Mastering the Cull – DVD Companion EBook – © 2007 Kostya Kimlat

Mastering The Cull - Companion E-Book

Kostya Kimlat © 2007

Welcome to “Mastering the Cull” e-book. This is a text-only companion to the

Roadrunner Cull DVD. Here you will find the original write-up of the Roadrunner
Cull, The Culligula Triumph, and the routines I am sharing for the first time. I have
always been a big fan of the written word, so I felt this project would only be
complete with this writing. Enjoy.

Contents:
The Roadrunner Cull (2002)
Culligula Triumph (2002)
Unshuffling the Colors (1999)
Shuffle First, Ask Questions Later (2004)
Four 4 Following (2006)
And If All Goes Wrong (2006)

Mastering the Cull – DVD Companion EBook – © 2007 Kostya Kimlat

 The Roadrunner Cull
Originally published in “MAGIC: Experiments with the Art & Thoughts on the Artistry” 2002

In 1998, I watched Paul Cummins do incredible things with a cull at a Steak-n-Shake after his
lecture. He blew me away and inspired me to keep working on the cull. The culling method that I
am going to describe is the technique that I have developed over the last few years. I will not,
however, take full credit for it. First of all, this technique, although created independently, has a lot
of history behind it and many other methods as its backbone. Second of all, I have heard of other
magicians developing techniques similar to mine. Third, through word-of-mouth I have heard of
other culling techniques that amaze me even though I have yet to see them and I do not dare to
compare mine with unknown, underground techniques. And finally, I do not take full credit for this
technique because I did not create it on purpose. I was simply so amazed by Paul Cummins’ culling
that I just worked and worked until the move became natural and my fingers began moving on their
own. It wasn’t until I started performing my “Cull-igula” triumph for magicians that I realized that I
was actually doing something different and had to try to understand my own technique.

I am putting this cull in print for two reasons. First, many magicians who have seen me do it have
asked me to write it up. Second, I feel that culling has been a very underused technique. In my
current performances, it has slowly become one of my most used moves. I use it at restaurants and
in walk around performances, in my guesstimation routines; it is constantly used in my Triumph
routine; always employed instead of Lennart Green’s Angle Separation; and I have adapted it to use
in many other effects.

I call this the Roadrunner call because when done right it is incredibly fast. However, I am always
working on improving my technique and I hope that over time it will become even faster and
smoother. What I want to share with you now are the very mechanical details that make the
Roadrunner Cull possible. It is my sincere wish that you try this technique yourself. If you have
never seen culling done well, try to find someone to show it to you. You will be pleasantly surprised
at the speed, invisibility, and usefulness of a good cull.

The Technique: For this explanation, you are going to cull out all of the red cards. Start out with a
well-shuffled deck. What this means, usually, is that although many cards will be interlaced (red,
black, red, black) most often you will come across runs of cards, three or more in a row. This will
make the culling easier and much faster. (You will see in a moment that you will literally be able to
cull out a group of seven or ten cards with a single move of the fingers.) Start by spreading the deck
from left to right. When you reach the first red card in the spread, (we will use a three of diamonds)
perform the original Hofzinser Spread Cull (The Basic Spread Cull is described in Hugard and
Braue’s “Expert Card Technique” on pg. 129.) Briefly: place your right hand thumb onto the card
directly above and to the right of the three. Use the middle and ring fingers of the right hand to
contact the back of the three underneath the spread, and pull it out of the spread by simply bending
the fingers inwards, towards the right palm. When the three comes out of the spread it will slide all
the way until its right edge hits your palm and it is directly below and is practically aligned with the
top card of the spread.

Mastering the Cull – DVD Companion EBook – © 2007 Kostya Kimlat

From now on, the left thumb will not have to do any work. In fact, the one thing to remember about
this technique, the thing that is the key to making it work, is that the left hand does nothing but
simply spread the cards. After the initial Hofzinser Spread Cull, it is only the right fingers that do
the cull work. The left hand’s fingers and thumb simply spread the deck. This helps to keep the
spreading casual and natural without any false movements. The dirty work is always done
underneath the spread, completely out of the view of the spectators, by the right hand’s fingers. It is
also important to remember to keep the faces of the cards tilted towards the audience so the outer
edges of the cards (where the work can be seen) are not in the direct view of the audience.

The three of diamonds that you have now culled is going to rest on your right hand fingers. The
edges of your index and middle fingers can curl around its left edge. The fingers will keep
extending out and closing back underneath the spread. But, if at any point you have to stop culling
and simply spread the deck for a long time, (like when you have finished the culling early or when
you are looking for the next card to cull) the fingers can curl around the left edge of the culled
packet, squaring it up and preventing it from getting out of control.

