talkmagic.co.uk

Not a very good explanation of the effect on that site... Oh well, let's Seige it up a bit...

From the top:

Take 10 cards from any deck - for this example:

AH, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H
AC, 2C, 3C, 4C, 5C

Make two piles of face-up cards - and deal them down so that in one pile are all the hearts, the other pile are all the clubs - in MATCHING sequence.

You now have two piles - both starting with aces at the bottom all the way to 5's as the top face-up card. You're set up.

I like to do a fan of each pile first - to show there's nothing untoward. You can even get a spectator to quickly find and sort the cards from a regular deck for you.

Now - take the first pile (hearts) and hold the packet FACE UP and deal FACE UP by starting with the five. Then the four, and so on. This will reverse the order of the packet, so now, the Ace in on the face of a FACE-UP PILE. Turn this pile face DOWN on the table.

Next, take the clubs - but hold these in dealing position FACE DOWN... now, deal each of the FACE DOWN cards and TURN THEM FACE UP as they hit the table. First down is the Ace, then the 2, 3, 4 then five. Turn this pile FACE DOWN.

Pick up both piles - one in each hand, and hold in dealer grip.

Now, tell the Speccy the phrase 'Will the cards match'. Tell them you're going to ask them to spell each word - and as they say each letter, they must touch a pile. When they touch a pile, you will take the top card (face down) and put it on the BOTTOM of that pile.

That's a fair way to mess them up - you tell them. Then explain that every time they finish a word - you'll discard the TOP card off each pile, and move on to the next word. When the last word of the phrase is spoken - there will only be two cards left - and it's up to the speccy's judgement (and a little mathematics) to make them match!

Now - the speccy starts spelling. It does not matter a HOOT which piles they touch and in which order - so try to ensure that they are very random and varied. Every time they say a letter - they touch either pile, and you fairly take the top card and place it underneath it's own pile. This is quite easy to do, even though both hands are full of cards.

Now, in the instance of the first word - when they get to the end, you've moved 4 cards in total... now - THIS IS THE KEY PART...

Take the top card off each pile and place them together on the table in front of you. You will do this for each word - and make sure to keep the 'discarded' pairs separate.

At the end of the last word - you'll only have two cards left - leave them face down - build the suspense:

"YOU selected the suits, YOU arranged the cards, YOU chose the piles" etc...

Then, reveal that the two remaining cards are, miraculously (!) a matching pair...

But wait! Yes! They DID get the last pair right! But, not to be outdone, and after all - YOU"RE the MAGICIAN in this duo - you turn all the other pairs over to reveal that they're the same too!

Works every time!

Hope that makes a little more sense!

Another classic - thanks!

For a knowing smile or two, check out this link on the same site:
http://www.online-visions.com/stagesofi ... onist.html