Applesauce by Patrick G. Redford (PDF)

P-o1ga\'9

l?f.l+o{.

ffia#U

ffit,GE

Any Thought of Card at Any Thought of Number (and other mysteries) Written and Created by Patrick G. Redford

With Additional Thinking from: Paul Vigil, Garrett Thomas, and Ben Blau

Artwork and Photography by George Tait Edited and proofread by Jack Shalom

rcltilOTLEOGETIEilTS

\ffi#

LTTEtffi

l'd like to thank the followln{l Jxtopln fnr llrnlt (,n(;()ttrtr;ement and help with this project: Garrett Thomas, Mike Powor$, Frlr: l)lllohrrrur, l'irrrl Vir;il and Paul Nielsen (proprietor of Wunderground Magic in Metro-Dotrolt, Mk:ltl1;tttt),

.,..,.....1,,..,,.,:.,...,,.,,,.,:;.:,,.,,,;.,;:,,.,

:,.,:,,.,,'.:, r, , j,,:.. r,:,:',:',,.. .. ..:

;

-;;;-;r.-;ffi '

:.

ffi

g*,. ffi 'rpcffi

ri $,tt,i&S qrj

$[ffi#i

§ \d

,#§tffiäffi,§*

*$ ffiffiürffi

fi$ $üäi*ää96ilfi This book contains copyrightcrl okrrrrrrnlrr lrotrr

I rt, rrrr 1k r

(2007), Heptagon+ (2008), and

Square (2010), as credited.

All I {lutrl'r l{n,irrvcrl. ( .uf rvlltllrl ,t , ( lnnt(1r' l;ril , ?O14 First Eclltlorr ISBN: 978-1-31 2-95olt/ o This book is sold subject to the

con«Jiti«.lrt llrrrl ll rrlrrrll nol lry yy,,, rrl lrirrftr, rlr otheruvise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or othenryise circulated, without the publishor$ l)rr()r ( r runr rl, trr lrry ft rr rr r, lrrr rrlinq, or cover other than as published. Atty rirth:;rlqtlent publication must also abide by thoso r:onrltliorrri irrrrl lrrr.lrrrlo llrr; notice. All rights reserved. All Itrlovlhotl lrotftrrtttilnce rights are reserved without prior writton [x,rnur*it(]n lrorn llrrr :ruthor and copyright holder.

ilfi

. üüääiffi ffi

ur C'

=

6 E

FOREI'ORO truly honored when Patrick asked me to write an introduction for this latest work. lnside, you will find several seriously strong and wellstructured pieces of amazement with an everyday deck of cards. Fans of "Any Card at Any Number" will love the title piece, "Applesauce." So simple, but devious in its construction. "The Evolution of a Rain King" is a wonderful pseudo-memory stunt you will be able to add to your repertoire in little to no time. But, please, actually take the time to throw ;lresentational smoke around it to make it a knockout. I was

"Storm" is probably my favorite item in this publication. I laughed out loud irt its bold modus operandi. If you ever wanted to make people believe you have amazing rapid memory capability, this is what you should be rrsing. l've touched on a few of the items. I won't spoi! your enjoyment and lamble on any longer. Grab a deck of cards, pul! up a chair, and enjoy the lruly delightful work that awaits you.

JOHil CÄffir

t

t )

t #n* *.'&,

'

*üT:

ffi,,, .ii:riffit

I*,ip:

FRIoGE I ;rlways

ilACIG

- tt{ ItüIROIllrCTlOil

find myself coming back to a deck of cards. There's something

:;rmple and elegant about how much magic is possible with fifty-two

pieces of cardboard that fit so compactly in one's pocket. Choosing rrraterial to perform is, perhaps, the most difficult challenge. I he material I gravitate towards has always had a mental flair to it. Mind leading, mind control or influence effects, super memory and even the infallible classic "Any Card atAny Number" are themes I return to the rnost. The materia! I've chosen in this work, while simple in application, lras been geared towards experienced performers. However, this material r:; certainly not out of reach of the general practitioner when combined with confidence and dedication to its work.

It is my feeling that most "Any Card at Any Number" (ACAAN) effects that

;rre currently published are confused about what they

are. They never know if they're a prediction, a coincidence, a display of influence, or just irn entertaining card trick. ldon't think any of these answers are the wrong answer, but defining what effect we as performers are presenting lo our audience is important to the enjoyment and understanding of a :juccessfu! presentation. My past approaches have defined ACAAN as a fantastic memory feat ryiving an audience member the apparent ability to memorize an entire

rleck of cards (by numerical position) in sixty-seconds. Then I somehow rrllow the audience members to test their ability to memorize a deck by rraming card and position, and then have them counted to by those same ;rudience members. This still is, perhaps, my favorite application of ACAAN principles. You'll find a return and expansion to this plot in this work as well under the title, "The Evolution of a Rain King." It was my feeling, up until very recently, that the coincidence plot was the weakest presentation that an ACAAN could have. That is until I started playing with the title effect of this work: "Applesauce." I started performing rl as a throw-away effect before discovering just how hard hitting and

(with the barest of presentations) impossible it played. I then fleshed out the presentation into what I use now and began performing it for real

;rudiences. The reactions lwas getting astounded me. This turned into the strongest versions of the effect that I now perform.

«rne of

lhis writing, explores all of these concepts and more. lt shows the ryrowth and advantage of each plot point while dancing between different 11

methods I've used in my own professional and social performance work. I hope you enjoy this writing and have a chance to bring lt into your own performances, so that you may pass them along to your own audiences' jumped to the lf you're familiar with my previous work, you may have

iniroduction looking for a hidden bonus effect. I strive to please. The following is titled "liolated Twist" and is the only effect in this work that isn,t impromptu and will require you to make up a simple gimmick. I published a previous rendition that first appeared in Tom Baxter's Open Prediction Proiecf in 2010 under the same title' The subject is asked to shuffle the cards and they are returned to the performer. The performer looks through the faces of the cards, gives them bne cut, and announces that the card the subject will soon choose will be the Ace of Hearts. The choice will be unavoidable, despite being as fair as possible. The cards are handed back to the subject, face down, and s/he is instructed to deal cards one a time into a face up pile onto the table. The subject is instructed to stop the deal at any point and deal the next card facä down. After doing so, s/he is to continue dealing the rest of the cards face up one at a time into the Pile. S/he begins to deal. At some point, s/he deals one card face down'

The performer stops the dealing for a moment, interjecting,"Have you seen the Ace of Hearts yet? No? The chances of that card being the Ace of Hearts is slim because you stitl have quite a few more to deal through. you may change your mind if you'd like and turn this card face up and r:ontintte dealiig until you feel tike deating another card face down."

ii/lre sticks. The last four cards are lurrred over and no Ace of Hearts rr; found. lt would seem that the subject hasn't been able to avoid the rrrcvitable. Of course, at this point, some folks would want to see that orrc face-down card as proof, but that proof isn't given right away. The :irrtrject is asked to keep it face down, but slide it out of the pack. The ;rrrrformer explains: "/f would seem you've turned the Ace of Hearts face tlttwn. Although this could just be a trick. On the other hand, it could be t,xplained away as some kind of subliminal influence, even though I did tltve you several chances to change your mind. lf this were a trick, it would be easy to make it appear as if you turned the Ace of Hearts face tlown simply by removing it from the deck ahead of time. Most people wouldn't count the cards as they were dealt, and I doubt you have." The ;rcrformer opens the box and removes the face up Ace of Hearts from urside, being careful not to flash the back."Some, however, would be ttisappointed to come all this way only for this to be the only pay off. I lmt's why this card has a red back as a reminder that it's easy to be l;*en in by a simple trick....The performer picks up the blue-backed r:irrd from the table and shows the back of the Ace of Hearts to have a rod back, only to finally turn over the unknown card turned face down ;rreviously, to show it is also theAce of Hearts. "...but it seems thatyou've n,anaged to stop in just the right place anyway."

llow it's all done: You'll need a blue deck of cards. The Ace of Hearts rcally has been removed from the deck and hidden away in the r;cllophane wrapping of the box. lt blends perfectly with the back of the Irox (even if the back of your particular box isn't made to look like a playing card, your audience won't know the difference). Two additional Aces of Hearts are needed. Both should have a red back. AIso, a stick of ro-posüitrable glue will be needed.

lltpy t:lrsssg to stick and continue dealing. After the subject has dealt

on the back of one of the two red-backed Aces I draw an X of glue across

The subject sticks (though s/he may change) and continues dealing.

llren placed into the card box so that the X sticks to the back side of the lrox. The deck is placed in the box so that the face of the deck is face-tolirce with the double sticky card.

trbgtrl 40 r:rrrrl:;, tl'ro performer interjects again, stopping the deal a second time ."WL't ltiwatt'l .§(,,(,,,) the Ace of Hearts yet. The chancesthatthe one face-down citrd ls l/rr;Ar;rr /ur.s just gone up dramatically. You can either choose to stick with yctttr clxtir:tt or change your mind."

There are now four cards left. The subject is stopped and one last time the performer interjects:"There are four cards left. The chances that Hearts face down has iust skyrocketed. Do you you've 'want ftipped the Ace of to change your mind to one of those last four cards or do you want tt't stick with your original choice?' t2

rls back. On the second red-backed Ace, I lightly dab the four corners orrly. The two cards are stuck together so that the "X" is outermost, and llre four glued corners are stuck between the cards. This double card is

When it comes time to perform, the cards are easily dumped from the lrox, and the box set aside so that its contents remain secret. The cards ;rre shuffled and returned to the performer. Atthis point, one cut is made. I-his cut positions the Ace of Diamonds 16th from the top of the pack. I he cards are handed back and the Ace of Hearts is announced to be the 13

inevitable card. I let the subject deal. If the subject somehow leaves the Ace of Diamonds face down, I remove the blue-backed Ace of Hearts from box at the end, claiming the coincidence after the fake let down of "l removed it ahead of time." If the subject doesn't, the sticky card double brings the entire effect to an equally strong conclusion. After the face down blue-backed card is pushed forward, it's a simple matter to bring this card and the sticky double together for a moment and separate them again. Pushing them apart with the thumb and fingers in a sliding motion, sticks the glued X to the odd card and detaches the four corners. This way, both cards may be cleanly showed in "applause cue" fashion. The blue card is now a double, but the red card is clean. Once they're face up, audience members lose track of which card is which and at this point, they (layman at least) are convinced, before the cards are turned over, that the effect has come to a successful conclusion.

To instantly re-set: The now single red-backed card goes on top of the deck, and the double goes on top of this. The blue backed card is easily

taken away from its sticky companion and placed back into the deck. We may now rejoin our non-prologue reading friends.

