talkmagic.co.uk

I've been toying around with an idea for a card trick recently and I just wanted to check if it's been done before. It's sort of along the lines of Out of this World, but with a couple of twists. In fact you could probably routine it together with Out of this World. Anyway, here's the general idea:

Spectator shuffles deck.

Magician shuffles deck.

Magician is blindfolded (can be a genuine blindfold).

Magician has spectator A select a card and replace it.

Magician has spectator B select a card and replace it.

Magician rapidly deals the deck face-down into two piles of cards.

When the piles are turned over, it is seen that one contains all the red cards, except for one black card which is one of the selected cards. The other contains all the black cards, except for one red card which is the other spectator's selection.

Sound familiar? Worth pursuing?

Definitely worth pursuing. I think I'm on the record somewhere on TM as being no great fan of OOTW. Simply because I feel it's convoluted, predictable, and I think someone showed me it when I was four. The speed, fairness, and the twist of the blindfold take it to another level. I'd certainly like to see it performed. I don't know of a performance as you describe but that doesn't mean it's not out there. I've been working on a little something myself which ill be posting a link to soon. Let us know how you get on!!

Best of luck!!

K

RULE OF THUMB: If it's a card trick chances are extremely high that yes, it's been done before. . . now go learn some real magic and stop playing with your deck in public

I couldn't say for certain if its been done before but the individual components have been around for a while. In fact the first part is very similar to how I used to begin OOTW (I don't perform it now), assuming its the same method. The odd card part is usually used secretly as a way to locate a chosen card.

If the method is what I think it is then you may be better having BOTH cards chosen, then returned. Having one chosen then returned would mean there would be a chance that the second spectator could pick the same card.

I'd also loose the blindfold, its unnecesarry. I also hate the damn things.


Jim

With the method I was thinking of, there's no chance of the same card being chosen twice so it's O.K. to have them picked separately. The reason behind the blindfold was that it would alleviate any suspicion that the cards were marked in some way, which would make it easy for the conjuror to separate them into red and black piles when dealing face-down. My main reason for asking, I suppose, is because if the same thing's been done before with a simple method then there's no point in me continuing with something that's overly complicated.

Poppadom wrote:With the method I was thinking of, there's no chance of the same card being chosen twice so it's O.K. to have them picked separately. The reason behind the blindfold was that it would alleviate any suspicion that the cards were marked in some way, which would make it easy for the conjuror to separate them into red and black piles when dealing face-down. My main reason for asking, I suppose, is because if the same thing's been done before with a simple method then there's no point in me continuing with something that's overly complicated.

Drop the blindfold. The only people interested in blindfolds are mentalists, the spectators are not fooled by them in the least. I'm sorry, nobody believes the magician is walking around the stage and can't see. In fact blindfolds will only make your audience nervous until the realize they are not the ones being blind folded. The only time a spectator thinks about a marked deck, is when the magician goes out to try and prove it is not marked, or is worried that the spectator will think it is marked. Otherwise they don't think about it.

As for the effect itself? It has been done in various forms many times before, no reason why you can't persue this presentation. Nor do I believe you would be wasting your time even if it has been done before, this will just aid you in the creative process.

I totally agree with bmat. There's no need to worry about the specs thinking that the cards are marked. As long as you handle everything naturally there's no reason for that to even enter their minds. There are times when a blindfold can add something to a routine but in your case I'd say that it doesn't add anything and would probably actually look out of place.

That all seems fair, and to be honest it would be a bit of a pain doing it with a blindfold on anyway. I'll keep working on it and probably post a video at some point so you can get a better idea of what it's like. I imagine the method should become a bit clearer to you as well if you see it being done.