Lard) Toshi re | ee One met gee ace ee) of the Hearts from a shuffled deck. OS eel ee (ry EB Ce rea ee merc ate Rane A playful premise for a visual routine that leaves the ecm arena ei tT) OAC Re Ree ie el ae eee Red identity of the spectator's selection... but that's only the beginning! Elimin-ACE-ion etal aae anno aun Cori CUR actin ck ures Armchair Mind Reading Ue Rou eR ole See Cees Doel) guys in the world, It looks like real mind reading, ume ML RL Anew presentation for “The Last Trick of Dr. Jacob Prem ner turt aaecnes ht Ror TS acoloTo Crystal and Carson Mom and Dad and Jamie Table of Contents Problem Solved . . . Clueisitede Mere Cera eau aaa rae 1B ERPIACIHON 4c sisaestmes saci recsaecemecsnctsm 18 Armchair Mind Reading ....... 0.0.0... 00eceeeee 22 Premonition and Déj& vu... ......eeeeeeeeeeeeeee 25a | earners Problem Solved Paul Curry is one of the most brillant magic minds of alltime. His thinking was years ahead of his time. His most popular trick is undoubtedly “Out of This World” where the spectator is magically able to separate the red cards from the black ones without looking at their faces. However, a similar effect of his called “The Problem of Card 13” never seemed to catch on. | have always been intrigued by the effect, but never liked the move Curry used to make the entire routine possible, | have substituted this move for what | believe isa better switch and have updated the selection procedure. Effect: ‘A card is selected and placed face down on the table. The magician hands about a quarter of the deck to each of four spectators for shuffling. Each person selects three cards at random from their packet and throws them into a collective pile in the center of the table. Amazingly, the twelve chosen cards are all revealed to be Hearts Finally, the card chosen in the beginning is turned face up; itis the Setup: Begin with all of the Hearts on the top of the deck in any order. Performance “Ina moment, we are going to try an experiment in synchronicity. First, Mark, Ineed you to select a card to get us started. As I drop cards to the table, please call out stop.” Dribble the cards to the table, timing it so ‘that Mark calls stop at the halfway point. “Out of the cards that remain, | want you to touch any one.” Spread the cards remaining in your hands for a selection, making sure that the he touches one of the top thirteen cards (the Hearts). Place this card face down on the table without showing its face “We'll get back to this card at the end, but right now I need a few more people to help me.” Spread over twelve cards (all of the Hearts) and hand them to Mark. To speed up the process, | simply spread over four groups of three cards each. Hand the rest of the packet to a second spectator. Pick up the cards on the table. Hand about half of them to a third spectator and the rest to a fourth volunteer. “Now that you've all got cards, | want you to mix them up.” Mime an ‘overhand shuffle action as you deliver your instructions. Coaching the participants to shuffle in this manner will minimize the chances that Mark will notice he has only Hearts. “Here’s where we begin the test. Mark, you will be the leader. Everyone else will follow your actions. ll show you what I mean: deal a card face down in front of you.” Mark deals his frst card. “Now everyone else deal your first card face down in front of yourselves as well. You see, Mark, you're the puppeteer pulling their strings. Everyone is going to deal in unison with you. But with great power comes great responsibilty. In {fact, the success of this entire experiment rests on your shoulders. AS you deal through your packet, you are going to deal three of your cards off to the side. You will need to deal slowly so everyone can follow your lead. Also, be sure to make your decisions before enyone runs out of cards. ” ‘Address the other three spectators. “You guys just need to follow Mark’s lead. When he deals onto his pile, you deal onto your pile. if he deals a card off to the side, you do the same. Everyone got it?” it’s important that everyone understands their role in the proceedings, but you can also coach them along as the cards are being dealt. At the end of the procedure, each participant should have two piles of cards: one discard pile and another with the three stopped-at cards. Begin to gather the discard piles into your left hand. Collect Mark's packet last and keep a little finger break beneath it. “These cords aren’t important. We're only concerned with the cards you stopped at.”ars ‘Assemble the small packets into a collective group on the