.PATFIOß G. REBFONO (OECETIBEB 2OH)

t4

rm-Es/lt

GE

lris new approach allows two audience members to truly randomly r;crrerate a card and number that they hold in their minds. The performer i:; truly unaware of either bit of information, and they are only revealed rrlter the deck is out of the performer's hands. There is no set-up. The rlt,,ck may be borrowed, and the effect immediately begun. There is very lrltle visual compromise. I

While the effect reads quite impressively, the plot is the most important irspect of Applesauce. Presentationally, I use it as a way to pinpoint irnd share some of my personal beliefs with the audience, while also rrsing it as a way to illustrate the strong connection between two coupled

ndividuals.

Basic Effect: With a borrowed deck, a random card and number are randomly r;enerated with a deck of cards and merely held in thought by two close irudience members. The performer shuffles the deck once and never Iouches the deck again. The thought of card is then found at the thought of number, thus proving their eternal connection to each other.

Verity:

llere's what the effect looks like: A random number is generated by having the first subject cut off a

rrumber of cards from the pack, take them under the table, and count and

rcmember the number of cards taken. The Second subject is asked to t;enerate a playing card by overhand shuffllng the balance of the cards, :;topping when she wishes, and peeking and remembering the top card. lihe then places the deck back onto the table. I he first subject is then asked to break up his group of taken cards by t:trtting some off and placing them back on the tabled cards. He then r;ives the whole thing a few cuts.

llre left over cards are now placed on top of everything, and the deck is l;rken by the performer who shuffles, giving the whole thing an overhand :;lruffle (this part is optional).

l9

The deck is tabled and the first person is asked to count down to the thought of number. The second person is asked to announce her card. The card at that position is turned and displayed. lt is the thought of card.

Handling and Presentation: This makes use of two memorized key cards. Table the deck in front of the two participating subjects.

"There are a surprising number of coincidences within a deck of cards when comparing it to a calendar. For instance, there are 52 weeks in a year and there are fifty-two cards in a deck. There are four seasons, there are four suifs.... lf you add up every/ value of each and every card in the deck it adds up to three-hundred and sixty-five, throw in the joker and that's equal to three-hundred and sixty-six days in the calendar year. The connections here are so undeniable you'd think it was designed that way, but the connections are merely a pertect coincidence. We experience coincidences like this every single day, and it's difficult to filter what's real and what we've just drawn connections to, because we want to believe. Superstitions, fortune tellers, fortune cookies...love at first sight. There are some people who have been together so long that they've adapted what seems almost like a psychic connection. They complete each other's sentences. Each knows when the other person isn't feeling well, even when miles apart. Each seems to know what the other is thinking. Maybe it's just a coincidence, or maybe it's a real connection. Let's test that theory. How long have the two of you been together?" The performer directs this question to a man sitting with his wife around the performance table. "About twenty years," he answers. Turning to the man's partner, the performer queries playfully, "ls that right?" The woman confirms. "You two seem like you're on the same page and perfect to test the connection."

ltosition /ess than fifty-two. The olhctr is g1oing to think specifically of any t»te of those fifty-two cards. For trirrr to know what card you were thinking of would be a one in fifty-two chance if it were just coincidence. Likewise, rf you were able to anticipate what position he was thinking of and some Irow intuit the correct card at the position that he shuffled, the probability would also be one in fifty-two... that is, if psychological bias didn't come irtto play. So in order for this to happen, and it to be a real connection tnaffected by psychological bias, you, sir, will need to randomly generate your number, and you'll have to randomly generate a card. That way, the lruman element won't get in the way. We'll use the deck of cards to do so." Ask the first person to cut any number of

cards from the pack and take them under lhe table. Demonstrate by taking a few cards under the table. While doing so, secretly peek at and remember the top card. These cards only need to go under the table for a moment. Instruct the subject to count the cards by spreading them, not by counting them individually reversing the order. There's no need to verbally instruct the participant away from reverse counting the cards, simply demonstrate, and he or she will execute the count correctly. lf needed, I tell the subject that by spreading the cards and not dealing through them, there's no way I could accidentally hear and somehow count how many cards have been taken. While the first person does this, ask the second subject to pick up the balance of the cards and give them a few overhand shuffles. This wil! randomly generate a new card on top with each shuffle. I always advise the subject to use an overhand shuffle opposed to a riffle, as the card on top is more random than simply shuffling the top few cards around with a riffle. They are to stop whenever they wish and look at, and remember, the top card, and place the cards back face down on the table.

"Sir, shuffle the cards and when you're done, place them back down on

the table." He begins to shuffle as the performer continues, "The two of you are going to create the perfect undeniable connection not only wrth this deck of cards but with each other. ln a moment one of you is going to think of a numerical position in this deck of cards, it could be any 20

Return your attention to the first subject and ask him to break up his cards by cutting some off the top and placing them back onto the deck, burying the first person's thought of card. Follow this by inviting either subject to give the whole deck a cut. This cutting step may be done repeatedly without affecting the effect's success.

2L

liquare up the right Finally, ask the first subject to hand you the balance of his cards. Secretly note and remember the bottom card and place these on top of the rest of the deck.

lrand cards while placing all of these on top of the second key r:ard in the left hand. Square everything. l-he thought of card is now positioned at the lhought of number.

the above sequence happens in seconds and should be executed with a r;asual manner. I do this while saying thal "Even a look through the cards The only secret move to perform is to secretly remove all of the cards between the two memorized key cards. This is done by way of the PGRPM-CONTROL.

t:ouldn't reveal what card is being thought of, let alone where it is. lt also does nothing to reveal the numberthought of." As you only need to look for the first key card, once spotted, you can spread through the majority of the rest of the cards quickly, as you know, approximately, where the second key will be (near the top).

The PGR-PM-CONTROL I used to believe that it was best to follow this sequence with any full deck false shuffle to negates any idea of a control. I now believe that all of the

Hold the deck face-up and begin to spread. Look for your first memorized key card. When you find it, break the deck at this point leaving your key card on top of the faceup Ieft hand's cards. Square the right hand's cards.

cutting and shuffling by the two subjects will be thought to have affected the order of the cards after they were put back together. After the cards have been shuffled, cut, and collected, and then spread face-up by the performer, I find it best to give the two subjects one last choice. Either I can give the deck a shuffle, or leave everything in whatever position lhe two of them left the cards in. I find that most of the time the couple opts to leave the deck alone. lf that's the case, the deck is then left face rlown on the table and ribbon spread. If the subject wants to shuffle the r;ards I perform the Dan Fishman Overhand False shuffle explained in the Addendum of this work.

"lt seems at this point that there's no way I could know what your card, ts or even the numerical position you have in mind at this very moment, irnd it's true because this is not about knowing, it's about the powertul connection the two of you have."

Continue to spread the left hand's cards on top of the squared right hand's cards, until you reach your second memorized key card. Again, break the spread at this point, keeping your second key card on the left hand packet.

All that's left now is to ask the first person to reveal the thought of number lry counting to it and sliding the last counted face-down card to the

second subject. I have this person hold the card face down in her hand and announce the

r:ard she thought of. Then she has a peek at it until finally handing it to rne, where I may display it to the audience. 22

23

"Even if it was iust a coincidence, there is absolutety no argument at the beautiful connection the two of you share, and t hope you continue to share for at least another twenty years."

Variations Variation #1: Mind Reading lf you'd like to present this as mind reading effect, instead of a connection or coincidence, you may wish to opt for this handling suggested by Ben

BIau. lnstead of executing the -CONTROL casually, highlight the move by performing the first spread through and cut with the faces of the cards tilted, so only you can see them. Look at the person thinking of a card and ask him or her to mentally project the card to you. Spread through to the first key and cut the cards at this point. Pause and say to that pärson, " I think l've got the card." Then continue the control, spreading the next group of cards on top of the right hand cards, as previously described, finishing the control and squaring the cards while looking at the other subject who's thinking of the number. Finish by sayin g, "And I think l,ve got your number. l'm committed now, What number were you thinking of? ...And what card were you thinking of?" conclude by having the cards counted down to the thought of card for the finar revear.

Variation #2: Alternate Cull and Shift More advanced card men may wish to opt to perform a cull and pass to accomplish the covert repositioning of the cards. Spread through the cards face up. When you spot the first key card, spread this and every card that follows it under the spread until you get to the next key. Leave this second key card where it is and hold a break underneath the culled cards as you square the deck face-up. As the deck is turned face down, secretly cut the cards at the break using a shift (l prefer to use a Midnight Shift). Place the cards face down onto the table. This successfully repositions the cards. This technique may look like the correct devious option in writing, but is more work than is needed.

Variation #3: Raahul's Ruse While working with this effect with my friend Raahul Srinivasan, he suggested peeking the top and bottom card of the pack at the start. This set up will not allow the pack to be shuffled by the audience in the middle 24

of the effect but, when performing for olre person, this is overkill. Ask a l)erson to deal cards one at a time from the top of the deck and count llrem into a face down pile until he wants to stop. He remember's this

Irumber. He peeks at and remembers the top card of the deck. Then he's irsked to take some cards back from the dealt cards (but not everything) irnd place them on top of his selection and cut the cards in his hand. When performing the PGR-PM-CONTROL, it will be necessary to take the :.;econd key card into the right hand's packet instead of leaving it behind irs normal. lf this isn't done, the selected card will be the selected number lllus one. l-his is a great handling to perform for one person. lf you'd like to give the illusion of the subject shuffling the cards to create

ir random selection, have the subject spread the cards between his hands irnd take out a chunk of cards from the middle and place them on top.

Ihis may be repeated as desired while secretly maintaining the known key card on the bottom.

Variation #4= Breather Crimp Triple Cut

Ihis combines "Raahul's Ruse" wrth two breather crimped cards and allows the performer to cut the pile into three and reassemble without over having to spread through the faces of the cards. Begin with a breather crimp on the bottom of the card, with the work so that the card bows upward. Place a breather in the top card of the pack so the work bows downward. Hand someone the cards and ask that person to think of a number less lhan fifty-two. To silently communicate this to the rest of the audience, ask the subject to quietly deal that many cards, one at a time, face down lo the table. The balance of the deck is handed to a second subject who is asked to spread the cards so that she can see the faces. She is irsked to think of one cards and to remove it from the pack. Turn the rest of the cards face-down and place her card face down on top. The first subject is asked to cut some cards from those dealt off his packet and place them on top of the selection. The balance of the pack may be cut ;rs in previous versions and the rest of the tabled portion placed on top of everything to conclude. The performer will now cut the packet into tlrree piles. The first pile will be cut from the deck at the first breather; laking the breather and all the cards above it to the table. The second grile cut will also cut at the breather, but the breather is left behind taking lhe cut off portion to the table to the right of the first. The Ieft over cards ;rre placed to the right of the first two packets. The piles are picked 25

up taking the left most pile and placing it on top of the rigtrl harrd pile. This combined pile is now placed on top of the pile Ieft most of it. This reassembly secretly positions the thought of card at the correct thought of number.

Some find it useful to not only crimp the two cards but also pencil dot the corners for a visual reference during the effects execution. Martin Nash's lnfinity Crimp is the perfect way to put the work into a borrowed shuffled deck of cards on the fly. lf you don't know it, it's worth looking up.