If you’re going to be culling a lot of cards non-stop, then do not curl your fingers around the deck.
Instead the curled fingertips will support the culled packet from below. This packet (in our case the
culled three of diamonds for now) that is resting on your right hand fingers and riding underneath
the spread now becomes the key to the culling technique:

Continue spreading the cards until you get to the next red card. Let’s say that it is a queen of hearts.
The index and middle fingers of the right hand are going to push up from below and use the three of
diamonds to clamp all of the cards above the queen. The three will actually slide in-between the
queen and the cards above it. The right thumb will put pressure downwards, clamping the spread
from above. At this point the right hand can lift up and it will have all of the cads above the queen
clamped by the thumb above and three of diamonds below. However, the last thing you want to do
is separate the hands: keep the spread together, without any breaks.

The middle finger now lets go and only the index finger is left, pushing up. The middle finger
extends outwards and contacts the back of the queen of hearts. Once it has touched it, the middle
finger curls inwards, pulling the queen out of the spread. This is very important: as soon as the
middle finger has contacted the back of the queen, the index finger relaxes and extends outwards,
away from the cards. Now it is only the middle finger that is used to keep the cards from falling
onto the ground. Unlike in some culling techniques where the cards that are being culled go above
the previously culled cards, in this case the queen of hearts goes below the three of diamonds. The
fingers of the right hand now extend flat and the left thumb continues to spread the cards. It is
important, also, to keep those right hand fingers at a downward angle of about 20-30 degrees from
the spread of the deck. This is large enough to ensure the clearance of the black cards that continue
to be spread above the culled cards and into the right hand. And it is small enough so as not to be
seen sticking out from below the spread by the audience.

Mastering the Cull – DVD Companion EBook – © 2007 Kostya Kimlat

Continue spreading, the two culled cards riding below, until you reach the next red card. Let’s say
that there is a group of two. Use the three and the queen to clamp all of the black cards above the
two red cards. Once again, the index finger pushes up and the middle finger extends. It must extend,
however, all the way to the second card. Because the three and the queen are wedged above the two
red cards, the uppermost of the two cards needs not be even touched. When the middle finger
touches the back of the second red card, the pressure caused by that middle finger when it curls
inwards will cause both of the cards to go sliding out of the spread and into the right hand, below
the three and the queen. As soon as the middle finger touches that second card and begins to curl
inwards, the index finger extends outwards, getting out of the way, and the two cards go sliding into
place. You should now have four red cards riding on the fingers of your right hand.

Continue spreading until you get to the next set of red cards. We will say that it is a whole group of
red cards, six or more, together. Use the four culled cards to clamp all of the black cards above the
group of red ones. Since this will be a large group it will be harder for your middle finger to
estimate which is the last card of the group. To help out, the left thumb will simply continue doing
what it has been doing: it will keep pushing the spread until the lowest red card of the group is
spotted. Once it is, the left thumb will stop and press downwards on the first black card below the
group of red. At this point it is very easy for the right middle finger to contact the back of that last
red card, put upwards pressure, and then pull inwards at the same time as the index finger extends
and gets out of the way once again. Because you are using the culled cards as a clamp, all of the
cards in the spread continue riding directly underneath and into the fingers of the right hand below
the first four. Once the last card is pulled in by the middle finger you will feel a sharp click. That
means that the block of red cards has now cleared out of the deck and that the red cards are no
longer clamping the spread. The right thumb is then free to continue spreading.

By now you should be able to understand the technique of the cull. Remember that the right hand’s
fingers work as little movers, constantly extending outwards and pulling cards inwards. The index
and middle fingers must always be on the move. A great thing to do is to let them take turns in
stealing the cards. That way they are never in each other’s way and you are able to steal a lot more
cards than if you were using just your middle finger. Continue spreading through the deck until you
have culled out all of the red cards. Close the spread, bringing all of the red cards to the bottom and
now you are set to perform any miracle that your heart desires.

The Angle-Cull-Separation: Here is a very advanced and incredibly diabolical culling technique
that I have developed. This one allows you to really get ahead. With this technique, you can go
through a shuffled deck of cards once and cull out two four of a kinds, yet keep them separate! So,
although the kings and queens may be intermixed throughout the deck, after a single spread of the
cards, the four kings are together, followed by the four queens, on top of the deck. Also, you can go
through the deck one and a half times and have all the cards separated into the four suits. When I
first discovered the extra move that made this technique possible I was incredibly excited and I
hope that you will be, too.