table, again ensuring that Mark’s cards end up on top. Pick up the pile in your right hhand from above by the ends. The cards should be supported by your right thumb and second finger (FIG. 1) Situation check: Your left hand is holding three-fourths of the deck in dealing grip with a break under nine cards, all Hearts. Your right hand is, holding a group of twelve cards in end grip: the top three cards are Hearts, and the rest are indifferent. “Mark, you are the leader, so we will check your cards first.” Drag the top card onto the top of the left hand’s cards with your left thumb (FIG. 2). Ina continuing action, use the right hand's packet to flip the card face up. Immediately thumb the card to the table. “The first card is red.” Repeat the same actions flipoing a second card face up. “The next card is also red.” Now itis time for the switch that makes this entire routine work. You will simulate your previous actions while secretly switching the cards in your right hand for the cards above your break. We will use a variation of the Hamman switch. Bring the right hand’s packet over to apparently drag the next card onto the left hand's packet as before. However, as ‘the packets come together, the right hand’s packet slightly avershuuls the left hand's packet (FIG. 3) The left thumb clips the right hand’s packet as the right thumb and third finger take possession of the cards above the break (FIG. 4). The right 6 hand pulls this packet out to the right as the left fingers square the cards in the left hand. immediately, use the right hand's cards to flip the top card in the left hand face up. Thumb it to the table as before. The work is done. Now itis time to reap the rewards, “Wow, Mark, another red cord. In fact, they are all Hearts, Let's see what everyone else ended up with.” Flip the cards in the right hand face Up end for end in stud deal fashion. Place them face up on the cards already on the table and ribbon spread the packet. “Amazing! You all ended up with Hearts... twelve in total. That means we're only missing You will now work out which Heart is missing through a simple process of elimination. Let's suppose itis the Six of Hearts. “There is the Ace. Two... Three... Four... Five... | don’t see the Six... but there’s the Seven... Eight... Nine. Ten... Jack. Queen... and King. It looks like we're missing the Six of Hearts.” “Mark, | told you earlier that you were the key to this success of this entire experiment, Remember that you selected an unknown card in the very beginning of the trick.” Pick up the card that was isolated from the start and flip if face up. “Lodies and gentleman, the missing Six of Hearts.” Comments: If you pick the cards up in order as you are working out the identity of the missing Heart, you can set yourself up for “Armchair Mindreading”‘ll which is described later in these notes. Simply perform a couple of effects without destroying your stack and you are set to go. Credits: * This is my handling of Paul Curry’s “The Problem of Card 13” from Paul Curry Presents (1974). It can be more readily found in Paul Curry’s Worlds Beyond (2009), ‘+ The test of synchronicity presentation where the spectators deal in unison was inspired by R. Paul Wilson's “Con Cam, Coincidencia” routine. it can be purchased as an instant downloadable video from www.DanandDave.com. It may also be found in Steve Beam’s Semi-Automatic Card Tricks Vol. 8 (2010), ‘+The Hamman count may be found in The Secrets of Brother John Hamman (1989) written by Richard Kaufman. ‘Iwas first introduced to using the Hamman switch in this context in Steve Beam’s "World Piece” routine from Semi- Automatic Card Tricks Vol. 6 (2006). The routine, with an Updated presentation, may also be found in his booklet Noteworthy (2008). All Signs Point to Yes Joshua Jay called this “a blockbuster practical effect.” It is something that | use constantly in my close-up performances. The playful premise is certainly what | like best about it. It helps you to immediately relate to the audience as you share in a bit of nostalgia remembering a favorite childhood toy, Effect: Alter a selected card is shuffled back into the pack, you draw a Magic 8- Ball on the back of a black Eight. You ask the Magic 8-ball questions about the selection, and each time you shake it, the card changes to reflect the answer. In the end, the card with the drawing on the back becomes the selection. Setup: From the top: any Heart, Eight of Hearts, Eight of Clubs, Eight of Diamonds, remainder of the deck. Performance: Perform a slip cut of the top card, and hold a break above It. Carry