Credits and lnspiration The effect makes use of the PGR-PM-CONTROL principle I first published in Square in 2010. This technique is based on Mike Power's very interesting PM-Principle (The PM Princple Control. 1990) that was later reinvented by Simon Aronson as the Undo lnfluence Control in his book Try the lmpossible (Simon Aronson:2001). I advanced and simplified the technique making it more deceptive to the point where it fooled, and was unrecognized, by the original creators.

Final Thoughts ln the pure form of this effect, you may dream of being able to have a number and card simply thought of. This, however, isn't truly random. As humans, we can't think randomly. Each step of procedure is made to be a point of fairness, rather than a stumbling block of necessity aiding in the effect. The deck itself is presented as both a random number and card generator, making this apparent connection appear under what seems to be test conditions. lf you're interested in more applications and effects using this principle, I've included the write-up of my effect "STOP Poker Tells" from my 2010

publication Square al the end of this work. While I've taken great care in constructing a powerful and meaningful presentation and method for this simple ACAAN, it may be like the 1920's slang meaning of the word "applesauce": merely just a bit of non-sense.

26

HORSEFEAIHER§ As far as 1920's expletives go, "horsefeathers" and "applesauce" mean

llre same thing. As far as effects go, they play very differently for an rrudience.

Basic Effect: The subject deals cards face down one at a time, until he lcels like stopping. He Iooks at the next card and cuts some of the dealt r:ards on top of his card. He then gives the deck a complete cut before roassembling all the cards and handing them to the performer. The performer cuts the deck into three piles and reassembles it then names llre card without ever turning the cards face-up. As a kicker, the performer lhen announces the exact location of the card in the deck. Verity: I he driving engine for Horsefeathers combines Raahul's Ruse (Variation //3) and the Breather Crimp Triple Cut (Variation #4) explained in the ondnotes of Applesauce. Horsefeathers transforms the Any Card at Any

Number plot into the divination of a selected card, followed by a "psychic" rr-,veal of its exact location under impossible looking conditions.

Io prepare: Two cards will need breather crimps. There is a little ;lreparation to get two breather crimped cards into the deck, but the r;rimps may be put into those cards on the fly if need be. A breather r;rimp is a very subtle bend placed into a playing card in the shape of an "X." It makes cutting to this card very easy by feel alone. A wonderful oxplanation of this may be found in volume one of The Vernon Chronicles (Minch, Steven. L&L Publishing: 1987 pg. 96). I prefer to put the crimps rrto the two Jokers of the deck, but any cards will do. Hold the first card face-up and lengthwise across the fingers of both hands. The tips of lhe thumbs should be placed onto the center of the card and then, with light but firm pressure, run them straight to diagonally opposite corners. Repeat this again and do the opposite diagonal. Repeat this action until rr subtle indentation is created along the diagonal of the card forming an "X." Place this card on top of the deck face down. Prepare the second t;ard in the same way as the first but start with this card face down instead of face up. Place this second card on the bottom of the deck. This will result in two breathers bent in opposite directions.

Iip: lf you don't run your thumbs all the way to the edges of the card when putting in the work of the breather crimp, the card will be less visible lrom the sides of the deck but still easy enough to find by feel. 31

You may riffle shuffle the deck in this prepared conditiorr as long as you're sure to keep the top and bottom card in the same position. Hand the deck to your subject.

lo complete this cut, pick first pile and place rl face down on top of the llrird pile.

rrp the

"ln a moment l'm going to ask you to begin dealing cards into a pile face down on the table. You may deal as many as you wish and stop where you wish. Wherever you stop, look at and remember whatever card is left face down on top of those remaining and remember it." As you say the above, time it so that you have dealt ten cards to the table. Hand the deck to the subject and ask him to continue dealing. As the subject deals, it is important that you discretely count how many cards are being dealt onto the table. Remember this number and add ten to it (to account for those you initially dealt). This is our secret number. Ask the subject to look at and remember the top card of the stack still in his hand. Then ask him to take a chunk (not all) of cards off the stack dealt to the table and place them back on top of his card. He is then to give the cards in his hand a cut, further burying his card. This cut, like in the other routines in this book, may be performed as many times as one wishes without affecting the outcome of the effect. Ask the subject to place the remaining cards on the table on top of the deck and pass the full deck back to you. Cut all of the cards from the top of the deck at the first breather crimp and place these onto the table. This will leave the breather crimp on top of the remaining cards in your hand. We'l! call the pile on the table, "number one." Follow this by immediately cutting to the second breather crimp and place these cards to the right of the first pile. This second stack will have your second breather on the bottom of it and the first breather on top. We'l! call this pile "number two." Place the remaining cards to the right of the other two packets. This is pile "number three."

32

l'lace this now combined pile on top of the second r;tack. The subject's card Iras now been controlled lo whatever secret rrumber we counted at lhe start of the effect.

l)ick up the cards and hold them face down in the left hand. Begin spreading the cards by pushing over three cards at a time until you've pushed over the exact number of cards equal to the secret number. Obviously, you may not be able to do this perfectly in groups of three, :;o adjust accordingly. I often use Alex Elmsley's push over technique lry pushing over a block of three cards, followed by two, then another two and finally another three to quickly count ten cards. l've discussed this elsewhere in this text (See Storm on pg 56). The benefit of this sort of counting is that it's easy to do while speakrng to the audience without irppearing to be counting anything.

card has been completely cut, shuffled, and lost in the deck it rrtight be impressiye if t now spread through the cards face-up and found vour card. I won't even turn them over. Think of your card and mentally :;end it to me." "As your

l)uring this line of script you'll count down to the exact position of the :;rrbject's card, re-square the cards and hold a break under that position. Attow the selection to jog out to the right under cover of the right hand which prepares to take the deck from above, thus shielding the out-jogged r;;rrd from the audience's view. 33

The right hand tilts the faces of the cards towards you, enough to see the index of the selected out-jogged card, before they're brought to the table and spread face down. Pretend to receive the impression of the card using whatever presentational ploy you wish.

Credits and lnspiration lhis effect, of course, has its roots in Mike Power's PM-Principle from lris 1990's manuscripl The PM-Principle and the PM-Principle Bonus Sheet (both of which are available for free in electronic format as of this

writingatMike,swebsite:@).Theseworksexplored

lhe use of punched cards in combination with a three packet control and spread. The control here uses the PM-PGR-CONTROL without the face up spread-through and instead options for the three packet cut control rlescribed.

As a kicker, hold your hand over the deck briefly and announce the exact position of that card. Have the subject count down to it and end with a much deserved round of applause.

Variations

Richard Osterlind's effect Hands Off from his DVD two-disc set The Sapphire Collection (Osterlind Mysteries: 2013) has a similar plot :;tructure with an entirely different method that takes advantage of a specific property in Bicycle Jumbo cards in a surprising way. Consequently, I also published an Any Card at Any Number effect under llre same title (Anatomy Productions: 2011), though the structure, routine, rnethod and gimmick are completely different.

Variation #1 : The Uninformed Stooge lf you're not opposed to using a prearranged assistant, you may ask

another audience member to secretly count the number of cards the first person deals down and remember that number. After performing the effect as written, instead of naming the location yourself, ask the prearranged "stooge" to name the number counted. what's great is that even though this person isn't naming a random number, he or she still doesn't know how the card could possibly be at that position. This technique harkens back to one of Mike Power's original ideas using his PM-Principle that he wrote about in the PM booklet. Variation #2: Scrying for Cards When spreading the deck with a jogged card, a natural step will occur in the spread making its Iocation very easy to spot. lnstead of naming the exact location, you may hold your finger a few inches above the deck and slowly pan from one side to the other. Ask a subject to say stop and time it so that your finger is near the location of the selection. You may make small adjustments (either left or right) as your finger is brought down onto the actual card. Those familiar with George G. Kaplin's The "Stop!" Fan Discovery from the book The Fine Art of Magic (Fleming Book Company, York, Pennsylvania: 1948 pg 69) will want to put this variation to use straight away.

34

Alex Elmsley has work similar to the PM-Principle method structure lhat may be found in The Collected Works of Alex Elmsley Vol. 1 and 2 (Minch, Steven. L & L Publishing: 1991).

Final Thoughts Occasionally, the subject will choose to cut the packet in his hands and irccidently cut the breather to the bottom of the deck. When this happens lhere's no need to perform the Breather Crimp Triple Cut. Having the remaining cards on the table replaced on top place the card at the secret number + 1 position. lf you so choose you may displace this one card or :;imply end by naming one card higher than the originally obtained secret rru mber. "Horsefeathers," according to the 'Daily Telegraph Crytic Crossword,' is American slang from the 1920's that was used to signify that someone was "talking non-sense" or "bullshit." One might quip, "This book I krutnd in the drawer of my hotel room nightstand is complete and utter lnrsefeathers!" Reportedly the usage came about because feathers t:annot be found on a horse apart from those represented in fiction.

35

rHE EYoLlrflOr{ OF A

Rilr{ nilG

My entire impetus for devising this routine is not to show off my super Irrrman ability, but rather to empower another human being. This is done orrly in part by deceptron, but also passes along a real ability that may

obtained without the performer present and pulling strings. l've been ;lerforming varying instances of this effect since 2000 and first let it see ;rrint in2007 in my booklet Triangle, the first in a series of five comic book publications featuring throws of impromptu mentalism. Later, in the same r;eries in the booklet Heptagon+ (2010), I published another handling of lhe same effect titling it, "Memory Prison," allowing it to be performed over lhe telephone. What was special about this version is that it involved rrbsolutely no sleight of hand or manipulation of the cards. ln truth, it was ltre second part of this handling that I had been performing the longest, lrut had previously been unable to articulate a proper explanation. While lhe second version allowed one to perform the effect without any actual rnemory, it was only performable over a telephone, due to the necessary r;ecret work involved being difficult to hide in a live performance. What lras kept many from performing this effect was that it originally involved lhe memorization of five random cards that fell at the tenth, twentieth, lhirtieth, fortieth and fiftieth position in the pack. This can be quite a rlaunting task at first glance. In teaching this effect to others, both in Ir-.ctures and privately, I developed a very simple method to perform the lirst phase of this effect without the need to memorize any of the cards. I've also streamlined the shift so that no more than five cards ever need shifting during any performance of the effect. Lastly, l've always dreamed of making this a possible feature in a performance but found that it was best suited for casual and conversational demonstrations. I believe that in lhis version I present here, I have met all of these standards.

lrt-.