Mastering the Cull – DVD Companion EBook – © 2007 Kostya Kimlat

Separating Sets of Four of a Kind: For the explanation, we will cull out the four kings and the
four queens. First shuffle the deck, making sure the cards are very well mixed. Now begin spreading
them from hand to hand until you get to a king or a queen. Perform the Hofzinser Spread Cull, using
the middle finger to steal the card out of the spread. Let’s say that it was a queen. Now spread until
you see the next card, let’s say a king. Here’s what you’re going to do different: you are going to
clamp and cull out the king as per the regular cull, but when the middle finger pulls inwards it needs
to pull downwards as well. Doing this causes the card to go diagonally, instead of directly with the
spread, and causes it to be down-jogged, yet still in the right hand and underneath the first queen.

Continue spreading until you reach the next card: a king. Repeat the culling action, again pulling the
middle finger in and downwards, down-jogging the second king with the first one. Spread until you
reach a queen. Cull it but keep the middle finger straight as you bring it in. This keeps the queen
aligned with the first queen and separated by the two down-jogged kings.

Essentially, all you are doing is up- and down-jogging the cards underneath the spread. Continue
spreading the cards and culling the queens and kings, down-jogging or keeping them straight
accordingly. To cover the down-jogged kings you may wish to use your right thumb to slightly
down-jog the top card of the spread. You can also use your right ring finger to prevent the kings
from getting pushed in with the queens: all you need to do is curl it around the left edge of the
kings, all the way near the bottom. The ring finger should put a lot of pressure on the sides of the
cards, almost bowing the kings inwards, because you want to make sure they don’t go anywhere.
Once you have culled all of the cards, keep the ring finger still wrapped around the kings. If you
now flip the deck over side for side to the left, you can squeeze the four kings between the palm of
your right hand and that ring finger, unweave them from amongst the queens, and drop them on top.
If the ring finger feels uncomfortable, then just flip the deck over, grasp the down-jogged cards
between the thumb and middle finger and strip them out like that.

Four Suit Separation: To separate the four suits you will have to go through the deck one and a
half times. Spread the deck once. As you do, begin culling the diamonds and the clubs, but down-
jog the clubs so they are separate. Strip out the clubs and drop them on top of the deck. Once you
have done that, the first 26 cards of the face-up deck will be mixed hearts and spades, followed by
thirteen diamonds and then thirteen clubs. To the untrained eye of a lay person, the top twenty-six
cards, if spread quickly, will be seen as mixed red and black cards and the lack of clubs and
diamonds in the spread will not be noticed. So, if you go back and just spread the top twenty-six
cards, culling out just the hearts, the spectators will still see a mixed deck and think nothing of it.
Upon closing the spread, however, you now have the deck separated into the four suits.

Ideally, you could actually cull out three of the suits, down-jogging one farther than the other, but I
believe this would be too cumbersome. (This idea was shown to me by my friend Karl Hein
utilizing the Lennart Green Angle Separation) The method I have just given is pretty easy once the
regular cull is mastered. The mix of hearts and spades during the second spread prevents the lay
people from thinking that anything was separated during the first spread. What you can also do is
borrow someone else’s deck and go through it once, looking for Jokers. While you are looking, of

Mastering the Cull – DVD Companion EBook – © 2007 Kostya Kimlat

course, you cull out the diamonds and clubs using the angled-cull technique. Then, after taking the
Jokers out of the deck if they are there, ask the spectator (“oh, by the way,”) if they know if theirs is
a full deck or not. Whatever their answer, begin spreading the top half of the deck, doing the final
cull of the hearts. Then stop midway and tell them that either a) it doesn’t matter, then go into a
different effect and produce the four suits later or (b) tell them you’ve got an easier way of
checking, and spread the deck to show the cards separated by suits.

Beep Beep: Timing is not everything when you first begin learning the cull. The only way to master
this technique is to do it always. For years, whenever I picked up any deck, the first thing I would
do without even thinking about it was to shuffle the cards and then to separate them. Try to utilize
the cull in whichever effects possible. I hope you will be able to master both the Roadrunner cull
and the Angle-Cull Separation and find good uses for them in your routines. Best of luck. ♦♣♥♠

Mastering the Cull – DVD Companion EBook – © 2007 Kostya Kimlat

 Cull-igula
The Hardcore Triumph

Originally published in “MAGIC: Experiments with the Art & Thoughts on the Artistry” 2002

The following is the most direct triumph possible. The spectators look at a card, they shuffle the
cards face-up into face-down themselves, and then, somehow, the cards are all facing one way
except for their selection. There are no false displays, counts, or special shuffles; there is nothing to
hide. The shuffling is done in the spectator’s hands and the dirty work is done invisibly underneath
their noses. It takes guts to try this at first, but damn does it feel good to get away with such blatant
cheating.

