Easy Does It #7: Simplex Soulmates

The perfect wedding card trick (Warning: May cause happy tears!) 💕

Welcome to another edition of Easy Does It, a regular Ruseletter column on simple (and sometimes self-working) magic. In this instalment, I’m sharing a romantic version of the classic self-working card trick “Gemini Twins” by Karl Fulves. ♊🥰 Imagine performing a card trick that’s so emotionally powerful that it gets remembered for decades. Well, that’s precisely what you’ll get with “Simplex Soulmates”!

Picture this: On a couple’s wedding day, you hand them an ordinary deck of cards. What happens next is a magical moment that mirrors their own personal love story. Two cards, representing the bride and groom, find each other against impossible odds. By the end, there won’t be a dry eye in the house! 😭

Why am I so passionate about this particular effect? “Gemini Twins” is quite possibly the greatest self-working card trick ever invented. Yes, that’s a bold claim, but hear me out. The original uses two face-up “prediction cards” to mysteriously locate two perfect matches in a deck that the spectator has thoroughly shuffled. To lay people, this feels truly impossible.

Most variations of this particular trick attempt to “improve” it by increasing the number of prediction cards beyond the usual two. With “Simplex Soulmates”, I’ve decided to go in the opposite direction and reduce the number of predictions to one! The road less travelled has a lot of advantages:

• More suitable for a couple - When using a “soulmates” presentation, it makes more sense for a face-up Queen to find its matching King (or vice versa). Unless you’re performing for two single friends who aren’t romantically involved, then it doesn’t make much sense to find two soulmate cards. Of course, you can cast the spectator in the role of matchmaker or cupid. However, I like the idea that the two cards represent the couple.

• The effect is more direct - There’s little reason to perform the trick with two cards beyond the fact that the placement method allows for it. Using a single face-up card makes the trick more focused and the romantic story easier to follow. I’m not implying that there’s anything inherently wrong with the original (there isn’t). But if you want to strengthen the romantic connection between two people, I believe “Simplex Soulmates” is the way to go.

• The selection of the card makes sense - As the spectator selects a Queen (or King) to represent themselves, the choice of the card is logical; the central conceit of the routine—that the cards symbolise soulmates—fully justifies the trick’s mechanical process. In the original, no real reason is provided for the magician removing two specific cards from the shuffled deck. Referring to them as “predictions” or “lucky cards” helps. However, this is the main weakness of “Gemini Twins”, and unless you address it through your presentation, it could arouse suspicion.

So, what happens in this version of the trick? Here’s a brief description of the effect, as experienced by a bride and groom on their wedding day:

One of the four Queens is chosen to represent the Bride (let’s assume she names the Queen of Hearts). Then, she thoroughly shuffles the cards and hands them back to the magician.

The cards are dealt slowly onto the table. The spectator is instructed to call out “stop” whenever she wishes. When she does, the Queen of Hearts is placed face up on top of the pile, and the rest of the deck is dropped on top.

The pack is ribbon spread across the table. Then, the face-up Queen is removed, along with the face-down cards on either side of it. The three-card packet is reverse-counted until the Bride, once again, calls out “stop”. The top two cards of the packet are spread and dropped onto the table. The bottom card, the reject, is turned over to reveal an indifferent card. The magician asks the Groom to turn over the face-down card on top of the Queen. It is the King of Hearts—the Bride’s soulmate in pasteboard form!

I’ve included a clever method to force the card above the face-up Queen using Edward Victor’s E-Y-E Count. This allows you to remove the cards above and below it, which feels much fairer than removing the card above the face-up card without explanation. It also lets you show the participant the card they “almost selected”, adding an extra layer of deception to the method. However, this introduces a small amount of sleight of hand into what was a fully self-working routine (a double lift and the E-Y-E Count). Nonetheless, I believe it is worth it, and the trick remains accessible to beginner or intermediate card magicians. “Simplex Soulmates” delivers a strong and memorable effect with minimal effort, while also illustrating the usefulness of basic moves like the double lift (as a holdout). This makes it the perfect “next step” trick if you’ve only ever explored purely self-working effects.