Basic Effect: The performer seems to memorize a deck of cards in 30 r;econds, then passes this super-human ability onto an audience member. Verity: Phase One llegin by allowing the subject to shuffle the cards. After the subject :;urrenders the shuffled deck, he or she is asked to time the performer, ;rllotting a full 60 seconds, while the deck is dealt through and apparently rnemorized. I find that most people have a timer function on their mobile rlevice, though finding someone who can do the necessary timing with llre sweeping second hand of a watch works as well. Whoever does the 39

timing, that person is asked to call "go," allow 60 seconds, then call stop at the 60 second mark, when time is up. During this time the cards are dealt face-up, quickly one at a time, into what looks like a messy pile. The reality is that the cards are staggered every tenth card so that the result when the cards have been dealt is a secret open index of five key known positions. You can see an exaggerated and overly neat version of this in the photograph above. Dealing through the cards should only take about twenty-five to thirty seconds. By setting the expectation that it will take sixty seconds, but instead taking only half the time, the performer makes this whole charade seem even more dynamic, dramatic, and interesting to an audience. Personally, before the count, I ask to be free of distraction, I take a deep breath, and keep all of my focus on the space where the cards will be dealt before giving the person in charge of the time that l'm ready. After I've dealt all the cards and the timer has stopped I take a few seconds to apparently compose my thoughts and Iet the apparent new memories solidify into long term. Taking these moments help sell this amazing ability that's being demonstrated. Do not discount them. "l didn't simply memorize the order of the cards, I memorized every card by its position. I want you to spot test me.,, Now, the subject may name any number less than fifty-two. You'll simply name whichever of your five key cards is closest to the named number. For example, if the subject names the twenty-fourth position, you,d name the twentieth card. lf the subject named the twenty-sixth posiiion, you'd name the card falling at known position thirty. This takes a simple glance down at the cards as they are picked up and squared. You'll now s-ecretly shift the proper number of cards to position the known card to the named position using a cull. Depending on whether cards are needed to be added above the named card or below you'l! be culling cards from either a face-up deck or a face- down deck.

urvisible to the discerning eye. lt is also for this reason l've opted to utilize ir cull instead of any form of the pass. To execute the cull, spread over

llrree cards from the top and then call the appropriate number as a block (see Kostya Kimlat's "Road Runner Cull" in his notes, Magic: Experiments with the Art &Thoughts on theArtistry (Kimlat Press,2003), not to the bottom of the spread, but one card above the bottom. This preserves the face card of the pack for anyone who's paying attention. The execution of the cull happens on the off

spread over the first few cards followed by the number of cards needed to four). The Ieft thumb makes contact with the third card Irom the top of the spread as the right middle finger pulls the seventh card rrnder the spread. This wil! also automatica!!y take the fourth, fifth, sixth, ;rnd seventh card along with it, completing the cull. Those who perform lhe Hofzinser Spread Cull will note the similarities in action. The purists will wish to cull the cards, not under the deck, but above the very bottom r:ard. These actions are performed in seconds as the subject rs engaged verbally with the query, "Do you want to count it out, or do you trust me?" Almost always, the audience will choose to trust you and allow you to now lairly count out the cards to the correct position.

r;ull (for example,

When counting the cards, be sure to have the cards counted face up. This preserves the order of the cards. Just before you reach the named position, pause and add a bit of smoke by reciting the Iast three cards dealt to the table. This will be easy as they're on the table readily available for another open peek. This might play out as follows: "This next card is the twenty-fourth card, and I remembered specifically that this particular pattern went jack of clubs, six of diamonds, three of

diamonds, and the twenty-fourth card the four of hearts." While you're simply naming the last few cards that have already been rlealt, the audience hears and visually verifies the correct cards, and this will implant the false memory that you were able to name the cards before llrey were turned over, instead of only naming one card at one single grosition.

Doing it this way will only ever require the maximum shifting of five cards. This makes the cull extremely deceptive, quick to execute änd virtually 40

beat. Look up and begin to

4l

After revealing the test card, you may wish to extend the first phase by utilizing various peeks, naming and revealing a few more cards before dealing them face up. The frrst peek is executed by getting a break underneath the top card of the face-down group still in the hand. Both hands are now turned palm down and used to square the tabled face-up packet. During this, you'll have glimpsed the top card of the left hand's packet. The finger holding the break is pushed towards the thumb, flattening out the break. lt jogs the card slightly so that the lower index closest to the wrist is exposed to the performer's view as the hands come to square the tabled packet. Without missing a beat, you may then begin to explain to the audience how one card jogs your memory about the next card. As the cards are squared you name the card last dealt face up and the card that was peeked. Deal this next card face down. You may continue to name off cards that follow by performing a one-ahead technique, bubble peaking each card that follows, occasionally miscalli ng or coming very close. This further sells the memory technique. Bubble Peak: The cards are held in the left hand mechanic,s grip. The left thumb makes contact with the left top edge of the top card of the deck and pushes it down and over, causing the top card to buckle as the left wrist tilts the deck back towards the body. Gazing down at the top of the deck, you can see the index of the top card clearly.

Phase Two Following this demonstration you will offer to give the subject the power to execute this same feat of memorization. Believe me, anyone witnessing this demonstration will want to know how they, too, may easily accomplüh 42

r;rrch a

featl The cards

irre shuffled again and

:;llread face up on the lirble. lt is explained llrat she will get one rninute to memorize the order of the cards.

tlibbon spread the r:ards on the table face rrp, being sure that all of the faces are visible. lf working in a smaller working space, splitting the deck in half and doing two face-up ribbon :;preads (one above the other) works exceptionally well.

"Memorizing a big bunch of information at rapid speed may seem overwhelming if you attempt to memorize it in small bits all at once. When quickly needing to remember lots of information, it's much more effective to memorize the overall picture of that information, rather than trying to remember every small detail. With practice and time, the finer rletails will come more easily. This is how you're going to remember these cards. Divide the deck into four quarters of approximately thirteen cards. You'll slowly scan the cards from left to right, almost as if you're taking ;t photograph of the cards in your mind's eye. DonT try to remember the cards in order, (two of diamonds, jack of hearts, ace of diamonds etc.) but try to soak in a general overview. As you scan the cards, pay attention to trtsychologically potent patterns so that when I name a card you'll scan your mental picture and estimate its position. For example, as you're laking your mental snap-shot you might take note of these two black ,lacks surrounding the Two of Hearts at the end of the first quarter. This trtuts them around twelve or thirteen cards in. Also near the center, about twenty-five or twenty-six cards in, you see two red Aces are right next to each other. Moving a bit fufiher around the thirtieth position there's a run of hearts all clumped together. ...Moving towards the end, around fortysix or so, you have a black Five of Spades and red Five of Diamonds sandwiched by a couple of court cards. lt's easy to remember that the stack of cards begins with the Two of Diamonds and the Six of Diamonds. I want you to do this on your own. lh going to give you a full minute on the clock. Take the full minute. Under pressure it might feel like a lot of [ime, but really do your best and use all of the time the clock is giving you. When you hear a card named, you'll scan your mental photograph and then estimate its position. lf you get rt right, even within a few cards, that will be pretty impressive for your first time. Ready? Go!" l-he above script is meant to be used as a Ioose guideline, rather than 43

recited verbatim. Furthermore, the cards and examples you bring to the subject's attention will, obviously, change from performance to performance based on whatever order the deck is in after being randomly shuffled. You're not naming random cards. lnstead, you're pointing out specific cards that you'll later name after the subject has been given their apparent minute of memorization. That's right, you'll secretly implant and enforce the memory of specific key cards and their approximate locations. lt's okay if you don't know the exact location of these cards in your opening spiel, you simply have to approximate. This is easy, as you'll do exactly as the subject has been instructed to do. Break the pack visually into four quarters. Use these approximate lines as your way of measurement. Each of the four groups contains about thirteen cards. From there, it's easy to approximate the exact position of any given card.

At this point, name one of tttc lrrrlrttortzed cards near the beginning of the

:;pread. The subject will be able to tell approximately where it is because you've primed the subject to do so in the opening spiel. You of course i,,uy always help by shifting an appropriate number of cards by using the r;ulias explained previously in phase one. You'll be surprised by how gften you don't have to do this. lf the subject names a position within rhree, there's really no need to make an adjustment at all as these results will prove impressive on their own. lf the subject appears to struggle you can help the subject into the correct

is located twelfth llroximity through verbal forcing. For example if the card iro, thetop of ä face-down pack, you might prime the subject by saying, "tf you have no idea, relax, Scan your mental photograph and go with your qui instinct. Do you feel tike that card is in the last half or more towards ine Oeginning?'; By ending with the desired result and adding the words "...or more towards...." This will give the subject the psychologically potent edge of going with the correct choice. Once you've verbally guided ifre subject into tfre correct half , guide the subject to the center of the tirst hali (the end of the first quarter) using the same technique, and then irsk the subject to commit to a precise numerical position, as you make whatever cull adjustments that may be necessary.

lle aware of any subject that isn't sincere in his or her attempt to rnemorize the cards. This type of person may be the kind to try to catch you out by naming a position nowhere near the card named. lf this Take the timer in hand, and instruct the subject to begin. lgnore the

clock. lnstead, as soon as the subject has begun to "memorize" the cards, mentally count through them vrsually to your first group of cards mentioned out loud as a "psychologically potent pattern" and remember the exact position of this card. Next, count to the twenty-sixth card and remember that specific card and its position. Finally, count to a third card that is grouped in an easy to remember place towards the end of the spread. I prefer to give my subjects a minute and a half on the clock, but call it a minute. This extra time seems to allow the subject to take a full minute to soak in the data we wish to enforce. I find that most subjects might stress-out during the first fifteen or last fifteen seconds and this extra thirty seconds provides a comfortable padding. The audience should never be aware of this extra time and I simply choose to miscall it by calling out an apparent time remaining near the end of what's left on the clock. As soon as time is called, square up the cards and ask the subject how he or she thinks they did. No matter the answer follow with, '7 think you did better than you think." 44

occurs, simply let the subject fail and try again. The second time the r;ubject will make an honest attempt. lf the subject does not, simply move on.

cards. I favor is also the most on the subject I test last card the rigging it,e game so that I usually prefer to quiz the subject on no more than three

;rccurate.

Multiple Cards in Phase One lt's possible to have two positions named in phase one instead of just one. lf choosing this option, you'll have one position named, and then irsk for the second number to be in the opposite half. For example, if the lirst position that's named is twelve, you'd ask that the second number be ;r lot higher to make it "more difficult" and vice versa. Let's assume this :;r-,cond number is thirty-four. When naming the cards, you'll name the lrrst card as normal (in this case you'd name the first key card that was priginally at position ten), and the third key card at position thirty. The 45

shift made will reposition that tenth card as twelve, while simultaneously shifting the thirtieth card to position thirty-two. The count of the first twelve will be normal. Then the deal is continued, turning each card face up until you have turned thirty-one cards. You will then second deal the next two cards, holding back the known card, and then turning it over, as if it had been the thirty-fourth card. This blending of methoäs helps cancel out any apparent manipulation of the cards, as any mlsdealing will be expected in the initial deal through. After proving this io be honest and correct, the second deal through will be more relaxed.