This method was created while working at a magic shop in Orlando. I got really tired of performing
the triumph with a stripper deck. I felt very cheap performing a miracle and then telling my
audience that they could do the same exact thing for a couple of bucks and no practice. Performing
the triumph with a regular deck and then telling my audience that it was a stripper at least made me
feel good on the inside. My favorite part, I should mention, was handing the deck to
“knowledgeable” laymen and asking them to make sure it was perfectly normal – at which point
they would subtly caress the sides of the cards or riffle the outer edges– and then I would perform
the effect. “Yeah, it’s a stripper deck,” I’d tell them afterwards. “I’m surprised you didn’t notice.”
They would always look confused.

One of my most memorable performances of this effect was when I worked for Camel cigarettes
during Bike Week in Daytona, Fl. Surrounded by 40 bikers, clad in full leather and gang regalia,
with their tattoos warning me of what they might do to me if I piss them off or mess up a trick, I
decided to just go for it and perform my triumph. I was nervous as hell, worried that they might
break my fingers if they didn’t like me or caught me cheating. But two minutes and one shuffled
and restored deck later, I was the God of cards to them and they were the most enthusiastic audience
I had ever performed for.

I really hope you try this method. It is incredibly important to have the technique down 100%
before performing it. Any little mess-up or pause during the dirty work will give away the entire
effect. But if you’ve got the technique down, you’ve got a miracle. Enjoy!

Procedure: Have a card selected. There is no need to control it. All you need to do is to peek it so
you know what it is. Now give the deck to any layperson to shuffle. Tell him to mix it up really
well. After his second shuffle, pretend like you just got a crazy idea in your head (a crazy look in
the eyes convinces them of that). Tell the spectator to turn half of the deck face-up and leave the
other half face-down. Then tell them to shuffle the two halves together. At this point, most
spectators will pause and ask you if you’re sure of this. Magicians will do this, especially. To lay
people, I say: “You’ve never done something crazy like this before, have you?” To magicians, I say
“It’s okay, it’s a stripper deck,” and smile …and then wait for them to check.

Mastering the Cull – DVD Companion EBook – © 2007 Kostya Kimlat

It really doesn’t matter how the deck is shuffled. It can be perfectly faro-ed for all you care. Lay
people always shuffle the cards in bunches, though, making it even easier for you later on. Once the
deck has been well mixed take it back and spread it between your hands, showing the spectator that
he has mixed it really well. As you spread through the deck, quickly look for the spectator’s
selection. If you do not see it amongst the face-up cards, then square up the deck, pause, and turn it
over casually. This is not a secret action; you can do it openly. All of this is done while pattering
about how mixed up the cards are and how the spectator was crazy for taking you seriously about
the shuffling.

Now ask the spectator to look for his selection as you spread through the cards. All you are going to
do now is spread the cards from one hand to the other. As you do so, however, you are going to do
the dirty work: you will cull out every single face-down card in the spread along with the face-up
selection. This may sound easy in the description but it takes a lot of work to make smooth. It may
also sound hard but it is actually quite easy once you have the technique perfected. I describe my
culling technique elsewhere in the notes, so let me continue with the procedure and also provide you
with some culling tips that will help you in your performance

Before I begin the spread, I like to cut the deck, doing two things at once. First of all, I cut the deck
so the selection is somewhere in the lower fourth of the deck. Since you will tell the spectator to
look for his card, the longer he has to look for it, the less time he has to look at the other cards.
When I cut, I also cut so a face-down card is on top of the deck. This is a visual subtlety. When you
are culling, the face-down cards will be disappearing from the spread leaving only a face-up spread.
Leaving one face-down card on top visually convinces the spectator that the cards are still mixed
up. It’s a very subtle thing but it really helps!

Now you can begin to spread and cull. Don’t be shy, just do it. My strategy to make sure the
spectator doesn’t notice anything weird happening during the spread is to completely overwhelm
them visually and auditory. While spreading the cards pretty fast, I keep talking to them: “Do me a
favor and look for your card. Just look for it amongst the face-up cards. When you see it don’t say
anything. Don’t point at it, do not shout it out. Otherwise I might know which one it is. You still
remember it, right? (I pause and look at them – a question throws them off) Good, Just look for it.
Don’t say a word until I get to the very end. Once I get to the very end, then you can tell me whether
the card is face-up or face-down. You really shuffled these cards, didn’t you? Still remember it?
OK, which way was it facing?”

