Jay showed me the prototype for this packet trick three or four years ago - I liked it then and I like it even more now that he uses professionally printed “backwards” jokers rather than regular jokers upon whose faces he’s quickly scribbled hair. At its core, the plot is a simple one - four cards change into four other cards - and Jay’s handling is magical enough to warrant learning even if you would prefer to apply it to Aces, or Kings, or hell, even Threes. But his presentation, along with the necessary cards to support it, are what really distinguish this packet trick. The magician introduces four Bicycle-deck jokers (which could be removed from one or two decks in performance if you deem it theatrically necessary - Jay does not). On each, the joker is riding a bicycle and facing out. But the magician finds they look a little suspicious (for reasons that are actually embedded in the design of standard Bicycle-deck jokers), to the point where, when he confronts them, each of the four jokers turns around on the face of its card so it’s now, if not riding away from the viewer, certainly looking for an escape route. Jay’s handling also allows you to end clean so grabby spectators can examine the cards. Finally, as a bonus, he includes a handful of additional uses for the mutant jokers, from quick tricks to bar bets, and he throws in an explanation for his clever approach to Vernon’s Travelers using any four jokers, which he sometimes employs as a lead-in to “About Face.”

This is the kind of packet trick that’s fun for both the audience and the magician, and the unusual cards may inspire you to create more variations of your own.