In the movie Tree of Life, Richard Turner was the casino dealer who uses his amazing card skills to swindle Brad Pitt at blackjack.

Tree of Life won Best Film 2011 at the Cannes Film Festival and now is nominated for “Best Picture,” “Best Director,” and “Best Cinematography” for the Academy Awards.

Read the article.

The 90 minute interview covers many topics including “sight and insight and using the Mind’s Eye.”

Director Terrence Malick wanted to make sure Brad Pit lost at the blackjack table so Richard was brought in to make sure Brad never won a hand. Don’t blink or you’ll miss the moment where Turner cheats Pitt.

See Richard in the movie trailer below.

On the first frame (shown between the cover and full page image), Whit Haydn, Richard Turner, and Johnny “Ace” Palmer are named by the Spirit as the top magicians who were his mentors.

Click on the images for a larger view.

The action of perfectly alternating playing cards, 26 and 26, is not easily named if the goal is accuracy. Even the noun “shuffle” seems inexact because it suggests clumsy randomness and asymmetrical mixing. Sure, the relative positions of the cards change, but the changes are cyclically predictable and in this regard, perfect.
One can say with certainty that the “alteration of cards”—the one-for-one interlacing—is perfectly uniform, but it is not in the commonly accepted definition a “shuffle.” The cards are not jumbled together.

So, what noun best describes it?

“Interlace” seems to fit the bill.

Should the adjective then be “perfect”? Perhaps.

But there are two types of this kind of Interlace: The Faro Shuffle and what can be called a Volitional Faro Shuffle. The physics of the Volitional Faro Shuffle in terms of what happens with and to the cards is identical, but the means of making this happen is different. The Faro Shuffle is semi-automatic because the two 26-card sections are butted together in precise ways and the cards will then automatically alternate. The Volitional Faro Shuffle depends on the operator’s volition. He must will his thumbs to precisely and alternately release cards until all 52 of them are interlaced. This is not automatic. It is a matter of pure dexterity and unerring timing.

Richard Turner can execute a Volitional Faro Shuffle—formerly a fantasy in MacDouggal’s mind—is 8.1 seconds. His tabled Faro Shuffles are done in 1 or 2 seconds.

If you think this is easy, try making love while standing up in a hammock while juggling seven ice-cream cones.

Director Terrence Malick wanted to make sure Brad Pitt lost at the blackjack table so Richard was brought in to make sure Brad never won a hand. Don’t blink or you’ll miss the moment where Turner cheats Pitt.