There’s an effect I used to perform when I first started card magic. It’s very simple yet baffling to (most) lay audiences I can't remember where I learnt it from:

Aces, Kings, Queens and Jacks are removed openly.

Four piles are formed: King,Queen,Ace,Jack (x4) while pattering.

KQAJ KQAJ

KQAJ KQAJ

The patter I was taught at the time was something like:

In a saloon there were cow-boys, the 4 kings are dealt face up in four piles.

Two brunettes & 2 red-heads came into the saloon to keep them company. Queens are dealt face up on top.

But Indians attack the saloon. Aces are dealt.

And soon afterwards the cavalry comes to the rescue. Deal the Jacks.

Mayhem ensues. Gather the four piles, give the face-down packet a couple of Charlier shuffles followed by a couple of cuts by the audience.

Deal the cards into 4 face-down piles and turn them face up. Each packet contains a 4 of a kind.

So if you have information about this effect, please let me know.

Claudio

Hi Claudio, is it Cowboys and Indians from Complete Card Magic DVDs? I can check later today.

Marc, this might well be it. Please do check. I'd appreciate it!

"The Roadside Inn" by Ellis Stanyon (with slightly different patter).
Apparently it's fairly well known by Spanish folks, who call it "The Inn". In Spanish, presumably.

Hi Claudio, Gerry Griffin in the Complete Card Magic DVD, Volume one. He calls it Cowboys and Indians. He uses Kings for the Cowboys, Aces for the Indians, and tens for Mountain Lions. So, there are three sets instead of four, but same principle.

alecStephenson... that's probably when I learned it!! I'm from Spain, and the effect that Claudio described ringed a bell but I could not place it... I'm from Spain, and 'La posada' just sounds right!! Gerry Griffin claims to have learned from his dad, with no other references. I have not found it any of my books, but I think it was in Cartomagia Facil by Alfredo Florensa.

Alec & Marc thank you very much for the information, I've been trying to find this out for a long time and finally a giant step towards solving this mystery.

Very much appreciated!

I don't know how it's called or its origin. What I can say is that this effect was shown to me some 30 years ago.
It wasn't related to cowboys/indians but the plot had something to do, if I'm not wrong, with burglars and policemen in an hotel ( in italian "albergo" ).

I also first saw this about thirty years ago. It's my impression it was at least 30 years old then, as it was shown to me by a layman.

Years later it was shown to me by B.B. King's brother.
In turn I repeated the effect using a different story, characters and added a Charlier Shuffle.
His jaw dropped during the shuffle.

Sometimes it's the little things.

I'm not sure what the original source is for Stanyon's The Roadside Inn but it is in Fulves' book on Stanyon. It isn't in Conjuring With Cards (1898).

Thanks for the further info guys. Yes the Charlier Shuffle is a killer to laypeople.

This is somewhat of an old chestnut, that I've seen in quite a few books under different names. I've not found it that impressive, but it's all about the presentation - if done well, it can be very entertaining.