If card magicians were to make a list of what they believed were the most powerful effects in card magic, Dai Vernon’s Triumph would almost certainly be on every list. Though the plot of Triumph – cards mixed face-up and face-down magically righting themselves while at the same time revealing a selected card – was almost certainly not new at the time, Vernon’s elegant method was. Triumph was first published in 1946 as part of the Stars of Magic series of manuscripts, taking the magic world by storm, and ever since, magic creators have been putting their own presentational and methodological spins on this indisputable classic card trick.

On this video, you’ll meet six performers who have each taken the Triumph plot and made it their own. Appropriately, Johnny Thompson, a close Vernon confidante, leads off by performing and demonstrating not only Vernon’s published method for the trick but also his preferred – and unpublished – way of doing it. Jon Armstrong is next with a motivational presentation while James Swain not only rights the reversed cards while finding the selected card but also returns them to factory numerical order. Boris Wild continues with a very funny yet amazing version while Larry Jennings offers a great variation that can be performed in a strolling situation with no table required. Finally, Bill Malone performs and teaches perhaps the world’s fastest – and maybe easiest – version of the trick, one that originated with Ed Marlo.

Triumph remains popular with card magicians because audiences simply love it. They’re generally stunned by the mixed-up cards magically righting themselves, so much so that the fact that their selected card is also found becomes almost secondary. In short, it’s a card trick that looks like real magic and on this video, you’ll watch and learn from some of the best card magicians in the world showing you how to do perhaps the greatest card trick ever invented.

Dai Vernon’s Triumph – Johnny Thompson

Goal Triumph – Jon Armstrong

Perfect Triumph – James Swain

Not That Drunk – Boris Wild

Outstanding Triumph – Larry Jennings

Lightning Fast Triumph – Bill Malone