In the time that it takes me to say all of that I have completed culling all of the face-down cards and
their face-up selection. My average time, including the interaction with the spectators is 15 seconds.
Doing just culling without any talking, I can separate the cards in a little over 10 seconds. I can only
hope that over time my technique will improve.

Once you have culled out all of those cards, bring them to the bottom below the face-up cards. The
deck is now in the following order: face-down card, 25 face-up cards, and 26 face-down cards with
selection face-up somewhere amongst them. All you have to do now is to cut the deck at the natural

Mastering the Cull – DVD Companion EBook – © 2007 Kostya Kimlat

break, slip cut that top face-down card onto the other face-down cards, then turn over the block of
25 face-up cards onto the rest of the cards.

All you have left is to remind the spectator of everything that has happened. Be sure to point out
again and again that the spectators are the crazy ones that got the idea to shuffle the deck face-up
and face-down. Then say a magical word or give a magical snap and spread the deck. If your culling
technique is invisible, then their jaws should hit the floor. ♦♣♥♠

Mastering the Cull – DVD Companion EBook – © 2007 Kostya Kimlat

 Unshuffling the Colors

I learned the basis for this routine from Kevin Beaty, a student of Eric Anderson’s. Kevin and I
worked together at a magic kiosk in a shopping mall when I was about 15 years old. I would sell
stripper decks by performing this routine with a regular deck. This was way before I started working
on the cull, so I was using Lennart Green’s Angle Separation. Since those days, this trick has
continued to be my closer. This is the first time that I am sharing this routine exactly as I have been
performing it for the last nine years, only now it's been upgraded to use the cull.

Effect: A spectator selects a card and shuffles the deck. The magician instantly separates the
shuffled deck into red and black cards. He gives each half to a spectator, then cause the selection to
vanish from one half and appear in the other half, amongst the opposite colored cards.

Method: Have a card selected and replaced. We’ll imagine the selected card is the seven of
diamonds. Perform either a force or a peek, so you know the identity of the card. Have the deck
fairly shuffled by the spectators. Take the cards back and spread through the face-up deck. Have the
spectators look at the cards with you as you spread. Tell them that you’re going to go through the
cards and try to narrow down which card could be theirs.

As you spread, you’re going to cull half of the deck. Which color of cards you cull depends on the
color of the face-card. If the top card of the deck is red, then you’re going to leave that card there
and cull all of the red cards. The only card you will not cull will be the seven of diamonds. On the
other hand, if the top card of the deck is black, you’re going to cull all of the black cards AND the
selected seven of diamonds. As you’re nearing the end of the deck, a good line to deliver is: “Okay,
I think I narrowed it down to 26.” This elicits an easy laugh and relaxes the audience.

You will now have the deck separated into two halves with the selection in the opposite color half.
Spread the cards in the middle with the faces towards you and separate the deck where the colors
meet. “I am now going to perform an un-shuffle,” is a great line here. Perform a riffle shuffle, but
don’t push the cards in. Instead, let them visually unweave, explaining to the spectators that this is a
strange thing called an un-shuffle. “What it does is undo all the shuffling you’ve done. And it
separated the deck into two distinct halves…”

Pick up the half deck with the selection. Execute a pressure-fan with the faces of the cards towards
yourself. You’ll instantly see the 7 of diamonds amongst the black cards. As you pretend like you’re
adjusting the fan to make sure all the cards are visible, you will slide the card that is directly to the
right of the seven slightly to the left, so that it covers up the seven completely. Move some of the
cards around a bit, but still keep the tight form of the fan. Now bring your hand down to display the
fan of all black cards. The spectators will be dumbfounded. Instantly pick up the other half, pressure
fan them with the faces towards yourself, adjust slightly (mimicking the actions you made with the
other half), and then bring the fan down so the spectators see all the red cards.

Don’t give the spectators enough time to look for their card. If they start looking, shift their focus
and ask them to put their hands out. Cleanly and clearly pick up the red fan and square it up, placing

Mastering the Cull – DVD Companion EBook – © 2007 Kostya Kimlat

it in their hands. Do the same with the black fan, placing the cards in another person’s hands. “You
see, that’s what I meant earlier: I narrowed it down to one of the 26 red cards. Here, you hang on to
those. And I’d like you to hold on to all the black cards. Now I can take out your card invisibly…”
Mime the action of taking a card out of the red packet, look at the invisible card in your hand and
announce the name of the selection. “Oh, the seven of diamonds…and I’l place it into your packet.
… You’ll now notice that your card has vanished from here. And you can find it has instantly…re-
appeared…right…over…here…” Take the black half from the spectator and spread it in front of
your chest so the spectators see the final visual of all black cards and their selection in the center.

