talkmagic.co.uk

Hey there,
I'm pretty new to magic and could use a little advice.
I know a good handful of ways to force a specific card upon a spectator, but the problem is where to go once I've done that.
I can use a reveal joker quite well I think, and another I use is to set a picture of the card as the background of my phone, but I could really do with a few more imaginative reveals, so I would really appreciate if a few people could let me know a few of their favourites.
Thank you in advance.

Click the link in my signature (it shows the old forum but search tips are still the same) - note to self, update with new look picture!!

I love this question only because it sounds so simple and straight forward. When the reality is, this is what its all about.

To give a straight forward answer though, card under glass.

I personally quite like to reveal their card in my shoe/window/bar fridge/cards sprung in the air and their card caught etc. etc.

Anyway welcome to TM twelvesharks....you should pop into the introductions area and tell everyone a bit more about yourself, enjoy your stay and all that!!

There are millions of ways to reveal a "freely selected" card.....imagination is your friend here!! The more impossible the better, surely?

Just my thoughts

Much love

Aza

To be honest I think it works better if you find their actual card in an impossible location- reveals like the ones you mention are best used sparingly for fear of tipping the method.

I'd agree with the other posters, but with an additional suggestion : If you intend to reveal the card in any way that isn't making it look like its supposed to be the original, the reveal should be somewhere in the periphery, such as on a badge or accessory they can see but not pay attention to.

That way you can make out that you influenced them, and add an extra bit of cloudiness to the method.

If ( on the other hand ) the card will be revealed to be the original card somehow magically transported, ditch the force and work with a signed card, it's much stronger in the spectators's eyes.

-Stacy

Zipper

Check out Daryls card revelations DVD's there is about 10 volumes just on different reveals and some are awesome.

I see you mention you are new to this. The idea of forcing a card and revealing a dup elsewhere is the most basic use of the force. As you progress with your studies you'll learn more subtle (and better) uses for forcing. Now that you have some forces up your sleeve you should look at learning some controls, which are very important (if you haven't already).

Here's my opinions on reveals for a chosen card,

Personally I'd avoid things like card to fly, shoe or folded inside my mouth. I find these distasteful, even more so if you're planning on letting then keep the card at the end.

The further from the deck/you the card will appear, the greater the need for some sort of identifier (signature, torn corner etc). People aren't stupid, and it will take some convincing if "their" card suddenly appears 20 feet away but there is nothing to prove its the same card. Any intelligent spectator will come to one conclusion - the most likely explaination - a duplicate.

Having the card as the background on your phone, or on a badge (as mentioned), or printed on the card box, or tattoo'd on your @rse is not a good idea for strong magic in my opinion, as it tips the method. The subliminal hokum that was suggested would only work convincingly if the card was thought of rather than chosen from the deck. If its physically chosen, it won't be long before the spectator realises that the permanancy of the reveal (printed or whatever) means you MUST have made them pick that card. They may not know how you did it but they'll know you must have. It tips the force.

Card to pocket/wallet or box can be nice however most versions involve palming in one form or another. I'm not sure how you feel about palming but I'm assuming from your post that you don't yet. You could do a Triumph type thing. A transformation from another card into the selection - perhaps you got it "wrong" first time. You could have a magic Joker which temporarily transforms to the selection - only for a moment though, for a tap on the card by the spectator and it changes back to the Joker. The aces could vanish, the deck is spread and there are the aces face-up in the centre, with a single face down card between them...

Notice that all my suggestions aren't very remote from yours and the cards vicinity, and that none requires a dup. Any card can be used. A more remote location doesn't nessasarily mean a better effect.


Jim




PS. Nice to see you back Jordan, hope you are well.

How about not revealing their card at that point at all. Instead say that you'll get back to it and carry on with other tricks. Each time they ask about it, just tell them to be patient and that you'll reveal all soon. Then, when on your final bit, do a double revelation of whatever it is your finishing with and then their chosen card. So, for example, if your final thing has a prediction in a sealed envelope, you could also pull out a duplicate of their card as a double kicker of an ending.
If there is enough time between your first and last tricks, you could try to convince them that they'd never selected the card from the pack in the first place but instead they'd merely thought of a card! The more time between the force and the reveal, the harder it will be for them to potentially work out the method; especially if you toss them a few red herrings.
If you're extra sneaky and have time to plan ahead, you could even attempt to have call backs in the envelope to the other tricks you've performed.

If you want to show that you've predicted a forced card, you're moving from "card trick" to mentalism, but you'd need to change your presentation mindset. You may benefit from a read of Annemann's "Practical Mental Magic/Effects". Better still, get hold of Henry Hay's "Amateur Magician's Handbook" (essential reading for all magicians) which has a few Annemann effects in its mentalism chapter.

Barry