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hey guys,

I was just thinking and thinking and thinking and thinking and thinking and thinking

and i didnt come up with something new for the ID, i want to combine it with something else, its just too good the way it is.

or even some new lines or anything, how do you guys present the ID? what do you guys say?

do you sometimes use the ID for something else? and how to handle it?

i want to have a good story for it. or at least a nice routine. its just too awkward to have them think of a card and let them turn it around. its too fast, too clean. no satisfaction on my side

any ideas?

thanks a lot!!

You can use it a thousand different ways - as a convincer that either you knew what the spec was going to pick, or that you influenced them, that they have some from of intuition, etc, etc.

The sky's the limit.

Hi figaro (I had a cat called figaro, he died though ), but lets not dwell on such things......

err anyway here's a routine I thought up that is apparently very similar to somebody elses....thus proving that I am not the only genius on this small chunk of rock we call Norg, sorry.....Earth.

http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/sutra68744.p ... ght=#68744

Nice routine, Strep. It's similar to one Mel Mellers does (I am not suggesting you lifted it!), and it is very strong.

Figaro, a nice resource that might help you is Jay Sankey's DVD 'Invisible': http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic24706.php

As Tomo says, the sky's the limit. It's so good, you might not want to present it as a trick itself, but use it as something to fall back on, should another effect fail.

Something I've been thinking about lately is have the several options needed to settle on a card in a bag and have people from the audience pick them out. Like one piece of paper says "red or black?" and another says "odd or even?" and another says "name a suit" etc.

So once everyone has a piece of the puzzle you ask them all to answer their chosen question.

Red or black? Black!
Odd or even? Even!
Name a suit. Spades!

etc., et effin' cetera...

Until a card is selected with the help of a bunch of random people, which will of course be the card you previously reversed in the deck.

I like that queen. You could really milk the randomness of it when you re-iterate what occurred just before the reveal. A real head funk!

2nd vote for that bottomless pit of ideas that is the mind of Jay Sankey. His 'Invisible' DVD has a wealth of good material on it, and it's well worth the money.

I think I mentioned this on a previous ID thread but I'll do it again.

Steve Bedwell has a nice take on his MD Not Required DVD.

He uses 2 old pot noodle pots as a makeshift sort of cocktail shaker for cards.

The ID goes in to the pots and he puts them together and shakes them like a bartender.

Due to the shape of the pots the cards do not change, but he then takes them out and spreads the deck randomly showing face up and face down.

He then asks for a card to be named (you could incorporate Queenies idea for the selection), shakes the pots again and then does the reveal.

Nice routine and a lot of comedy mileage.

Hope this helps.

I absolutely love the ID, but I rarely perform it close up now - I only ever perform it in my stage show. I use a jumbo ID, and the routine lasts 8 minutes.

I personally think the ID is very underated in terms of limitations. You can get a LOT of business out of the ID. This is the reason why I dont use it for close up as much now. I like the fact that I get a full 8 minutes out of a relatively self working effect.

My routine is pretty simple to understand, and is packed with comedy. It also now features the 21st century bra routine as an add on.

The basic plot of the routine is:
2 Specs on stage (male and female)
ID given to female
Shuffled
Thrown to male (lots of comedy potential)
Jokers removed (a lot funnier performed than it sounds here0
Male chooses red or black, and throws away the one he doesnt want
Throws the card to female
Chooses a suit and throws away the one she doesnt want
Throws back to male
Male chooses odd or even cards and throws away what he doesnt wnat
Throws them to female
She chooses one from the remaining Cards

Tadaa, a modern miracle.

One thing that I use every single time but no one picks up on is when they select either the odd or even cards. This way, you effectively eliminate the Court cards. I believe in a stage performance particularly that it is very difficult to differenciate between the court cards so you have "psycologically" eliminated them from the equation.

Also, I dont do the maths during the routine - I have absolutely no need to. When I perform it I hold the cards up at just below my face level. By doing this it ensures the whole audience can see the pack, and also means I can see exactly what im looking for! (If you have the deck you will know what I mean).

If you want to check out the routine you can visit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRLM3awDqa0

Now, that routine ISNT the exact routine I do now. This was filmed the first time I performed the effect on stage as a learning curve for myself. Eventually I will get round to filming the routine as it stands today, which includes the 21st century bra and the routine is a lot slicker with a few extra lines.

