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So last night I was at Carling 2 in Liverpool at a gig and some people i happen to know over myspace where there and wanted to see some magic. So I performed a number of card effects and I wanted to watch the band so I decided to close things up.

I had a spec shuffle the deck and take out a card. He noted it and i told him to cut the deck and place his card in the middle. I then gathered the cards a demonstrated how they were all mixed up, he shuffled them and he could have chosen any one. it seemed pretty fair. I then went on to saying I was going to find his card using a series of things. I told him to say red and then black. He did. I said so your card is black. He laughed and nodded. I told him to say club and spade. Your card is a spade. What the f**k he replied with. The rest of the audience seemed pretty shocked at this point. I then told him to say high and low. Then asked to say picture. Your card is a high card and I htink I know what it is. I pulled out the 8 of spades and gave it to him face down. I asked what his card was, he turned it over and the reations were out of this world! The simplest effect of the night got the biggest reaction. IT WAS ONLY A KEY CARD!

Just goes to show you, with simple mechanics and good patter you can make the impossible

I love using key cards. I think every person in the world knows about the key card but will not know when you are using one, a perfect example of how exposure does not effect magic.

Yes, sometimes the simplest of effects have the best reponse with the layman. Flashy sleights are all good & well, but with a simpler effect you are concentrating more on the presentation which is what differentiates a mediocre performance from an excellent one.
One which I love performing & gets a great response is MIRASKILL from The Encyclopedia of Card Tricks. A simple p**m is all that's needed & the reaction is superb.

card to glasses if a fav of mine and always gets good reactions, thogh i had a great one last week had a card selected then shuffled it into the deck, said wouldn't it be great if your card was on top, ready to do the card on top tells me your card and low and behold it was on the top.

Presentation can make any basic effect work wonders. For example, The Ball Vase: Mike Gallo amazes frequently with a prop found in every magic set out there.

Michael Kras wrote:Presentation can make any basic effect work wonders. For example, The Ball Vase: Mike Gallo amazes frequently with a prop found in every magic set out there.

I thought you didn't use gimmicks

I love effects that use key cards. I have one that I made up myself where I hindu shuffle to any place a spec wants to pick their card. Then placing the card in the middle of the deck, I spread all the cards face up on the table. Then I tell them that I will feel their pulse as I wave their hand over the cards. It's great because I narrow down the cards slowly by saying things like "Okay, your pulse is calm over here, so your card is more over here". It's great because when I reveal the card, they are totally blown away ! A key card is a great versatile piece of magic.

YOU made that up. HA! That has been put in print countless times.

I have one that I made up myself

That's exactly what he said

Anyway, I agree that key cards are a great tool but another that is often overlooked is the dirty card, where one card is taken out of an old deck and used to replace the same card from a new deck.

Michael Kras wrote:YOU made that up. HA! That has been put in print countless times.

I think you should edit this a bit. You were thinking of SELLING ideas that were FLAT OUT COPIES of other people's effects. Also, this time, you're the one trying to provoke Monker. Just calm down.

Ok. Yes, I understand. I was going to flat out copy people's work?

Your mental shake up was technically a mutilated version of Paul Harris' effect. You say it was an older version, but you still had intentions of selling it at some point. Monker was merely saying he independently came up with a structure for an effect using Stripped cards. You attacked him despite having done worse than him. You asked for "support" countless times and the instant Monker mentions something he's proud of, you dump on it.

Mental Shake Up is history. I based it on Paul Harris' effect, but magicians said is was EXACTLY like Paul's, which it isn't. I did get rid of it because of some grave similarities however. So it's gone, and so are other previously published routines.

Back to simple magic

Its probably the most asked question for myself- did I use a key card (well they don't say key card but ask about looking at the bottom card).

My favourite trick using the key card has to be Emotional Reaction by Dai Vernon. Very simple and is great to use on two people. I usually use it when someone says that I have fast hands, I'll hand the deck out and perform it.