out a riffle force and have the spectator sign the card. Swing cut about half of the cards into your left hand as you have the card returned on top. Dribble the remaining cards on top, burying the selection. There is no need to hold a break, “Eric, when you were a kid, did you ever have one of those Magic £8-Balls? You know the kind where you shake it up and it answers your questions. Well, there's a ‘magic Eight in the deck that kind of works the same way.” As you talk, turn the cards towardsyourself and openly run through them. Cut the force card back to the top. Perform a triple lift showing the Eight of Clubs. Turn the triple face down and draw a Magic &-Ball on the back (FIG. 1) Turn the triple face up again and acquire a break beneath the top four cards. This is easily accomplished by pushing the card below the triple a little to the right as the cards are turned over. "Now this card will work Just like a real magic 8-ball: we ask it @ question and give it a shake. 1 guess the first question would be 'is the card red or black?" You will now perform Noe! Stanton’s pivot color change, popularized by Jay Sankey as the ‘twirl change. Briefly, your right middle finger and thumb hold the cards by their index corners. Your first finger should be curled over the face of the card (FIG. 2). The ‘change is effected as your right hand shakes back and forth. This large motion covers the small motion of your right ring finger pivoting the cards 180 degrees. Your first finger aids in this action by pulling the card around. This visible change of the Eight of Clubs into the Eight of Diamonds is quite startling to a lay audience. Under the cover of their reaction, replace the cards on the deck and obtain a break under the top three cards by rffling off one card with your thumb. Pause for a moment to let the effect register. "The magic 8-ball says your card is red. Now we need to know whether it was a Heart or a Diamond.” Perform a second twirl change to morph the Eight of Diamonds into the Eight of Hearts. Replace the cards on the deck. Again, under the cover of the reaction, riffle up one card to prepare for the next sequence. If yau are comfortable with a strike double lft, obtaining this break isn’t necessary. “Well, the magic &-ball says that you are thinking of a Heart. 10 I guess there is only one question remaining. This time you can try it Please, hold out your hand.” Turn the double face down to display the drawing stil visible on its back. Hand the card to the spectator. “Final question: what was your card? Have the spectator give the card a shake. When they turn the card face up, they will see that it has morphed into their signed selection. Comments: The final change in the spectator’s hand is a very strong moment. The fact that the drawing remains on the back of the card from beginning to end seems to negate any switches. Jay Sankey used a similar idea in his. marketed effect “Snowstorm” and I was certainly influenced by his, handling, Our sequences of twirl changes are similar In structure, However, his routine allows for only two changes; my sequence features three. {ve thought about ending by producing an 8-ball, but I think it would step on the ending. If you're interested in the idea, check out David Regal's “Eight Ball” (Constant Fooling Vol. 2, 2002) and John Bannon's “Trick Shot Production” (Smoke & Mirrors, 1991) for two super handlings. Credits: ‘© This effect first appeared in Joshua Jay's Talk About Tricks column in the March 2010 issue of MAGIC Magazine. ‘+ The riffle force was published in More Card Manipulations #4 by Jean Hugard. ‘+ Jay Sankey popularized the Twirl Change. It was originally published by Noel Stanton as “The Pivot Color Change” in The Gen in June 1964 (Vol. 20, No. 2). Ed Marlo later published it as “In Lieu of the Through-the-Fist Flourish” in M-U-M (Vol. 73, No. 2, July 1983). uees ee ee 2 ‘The double lift was published in Richard Neve’s The Merry Companion: or, Delights for the Ingenious (1716) under the title of “To Seem to Change the Top Card of the Pack into Another.” The previous credit was borrowed (i.e. stolen) from Tyler Wilson's Reinventing the Real (2010). Did | just credit a credit? Clue [At the 2009 MagiFest convention, a magician by the name of Yoav Nygate fried me with an effect based on Paul Harris's Pointer Anomaly. | immediately saw the power of the principle and began playing around with some possible effects, Paul's idea is something that seems obvious in print but is completely footing in context, Pay particular attention to the convincer Paul uses to subtly prove the validity of the procedure, Effect: A spectator selects a card. Let’s suppose itis the Ace of Hearts. The card is lost in the deck. The magician introduces four odd backed cards with large letters printed on the back. The letters are ‘C’ for color, ‘S' for suit, “E’ for even or odd, and the letter ‘A’ for amazing... He claims that these cards will give him clues about the selection. The first card is used to determine the color. The second card determines the suit. The third card tells whether the selection is odd or even. Finally, the fourth card reveals the Ace of Hearts. The magician then rearranges the ‘clue cards’ on the table. The letters now spell out ‘ACES.’ For the big finish, the magician snaps his fingers and turns the ‘clue cards’ face up to reveal al four Aces. Setup: You will need four red backed Aces as well as three red backed blank face cards. Prepare the blank cards as shown on the next page. Next, draw a large ‘A’ on the back of the Ace of Hearts. Finally, draw a ‘matching ‘C’, ‘S’, and ‘E’ on the other Aces. Place the prepared Ace of Clubs, Spades, and Diamonds on the bottom of the blue backed deck. The Ace with an’S' on the back should be uppermost. Place the blue backed Ace of Hearts on top of the deck. Store the blank face clue cards along with the prepared Ace of Hearts in a convenient location such as the card box or a packet trick wallet. The order of the face down clue cards should be ‘C’,‘S', ‘t, and ‘A’, Bany) FACES | | Black pines Even Presentation: Perform a slip cut to centralize the Ace of Hearts, retaining a pinky break below it. “Randy, | need you to select a card at random. Just call out ‘stop’ as I run my thumb down the side of the deck.” Carry out a | yay | eH PRO riffle force, and lift the right hand’s cards to show him the Ace of Hearts. Drop the packet on top of the cards in the left hand, There is no need to control the selection. “Keep the card in your mind. Don't forget what it Introduce the ‘clue cards’ from the card box (or wallet, or whatever) “These are called ‘Clue cards.’ In a moment, they are going to reveal information about the card you are thinking of.” Place the cards face down on top of the deck with the letters facing the audience, “The ‘C’ stands for color.” Flip the card face up from side to side to display the words written on the face. “Your card could be ‘red’ or ‘black.”” Flip the card face down and deal it to the right side of the performing area, “The ‘S’ stands for suit. You could have had a ‘Club’, ‘Heart’, ‘Spade’, or ‘Diamond.”* Display the card as before and deal it to the left of the card on the table. “The ‘E’ stands for ‘even’ or ‘odd.”* Display the card and place it face down to the left of the other two cards. “The ‘A’ stands for 14 ‘amazing.’ ll show why at the very end.” Deal the Ace face down to the left of the row without showing its face. Be sure that the letters are oriented toward the audience. “ “These cards work kind of lke lie detectors. You can’t fool them. In @ ‘moment, I'm going to give you o choice on how you turn these cards over. For example, with the ‘S’, if you were to turn the card over towards me...” Flip the ‘S' card over end for end towards yourself. “..it would have read ‘Clubs’ and ‘Hearts,’" Flip the card face down from side to side. “if you would have turned it over towards yourself.” Flip the card over end for end toward the spectator. “..then it would have read ‘Spades’ and ‘Diamonds.”* Flip the card face down from side to side. This is Paul Harris's Pointer Anomaly principle. In reality, it makes no difference in which direction she flips the card. Turning the card face down from side to side allows for the convincer of demonstrating to the spectator that the direction really does matter. We further disguise this fact by performing the demonstration with the ‘S' card. Since it looks the same when itis upside down or right side up, the spectator cannot, follow its orientation. “Even though you have a free choice, the cards will always zero in on the right information. Go ahead and flip the ‘C’card over; you can flip it towards you or towards me.” No matter which way he turns the card, the result will read the same. “It says your card is ‘red.’ Flip over the 'S’ card next.” ‘Again, he makes a choice on which way to turn over the card. “This card ‘says you are thinking of a ‘Heart.’ Flip over the ‘E’ for ‘even’ or ‘odd.”” As he turns the ‘E’ card over, obtain a break above the bottom three cards by riffling up the back of the deck. “This card says the value of your card is ‘odd.”" Pick up the three cards into your right hand. Flip them face down onto the deck. You will summarize the results of the ‘clue cards’ while 15contriving to end up with the three cards face down in your right hand with the ’S' uppermost, “So for we know a few things about your card. The color is ‘red.’ Pull the ‘C’ card into your right hand as a gesture as you talk. "The suit is “Hearts.” Pull the ‘S’ card on top of the card in your right hand. Use these cards to indicate the ‘E’ card still on the deck. “And the value is “odd.” Place the ‘E’ card below the others in your right hand. You will now switch the cards in your right hand for the cards beneath your break using a Paul Wilson variation of the classic Jinx switch, “Remember that the ‘A’ card stands for ‘amazing.’ Go ahead and flip it over.” She will flip the card over to reveal the Ace of Hearts, her selection. Under this misdirection, place the cards in your right hand into the break, Immediately pick up everything above the break and place the deck offto the side. You will be left with three cards in your left hand. The spectators assume these are the ‘clue cards’ from before. In fact, they are three ‘Aces. The switch should be performed casually. Itis discrepant but is, perfectly covered by the misdirection of the spectator turning over the final card, “The ‘A’ also stands for ‘Ace.’ Was that the card you had in mind? | told you that these cards would give us clues about the card you chose. In {fact, | should have known that you would end up with one of the Aces, because if rearrange the letters..” Arrange the cards on the table so that the letters spell out ‘ACES’ from the spectator’s point of view. “ the cards spell ACES.” “You know, if they spell ‘ACES,’ maybe we can do a little magic and get them to become the Aces.” Snap your fingers, and pause a beat. Finally, turn over the four cards to reveal their transformation into the four Aces. 16 Comments: It isn’t necessary to change the ‘clue cards’ into the Aces, The revelation of the selected card is a powerful effect on its own. Obviously, omitting. the final transformation would also allow you to eliminate the only real move in the routine (the switch at the end). In fact, if you substitute a cross cut force for the riffle force, this trick becomes completely self- working. Credits: ‘©The Pointer Anomaly was first published by Paul Harris in the February 2008 issue of Genii magazine. Richard Kaufman also posted it to the Genii Forum at www.GeniiMagazine.com/forums. © Theodore Annemann’s Jinx switch was published in the September 1937 issue of the Jinx. Paul Wilson's variation of the switch may be found on his Extreme Possibilities Vol. 3 DVD in his routine “Devilish Princess.” ‘© Max Holden's cross cut force was published in The Magical Monthly (Volume 2, Number 10, July 1925) as “The New Knife and Selected Cards.” It may also be found in Roberto Giobbi's Cord College Volume 1 (1992) and just about every beginner's magic book ever written, ‘* Forriffle force references, please see “All Signs Point to Yes.” 7 BEE aene ee ee neo etn eeeElimin-ACE-ion Gordon Bean's marketed effect Entourage is a baffling piece of magic. Its only downside is that it requires gaffed cards. This is my attempt to recreate the effect using a regular deck. You get three moments of magic for one double turnover. That's not a bad return on investment. Effect The magician hands the spectator four face down cards which he claims are Queens. The spectator mixes the cards and names any one of the Queens. The magician takes back the cards and holds them in a fan. The spectator is asked to eliminate all but one of them. Amazingly, the remaining card is shown to be the freely named Queen. The cards on the table are flipped face up; they are the Aces. The spectator named the only Queen in the packet. Finally, the magician waves the Queen cover the Aces. It changes into the fourth Ace. Setup: ‘Arrange the Queens on top of the deck in Clubs, Hearts, Spades, Diamonds order from the top. Performance: Spread through the cards with the faces towards yourself, Remove the four Aces and hand them face down to the volunteer. “Brian, | want you to imagine that these cards are the four Queens. This is an experiment to test your intuition. Clear your mind of all thoughts. When I snap my fingers, I want you to name the first Queen that comes to mind. You can choose Clubs, Hearts, Spades, or Diamonds. Its up to you." Pause a beat before snapping your fingers. ‘We must now position the named Queen on top of the pack. This is an easy matter since the cards are in CHaSeD order. Ask the spectator to mix his cards face down. Illustrate by shuffling the top few cards on top. of the deck between your hands. Make sure to track the named Queen 18 and move it to the top as you finish the shuffle. This is an idea from my friend Rich Aviles. Let's suppose he names the Queen of Hearts. Retrieve the packet from the spectator and hold it fanned in your right, hand. “Now it is time to play the old game of ‘Find the Lady.’ Your job is to locate the Queen of Hearts by process of elimination. Point to a card that you believe is NOT the Heart.” Remove the indicated card by dragging it out of the fan with your left thumb and dropping it to the table (FIG. 1) “Point to the next card you would like to eliminate.” Once the spectator has pointed to a card, remove it and drop it to the table as before. Two cards remain in your right hand. Take this opportunity to acquire a break under the top card of the deck. “This is the big moment: only one card left to eliminate. The choice is yours.” ‘The spectator points to the last card to eliminate. Take this card into your right hand leaving the surviving card sidejogged on top of the deck in the left hand (FIG. 2). “Are you sure this is the right card? | will et you ‘change your mind if you wish." If he wants to change the cards, simply switch their positions. Finally, drop the right hand’s card to the table. “We were looking for the Queen of Hearts. Let's see how you did.” Bring the right hand towards the sidejogged card. Pull it flush with the deck and perform a double turnover to display the named Queen. This is the first climax. Allow a moment for the effect to register. 19“1 told you that we would test your intuition, and somehow you were able to find the Queen of Hearts. What is more amazing, however, is that you were drawn to the Queen of Hearts in the first place. It’s amazing, because the Queen of Hearts was the only Queen in the packet.” Turn the three cards on the table face up to reveal three Aces. “You see, we magicians can never resist using the Aces. In fact...” Pause a beat. Turn the double face down and deal the top card into your right hand. Wave the card over the Aces. Flip it face up to reveal that it has changed into the missing fourth Ace. "..why don’t we just use all four.” ‘Comments: | will not argue that this isa better effect than Gordon Bean's original trick, The gaffed version certainly satisfies some conditions that are not present here. However, looking at the effect on its own, | think you'll find that it provides an excellent way to segue into your favorite effect with the four Aces | was first inspired to work on an ungaffed handling of “Entourage” after reading Christopher Williams's “Ungaffed Entourage.” | really liked Chris's method for casually cutting the named Queen to the top but felt that the Jokers cluttered the effect. If you are interested in this effect, Chris's routine is certainly worth checking out. Tyler Wilson suggests using the Bilis switch to sneak the named Queen into play at the end. if you are familiar with the move, you may want to play around with the idea, The structure of the trick is perfectly suited for it Credits: ‘© The effect was directly inspired by Gordon Bean's marketed effect Entourage. ‘© Christopher Williams's “Ungaffed Entourage” appears in Peter Duffie’s Mind Blasters e-book as well as his Chris's Bright Ideas Dvp. 20 The +h was first published in Notes de Conference (1975) by Bernard Bilis. For double lift references, please see “All Signs Point To Yes.” aiArmchair Mind Reading “This is exactly the kind of trick | love to perform for magicians. Itis perfect for those late night sessions when you really want to fool your friends. Pay particular attention to the strict conditions placed on the trick. Its easy to remember, easy to set up, and hard to back track. Effect: ‘The magician shuffles the cards and places them in front of a spectator. While the magician's back isturned, the spectator cuts off about half the deck, looks at the card he cut to, and shuffles the cards. The cards remaining on the table are hidden from view to prevent the magician looking at any key cards, marked cards, etc. Despite the fair procedure, the magician is able to find the spectator’s card without even looking at the faces of the cards! Setup: ‘Arrange all of the Clubs on top of the deck in numerical order. Shuffle twenty cards on top of these so that the Ace of Clubs is now at the 21" position, the Two of Clubs is at the 22 position, etc. Performance: Perform a false shuffle and table the cards in front of the spectator. “Usually