At this point, you will be done with your performance, the audience will be in the palm of your
hand and the world will lay at your feet. ♦♣♥♠

Mastering the Cull – DVD Companion EBook – © 2007 Kostya Kimlat

 Shuffle First, Ask Questions Later

Just imagine this: change the time at which you do the cull and you have a completely different
routine. You also have an opportunity to practice the cull without any worry of the spectators
noticing that something sneaky is happening because the misdirection is so strong. This is a perfect
routine to start playing with if you’re just starting to work on the cull and want to get your feet wet
doing it real-time, in front of an audience.

Method: Begin by shuffling the cards face-up into face-down. Make sure that your presentation
justifies this in the beginning. Presentational ideas: Did you drop the cards all over the floor by
accident? Did a spectator sabotage your cards? Are you telling a 3rd person narrative of what
happened to you when a drunk grabbed your cards the other night?

As you gather the shuffled cards from the table or from the spectator(s), make sure the top card is a
face-down one. Turn to a spectator. Begin spreading the cards and culling every face-down card
(leaving the top one in place). Try to spread through the first quarter of the deck as you ask the
spectator to grab a card. “Any card at all. Some people like face-down cards because they’re a
mystery. Others prefer to grab the face-up cards because they like me and want to make my life
easier. It’s up to you.” This line sets up a nice opportunity for byplay and interaction, depending on
what card they go for.

Once the first spectator has picked a card, continue spreading and turn towards a second spectator.
Again try to kill some time, talking as you spread, asking them their name, whether they prefer
face-up or face-down cards, etc. You should go through most of the middle of the deck as you talk
and then have the bottom quarter of the deck spread for them to pick a card from. As they withdraw
their card to show it around, you finish up culling all the face-down cards and bring the culled cards
to the bottom. As you bring the spread cards together, do not square the cards around the edges.

In fact: Be Messy! As you are culling the cards, don’t worry about squaring them up nicely. You
actually want to have a good messy display at the end. This way, you can turn the deck over a few
times and they will see all cards going in different directions. In reality, the top card is face-down,
half the deck is face-up, the bottom half is face-down and two spectators hold two selections. To
keep the cards in their messy shape and not squared up, just keep a tight pressure with your fingers
from above and below.

Now ask for the first selection to be returned. Ask the spectator if he would like to put it back face-
up or face-down. If they want it face-up, just slide it anywhere in the lower half. If they want it face-
down, then slide it into the upper half. Turn to the second spectator. You typically want them to put
it back the opposite way, so work them into it: “And you want your card to go the other way.” Make
it a statement and not a question. They’ll typically agree. It makes the effect seem more difficult.

I like to slide one card in at the front end and one card at the back. Now you can turn the deck over
several times. “Never-mind the mess, I know this is a bit crazy. Just remember your two cards.
That’s the only thing you have to do. Keep saying them over and over in your head.”

Mastering the Cull – DVD Companion EBook – © 2007 Kostya Kimlat

Square up the cards completely. I used to want to keep a break, but this is the worst time to be
sneaky. Instead, square up, and then turn your attention away from the deck and onto one of the
spectators. Allow your hand with the deck to naturally come down to waist level. Use the other
hand to gesture towards the spectator as you ask them: “Can you please put your hand out, palm-
up?” At this moment, your left hand prepares for a Charlier Cut, separating the halves at their
natural break. The right hand comes over and takes the top half. Using the left thumb, slip cut the
top card onto the left hand’s packet and perform an action-like half-pass of the cards in your left
hand, as the hands come together – just as you would in the original Triumph routine. Do this as
you point out that “although the cards are all mixed up and your cards are facing opposite
directions, I will try to turn one of them around, so both cards are facing the same way – without
even touching the deck. Here, you hang onto it.”

Now pause, and mime whatever magical action you think looks right. Snap your fingers and
announce that “The two cards are now facing the same way. … But to make it easier for you to see
them, I’ve straightened out every other card, except for your two selections.” The last line is
delivered as you spread the cards. Oh, what a powerful moment!

