Card on Ceiling or Wall

Card on Ceiling or Wall is a classic Card Revelation plot where a (usually signed) card is returned to the pack and tossed at the ceiling or a wall. All the cards come down except for the signed card still stuck to it.

Some versions have no apparent reason for the cards to "stick", others use a thumbtack.

This is typically an effect done as a closer.

Karl Norman at the Forks Hotel originated the handling popularized by Michael Ammar with the box of Sucrets.

Published versions

Ceiling

• To Make a Selected Card Stick to the Ceiling or Wall by Professor Ridgum Funnidos in Magic at Home (1870)
• James F. Herpick & Jack Thimbleny's Improved Card on the Ceiling in Tarbell Course in Magic, Vol. 3 (1943)
• Bruce Elliott's Classic Secrets of Magic (1953)
• Jay Bedsworth's Hit The Ceiling! in Apocalypse Vol. 7, N° 5, may 1984
• David Ben's Card On Ceiling in Tricks (2003)
• Karl Norman's Card On Ceiling in 40 Years at the Forks (1995)

Wall

• John West's From Lapel To Wall Apocalypse Vol. 16-20
• John Kennedy's Card Missile in The New York Magic Symposium - Collection 2
• Ed Reno's "Tack It" in Tarbell Course in Magic - Volume 3

Other surfaces

• Ping Pong Plus Cards: Selected card ends up stuck on ping pong paddle in Milbourne Christopher's Magic Book Tricks for the Living Room, Dinner Table, or Stage (1977)
• Korem's Card on Tie in Paul Harris Las Vegas Close Up (1978) and Art of Astonishment (1996).
• Michael Ammars' Indoor Baseball in The Magic of Michael Ammar (1991)

Variations

• Michael Ammar's Coin on Ceiling in The Magic of Michael Ammar
• Thomas A. O'Lenk's Aero-Dynamic Dollar in The Art of Astonishment - Book 1