The Helicopter Card: A Lesson From Slydini I'll Never Forget

by Bill Wisch

Author's Note: I shared this during the final 72 hours of the Slydini Helicopter Card – Legacy Edition release and I wanted to include it in my Slydini- The Legacy so the community always has access to it. The response to "Slydini's Helicopter Card - Legacy Edition (2025) was overwhelming; thank you to everyone who supported the project. If you missed out on the release and don't want to miss out on my future projects, please subscribe to my mailing list or email me at bill@wisch-craft.com to be added so you won't miss out in the future. Thank you!

I wanted to share something personal — a piece I originally wrote for my 2011 lecture notes for my "Slydini - The Lecture" tour I did with Scott Wells. Until now, it’s only been available to those who purchased my lecture notes.

It’s about fear, misdirection, and one unforgettable moment I had with Slydini himself. I hope it brings some insight — and maybe a little inspiration — as you continue your own magical journey.

Helicopter Notes

Random Thoughts by Bill Wisch

Slydini’s “Helicopter Card” is one of the all-time great card effects – the ultimate in-your-face, “stark” challenge. Here’s a card you picked…it’s going to go from the deck onto the table, invisibly, and you’re not going to see it no matter how hard you try…and I’ll keep doing it, again and again, and you still won’t see it.

Maybe that’s why it’s rarely seen performed. The challenge aspect, I believe, scares performers. There seems to be so much to lose if you get caught. If it doesn’t work, what do you do?​ As a guy who was afraid to do sleight of hand, but desperately wanting to be good at it, I once asked Slydini what to do if the spectator catches you. His answer was probably the best advice I ever got. His reply was perfect, simple and such a comfort. “So what? Who cares? It doesn’t matter,” he said. “What is it…the end of the world? You just go on and forget all about it…what are you going to do?”

It made sense to me — and after hearing one of the true legends in magic say he didn’t care very much, I took it to heart. I’ve never been afraid to get caught since.

Learning the Effect the Right Way

Everything you need to learn to fly The Helicopter Card is in The Best of Slydini and More, explained in detail as only Karl Fulves could do. But over the years, many magicians — even skilled ones — have told me they struggled to truly understand it from the written page alone. Even Slydini himself is quoted in my audio lessons "The Slydini Tapes" as saying, "Because you can’t tell em from the book. You gotta see the move! The book can’t tell really everything." (See Youtube Video Below, minute mark 2:01 ) The subtlety, rhythm, and misdirection required are incredibly nuanced, and often lost without visual instruction. If you’re willing to study it for as long as it takes, you can pull it off — and it’s the one trick they will remember long after the others.

​A Technique I Learned from Slydini

Slydini shared a clever secret with me once that was brilliant.

While the spectator — and you — are looking at cards, turning them over one at a time on the table to make sure the selection is not there yet, he would do what he called his “Cover and Discover” technique.

He actually has the card wrist-palmed and he drops it onto the table as he reaches to turn over a different card. Then after showing it, he drops it right on top of the selection and keeps turning other cards, and having others turned by the spectator.

Then just before the end, he picks up the card covering the selection one more time, and again shows it’s not it, and drops it in a different spot on the table — leaving the selection free to be found in a few seconds. It’s a great technique.

A Suitable Ending

Slydini never really had one. He just did it until he felt it was time to end and then moved on to another trick.

But if a definite ending is desired, just bring the selection to the bottom of the cards in your left hand, and after doing the same thing you’ve done all along, just wrist palm all the cards above the selection and drop them right on top of the tabled cards.

Say the same thing you said way back in the first phase:

“If it’s not here, it’s got to be here, right?”

Then show that it’s the only card left.It always takes them by surprise and makes for a suitable and definitive ending.