Afterthoughts: I hope you love this as much as I do. Think about it: The spectators just watched
you shuffle a deck of cards, they see the mix again as you spread through the messy deck. But
because they are focused on picking their selections, there is Absolutely NO heat on the cards as
you do the cull, and now you are done with the hard work. I fell in love with this idea when I first
discovered it and continue to smile each time I do this effect. Simply by changing the timing of
when the cull was done, I was able to streamline the routine. If you are nervous about performing
the cull right before your audience’s eyes as in the regular triumph, you don’t have a single thing to
worry about with this routine because the timing is so perfect! Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! ♦♣♥♠

Mastering the Cull – DVD Companion EBook – © 2007 Kostya Kimlat

 Four 4 Following

Effect: A spectator is asked to fully shuffle a deck of cards and name any playing card – let’s say
the 4 of Spades. The magician spreads through the deck and removes the named card. The spectator
replaces the card anywhere they like in the deck, face-up. The spectator is asked to square up the
spread, snap their fingers, and re-spread the deck. When they do so, they discover that all four-4’s
have turned face-up throughout the deck.

Method: Start by asking the spectator to shuffle the deck. Point out how fair this trick is going to be
and that they should know that this is an impossible effect that will scare them from ever playing
cards with you.

Take the cards back and ask them to name any playing card. Spread the deck face-up and look for
their card. As you spread, cull out the other three cards of the same value. Remember that rhythm is
the key to making the cull look good, especially when culling a four of a kind. The named card will
come up at any position, so you have to be ready to say something interesting to the audience either
before or after you out-jog it.

Note: When you being spreading the cards, tilt the cards so the faces are slightly towards you.
Sometimes you’ll get lucky: the card they name will be one of the first few you see. This gives you
the opportunity to cull the card right away and bring it to the bottom. As you execute the cull, bring
your hands down so the spectators can see the faces of the card for a second and will not be able to
see the action of the card being stolen underneath the spread. Square up the spread instantly, saying:
“the card could be anywhere…you said the five of spades? (they’ll correct you.) oh, the four…my
bad…let me see if I can find it…” Now just turn the deck face-down, snap your fingers and show
their named card on top of the deck (or produce it via Lennart Green’s Top Shot). This, in and of
itself, is going to highly impress them.

If the card is not amongst the first few then continue spreading the cards, culling the three other
fours. Now is a good time to kill time by asking the spectator exactly why they named the card they
did. Once you spot the named card, outjog it. Continue spreading if you need to cull more cards,
pointing out that their card is the only one in the deck and they could have named any other card.
Ask the spectator to take their card from their spread. As you close the spread, in-jog the very
bottom card of the deck. When the spread is closed and the three matching cards are on the bottom,
the in-jogged card will allow you to instantly get a break above those three cards.

Action Over-Hand Shuffle Turnover-Cover: Sounds complicated, doesn’t it? It’s actually quite
beautifully simple. You’re going to keep the three bottom cards face-up while turning over the rest
of the deck in the action of an overhand shuffle.

Hold the deck in the left hand with a pinky break above the three bottom cards. Bring the right hand
over and take the deck from above with thumb at the back and fingers at the front, gripping the
cards at the left side of the deck. Your right hand will pick up all the cards above the break and turn
slightly palm-up. The right edge of the deck will scrape against the face of the face-up cards as it

Mastering the Cull – DVD Companion EBook – © 2007 Kostya Kimlat

turns. You want to keep this turnover tight, to cover any flashing. As soon as the right hand is palm-
up and the deck is face-down, the left thumb will instantly pull down on the top card and begin an
over-hand shuffle. The overhand shuffle will cover up the three face-up cards that are held in the
left hand. Finish the overhand shuffle and you’ve got the three mates face-up on the bottom of the
face-down deck.

Reloading the Cards back into the spread: You’re now going to spread the cards from hand to
hand. As you do, you’ll load the three bottom cards into three separate parts of the deck. It helps if
you bevel the deck slightly to the right. As you begin the spread, your right fingers will contact the
bottom card of the deck and put slight upwards pressure. It is very important that your left hand
holds the spread in straddle grip to ensure the cards being taken from the bottom do not flash.
The bottom card will slide underneath the spread all the way to the right. You will then be able to
reload it back into the deck, somewhere near the top. This is something akin to a reverse cull.

Now, just repeat the same action two more times, loading the other two face-up cards in different
positions. The entire action should take you about five seconds. The spectator should believe that
you are just spreading the deck as you ask them to replace their card. They will usually start to put it
back in face-down. Stop them and ask them do it face-up. Doing so will kill more time and allow
you to execute the loading procedure at a pace that makes you feel more comfortable. The last thing
you want to do right now is alert the spectator that you may be doing something sneaky.