Thanks guys, enjoy the ID - its served me extremely well over the past 12 months particularly!

Mark

I watched the clip before and I like the comedy element off it. It really is a wonderful bit of kit. I found some spray yesterday and was thinking I'd make up a few decks on other stock to my bicycles. Got some bees and some waddingtons I was going to invisify.

I also love performing the ID for friends and it always gets good reactions (provided I don't rush and mess it up!)

On occasions I have struggled with getting them to name a card and can sometimes get the response "you're the magician, you should know it!" The ideas on here are great, especially with getting different specs involved, one saying red or black, one choosing the suit etc!

I also like the idea of getting them to say odd or even, which gets away from using court cards. During performance I sometimes get a total blank about which number the court cards represent and have been known to mess up the (easy) maths involved, so I'll try this idea as it looks like it could work for me!

Also, a daft little thing I do to remember which suits are together is to say to myself "Sparts" (Spades and Hearts).

Sounds strange but it works for me!

I try it as a bet:

"There's one card turned over in the pack, I know which one it is...you don't...you have no idea. #£20 note placed emphatically on the table# If you name the one card that I've turned over #pause# you DON'T WIN. If you name any of the other 51 face-up cards, I'll give you £20." It seems impossibly easy...

"Now I'll emphasise it is a free choice, you won't lose anything. Just name the first card that comes to mind."

#card named#
#performer looks slightly flustered#

"OK, ermm, well. #then with confidence and composure gradually increasing# I'm going to give you the opportunity to change your mind. It's up to you. Obviously I could be bluffing, I may WANT you to change but I know the more I tell you that you should change, the more likely you are to stick. (I think this bit is used by Derren Brown in an earlier stage show) What do you want to do?

#spec decides#

"Thank you" #reveal#

This is the way I perform the ID, I won't claim credit for the idea. It was shown to me by another magician on a night out but I lost his business card! If you read this, get in touch and I'll amend the post.

DC

HelloDave wrote:
"OK, ermm, well. #then with confidence and composure gradually increasing# I'm going to give you the opportunity to change your mind. It's up to you. Obviously I could be bluffing, I may WANT you to change but I know the more I tell you that you should change, the more likely you are to stick. (I think this bit is used by Derren Brown in an earlier stage show) What do you want to do?

really fun idea there. You could possibly make it funnier (and even more like DB from his latest show):

"OK, ermm, well. #then with confidence and composure gradually decreasing# I'm going to give you the opportunity to change your mind. #drawing the £20 away from the table# It's up to you. #putting the £20 back into your wallet# Obviously I could be bluffing, I may WANT you to change but I know the more I tell you that you should change, the more likely you are to stick, #putting a £10 note gingerly onto the table# Because you really want to win that tenner after all. What do you want to do"?

The ID is useful as a parachute should a trick go wrong, but I've mostly seen this presented or described with a kind of "every morning when I wake up I take a deck of cards and reverse one in case I need it" way; i.e. taking a deck from your pocket once all has failed. This always seems a bit clunky to me.

If you're doing an effect that isn't surefire, or that you're not confident yet in pulling off I think it's much stronger to actually take a deck out before you start and reversing a card "as insurance" before pocketing it again and getting on with the effect, retrieving the ID later should you need to. If all goes well you can always use the ID as an extra hit at the end should you feel the moment calls for it.

Also also, get a glimpse of the reversed card in the regular deck, 'cos you never know...

Found it! Here's what happened to me on the way to Bristol in June last year, which I originally posted to the Mentalist's Only area:

I've been in Bristol this weekend, gigging. To get there from here, it's necessary to change at Birmingham New Street. When I booked the tickets, I specified a table seat in the quiet coach so I could practice a few things. So, I got on and sat opposite a girl. Here's a rough transcript of the conversation:

Me: Excuse me, can I ask why you chose to travel on this train today?
Her: Eh? I just caught it.
Me: And why did you choose to sit in that exact seat, 35 A in coach F?
Her: Dunno really.
Me: Okay, one last question. A strange one. Can you name a card for me?
Her: A what?
Me: Odd, I know, but can you give me the name of a playing card?
Her: The nine of clubs (or whatever it was)

I pulled out my ID and did the usual

Her: Oh my God! That's amazing! How did you know that?
Me: because you're sitting in my @&%$£!# seat!

She got up and left the coach!

Any road up, the gig was great and I was kept up until 5am in the hotel bar swapping performance for gin.