But before we begin, it's important to remember one thing - Although it's an easy trick to explain, it's vital that you take time to practice the performance of the trick until it's well polished and look magic.

As a general rule of magic, never underestimate the difficulty of any trick. If you perform the trick in public before you're ready, people will see through it and the magical effect will be destroyed.

The Performance: You start by picking up the pack of cards, shuffling it well and searching through it until you find a jack. Once you find a jack, place it face up on the center of the table. Lay the rest of the pack face down beside the jack.

At this point, ask someone from the audience to cut the pack of cards into two piles on the table. Then ask them to count the bottom half of the pile of cards face down onto the table one by one. Once they've done this, ask them to announce the number and place the stack of cards that they've just counted onto the other half of the pack.

The next step is to ask your volunteer to take the top card and slide it into the middle of the pack. After that, ask them to take the bottom card and slide it into the middle of the pack. Once they've done that, ask them to take the top card from the pack without letting you see it, show the card to the rest of the audience and then place it in their pocket.

Then ask another person from the audience to step forward and do the same. Pick the top card, show it to the rest of the audience and put it in their pocket.

You now announce that you've got an informer (the jack that you removed earlier) who is working with you to identify the two cards that have been taken. So you pick up the jack, pass it to the person who took the first card and ask them to put it in their pocket. After they've done that, collect the jack and hold it to your ear pretending that you're listening to your informer. After a few seconds reveal the card and wait for the response from the audience.

But you ain't seen nothing yet!

Now repeat the same process using the jack to inform you about the second card. Pass the jack to the second person, ask them to put it in their pocket and then take the jack and listen to it. If you though your audience were impressed with the first card, their amazement will be even greater when you name the second card.

The Secret: The working of this trick is relatively easy. When you turn the pack over to search for a jack, make sure that you take a mental note of the cards that are second and third from the bottom of the pack. These are the two cards that the jack will eventually inform you about.

After that the rest of the trick is self-working. When the cards are split and the volunteer counts the bottom half out onto the table, the cards are reversed, so that your two cards are second and third from the top (just bear in mind that the two cards that you remembered will now be in the opposite order).

When the top and bottom cards are removed, this promotes your two cards to first and second on the pile, and also increases the power of the illusion as it apparently removes any advantage you may have had by seeing the top or bottom cards.

The rest of the trick is all in the performance. Just make sure that you know which order to announce the two cards that you remembered at the start of the trick.