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Wiregram

The Effect

A spectator chooses a card then the card is revealed via a piece of fuse wire that magically changes into the shape of the chosen card.

Cost = I got mine free with my Dejavu Deck but I believe magic box sell them for £10.00

Difficulty = 1 a blind hedgehog lost in the woods on a snowy day could pull this off


I was playing with trick yesterday and thought I would give it an outing as it has been sitting on my desk getting dusty for far to long so I went out with some friends to the local pub ordered a cup of black coffee put down a small brown box on the table covered with a couple of elastic bands (the box that is not the table) and asked the person to choose a card which was forced then I asked the spectator to return the deck to the pack and pop it back in its box so there was no way I could know what the card was.

I then proceed to tell them about the box and how it had been sitting on the table the whole time and that the rubber bands were keeping it shut I then removed the rubber bands open the box only to find no card in there just a bit of old wire I showed the spectator the box and I looked in the box tapped it shook it turned it upside down where upon the wee bit of wire fell into my coffee .I asked the bar man for a spoon (giving the metal time to heat up) and then pulled the piece of fuse wire out of the cup in the shape of the chosen card.

Taa Daa the spec loved it and so did the people sitting next me.


Overall

I was amazed with the reaction I got as Fuse wire is not often used in magic but it is something people are used to seeing so this trick worked very well for me I give it 10/10 because it does what it says on the box and they are not expecting the piece of wire to do anything.

What you get in your package is a pice of wire that transforms into a card shape and that's it.

The trick can be re-used as you just straighten it up and your ready to go

Dean

P.S

Hope you like the review.

D.

Sorry for the bad spelling and grammer on the reviewas I have just noticed a few errors .

D.

Sorry for the bad spelling and grammer on the reviewas I have just noticed a few errors

so correct them. there is an edit button...

Thanks for the review though. I love wiregrams and use them a lot. I have three differet values and frequently use them as part of my table hopping routine. Personally I don't do it with hot liquids though, one because I find the results erratic, and two because when hopping tables, it wouldn't be the done thing to dunk your wire in someone elses tea. It's great though if the tables have candles.

In the situation you did it in though - well done. Sounds like it got the reaction it deserved.

At one point I was going to produce some ESP symbol versions of these, but I couldn't get the costs down enough (unless I produced 10'000 of them, and that just didn't seem viable...)

Thanks for the review, no probs re the spelling! Wiregram is one of those things which is difficult to review as it's a one trick pony where the real magic is in how you use it and how you reveal the chosen card. Someone (I think it was Nickj) mentioned ages ago that it worked with a very hot beverage and this seemed preferable to using a flame - somehow more natural but spooky.

Thank you for the kind words and for pointing out the edit button.

Dean

Ah, the Wiregram...

I was given this trick by a kind fella at a magic shop when I was just starting out in magic... and I found it near impossible to find a way to present it.

The best reaction I got was to take the wire as if I'd just found it on the floor, and then get the spec to hold it tight in their fist. I'd tell them that the mental image of their card was flowing through their blood stream (somehow) and that when they opened their fist the wire would tell them what their card was. So they did, found nothing, and then gave it back to me... So now I, looking a little sheepish at the fact the trick didn't work, stir my cup of tea with the wire. When it comes out, their card is revealed! This reveal never really worked though...they just couldn't get over the disappointment of the fact it didn't change in their hands.

Then one day, going through the routine again with someone in a coffee shop after a lecture at university, I dropped the wire into my tea before I could put it in her hand! Turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me, as the reveal got an amazing reaction!

Another good thing I've discovered is to use the wire as a prediction - works much better than writing the name of the card on a piece of paper, trust me. Show them the wire and drop it in your coffee - not theirs, especially if you don't know them! - and force the card on them. Empty the coffee and show them the wire.

An extravagant way of revealing the wire is to plunge your hand into the tea for the reveal. Very messy but they love it!

jimbothegreatest wrote:An extravagant way of revealing the wire is to plunge your hand into the tea for the reveal. Very messy but they love it!

Bl**dy hot, an' all!

This effect got the strongest reaction of anything I've ever done in my local pub over the last couple of years. It had people freaking out. This is awesome.

A simple force of a card (beginners don't PM me just look in a book ! ). No fancy stuff here, I took it in the pub the day I got it and made it up as I went along. I just threw the cards onto the table and said that I was always finding cards and would they like me to find out what the card was in a novel and different way. They always said yes. I pulled the wire out of my wallet and warmed it with my lighter. I had folk cheering and clapping, and I've never had that every single time I performed different tricks. This effect is awesome.

HOWEVER, be aware that it can fail. It did for me. I use a Zippo lighter for my cigars and used that. After about 30 performances it snagged on the lighter as it bent and I yanked it off, after which it never worked again.

I've now got another and now I use a small gas lighter that has less places for the wire to snag on.

Belive me, in a pub this is one of the best astounding effects you can do, when everyone is watching the wire they haven't a clue what you are going to do but as it takes shape it knocks their socks off. 11 out of 10 for this one.