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I joke, of course. But tonight I was out with some old work colleagues and they know I've been getting into magic recently. So I pulled out a deck of cards and performed a little trick for them which involved:

- spectator picked a card, put it back in the deck
- I shuffled the deck
- ask spectator to cut the deck into three piles
- I lifted each pile to show the bottom card 'Is this your card?' and then discard the card face down.
- All three cards are wrong so I blame spectator for rubbish cutting
- I put two of the cards back in the deck
- "So what was your card?"
- "Four of Spades"
- The 3rd discarded card is now the chosen card. MAGIC!

What was fun about it though was because I'm a bit of a joker, all four friends were ribbing me at every step including staring at my hands as soon as I started shuffling the deck despite my attempts to diver their attention which made me certain they would see the control.

Well, on the reveal of the 4 of spades, there was a silence. Then there was and an inspection of the deck to make sure it wasn't gimmicked or marked before they conceded that it was a good trick. I was rather chuffed with the result.

It made me a lot more confident in terms of getting paranoid that everyone knows the sleights when of course, no-one does. It's only the magic lovers and you can get a great reaction from such a simple trick. Especially when the spectators are friends eagerly waiting for you to slip up or make an obvious move.

Congrats!

But if you want to really make their jaws drop, do it the other way round. Make one of the cards that they cut too theirs. Then pretend like you don't think its it, put it down then blabber some nonsense. They will think you have made a mess of it. Then force their card on them and tada. If they don't reach for the cards on the table in shock I'll eat my hat.

So just to clarify (because after re-reading I'm not sure if I even understand it myself):

Spec picks card.
Replaces card, shuffles etc.
Spec cuts into 3 piles. You say something along the lines of 'I will try and guess your card, if you see it don't tell me' bla bla bla.
1st card not it, 2nd card not it, 3rd card is it. But you get it wrong and mess it up.
Spec then picks another card, all of them smirking because you've screwed it up. Then they hyperventilate in awe of your magical powers.

me_simon wrote:I joke, of course. But tonight I was out with some old work colleagues and they know I've been getting into magic recently. So I pulled out a deck of cards and performed a little trick for them which involved:

- spectator picked a card, put it back in the deck
- I shuffled the deck
- ask spectator to cut the deck into three piles
- I lifted each pile to show the bottom card 'Is this your card?' and then discard the card face down.
- All three cards are wrong so I blame spectator for rubbish cutting
- I put two of the cards back in the deck
- "So what was your card?"
- "Four of Spades"
- The 3rd discarded card is now the chosen card. MAGIC!

What was fun about it though was because I'm a bit of a joker, all four friends were ribbing me at every step including staring at my hands as soon as I started shuffling the deck despite my attempts to diver their attention which made me certain they would see the control.

Well, on the reveal of the 4 of spades, there was a silence. Then there was and an inspection of the deck to make sure it wasn't gimmicked or marked before they conceded that it was a good trick. I was rather chuffed with the result.

It made me a lot more confident in terms of getting paranoid that everyone knows the sleights when of course, no-one does. It's only the magic lovers and you can get a great reaction from such a simple trick. Especially when the spectators are friends eagerly waiting for you to slip up or make an obvious move.

congrats on baffling your mates
when i first started showing tricks to people i was always worried about angles...... but if you practise in front of a mirrror you get a good feel for what the audience can/can't see.

so yeah. jump in front of the mirror for a little practise when you can.... that should help ease your worries!

Kev's version sounds like Designed for Laughter from RRTCM, one of my favourites.

sounds like youve got the bug now, and an audience who'll want to see more.

Well done, enjoy your journey

Please could we have a thread entitled "aren't magicians stupid ..."
... just look at the old tat we've bought.

aporia wrote:Please could we have a thread entitled "aren't magicians stupid ..."
... just look at the old tat we've bought.

Not to mention the tricks we bought that are the same as the ones we have in a book somewhere, repackaged in shiny tin foil to look all modern.

I'm thinking of releasing a book called the Regal Route to Pasteboard Conjuring, it's a complete course in killer sick routines that will slay all that see them. Make four aces appear in a pack that you haven't touched, where the spectator does all the work, make a chosen card rise from the pack, no gimmicks, no wires, no magnets, finish absolutely clean.

Relish wrote:Kev's version sounds like Designed for Laughter from RRTCM, one of my favourites.

sounds like youve got the bug now, and an audience who'll want to see more.

Well done, enjoy your journey

probably is that effect, using the g****? I've been doing it different recently, i'll PM you.

Thats the one, Its one of my favourites from RRTC

Wahey! Had another bit of fun today but would like to call this one "Aren't killjoys a pain in the hole?"

I've only got one gimmick and that's Coinvexed 2 as I promised myself to only use Bicycles until I'm well versed in sleights otherwise I'll succumb to CUPS and just buy tricks for instant gratification like a lonely businessman with disposable income.

Well, today I did Coinvexed on some people at work including a "magic isn't real" killjoy. I like a challenge and chose him as my coinvexed participant. I used a 1p and 2p (What can I say? I'm tight) and without me realising it he was gripping the 1p in the V of his thumb and index finger, anticipating I would try and make it disappear. Well, trick ends and the 1p is bent and he was left very confused. "Hang on, how did you do that?" He was left staring at it for about a minute. And when asked if he felt me switch coins that's when he revealed he'd been trying to sabotage it. So by doing that, he merely confused himself even more.

"It must be the heat because it has been hot today" and "he must have taken an imprint of my signature and transferred it onto a bent coin" were the top theories.

So whilst I got success with Coinvexed, I tried some E***t K**g stacked mentalism and whilst it worked with two colleagues, Mr "Magic Isn't Real" seemed to deliberately sabotage it. But it's a learning experience to know how to ensure it can't be sabotaged in the future.

But by sheer luck I got the colour and that it was a picture card right. I then did the ol' Derren Brown "I don't think I can do this with you" but the fact I got colour and picture right seemed to satisfy everyone else. So I was quite lucky there.

I've been giving people at work a 2 tricks a day ration and so far it's been rather fun. It's interesting to see how some people don't like card tricks because to them "it's all just sleight of hand stuff" yet reading minds after they've written a number on a business card seems to blow their heads apart. The mentalism took 3 minutes to learn. The sleights are forever being practised. If only they knew!!