The three matching value cards are now loaded into the deck and the named card is sticking out at
the front. You can now either square up the spread or lay it out on the table as is. If you didn’t
square up the spread as you loaded the cards, the three cards you inserted into the deck will be right-
jogged for almost half their length. This allows you to spread the cards on the table and the three
face-up cards will be hidden by the spread. This is one of my favorite moves in all of card magic:
the Charles Nyquist “Ribbon-Spread Hide-Out” found in THE RIBBONSPREAD REVERSE by
Charles W. Nyquist – in Hugard's Magic Monthly - Vol. 06 - Jean Hugard (Jun, 1948) pg.450A.

Cleanly close-up the spread and set the deck onto the table. Build up the climax, explain to the
spectator that the four of spades has three other friends inside the deck. Remind them that they
shuffled, they took out the card, and nothing was changed about the cards or anything tricky done.
With a snap of the fingers, however, the three friends instantly join the named card. Voila! This is a
stunning and powerful effect that will establish your reputation as a solid cardician – whether
performing for fellow magicians or for a paying crowd.

Mastering the Cull – DVD Companion EBook – © 2007 Kostya Kimlat

 And If All Goes Wrong

As soon as I realized that the cards can be culled while a card is being selected (as in the “New-
Time Triumph”), I also reasoned that the cards can be culled while cards are being returned to the
deck. In this case, three or four cards are a good number to have selected, as it will give you time to
go through the whole deck and cull the necessary cards. I typically perform this routine as a follow
up to the previous routine: “Any Card Named For,” since you’re left with a four-of-a-kind on the
table.

You’ll have a little more heat on you in this routine because the spectators are watching the deck
much closer when they are returning the cards, so be very careful about not flashing the cull. At the
same time, executing the cull will be easier because the audience’s focus will be elsewhere.

Effect: A four of a kind is taken out (or four cards are selected). The deck is shuffled face-up into
face-down. The deck is spread and the spectators are asked to return their cards wherever they want,
face-up or face-down. The magician squares up the cards and in a heartbeat, spreads the cards out:
all the cards are facing one way, except for the four-of-a-kind!

Method: Shuffle the cards face-up into face-down. In one of the performances on the Cull DVD, I
secretly pre-shuffled the deck so it was already mixed up. Then, as I began the performance, I
dropped the cards ‘accidentally’ on the floor. As I picked up sections of the cards off of the floor, I
would give them to each person to shuffle. I then had them pick one card each out of their packets
and I took back the rest of the deck. … Whichever way you start, once the cards are selected and the
deck is in your hand, cut the deck so the top card is face-down. Leaving that top card where it is,
begin culling all the face-down cards out of the spread. Time the spreading so you can go through a
quarter of the deck with each spectator.

Turn to the first spectator and ask them if they would like to replace their card face-up or face-
down. If a selection is replaced face-down, let the spectator slide it into the spread anywhere, and
even leave it sticking out a bit to the left. This is a great convincer that the cards are facing all
different directions. If a card is replaced face-up, just cull it out so it will go along with all the face-
down cards. Make sure that to the spectator it looks like their card just got closed-up in the spread
and not “mysteriously sucked in” the moment they replaced it.

Rhythm is key to this routine. The spectators are watching close. The messy state of the deck helps
to cover up the cull. The spectators don’t pay attention to the rest of the deck, however, only their
selections. Just don’t flash when you cull their face-up selections and you’ve got a miracle on your
hand.

Mastering the Cull – DVD Companion EBook – © 2007 Kostya Kimlat

Finish like you have before: by slipping off the top face-down card onto the bottom half and
performing the half-pass of the lower half of the deck. While in the other triumph-effects there is a
lot of action that can cover the half-pass if it’s done openly, as a grand gesture, I feel that this
routine benefits from a slow and steady finish, so try to make the half-pass action as hidden as
possible. … Oh, and enjoy the thunderous applause…or stunned silence – whichever they decide to
reward you with. ♦♣♥♠

Mastering the Cull – DVD Companion EBook – © 2007 Kostya Kimlat


“If you engage yourself with the
information presented on this
DVD, then you’re about to
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-Michael Ammar
After years of teaching the Cull to
magicians in lectures and workshops
throughout the US, England, Europe
and Japan, Kostya is finally releasing
all of the work on this incredible and
long-awaited DVD.

Whether you’re new to culling or have

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been trying to master this versatile
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