Additional Smoke lf you have the ability to memorize three to five cards under fire, memorizing the first five cards really helps to sel! the Iegitimacy of this demonstration. This may be detivered similarly to the foilowing scripting example: "l didn't simply memorize the cards in order: Jack of spades, Nine of clubs, Three of Hearts... I memorized every card by iis position. so I want you to spot check me, name any position /ess than fifty-two.,,

Using Multiple Peopte

The Memorized Stack ll occurred to me early on that this effect is greatly enhanced by the use ol a memorized deck. This is how ! performed it on television in 2005, rrrrd the clip may still be seen on YouTube. There is a discrepancy in the purely impromptu version of this effect: The performer names what card r:; at the subject's freely chosen number, whereas the subject names llre number of the card the performer has chosen. This may easily be Irrstified because the subject is doing it for the first time, and one can r;laim (if questioned) that it's easier the second way. Most of the time the irudience will remember both phases to be exactly the same. Of course, rrtilizing a memorized stack, all of the rules change. I his effect becomes quite easy using a deck switch. The shuffled deck rnay be easily switched out of the lap for a stacked memorized deck while llre subject is busying him or herself navigating to their stop watch in their rnobile device. From this point on, it becomes nearly 100% presentation.

I prefer to use my own memorized stack I call the Pattern Stack, but any rnemorized deck will work as long as the audience is unaware that one is m use.

Ihe second round is played as previously described, but instead of

Allowing multiple people to give their hand at "memorizing" the deck will lend an additional out for when you come across the occäsional subject that doesn't have his or her heart focused on cooperating. lf you trave access to a projector and video. Do this demonstration with the entire audience.

The Double MC Kraser Force

rreeding to spot where the card name is located, one will already know. lrt addition, any card may be named by anyone in the audience. Pencil rlotting every tenth card on the back of the pack will also aid in quickly

obtaining and repositioning any card to the correct position under fire. Ihis by itself makes for a very commercial presentation of the "Any Card rrt Any Number" effect.

Variations

A great follow up technique is to use the MC Kramer Force (described at

the end of this book) to secretly position a known card at any position. Memorize the fourth card from the top of the deck and have any position named. Spread count to that card in the hands and cull the fourth card under the spread as you do so. when you get to the named position, up-jog the card there and perform the MC Kramer Force as described to secretly and invisibly switch the two cards. I do this in tilting the card up to the audience to ask them , "Did I get it?" Then leaving it äut-jogged as the deck is placed down onto the table. The advantagJis that the card really is in the right position, should anyone wish to döuble check the count.

46

I his effect has been a staple of my impromptu work. I perform it when llre subject of card counting or gambling has come up, but also to help llrose accomplish a personal feat of what they thought was previously rrnpossible. I love empowering people when I can. While it may not r;eem so on first glance, this effect does give the subject the rea! power to rrtemorize the general placement of the cards in the deck without the aid of sleight of hand. Learning how to take a mental snapshot of a large set of visual information and then breaking it into sections to is a great way Io learn spatial recall. This is a very real memory technique that is very rrseful in keeping track of where things are in both a deck of cards and cveryday life.

47

Variation 1 : Card Counting Combination

wish to l[ you're confident in your skills of estirnation, you may simply

caids on the table face up and let the subject glance at you (so rrt it for merely five seconds. Then have the subject look back as he Itrey can't "cheat"). Ask the subiect to name any card' As soon three-part a do ttoes you'll bring your own gaze backto the spread and scan. This is a tecnnique I first learned from Alex Elmsley. Divide the rleck, mentally, into three sections: the first, middle, and last. A simple is. rtlance at each section will allow you to locate where the named card your to talk bo this as you gesture to the deck and (this is very important) subject saying,-'No w without tooking at the deck, I want you to estimate you're done, you should the exact poiition you think it's in." By the time the Irave located the approximate location of the card and then closed spread. Hold the deck at the fingertips of the left hand. ln your mind, close estimate where you think the card is. You'll surprise yourself on how has subject the After you,ll get. l'm never more than one or two cards off. -nis of face the or her answer, perform the spread cull from either äir"n number of i'r,e tace-up deck or top of the face down deck to displace the

,.,bbon spread the I often like to perform the first half of this effect as a surprise to a much simpler demonstration of card counting. The specific routine I use is based off the first phase of my card counting routine from Square (you can find an updated handling of it later in this publication). lbegin by simply peeking at a card somewhere near the middle and force that card on an audience member. I ask that the selection be taken sight unseen and placed aside. I quickly run through the rest of the cards, once, to "determine which one is missing." As I already know what the selection is, I can watch for the three mates to this card for their approximate locations as I jog the five key cards for use in the open index as previously explained (readers may also favor the method in Variation 3 that follows). Now all that needs to happen is to reveal the card missing by announcing that I only saw three of its mates, and go on to explain about where those are in the deck. I don't give exact numerical locations, but rather generalized locations (e.9. beginning, near the middle, almost at the end, etc.). As a kicker, lthen have a number named less than fifty-two and then explain that I wasn't just looking for what was missing, I actually memorized the position of every card; I then finish as written above. The beauty is that as the cards are being dealt through, the mates to the first selected card will pass and be in the locations previously announced, thus providing that extra bit of theatrical smoke that makes this stunt all the more convincing. lf you're good with numbers, it would also be possible to do a mental adjustment and name the exact positions of each mated card as well as the card that falls at the freely named position. This makes a wonderful climax to this routine. To memorize these positions, it's preferable to use the memory system of your choice to help facilitate retaining the three bits of information (i.e. the exact Iocation of the three mates) needed.

Variation 2: The Formal Performance When performing this effect during a formal show, one might fear that there would be too much dead time during the subject's turn at memorizing the cards. While at first a 60+ second silence on stage would seem to be abuzz kill, it provides quite a dramatic moment and may be further enhanced by a bit of dramatic music that, interestingly enough, adds a bit of comedy to the moment when purposefully overdone. Adding a bit of overblown music and stopping it after ten seconds to comment how rediculous the track is, not only provides some levity to the situation, but it also provides the subject even more time to become familiar with the cards. 48

r;ards are needed.

technique isn't for everyone and certainly may seem unreliable and too much work towards the desired effect. To facilitate pack of an accurate counting of any cards exact location from a spread cards, it's useful to flace several sign posts along the way at five known I locations (the tenth, twentieth, thirtieth, fortieth and fiftieth positions). spot to easiest are These favor the ace through five of any black suit. ,nd may be controiled to the desired positions with a cull to the back Two, of the face-up pack starting with the Ace on top followed by the fhree, Four, and Five. These five cards are then positioned with a Iace-up overhand run shuffle. This is done by running eight cards from the face and rnilking the next two «;ards from the toP and bottom of the Pack. Ihis is repeated until as the five cards are in position. The last ten cards may be fairty shuffled block' a as tong as you end by tossing the final three cards to the face I realize this

Once done, you will have an arrangement that looks like the photograph on the next page. The five key cards have been highlighted' 49

lipread the cards face up bnlwt)on yorrr lriurcls and down-jog the third r:irrd from the face, a quarter o[ its lerrgtlr. Then push over the next nine r:ards in groups of three and down-jog the next card after that. Repeat ;rushing over groups of nine and down-jogging the tenth unti! you've Ieached the top of the deck. Square all of the cards but leave the five key r;ards secretly down-jogged. I find that angling the jogged cards away lrom the deck to the right and letting the balance square against your lingers and then bringing the down-jogged cards straight again makes llris process smoother. This move is akin to Harry Loryane's "Great Divide" (now available again as a single manuscript for download from the r;oniurino arts at: htto://shoo.coniurinoarts.orqA..

when a card is named, perform the three-point scan, as discussed previously, to locate it and then you may deduce the exact position based on one of the five keys. To make the execution of the named card culled to the correct position less work, you may use the verbal forcing techniques described previously. Be bold. lf the subject is way off, hetp by giving a ball park location. Then ask the subject io .ommit to an exact location within this' This wlll minimize the amount of cards needed to be covertly shifted. Remember, even when the subject gets the location correct within a few cards, it is still a strong conclusion.

llolding the deck face up: n an edge grip with your left thumb and fingers on lhe long sides of the pack, trevel the deck slightly to lhe left. You'll note that the Jrips of the down-jogged r;ards will be visible to you, yet hidden by the palm of your hand to the rest of the audience when keeping the deck parallel to the floor.

Variation 3 - GT vs GT

Once you get used to this technique you'll learn how far the cards need lo be down-jogged. ln reality, it only need be as much to see the number ;rnd the top of the small indexed pip to identify each card clearly.

Garrett Thomas and I seem to share a lot of our brain power with each other; both purposefully and through a weird osmosis. We met over the Rubik cube fourteen+ years ago, both having worked on virtually identical presentations and similar methods. When comparing notebooks we found virtually identical pages as we flipped throughl despite living across country from one another. He remains one of my älosest iriends at a distance. We both sign our names as symbrotograms and we also share the same real life initials, *GT.,,

Once a position less than fifty-two is named, resist the urge to Iook at the lridden indices. lnstead, place your free hand to your eyes as if to cover lhem, but leave enough of a gap to gypsy peek by looking down at the urdices only after your hand has provided the appropriate cover. After you :;pot the appropriate card at the closest position to the one named, you'll lrush al! of the cards square with your thumb and proceed with the same r:ulled shift from either a face-up or face-down deck as described earlier rrr this writing.

Garrett offers this exceptional idea for a no-memory five key method of shifting any one of five cards at the "ten positions,,io ,ny nameo number. What's interesting about this technique is that the deck never needs a table, and the entire procedure may be executed in the hands.

lloth this technique and the tabled open index provide a wonderful and cfficient method for performing "Rain King" under fire. Use these as a t:rutch and do your best to memorize as many cards as possible. The lnore you can hold in your mind, the more smoke you can blow around llre effect, naming other cards at other corresponding positions to that rr;rmed by your audience. 51

variation 4 - paur vigit's photographic Memory Paul Vigil is a fantastic magician based in Las Vegas. Seeing him perform and work a room is a real treat. Paul shared this wonderful idea with me back when we were all still using *dumb phones.,, While pretending to open a stop watch application to time how long it takes to memorize the deck, the performer secretly takes a snapshot of the deck. When doing a recall, the performer turns his or her back and secretly reads the mobile device, peeking at the screen and reading off the order as the cards are turned. At the time, paul suggested taking a video of the cards while pretending to time the subject,ä the ability to zoom in on a photograph wasn't yet a common feature on mobile devices. Now, with most smart phones, it's possible to take a quick snapshot and zoom in with enough detail to see every singte card in a spread.

This is a useful technique to capture the deck, as the subject apparently memorizes the deck, and you pretend (as previously desöribeo;'to tir" him or her. The advantage is, that after the effect, you can ask the subject to phone you anytime afterward if they need help recalting the order. The photo will automatically be time and location-stamped in your phone, allowing you to easily access it whenever the subject calls. you will be giving the impression that you, too, also memorized the order of their deck and can recite it even while over the phone!

Variation 5 - Memory prison This final variation first appeared in my Shape Series under the title "Memory Prison" inside Heptagon +.

