The magic money envelope is very easy trick to make, and is fun to perform. To see a performance of the trick you can watch the video at the bottom of this page.
You get 3 volunteers, and explain that you have 4 pay envelopes. Three of them contain a consolation prize, and only one envelope has money. They freely select an envelope each, and no matter which one they pick… your envelope always has the money in it.
When I filmed the video I used the envelopes on the right, but later got the ones on the left. I prefer the blank envelopes, but the others were marked “pay envelopes”, so it worked. I just think they are a little busy looking, so I bought blank ones.
The Explanation
The secret is very simple. There are 4 large envelopes, inside each envelope is a booby prize. It does not matter which they pick. But, in your hand, behind the large envelopes is a 5th smaller envelope. The hidden envelope contains the money and never goes into any of the larger envelopes.
I label the front of the envelopes with large numbers for the volunteers, then I mark small numbers on the back for my convenience.
Load 4 small envelops with whatever consolation prize you want. A cute prize lessens pain and we really do not want this to be a sucker trick.
Put the money in the 5th, secret, small envelope. Keep it behind the spread of envelopes and the volunteers will never see it.
The envelopes should be available at most office supply stores. These are both sold as “coin envelopes”. The smaller one is the one I have used for years to carry packet tricks. They are the perfect size for half a dozen playing cards. The large ones I bought for this trick. These are thin brown paper and extremely cheap.
The Handling
The handling is very easy on this trick. When you spread the envelopes, make sure the large numbers are visible from the front, and hold the gimmick 5th envelope behind the spread. As they select envelopes you may need to move the small envelope around. Just use your thumb to move it to a new position if they choose the one it is hiding behind.
Eventually you will end up with a singe envelope, with the money envelope behind it. Have each volunteer open their envelopes, and offer your condolences. Then put your fingers into your envelope. You will feel the booby prize inside. Leave that small envelope and with your thumb slide the money envelope “out” of your envelope. From the front it will look like you pulled it out of the envelope.
You may want to practice in front of a mirror to make sure you do not flash the envelope from the side.
Free PDF of “prize”
In the video I used business cards, which can help spread the word about your magic shows (but mine are not magic related, they were just all I had on hand).
I made some cards to use, and you can download the pdf file. There are 8 per page, so are about business card size, and should fit in most small envelopes.
Free pdf here. These cards will work for anybody, as I put no contact information on them. You may want to design your own to add your name and phone number to advertise your magic show.
Alternate Routine & Inserts
I learned this trick as a ‘payday’ trick, but recently saw it performed by Gregory Wilson, and he did it as a “big bill” routine. Same trick, just different patter, and better inserts for the losing envelopes. No one likes to lose, and sucker tricks are generally a bad idea. Sometimes you can make a sucker trick fun but you need to be careful with it. This trick is not too much of a sucker trick – and the ‘big bill’ handling makes it more fun.
Mostly the same routine idea, you just say that one envelope has a big bill, and that is of course the one they want. Also, he does not use the inside envelope – just the large envelope. It makes for a smoother performance and an easier reset. I think I will switch to using no inside envelope as well.
What makes it funnier is that each insert is a big bill… in a way. You can find your own clip art but I will include the ones I use. I do not use the same ones as Gregory Wilson. Based on his, but I found my own. There are plenty of free clip art sites, so it is easy to make and edit your own if you want.
I found & edited some clip art, and made a 350-pt. font DOC file for my losing packets. The DOC file just says BILL in big letters. There is a bird with a big bill, a credit card bill, a cell phone bill, and I thought it would be silly to add in Big Ben… “Hey that’s not a big bill – that’s a Big Ben!”
For my winning packet I use I a fake giant 1,000 peso bill (in the US I would use a fake $100 bill). I like the giant fake bills. Mine is about 50% bigger than the normal size, I am looking for double or triple sized.
This is my fake big bill that I use for my winning packet. Also, a comparison of the size next to a real bill. I am looking for a larger fake. Bigger is funnier, right? Some people use a real $100 bill, but I play the entire routine as a joke, so ending on a joke works for me.
Here are the ones I use, and below are 2 PDF downloads if you want to use them.
There are 2 PDFs because the orientation of the graphics is different, having 2 files makes it easier to get printed.
Download the Portrait PDF and the Landscape PDF here. I print multiple copies because many people want to keep their ‘prize’ as a souvenir. The inserts are just black & white, so the printing is fast & cheap. I do print each graphic on a full sheet of paper, and the PDF is set so each picture is on a letter sized sheet alone. Either 8.5×11 or A4, depending on where you live.
Check out the video for a presentation of the payday envelope trick – https://youtu.be/K-HZ1xvaGZg
