Do you want to know how the secret of the PRISON by Mickael Chatelain closeup trick?
How the locked Joker card could escape after securely locked between two plates.
It is very similar to his other penetration trick called Evasion, where the picture Harry Houdini avoid being locked.
This is another blog post from the Info Ruckus Magic Trick Secrets Revealed series.
Effect:
A Joker card with hole at the bottom is placed between two plates, which also have holes.
All the three holes are aligned, and securely padlocked.
Now the Joker card is trapped and apparently locked inside these two plates.
The magician gives a good tug at the Joker card, and it slips out from the plates.
Magically, the hole at the Joker playing card is still intact.
Watch the demo video of the PRISON by Mickael Chatelain.
So, how does the Joker playing card could miss the shackle of the padlock?
It is not a gimmick padlock, and so is the Joker card.
PRISON By Mickael Chatelain Trick Secret Revealed
My explanations of the penetration trick is accompanied with relevant images and video snippets.
Likewise I would also reveal the psychology behind this Prison trick, to understand how this act of legerdemain or trickery works.
It starts off showing you the Joker card locked within the two plates are of equal length.
As I have mentioned above, the secret of the PRISON closeup trick is very similar to Evasion.
PRISON Hidden Extended Orange Plate
In Evasion by Mickael Chatelain, the secret is there is an extra piece concealed in the front plate, that can be extended to accomplish the trick.
Similarly for the Prison trick, the secret is at the top orange plate with the bold word PRISON with two black vertical lines, symbolizing jail bars.
It can be lengthen by pulling it out, to hide the raised Joker card
The trick is the same as the Evasion, Mickael has to place hole of the Joker card above the holes of the two plates.
It is also like Mickael Chatelain Card On Ribbon trick.
Hence the Joker card is somewhat above the the top edges of both plates, as highlighted in the picture below.
Therefore he has to extend this top section of the orange plate to hide the raised Joker card, as indicated below with white dotted lines.
Yes, this top piece can be extended slightly by pulling or pushing it out.
Extend Top Part Of Front Plate
This is when and how the magicians do it in the video clips, without viewers’ awareness.
At 0:27, Mickael’s right hand gripping on the lower part of the orange plate, while his left hand pulls the top section to lengthen it slightly.
Mickael Chatelain does it with one smooth slick move flawlessly.
At 0:27, after pointing the holes, as he turns the plate back to front side, simultaneously he pulls it, then places it on the table.
The horizontal black line above the word PRISON is stretchable, and it can be bent downwards as well.
To watch the sequence clearer, slow down the playback speed to 0.25.
This is the close-up view of the black line where the extension gimmick is concealed.
Again you can see the gabled-shape (pointed up) orange plate when he lifts it up, to place it over the Joker card at 0:35.
There is a reason why he keeps the orange plate arched, while hooking in the padlock shackle into the holes.
It is because he wants to turn the back plate around to openly show the viewers, that the two plates are of the equal length.
When the fact is, the extended orange front plate is longer now, and the back plate should be comparatively slightly shorter.
To match the length difference, he bends the top plate upward, as illustrated below.
By the way, you can still see the arched top orange plate from the back view.
This is when and how Mickael pushes the extension part back into the plate.
At 1:02, after pointing the word “PRISON”, simultaneously as he turns the plate back, his left thumb presses in the extended part.
Again he does it very well, with one swift move.
How do I know he presses in the extended part back in, as he turns?
See the slight length difference of the two black vertical lines as indicated in the pictures below:
This is when the top plate is still lengthened, just after the trick.
This is after he has presses the extended part back in.
These pictures are captured from another PRISON video by magician Lou Curtis.
At 1:18, Lou Curtis’ right hand middle and forth fingers pushes up the gimmick top section of the front card, before passing it to be padlock.
After the trick, at 2:10 his right hand middle finger pushes down the extended piece back to its original position.
Prison By Mickael Chatelain Length Difference
Let’s compare the length difference of the orange plate, before and after it is extended.
Observe the length of the two black vertical lines, as indicated in the pictures.
From Mickael Chatelain’s demo video:
Besides what I have just shown above, here are two more pictures taken from another scene.
This is the first time when it is laid out on the table.
This is the second time when it is laid out on the table, after he has discreetly stretched out the upper part.
From the other demo video clip by Lou Curtis:
This is before the hidden part is drawn out.
This is after the hidden part has drawn out.
Psychology Of The Prison By Mickael Chatelain
At the start and the end of the video, he displays the two plates, the Joker card and the padlock in a row on the table.
Psychologically, he wants to create the mental perception, there is no trick up his sleeves, so to speak.
Just two flat plates, a regular Joker playing card and a working padlock.
Most viewers would concentrate on the hole of the Joker card and the padlock, rather than the two plain plates.
Magicians know how to influence and control what audience focuses on.
They get you to look at certain things, and to overlook others.
Of course there a bit of misdirection, which blends well into the routine and handling of the prop.