magicians are known for their sleight-of-hand, but now | would like to show you something using sleight-of- mind.” f you are confident that the spectator will follow your instructions, you may turn your back at this point. “Corbett, cut off about half of the cards in front of you and 00k ot the card on the face of the packet.” Due to the nature of the setup, as long as he cuts between 21 and 33 cards, he will cut to a Club. We will determine which one in a moment. “Go ahead and give the cards in your hand a shuffle so that not even you know where your card might be located.” This shuffling serves two Purposes. First, it makes the procedure seem extremely fair. Second, it 2 distributes the Clubs amongst the other cards destroying any evidence of your stack. “Once you've done that, pick up the cards still eft on the table and hide them away in the card box. | only want to work with your shuffled cards; no extra information.” ‘When he has done this, turn back around to face the audience. Talk about the possibilty of picking up on the Corbett’s subtle body language clues in order to determine his selection. Spread the cards face down on the table. Start picking up some of the cards from different parts of the spread and fan them in front of the spectator. Then, pick up a few more adding them to the fan. Ask him to look at the cards but not to give you any indication of the card he is merely thinking of. Continue in this manner until you have only about six or seven cards to 0. Then, throw the cards in your hand on top of those that remain. This haphazard procedure will give you al of the information you need to nail the selection. The work is simple: as you grab cards from the spread, count how many there are. When you have just a few cards left con the table, add this number to your running total. This wil be your key number. We already know that Corbett cut to a Club. Your key number communicates the value. The math is easy: simply subtract 20 from the total. If you count 25 cards, then he cut to the Five of Clubs. If you count 29, then he cut to the 9 of Clubs. if you count 31 cards, then he selected the Jack of Clubs. The work is done. All that’s left to do is to build up the impossibility of the effect and name the selection, Alternative Method: Counting the cards to find out the value of the selection allows you to make the final reveal without looking at the faces of the cards. If this isn’t important to you, it’s a bit easier to simply spread'the cards face up on the table and look for the Club with the highest value. Due to your setup, this will be the selection. Reveal it any way you wish. 23Alternative Setu) ‘Tommy Brown suggested the following way to get into the effect. Prearrange the pack as follows: 13 Club cards in order on the bottom, followed by 20 indifferent cards, followed by the remainder of the deck with a bottorn-cutting breather lowermost (34" from the face). When itis time to perform, false shuffle and cut at the breather as a demonstration of what the spectator is going to do. Push the remaining cards aside, Show them how they will look at the bottom card and then shuffle the packet. Once you've given your instructions, place the packet down and place the remainder of the deck on top. This casually puts the cards in your starting condition. Proceed with the effect. Credits: ‘+ This routine first appeared in Steve Beam’s Semi-Automatic Card Tricks Vol. 8 {2010}. ‘+ Iwas directly inspired by Boris Wild’s “Pure Telepathy’ routine from his Marked Deck Lecture Notes. The routine can also be found on his Remarkable Card Magic DVD set. This is my attempt at duplicating his effect without marked cards and a memorized deck. ‘+ Ed Marlo deserves credit for counting cards in a packet and converting it to a stack number and, therefore, a selection. The technique is typically used with a memorized stack. Restricting the spectator to cutting “about half of the deck” eliminates the need for a full deck stack. ‘+ Thanks to Tommy Brown for suggesting the procedure for ‘counting the cards while picking them up in small groups from the table. This helpsto disguise the counting while making it more interesting for the spectators. 