The maln difference with "Memory Prison" is that instead of performing the simplified memory work describe d in Triangle, one has the liberty io secretly write down all fifty-two cards on a piec-e of paper as they,re talled off aloud over the phone. To perform, grab a piece of paper large enough to fit the numbers one through fifty-two in four columns, with enough space left over to the side of each number to include a short hand notätion of a playing (e.g. card The King of Spades becomes ,,KS,,).

When you're ready to begin deliver this beautifully constructed lie to your unsuspecting subject, say: 52

"llow long do you think it woukl titkc yctu to memorize a shuffled deck of t:ards? What if I told you that you had the ability to do exactly that, this vcry instant, in less than one minute? You'd probably find that impossible. ll's easy though. l've been practicing a bit and find that I can do it in about tl) seconds. I'd like to demonstrate and then follow up by having you do tl. Now I realize we're on the phone, so you're going to have to trust me tlrut l'm not over here frantically trying to write the cards down as you citll them off. Hopefully you realize that we're going to be doing this at :;ttch a speed that writing all of them down that quickly would be virtually rrrpossible. l'd like you to shuffle your cards and then deal them one at ir time, face-up onto the table, and naming each card as you go. Keep a :;teady pace and I'll try to remember them as they go by the best I can. lleady? Begin."

lhe above script lowers the subject's guard. You'll, of course, do exactly what you're saying you're not doing, by quickly writing the cards down as lhey're called out. Stopping the subject every once in a while as if you're lraving trouble memorizing cards is a good convincer. Pay particular irttention to when the subject calls off either an Eight orAce of any suit. Mentally make note of when it's passed so that Iater, when the other card of that suit is named you may ask for clarification. For instance, if the l-ight of Hearts has passed already and the subject says, "Ace of Hearts," :;top the subject, asking if he or she said, "Eight or Ace?" Ot course, lhe subject will clarify and you can call back saying, "...That's right, we ilready passed the Eight of Hearts earlier on." Alternatively, you can ask lor clarification on the first Elght or Ace, so when the subject replies that it r:;, say the Eight of Spades, reply with, "l just wanted to make sure, as you lmdn't gotten to the Eight yet." Once the order has been "memorized," ask the subject to quiz you by rraming any card. Scan your notes for that card and announce the grosition at which it falls. You may add some additional smoke by naming llre position of the mate of whatever card has been named to create an ilpparent close-call error. This throws off anyone who may think you've :;omehow recorded the order of the deck, as why would you bother r;r:tting it wrong if you were simply reading it off the page!? When it comes time for the subject to memorize the order, the technique r:; the same as in the original presentation of "Rain King" you learned previously. The only difference is the deck isn't shuffled a second time, ;rnd you have the advantage of having the entire deck recorded in front of you

!

53

l-or an even more detailed examination of this over-the-phone technique, please visit my work in Heptagon+.

Credits of Note and lnspiration first published "Rain King" in my publicati on Triangte in 2007. prior to that, I had performed one of my variations on television the year before on my local television program, George Tait's Mind Tapped. loriginally concocted the method and premise in 2000, when t began impleäentihg into social performances. At the time, I believe t was thL first to introduce the plot of having an audience member mem orize every card in the pack without being aware of how thts vrrtual superpower functioned. ln this version, I discussed both an impromptu method and briefly how to use a memorized deck (with a switch), pencil dots, and a cuil in combination with the original method. I

wind published his version of Any card at Any Number which methodologically seems to be a streamlined handling of my friend John Born's published effect in Meant to Be. I mention Mr. Wind,s effect as he also has chosen to use a presentation of passing the power of a super memory onto an audience member. While my version predates both his and Born's, his also uses the same spectator as pseudo-memory master plot. Wind's effect, like Born's, involved a full deck memorized stack and the card box to perform the necessary shift needed to bring about the desired card at named number. While both Born and Wind,s variation play incredibly clean, both involve havlng to do quite a bit of on the spot calculations. Recently, Asi

they have mentioned the posltion, and the performer has named the card. 1-his same technique is used here when switching from phase one to phase two. When the audience recounts the effect, they will remember both phases operating in the same manner. This has been a signature routine of mine for many years. I have performed it both as a presentation piece and in social situations where there is a deck of cards. Recently, as this publication was being edited, Vernet released a DVD by Russian magician, Manuel Llaser called Total Recallthat explores the virtual rapid memorization of a deck of cards. He also uses similar techniques and credits Laurie Ireland without knowing of Moe's techniques that were historically published first. Llaser also independently came up with Paul Vigi!'s mobile phone technique for an in person recall of a deck of cards. ln my update of this work l've strived to do away with any memorization. Sadly, there is no mention of my previous improvements on the original work of Moe's and Laurie lreland's in the Vernet publication, but it is sti!! a wonderful product worth study for some additional smoke to add to this

type of routine.

The first step of pseudo-memory has been adapted from *Moe,s spread Trick" from Moe and his Miracles with cards (Miesel, william p., Jeff Busby Magic: r gs6). originally, Moe would shift via a pass X amount of cards to make the adjustment after memorizing the five key cards that fell in the ten positions. I found it much easier-and more deceptive--to cull, especially when at a table. The Moe book is a gold mine of inspiration. I read it at a very young age, and it remains one äf my favorites to this day. when lfirst presented this effect in my Trianglepublication in 2oo7,l did not yet adapt the "no-memory" adaptation of the five known key cards.

Other inspiration stems from Hans Trixer's "Photo-Memory" published in Corinda's 13 Sfeps to Mentatism (pg. 308) where a quick ä.ronrtration of card memory takes place in under 30 seconds. ln this demonstration, the performer gives the audience the false memory that they have mentioned any card, and the performer has named its position in reality, 54

55

sloRlt I lre reasons this effect is so convincing is because the performer is able lo name not only the exact position of the subject's target card after a r;uick riffle through, but also the cards immediately surrounding it at their cxact positions. This added smoke of being able to rattle off a few more r:ards in succession really works to convince the audience that the entire rleck must be memorized. ln reality, Storm only requires the performer to remember two cards.

lhis is, perhaps, the most commercial piece in this book. lt's also one of lhe easiest to perform.

Basic Effect: A card is peeked at and shuffled back into the pack by a subject. The performer quickly flicks through the cards in an apparent rlemonstration of rapid memorization. The subject names his or her card and the performer not only names its exact position, but also names the cards it's sandwiched in between, and the names of several cards before and after.

Verity: The mechanics for this effect are relatively simple. The top and bottom cards are secretly peeked and remembered. The cards are spread to have a target card selected, while the performer secretly counts how many cards from the top the selected card is positioned. That card is then secretly displaced between the top and bottom cards as the cards are squared; an equal distance from the face, as it was from the top moments ago. This may seem like it would be difficult, or as if it might involve some knuckle busting sleight of hand, but it isn't and doesn't.

Step One: Storm Chaser Subtle Symmetry Control Begin by having the deck shuffled by a spectator. Take return of the deck and peek at and remember the bottom and top cards with an all-around square-up. This is done tty pushing the top card slightly to the right as

l

the deck turns face up, exposing the upper right index. As f5e c1eck is taken into edge grip by the right hand, in preparation for the all-aroundsquare, you'll be able to catch both indices of the top and bottom card as the deck is rotated. Alternatively, you may simply turn the deck face-up to verify that the cards have been well mixed and glimpse the top and bottom card while in spread condition. Don,t forgeithose cards! Hold the deck in left hand mechanic's grip face down. You're now going to spread the cards using a specific spread pattern to secretly spread over exactly twenty cards while talking. This technique was created by Alex Elmsley. Push over three cards as a group, followed by another two, another two after that, then another three. That,s ten cards. Repeat this a second time for a total of twenty. Normally, counting and pushing over cards while trying to deliver a script would be cumbersome. Personally, t can't count and deliver dialog at the same time. Elmsley's technique altows for that effortlessly. As you push over the two groups of ten engage the subject you're periorming foi with the following: "As I go through the cards rike this, l'd like you to simpty

somewhere."

cail stop

By the time you reach the word "this" you should have finished pushing over the first ten cards. By the time the entire line has been OeiivereO,

you should have easily had enough time to push over exactly twenty cards.

At this point don't say a word, but start pushing off cards singly and counting them in your head as you go. you shouldn't have to push over any more than ten before the subject calls stop. Remember the number stopped on and up-jog the card stopped at in the spread. Square alt of the cards above this card in the right hand while holding the balance of the deck with one 60

trp-jogged card in the left hiurrl. lkrtJr lrarrds should be holding their cards rrr mechanic's grip. Turrr your lrcad ilway and take the selection, still upiogged on top of the right hands cards, so that only the lower right-hand (:orner is overlapping the upper left-hand corner of the right hand's cards. Lift your right hand so that the audience can clearly see and remember this "target" card. I like to turn my head away as I show the card. During this display the left hands cards relax to the table or my side as a!! attention is on the right hand and the selection.

Next reassemble the cards so that the left hands cards go ON TOP of the selection and square the pack.

The above actions have subtly repositioned the selection between the previously peeked top and bottom card while also positioning the selection at whatever number was stopped at, not from the top of the deck but now from the face.

Step Two: A Bit Of Smoke At this point, any false full-deck shuffle or false cut help to convince the audience that not only is there no way that their card could be known, but its position within the pack is also completely secret. Personally, I think an Jay Ose False cut works perfectly here. To execute this false cut, cut one third of the pack onto the table. Then cut half of what's left to the right of the

first packet. Finally place the remaining cards to the right of these two packets so that you have three faceclown packets of about the same size on the table. l']ick up the first packet to the left and stack this onto the middle packet.

l'inally, place the combined packet on top of the remaining tabled cards to r;omplete this very deceptive false cut. An easy way to remember this cut rs that you place the cards down left to right and also re-stack them again r;tarting on the Ieft and working to the right. 6r

i

^1rll!

lU

This is the hard part of the routine. Hold the deck at eye level and riffle the faces towards yourserf rike you were fripping through a frip book starting at the face of the deck and movinglowards the top. Do this once, quickly, but not too quickly that mafäs it too unbelievable. Finding the right balance between quicli and not too quick will be a personal preference' As soon as you've seen all of the cards ask for the subject,s target card to be named. Feign difficulty and recount that it was next to whatever two cards were on top and -bottom of the deck to start. Announce those positions one number less and more than the number at which you've secretty positioned their taiget card. Finaily, end by announcing their target card at the proper n"umber. Turn the deck face up and count through the cards face up, one at a time, so that the cards are stacked in a somewhat sloppy pile on the table. Stop as you get to the first card you named before the target card. You should now have a somewhat messy

.fl1r,T *llh the. index of the top three or four cards stil |j:","?l 11" llbr?,. visible' The left hand holds its half square so that the firsr .ärä',näi;:;"" announced as being next to the target card is the only ;; visible. pause for a moment, and reflect that you recalled that the oio",, at this point clearly went "Five of ctubs, Three of Diamonds, Ace of spades, King of Hearts, then the Five of Diamonds at twenty-fotJr, your target card at twenty-five, and the seven of crubs at tweity-six.,,(if you wourd substitute the names of these cards for "orrse whatever happen to be staring you in the face on the tabre, foilowed uy your remembered cards, with the target card just named inserted at t-hä right number. lmmediately after this announcement, finish dealing throügh the next few cards. The audience will remember this as if you 6ad announced all of those cards before dealing them, when in reality you onty announced three of the six or seven named aloud by apparent position. Additional Smoke lf you'd like, you can scan through the cards the first time looking for your to

I"Y? secretly note the target card, and then flip through a second time looking for the position of any other card of the same value. you,ll want 62

Io spot a mate (of any color) thut appears before the subject's target r;irrd and note its approximate locatiorr. When "recounting" the order of

llre cards, you may miscall the target card as your the noted mated card. When the subject corrects, you may retort, "that's right The Queen of Spades (or whatever) was earlier in the count, The Queen of Hearts was llrc one between The Six of Spades and The Ace of Hearts." Step Three: Adding Fire As the audience is reacting

it's the perfect time to tilt the left hand's face-up cards

lowards yourself, hiding the laces from the audience momentarily and using the left thumb to push over a few more cards and peek lheir identities. lt's not as important at this point to remember the suits as it is the string of values starting from the face and working back. Glance at, and memorize, three or four cards and .lnnounce these values as you casually re-square these cards and begin showing them, dealing and announcing them in succession a second time. I always finish by saying, "...oh you getthe idea...," and plopping the deck down after shuffling the two halves together, destroying any order before anyone else can further quiz its accuracy.

