Card magic isn’t just the 21 Card Trick your Uncle Larry does at family gatherings. The following five effects are regarded by magicians as the best card tricks invented.

1. Oil and water

Four each of red and black cards are mixed in an alternating fashion — red, black, red, black, red, black, etc. Like oil and water, as the name of the trick suggests, the cards separate — red, red, red, red, black, black, black, black. Ed Marlo had numerous methods for this effect.

2. Triumph

A trick popularized by Canadian magician Dai Vernon, in which a selected card is lost in a pack of face-up and face-down cards. The deck then restores itself facing all the same way, except for the chosen card.

3. Out of this world

Invented by amateur magician Paul Curry, it’s considered one of the most astounding card tricks of all time. A spectator deals an entire pack into two piles. When the cards are turned over, it is discovered that the cards have been separated into red and black.

4. Card warp

One of the more visual illusions in card magic, a single card folded lengthwise turns itself inside out as it’s pushed through another card folded widthwise. Invented by English magician Roy Walton, the trick has been popularized by Chicago magician Eugene Burger.

5. Ambitious card

A selected card is lost in the middle of the pack, but repeatedly finds its way to the top of the deck without shuffling. Books and DVDs have been created on this trick.