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Hey everyone.

A few months ago I bought The Devil's Picturebook from Derren Brown, I'm sure you all know about it. After spending time learning most of the other effects I had enough money to purchase a Mind Power deck to perform Smoke. I can perform it fine, and I know exactly what to do, however I'm only 14 and obviously I don't smoke.

Does anyone know any just as amazing ways to produce the card at the end of the trick? I've tried to come up with a few, but they all seem a bit boring.

Thanks.

- rstudios

rstudios wrote:Hey everyone.

A few months ago I bought The Devil's Picturebook from Derren Brown, I'm sure you all know about it. After spending time learning most of the other effects I had enough money to purchase a Mind Power deck to perform Smoke. I can perform it fine, and I know exactly what to do, however I'm only 14 and obviously I don't smoke.

Does anyone know any just as amazing ways to produce the card at the end of the trick? I've tried to come up with a few, but they all seem a bit boring.

Thanks.

- rstudios

Use an ID You can lay it on the table before starting wrapped in rubber bands or you can produce it after. I got some pretty good reactions like that!

just buy one of those gag cigarettes.. which just blow out talcum powder.. you might get a reaction for 'smoking' but just play it by ear.. and then proceed as normal.

if a young magician pulled out one of those blatantly fake cigs (well blatant to me being a smoker) in the middle of the card trick i would be more intrigued/confused as to why the fake cig than as to where my card just disappeared to. i like the I.D. idea.

Nightfall wrote:Use an ID You can lay it on the table before starting wrapped in rubber bands or you can produce it after. I got some pretty good reactions like that!

no need for the mindpower deck then either, but i still dont think its as powerful as smoke

I think the smoking is supposed to be casual. I think the fakes would be confusing. You're right, all you're looking for is a revelation. I the the revelation needs context, so where do you suppose the trick will be performed?

I think the ID is an anti-climax, to be honest. The card is GONE. How would it then relate to an inverted card in another deck. Does that make sense? It needs to appear.

I think this could be a case of trick and performer being wrong for each other.

It is also going to be very hard to perform in the original way with the new smoking ban in place

Totally Mental wrote:It is also going to be very hard to perform in the original way with the new smoking ban in place

On the contrary, with the smoke ban in, you can get the reveal done on the light, at which point people can go up in arms and then wet themselves.

The beauty of this effect, is that the lighting of the cig is "meaningless" and just a "relaxed" off beat now that the trick is "done"...

THEN having literally "ignored" the light up as nothing more than a "aren't I satisfied with myself", you "cough" to draw attention to the effect all is NOT what it seems.

I do see a problem these days in that there will likely be much more direct attention on the smoking and so the "switch" will be harder to do.

moving the reveal moment forward to the light up (as suggested by Marvell) is the best alternative at the moment.

I think we're placing too much emphasis on the smoking. All that's needed is a good alternative "appear" and it's sorted.

You can set up several dupes around you:
One of the force cards in the card box, another glued to the outside of the box, yet another in your wallet etc.

If your really slick, you might be able to load a folded one into your mouth, though I suppose to some, it would look silly.

It wouldn't have the impact of the cigarette magically turning into the looked at card, but it would still be impressive.

I dont perform it anyway because I dont smoke. But then again, no one knows that.

So if you are in a bar ( or beer garden ) with people you dont know, age wouldnt come into it if you pulled a ciggy out and 'smoked' it.

Derren does not smoke.

I guess you just could not do this effect for friends.

One of my favourite reveals is to have their card turn up in a different coloured deck that has sat on the table the entire time. It's fairly simple to work out a way of getting their card into the deck as you take it out of the deck and (as always) show it to be a genuine deck of cards. I then tend to ribbon spread the cards and ask them to take any card that leaps out at them, which usually gets a little chuckle.

That said, with Smoke you probably want a snappier reveal to stop them examining the cards too closely. Would something like card to mouth be too hokey? It'd be fairly easy to do as they looked for their card in the deck.

I was thinking of loading it in my mouth and then coughing it up like some of you said, do you think that would look as good?

sleightlycrazy wrote:You can set up several dupes around you:

This is also what I was thinking, but it does leave things unclean and I'd prefer something a little more interesting and "wow" like the cigarette revelation in the original.

Thanks for your help so far though, guys.

- rstudios

there are a few other reveals i use for the 'smoke' routine (i still call it that because that is my MAIN reveal)

first of all, just use your imagination. im sure you will be able to come up with some of your own, more suited to your personal needs....

try card to pocket, card to cig box, a written prediction, or a different back for their chosen card. there are plenty more, im sure, but those are the ones I use. good luck, and smoke is a stunning effect, but dont use it too often...