Credits and lnspiration You might notice the similarities between my "Storm Chaser Subtle Symmetry Control" and the Bill Simon's "Business Card Prophesy Move"

from his book Effective Card Magic (Louis Tannen: 1952). I've been using this move, while I'm sure isn't original to me, as a key card placement for as long as I can remember. I first offered it to other magicians on a private web forum (theseconddeal.com) as a solution to a card problem posed in 2013 thinking it must be a move others have thought of and had been using. Tyler Wilson noted that it was "lovely...beautiful and an effective strategy"that he'd like to start using with my permission. This prompted rne to further explore what I could do with the placement move and I started to call it the "Storm Chaser Subtle Symmetry Control." It can be rused to control a card to a known position, subtly control a card next to a known key, or even expanded into a full blown Searchers routine in the style of Larry Jennings'"Slow Motion Card Revelation." 63

vtlrr.rr,r(rns

-

r

ne MarKed Deck option:

Making use of a marked deck is perhaps the easiest way to create the illusion that you have memorized the order of the cards. The trickiest aspect of using such a simple technique is misdirecting the attention away from reading the markings on the cards called before turning them over. I find that the most deceptive way to accomplish that, is this. remove the top face-down card of the pack and readingthe mark on the next card as you announce the identity of the top card, staying one ahead. Depending on how the deck is marked, it is also possible to peek the markings of the top two or three cards of the deck all at once. Doing this allows the performer to shift the gaze away from the deck to a convincing upper left or upper right eye position as if performing a challenging and involved memory recall. While I don't often find myself with a marked deck in hand, and perform this most often as an impromptu demonstration, slipping in a marked deck, or even a deck in a known order, is a powerfully devastating combination that shouldn't be disregarded because the method is too simple.

The most powerful combination of principles that will devastate even the most stringent of observers is to use a small stack of pre-memorized cards at the top of the pack in addition to a marked deck of cards. The cards can be casually shuffled maintaining the top and bottom stock and the effect handled as otherwise written. Final Thoughts "Storm" is a worker. lt's probably the most simple and direct method in this book that tackles the plot of pseudo-memory and yet it packs a powerful punch. Ithink you'll find you'll fall for this method more so than any other and find yourself using it almost immediately.

64

U

z {

o rn

o C

(/l

:-_-

NTYAT{TAGEOt§ l)o you ever change your mind? I change mine all the time. lt's part of what makes us human: the ability to change. While this effect has been with me since I was in my teenage years, its first variation didn't see print until 2010. Thomas Baxter convinced me to include it in his opus fhe Open Prediction Projecf (H & R Magic Books) alongside three other rnethods that I discovered while working with this intriguing plot. This, rnuch like "Rain King," is another effect I never felt lcould truly explain in writing. lt is, in part, psychological in nature, with multiple outcomes tllended into a perfect cushion allowing the effect to be a practical, real world miracle, capable of floating on its own as a powerful closer. What is presented here is in stark contrast to what was presented in Baxter's book. I hope you enjoy it.

Basic Effect: The performer boldly writes a prediction, sight unseen, on the back of a business card. He pauses for a moment and changes his rnind, crossing out the previous thought and records a new one, and then places the prediction face down off to the side. A subject deals through a shuffled deck, one at a time, face up, and stops wherever he likes. The card stopped at proves to be the same card predicted, written earlier by the performer.

Verity: The effect that you've read is how "Advantageous" would look to you if you were to see it performed...most of the time. The truth is that the above description is but one outcome of severa!. I can already tell you're ready to turn the page and move on. AII of the multiple outcomes are quite strong in their execution and end with the card written on the business card, leaving no doubt as to the freedom of choice had by the participating subject. After you've learned the pacing and psychology of this effect, you too will find yourself with this most desirable outcome, with little room for error. ln short, this effect works because of a subconscious psychological urge the subject will have to stop dealing at the fifteenth card. While this shares similarities to previous published stop forces, the psychology and dynamics of it are different.

This is not a pipe dream, it works, and the margin of success is much higher than it first appears. The following techniques will allow the subject to stop dealing within a margin of error of three cards. The subsequent 69

Puܧrurs uulcomes extend this into a margin of error of ten. This gives it a ten card buffer, allowing for the subject to-stop dealing at anytime and still bring the effect to a srccessfut close.

lf the subject deals completely past the desired tocation and deep into the pack, there is still an outcome available. No matter what the subject chooses to do, you wiil arways crose forcing the correct card on the participating su bject. You'll need a business card, a pen, a deck of cards, and a wiiling subject. To begin, ask that a subject shuffle the cards. Take them back and look through the cards saying , u|m not going to change the order but t am going to make a judgement aboutä a"Zision you,re about to make.,, spread through the cards and secretry .ornt in groups of three from the top of the left side of the spread as it faces you until you come to the fifteenth card' Remember it and the very next card at the sixteenth position' lf you can also remember the touiteenth card, this will also be to your advantage rater. without pause, continue to spread. you may ignore every other card you see, but it's important to continue the spread so as to not tip off the subject on where he or she is going to stop moment a,ly. Give a brief pause near the end of the deck before closing the spread. Don't rush thls process as it is meant to psych-out the subject a bit before the effect even begins. rt's important that you haven,t announced what the effect is before the subject starts to oeä1. Don't te1 the subject that you're going to control his actions. Don,t tell the subject you,re going to predict a card s/he is going to stop on. whire that is exactry what you,re going to do, it's important to teep it simpre and vague so not to prompt the subject to want to challenge you. lt's important to stress that it,s the subject's decision, and yor'rÄirp]v making judgment a ca, about it and jotting down that note. That is ail.'simpre. o"on".

Pick up the business card and keeping the writing to yourself, write down the name of the 1sth card from the tof, of the face-down pack and place the card, writing-side down, on the table with the pen on top. For the sake of explanation, tet's say this card was the Ace of Ctubs. Hand the deck.to the subject and begin to instruct him or her to deat cards but stop b9f9re s/he gets a chänce. Redirect your attention to the business card, pick it ,p anä *!!f" keeping the writing hidden, bordry cross out what you just wrote with a single-strike through with the pen. Look up at the subject and ask,"Han" changed your mind? tjust iouiu", changed mine." Redirect your attention back to the business card and write down the name of the sixteenth card below it and underline it. ptace

lhis card again, face down, wllh tlrei pen on top, as before. Once you've written down the two cards, you may forget them and Ieave your mind to focus on the key card that comes right before at the tourteenth position. lf you forget any of the cards before you record them on the business card, a quick glance through the cards a second time will iog your memory.

Ihis charade is meant to cement the memory that you not only changed your mind, but you distinctly and obviously crossed out the previous first thought. This will become an important bit of smoke at the end of the routine. This also sets the subject up to following instructions. The acts of instructing him to deal, stopping him before he gets a chance, making him wait, and then coming back to give him directions, all work to make the subject more compliant and more likely to follow your precise instructions. Ask the subject to begin dealing cards, one at a time, into a face-up pile on the table. While the subject begins, sit in silence and watch. Count how many cards silently in your mind until the subject has dealt ten cards. lmmediately chime in with , "Just deal a few more and stop wherever you'd

like." The subject will already be uncomfortable as there will be a lot of dead time as he deals the ten cards to the table without knowing what instructions wi!! follow. At this point one of six scenarios will play out: The subject will stop on the 16th card with it turned face up on the pile in front of him. The subject will stop dealing with the 1sth card face up on the pile in front of him. The subject will deal short of the 1sth card and hits your key card. The subject deals short of the key card in the 14th position.; The subject will deal past the 16th card and stop shortly after. The subject will deal deep into the deck and not stop until he's past where the predicted cards fall. Most of the time you'll be met with one of the first five scenarios. The sixth will rarely happen, but if it does, the effect may still be brought to a close. We'll get to that case Iast. lf the subject stops with

the 16th card face up, stop the effect. Recap 7L

l1

lil

I

I

I

Ine events that the subject shuffled dealt and stopped anywhere he wished, and this is the exact place stopped, the Ki'ng of Diamonds. pick up the pen and gesture towards the business card. Öup the effect before allowing the subject to read the predicted card with: "lf you had stopped one card shortyou would have ended up on theAce oi ctuos, but'y'ou didn't. Remember I changed my mind? You didn't. Have a look at what I wrote." This reinforces the impossibility of not only predicting exacly where the subject woutd stop, but alsä where he aimost stopped. Even if there were no hesitation, this possibility will be remembered as if it were a realistic option for the subject when in reality it wasn,t. lf the subject stops dealing with the 1sth card (the Ace of Clubs in our example), ask the subject if he wants to deal one more face up. rf he

complies, proceed as in example one. lf not, ask him to deal the next card face down to the side and a few more face up to see what would have happened had "kept going." Remember, the audience doesn,t know .he how the effect is supposed to progress. There were no rules set forth at the outset. Act with confidence and know which path you,re going to take before you speak it aloud. lf the subject deals short of the 1sth card, ask the subject if he wants to deal a couple more. As you ask, subily nod your head. This may convince him to dear a few more and hit one oi your two tarqet cards. rf the subject has stopped on your key card face up in tne r+tE;r§,i";, " proceed by asking him to deal the next card face down. This will be the crossed-out card. Ask him to deal the next card face up to see what would have happened had he gone one more card.

