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Oil and Water
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Oil and Water is a classic plot in card magic where a small group of red cards are intermixed with a group of black cards. The black cards (representing oil) magically separate and assemble at the top of the packet. This is usually done a number of times.
The first contemporary version of this effect was first published by Walter B. Gibson in Jinx as "Like Seeks Like" (issue 91, November 1940).
The Oil and Water presentation was created by Ed Marlo, who also developed many methods for the effect, published in The Cardician (1953).
Variations
- "Camouflage" from Packet Switches (Part Two) by Karl Fulves (1973) added a climax where all of the cards became the same color
- "Oil and Queens" by Roy Walton adds a kicker where the one set turns into the 4 queens.