Election by Chris Kenner
Posted: Sep 10th, '11, 23:17The Effect
The performer shuffles the deck, then deals eight cards face down in a single row. He asks a spectator to choose YES or NO. If the spectator says YES, he deals one card and leaves the pair where they are. If the spectator says NO, then he deals one card and slides the pair forward.
When finished there will be several pairs pushed forward, and several pairs in their original position. There is no force, no magician's choice, no strange counting, etc. Just a simple "YES or NO".
The perform then displays the "forward cards" and non match. He then displays the "original position cards" and they all match. Again, there is nothing funny. Indeed the spectator could turn over the cards.
Cost
$6.95 download from Election11
Difficulty = 2 to 3
(1=easy to do, 2=No sleights, but not so easy, 3=Some sleights used,
4=Advanced sleights used, 5=Suitable for experienced magicians only)
Chris teaches two handlings. The easy handling is probably a 2 with a simple sleight. The version you see performed on YouTube uses the more difficult handing and this is probably a 3. Both sleights are well explained on the video
Review
If you are looking for a pleasant effect that is probably well within the scope of most members of this forum, then you will enjoy Election. There is a setup. This implies that a false shuffle is required. However, for those who can't do a false shuffle, Chris suggests doing a 4-Ace trick (any packet trick) before-hand so that there is time seperation between taking the deck out of the pack and performing the trick.
He teaches a couple of simple false shuffles--one overhand, and one riffle. However, if you are not comfortable with these, then do any packet trick first.
Clearly, this is not repeatable--but you finish clean; you don't need gaffs or any knuckle busting sleights. My hands are so dry I have an awful time with the Glide (the simple sleight), but he teachea a method that even I can do!
Overall
I don't have a problem using setups or even gaffs, but others do, so I can't give this a 5-star rating.
I do have a logistic problem with this effect. Assume that the spectator says YES four times and NO four times. That means you have four matches from 16 cards! I'm sure the statisticians would say that goes far beyond the normal level of randomness. I plan to work on a story that will take the focus off the four matched pairs--for example, a dating agency, and the spectator is the councellor. This (somehow) is measuring their success rate in matching couples--just something that popped into my head as I was writing this.
Rating 4-star
This is a $7 trick--and if you use it, it seems like good value for money to me.
Video
You can watch the performance on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qQI6SjKCbM