24 Premonition and Déja vu The following effect is simply a presentational wrinkle for “The Last Trick of Dr. Jacob Daley.” The effect is usually performed using only the four ‘Aces. This is efficient, but there is only one magic moment, the transposition. Once you reveal that the red Aces have changed into the black Aces, the effect is over. There is no mystery about the identity of the remaining cards. This isa strong singular effect which explains why the routine has become a staple in the repertoires of so many ‘magicians. However, for the same amount of work, you can perform three distinct moments of magic. Here’s how. Effect: ‘The performer offers to demonstrate the difference between premonition and déja vu. He displays the Nine of Hearts, explaining that it will represent premonition. The card is placed face down on the table. ‘The spectator chooses a card at random. Amazingly, itis the matching red Nine: the Nine of Diamonds. This card is also tabled. Now the magician places down a card to represent déja vu. Another card is selected, When the cards are turned face up, they are amazingly revealed to be the red Nines again. The original cards are turned over to reveal the black Nines. Setup: Arrange any four-of-a-kind on top of the deck in black, red, black, red order. For explanation purposes, begin with the Nines stacked in Clubs, Hearts, Spades, Diamonds order from the top. Presentation: "Ryan, I'm going to show you the difference between premonition and ddéja vu." Hold the cards in overhand shuffle position. Undercut about half of the deck, injog the first card, and shuffle off. Turn the cards face down and pull up on the injog to establish a pinky break. Spread the cards between your hands until you reach the break. Square the cards in 25,the left hand obtaining a break beneath the top two cards. Leave the cards in the right hand in a saread condition. With the right fingers, carry out a double turnover zo display the Nine of Hearts. "The Nine of Hearts will represent a premonition.” ‘Turn the double face down and thumb the top card to the left side of the performing area. As you begin to square the cards, push the top card of the left hand's packet to the right and obtain a break below it. "Now we need to select a card at random. Ryan, please call out stop’ as run my thumb down the side of the deck." Carry out a riffle force to the break. Table the right hand's cards. Perform a double lit to show the Nine of Diamonds. “Our premonition was correct; you stopped me at the matching red Nine." Turn the double face down and deal the top card down on top of the ‘premonition’ card already on the table, The audience believes these are the red Nines. In fact, they have been switched for the black Nines. To laymen, this is already a fairly impressive effect, but you are far ahead of the game. Pick up the half till on the table. Place it onto the left hand's cards, retaining a break Pause a beat and spread through the cards once more until you reach the break. Place the card immediately above your break face down to the right of the performing area. “This mystery card will represent deja vu.” Square the cards maintaining the break. “Again, we need to select @ card at random. Please call cut ‘stop’ as I run my thumb down the side of the pack.” Perform another riffle force. Thumb off the top card of the left hand's half onto the ‘dé}3 vu’ card already on the table. Square the deck and place it off to the side Gesture toward the cards on your left. “Remember, these cards represent premonition.” Direct attention to the cards on your right “These cards represent déjé vu.” Flip the two cards face up to reveal the red Nines. Allow a couple of seconds for the effect to sink in. Finally, bring focus back to the cards on the left. “And now these cards...” Flip %6 the cards face up to reveal the black Nines. post.” are just shadows of the comments: Notice thatthe routine has three moments of magic. 1. The magician’s premonition card and the spectators frst selection are a perfect match. (Prediction) 2. The déja vu card and the spectator's second selection are revealed to also be the red Nines. (Transposition) 3. The original pair of cards are revealed to be the black Nines. (Appearance) ‘+ The handling of this routine is based loosely on John Guastaferro’s “Color Blind” from his Brainstorm Vol. 1 DVD. An updated version, called “Quantum Kings,” was published in his book One Degree (2010). John also deserves credit for providing me with the “shadows of the past” line at the end. ‘+ The presentation of premonition and déja vu was directly inspired by a trick described in the “Idiosyncratic Classic Force” section of Antony Gerard's Magic Behind Bars (2007). ‘+ "The Last Trick of Dr. Jacob Daley” was published in The Dai Vernon 800k of Magic (1957) written by Lewis Ganson. ‘+ For double lift references, please see “All Signs Point to Yes.” + For riffle force references, please see “All Signs Point to Yes.” 27