to the steel ball through glass trick.
Marbo Card Penetration close up trick is another ingenious design by John Snyder Jr.
Let’s explore the Marbo Card Penetration trick.
The Effect:
A small shallow wooden box with a sliding lid.
There are holes on the lid and at the bottom of the box.
Lay a piece of playing card inside the box, and then slid the lid to close it.
Now, the card is between the two holes.
Place a gleaming steel ball on top of it.
Tilts the box around to let the ball drops into the hole in the lid.
The steel ball stays suspended on the hole momentarily.
Magically it drops into the hole, and falls out through the hole below the box.
Apparently the solid steel ball penetrates the solid playing card.
The spectator can examine the box, the card and the steel ball.
Watch the Marbo Card Penetration performance below:
Here is another Snyder’s Marbo Card Penetration video by Pegani Magic (Denmark).
Marbo Card Penetration Secret
I believe there is no special built-in mechanism to pull of this visible penetration effect.
There are four secret moves with the help of the sleight of hand.
I will reveal the four subtle secret moves of this trick soon.
I managed to catch a glimpse of the secret between the fingers from the Pegani Magic video.
The Sliding Lid
Something caught my eyes, when the tongues (thin edges) of the sliding lid is pulled out from the box.
There are two small high tensile steel wire clips (pulls) at the tongues of the sliding lid to hold it tighter onto the box.
It piqued my curiosity that this simple wooden box needs this device to hold the sliding lid onto the box.
Then I realized the grooves of the box for the sliding lid are slightly deeper and wider.
In other words, the lid slotted into the box is not tightly fitted.
When the spectator turned the side view of the box around, I saw the narrow gap or slit opening between the lid and the box.
From there, I think I know how this Marbo Card penetration trick is done.
Marbo Card Four Secret Moves
I reviewed the presentation again, and I saw how performer does the 4 secret moves, as I have predicted.
First Secret Move:
After putting the card into the wooden box, at 0:43, the performer turns the box around, so that the lid is now facing downward.
By turning the box upside down, the card falls down onto the inner side of the sliding lid.
Now the card is lying next to the narrow gap between the lid and the box, as mentioned above.
The turning-box-upside-down move might appear trivial, but in fact it is an important part of this trick.
It is only after doing this first covert move, then only he can do the second secret move.
Second Secret Move:
At 0:47, with his right hand holding the side of the box with the lid opening, he lifts it up.
Thus part of the card to slip out through the gap of the box to his right palm.
This is when part of the card slips out from the narrow gap between the lid and the box.
It is hidden inside the palm of the hand of the performer, as seen above.
Half of the card is still inside the box blocking the holes, so the steel ball can rest momentarily on it.
Third Secret Move:
Deftly and slowly, his right hand pulls out the card just enough for the steel ball bearing to drop through the bottom hole.
Fourth Secret Move:
Then to finish the act, at 1:12 he tilts one end of the box downward.
This is to get the card to slide back into the box.
Now, this is from the Pegani Magic demo video.
The performer does a slightly different secret moves.
First Secret Move:
At 0:19, after slotting in the lid, using his finger, he points at the hole, and then swiftly flips the box over.
Second Secret Move:
At 0:23, he places the steel ball on the left side of the box, then he tilts the box downward to his right.
At this time he is actually sliding out the card into his right palm.
Third Secret Move:
When the steel ball bearing has rolled into the hole, he pretends to concentrate.
The fact is his right hand is slowly sliding out the card hidden in his palm.
Fourth Secret Move:
Once the card is cleared from the hole, the steel ball drops through the box.
Then with one sweeping move, his right hand pushes the card back into the box, as he brings his hand down.
At 0:29 to 0:33, you can see the white color face of the playing card between his right index and the middle finger.
It is most obvious when he is about to push the card back into the box at around 0:32.
Note: To see it clearer, slow down the playback speed to 0:25.
This is my view of the Marbo Card penetration trick secret.