ln this case, you'll recount the events that the deck was shuffled, dealt

through, and the subjor:t slop;lorl where he wished. Remind him, "Remember I changlocl trry rrritrtl? You didn't change yours and stuck with your original feeling to stop right where I originally thought you would." lf the subject deals short and stops before hitting the 14th, 1sth,

or 16th "deal give card, always the subject to option lo, afew more." lf the subject is happy there, ask him to deal the next five cards face down in a pile sight unseen and remove the face up cards, and the balance of the deck, and place them back into the box. You'll now perform a very simple and convincing equivoque of five cards down to one of your two target cards. l'll explain this in detail after scenarios five and six. the subject deals a few cards past the 16th card, ask him to take the last five cards dealt and turn them face down and proceed exactly as described in scenario 4. lf

I

lf the subject deals far past the target area, place the balance of the deck aside and pick up al! of the dealt cards, spreading them face down between your hands. Secretly cull the 16th card under the spread in preparation to force it on the subject with a hybrid move I call the MC Double Kraser. This is a combination between the Michael Close Double Lift forcing technique and the Michael Kras Color Change to force a card. This force allows the subject to touch any card, and yet secretly and invisibly switch it for the force card without ever seeming to Ieave the sight of the subject. This is explained at the end of this book in detail.

r

I

Five Gard Equivoque Equivoque is a simple concept but isn't easy for most to execute deceptively. One of the things that make this effect unique is the advantage of having two options. The following is a very deceptive piece of equivoque that takes advantage of two different cards among the five being appropriate finishes to this effect.

lr

t' l

'li lir

Ask the subject to separate the five cards into two piles by dealing them

back and forth like they would dealing a couple hands in a game of cards. This will place both the target card and its crossed out counterpart in separate piles. Ask the subject to take either pile and place it back on the deck. This will either leave the three-card pile or the two-card pile. ln either case, have the subject turn the remaining cards face up. lf the three-card pile is left on the table:

After having the subject turn the remaining tabled pile face up, ask him or 72

ilil

1l

ti

it

l

/J

I

ner to nand you two cards.

Variations

lf the target card is teft on the table, place the two cards you were just handed back on the deck, leaving the target card behind and finish the effect displaying the correct prediction. lf the target card is among the two handed back to you, ask the subject to hold out his or her hands and place one card on each of the subject,s upright palms. Take the card left on the table and return it to the balance of the deck and proceed to the finat step. lf the two-card pile is left on the table:

Ask the subject to hold out his or her hands and ptace the remaining two cards on the subject,s upright palms.

The Finat Step "ln a moment,.you're going to make a very important decision, hopefully it will be the right one. prace one of those äards down on the tabre.,, lf it's not the target card, take it and silently place it aside on the balance of the deck.

lf it is the target card, ask the subject to place what they chose to hold onto on the balance of the deck as they did before.

Variation #1: Nail Writer lf you are comfortable bringing a gimmick into the effect, using a nail writer to cross out one of the two predicted cards that wasn't selected wi!! facilitate never needing to "explain" the prediction to the audience. Of oourse, when writing the two cards initially, the act of crossing out the first predicted card is mimed. While this method is effective, if you're going to go to the trouble of wearing a secret writer, you might as well secretly write whatever card the subject stops at and give him or her a free choice.

Variation #2: The bold cross out lnstead of a nail writer, this bold ploy will bring the same results as variation #1 . When initially writing the first card, pretend to cross it out and write the second prediction card below it. At the end of the effect, before revealing the written prediction, recap the events to the subject. Remind the subject that in the beginning you picked up the pad, crossed out your initial thought and changed your mind. Suiting actions to words, pick up the pad and pencil and actually cross out the incorrect card. Keep the writing surface of the pad towards yourself . This is bold, but effective. The audience already believes this has been done so this bold cross out flies by. This is also an effective technique when utilizing a two target equivoque.

Variation #3: The Ambiguous Underline

The Final Seil

"Remember when I changed my mind? you didn,t change yours.,,

During one of my private workshops in California, Meriam Al-Sultan suggested after writing two cards down, underline one of them in such a way that the tail of this underline crosses only part of one of the two words out. This way, the choice is either underlined with the card not chosen OR the card not chosen is crossed-out. This is a wonderful subtly that works well.

lf the subject ends on the card that isn,t crossed out, say:

Final Thoughts

After leading the subject into the right choices, it's important to re-write a bjt of history. lf the card they chole is the card that was crossed out deliver the final line:

"lt's a good thing I changed my mind.,,

Credits and lnspiration The MC Double Lift Force was published in Michaet Ctose,s Work ers #2 Las Vegas NV: 1 991 pg. 5O). The Kras change was created by Michael Krasr (vanishing lnc: 2010). 74

This is an incredibly difficult effect to practice, as with most effects that ;rre worth learning, you need the experience with people to be able to learn how to manage and control them. I've performed this in all sorts of conditions. My favorite memory was rloing this in a car with a fellow performer friend. He was in the front t)assenger seat and I was in the back seat. They were his cards and he 75

held everything. Even in these conditions, in a moving velricle the effect came to an ideal close. The sun visor with attached mirror was useful in allowing me to secretly watch him as he dealt through the cards.

A Final Thought on Executing Equivoque lf you do need to make use of one of the equivoque outcomes, there are a few techniques l've utilized to make this process more seamless and deceptive. An error many make when approaching any form of equivoque is a lack of confidence in performing the script. This is usually because the script hasn't been learned and the effect has been rushed into performance. Any hesitation on the part of the performer may telegraph that the performer is "making it up" as events are executed forward by the subject. Never Iet your audience sense anything other than confidence, and that the effect always travels the sequence that is being presented.

11r

rl il11

lliL

I

i

II xl

find utilizing one of various stall techniques (an unchanging line of script that one may deliver after each choice is made by the subject) helps allow the brain to have a moment to silently collect and get ready to deliver the appropriate next line. This technique allows for that extra bit of space to breath while you mentally prepare the next scripting Iine, so it may be delivered without hesitation. I

ll

These stal! techniques may be as simple as asking the subject, "Do you want to change your mind?" or commenting, "YotJ made that decision quickly!"

76

IIPE-Olrf version of this effect was first published in 2OO4 in a small lrooklet lwrote called Free-Hand. The book saw an extremely limited print run of twenty units and has fetched high prices on ebay over the years. While the book covered techniques that explored the use of a seance hand (otherwise known as the third-hand gimmick) for means of oover to accomplish secret writing onto a dry erase board, "Wipe-Out" was unique in this collection of effects in that it didn't utilize any secret writing or a s6ance hand. lt did, however, use the dry erase board. This irpproach is an expansion of what lfirst published in 2004 and there are irdditional thoughts that eliminate the dry erase board completely. A sub-par

Basic Effect:

Ihe performer claims that he can influence the actions of a subject in lhe audience. A boxed deck of cards is brought into view and tossed to a random audience member who joins the performer. A prediction is written on a dry erase board and set aside. The subject opens the deck and begins dealing the cards face up, one at a time, unti! she feels like stopping. The card she stops on is inevitably the Eight of Clubs. When the board is turned around it reads in bold black ink: "The Card You Stop at Will Match the EllaC,ß B of Spades"

Verity: lf I had to write a dealer's ad for this effect, l'd probably highlight the following conditions: No secret writing of any kind Only one prediction used The subject does all the dealing The subject has a free choice on where to stop No cards are touched by the performer No gimmicks The subject may deal Additional lmpromptu Handling lncluded Take a moment to think how you might perform this effect under the above conditions. While it's true that nothing is gimmicked in anyway, the rnechanics take advantage of a clever card stack and the erasable nature 81

I

,"! trru uIy-elase ooaro. ln nonesty, the additional impromptu handling is my go-to handling for this effect when I choose to perform it. pay special attention to this description in the variation section under *Variati on #2.,,

The Prediction & psychorogy Behind the Board:

The Stack I lre deck is stacked when looking at the cards spread face up on the lirble as follows: Six X Cards (Any card that isn't listed specifically in this r;roup) followed by the 8H, X 3D, X, 3C, X, 8C, X, 3S, X, 8S, X, 3H, X, 8D, AS and finally the balance of the deck. This entire stacked deck is now ;rlaced into the box.

When dealing through these twenty-two cards, it appears to be a very random mix of cards at first glance. The reality is that there is a force r;ard every other card after six cards are dealt. That means that if the r;ubject stops dealing at any position between five and twenty-two, the performer can show that he/she has correctly predicted the outcome.

written across the dry erase board is the foilowing message:

Finally, it may be interesting to note that the stacked cards may be spread face up without fear of the stack being discovered. I

The On-The-Fly Gard Set-up: The "8" is written in a special way so that it may be quickly transformed into a "3" with a quick wipe of the teft thumb. First write an ,,g,,with one circle above the other (instead of a figure eight style). lt also helps sell this illusion if the starting point for each circle is ln the center left side. when you wipe away half of the eight, you'lt find that not having a discernible starting point makes the "3" more convincing. During performance, the reft thumb may verticaily wipe away harf of the ,ä,, traniorming it into a ,,3,, with a curved sweeping motion. The wording used in the prediction is designed in such a way that it covers a match for both black cards and röd cards.

The cards may be set-up on the fly by culling the eights and threes to the top of the pack and following this with a single out-faro shuffle. Finally, running six cards from the bottom of the deck to the top (via an overhand shuffle) to simulate a brief overhand shuffle completes the stack set-up. Doing this does not have the advantage of placing the cards in their ideal positions, but it makes no difference as all of the cards are covered with the dry erase principle.

I

I

l

lL

The Deal:

!l

This combination of psychology and mechanicar methodology alows one prediction to cover any one oieight different cards. obviousty a three of spades "matches" a three of crubs. Equaily, *three a of spades,, matches a "three of spades." Adding the word "blai(" with emprrasis (an underline) psychologically opens up this prediction to now cover red cards stopped on as well. why3s_e and emphasize the color ,,Black,,when the color is naturally implied? By emphasizing the match and being cänfident with your prediction being correct, the ihree of Hearts seems to naturally match the "Black rhree of spades." r was skepticar too, when r first thought up the concept, until I tried it, and it flew by whoever watched the effect' when combining this with the special card stack, it,s possible for the subject to stop in any one of sixteen different positions.

The subject is instructed to deal cards face up, in a pile, one at a time from a face-down pack. Once the subject has dealt three or more cards, they're told to deal a few more cards and stop dealing when it feels right. By the time these instructions are delivered, the subject will have dealt into the stack of twenty-two. The subject is most likely to stop his or her deal within that range as there's no challenge for them to deal all the way towards the bottom. I find that when the subject deals they are most likely to deal five more cards (after the instructions are given) and then stop wherever she or he likes. The subject is psychologically bullied into stopping the deal sooner rather than Iater, as the instructions to stop are given after the dealing has already started. The subject is made to feel uncomfortable for a moment dealing cards without a purpose. After the subject stops dealing, one of two things will happen: either the subject will have stopped with a three or eight face up on the packet that's been dealt

82

83

ru (rre raore, or Ine subject wiil have stopped on an indifferent card.

The Reveals: Technically, there are four different scenarios that may occur: the subject stops dealing on a face-up eight, the subject stops dearing on a face-up three, the subject stop dealing on a tace-Lp indifferent caä, or the subject stops dealing beyond the confines of the siact