Copyright © December 1, 2008 by Thomas Baxter

The

Project

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

i. Table of Contents iv. Introduction

Pg. 1 Preface Pg. 2 A Brief History of The Open Prediction Pg. 9 Conditions for 51 Faces North

SOLUTIONS #1 Pg. 12 FATE -- Mick Ayres (U.S.A.)

#2 Pg. 15 UNANIMIS -- Mick Ayres

#3 Pg. 18 MARKEDLY OPEN -- John Barratt (U.K.)

#4 Pg. 21 BRRR! -- Thomas Baxter (Canada)

#5 Pg. 23 SALARIUM -- Thomas Baxter

#6 Pg. 27 27 BELOW -- Thomas Baxter

#7 Pg. 30 POW! -- Tom Begley (U.K.)

#8 Pg. 31 51 FACES SAVED -- Ben Blau (U.S.A)

#9 Pg. 34 THE HIDDEN PERSUADER -- Ben Blau

#10 Pg. 36 LEFT OPEN -- Andrew Brown (U.K.)

#11 Pg. 40 THE BROKEN PREDICTION -- Andrew Brown

#12 Pg. 41 TRIBUTE TO S.J. -- Andrew Brown

#13 Pg. 44 T.O.P. -- David Bui (U.S.A.)

#14 Pg. 48 CUTTING A KEY -- David Bui

#15 Pg. 52 JOHNNY’S DILEMMA -- Hector Chadwick (U.K.)

#16 Pg. 62 ALMOST OPEN -- Vernon Cosmiano (U.S.A.)

#17 Pg. 63 A LITTLE MIRACLE -- Vernon Cosmiano

#18 Pg. 65 SOMEBODY STOP ME! -- Olly Crofton (U.K.)

#19 Pg. 67 AN EXPERIMENT IN THOUGHT -- Iain Dunford (U.K.)

#20 Pg. 70 PATH OF A SHERPA -- Aaron Enyeart (U.S.A.)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont’d)

#21 Pg. 73 IMPROMPTU “L.A. OPEN” --Aaron Enyeart (U.S.A.)

#22 Pg. 75 SPONTANE EINSICHT -- Sebastian Frieske (Germany)

#23 Pg. 77 UnDONE -- Joshua Giles (U.S.A.)

#24 Pg. 88 MY GRANDFATHER’S CURRY -- John Hacket (U.K.)

#25 Pg. 96 HACKETING ALDO OPEN -- Jon Hacket

#26 Pg. 99 UNABRIDGED -- Bezalel Hermoso (Phillipines)

#27 Pg. 109 SPEEDO PREDICTION -- Claude Impiriale (U.K.)

#28 Pg. 114 BRR! GONE MENTAL -- Mislav Kovacic (Croatia)

#29 Pg. 118 SUMO -- Mislav Kovacic

#30 Pg. 120 YOUR O.P. -- Mislav Kovacic

#31 Pg. 123 NORTHERN NIRVANA -- Vincent Mara (Canada)

#32 Pg. 126 AZTEC OPEN PREDICTION -- Alexander May (U.S.A.)

#33 Pg. 128 cOmPatibility -- Hiro Okada (Japan)

#34 Pg. 129 EVENING THE ODDS -- Hiro Okada

#35 Pg. 132 DIANOLOGOUS -- Hiro Okada

#36 Pg. 134 F = FATE, FEAR & FREE WILL -- Hiro Okada

#37 Pg. 139 FINISH OPEN FROM THE START -- Miikka Pakarinen (Finland)

#38 Pg. 141 SHUFFLE CHALLENGE TOO -- Marc Paul (U.K.)

#39 Pg. 144 OPEN UNCONSCIOUS -- Matteo Perlini (Italy)

#40 Pg. 148 DOPPELGANGER PREDICTION -- Sheldon Peters (U.S.A.)

#41 Pg. 149 O.P.P. -- Joshua Quinn (U.S.A.)

#42 Pg. 152 THE OPEN SECRET -- Tom Ransom (Canada)

#43 Pg. 159 ISOLATED TWIST -- Patrick Redford (U.S.A.)

#44 Pg. 161 ADVANTAGEOUS -- Patrick Redford

#45 Pg. 163 THE O.P. SPREAD -- Patrick Redford

#46 Pg. 165 STANDING PREDICTION -- Patrick Redford

#47 Pg. 167 JAMESIAN MONTE -- Barrie Richardson (U.S.A.)

#48 Pg. 170 OPEN SENSATION -- Tatanka Tan (U.S.A.)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont’d)

#49 Pg. 171 TRULY FANTASTIC O.P. -- Dominic Twose (U.K.)

#50 Pg. 173 PARALLEL LIES -- Michael Weber (U.S.A.)

#51 Pg. 179 NARROWING THE WIDE O.P. -- John W. Wells (U.S.A.)

Pg. 182 APPENDIX I -- The Psychological Stop Trick

Pg. 183 APPENDIX II -- The Hofzinser Spread Cull

Pg. 184 APPENDIX III -- Conspiracy Theory

Pg. 197 APPENDIX IV -- Previously Published Open Predictions

REGARDING COPYRIGHTS & ALL OTHER RIGHTS

While Thomas Baxter retains the copyright for this work in total as a collection, all rights pertaining to the routines contained in this collection are retained by the individual contributors.

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INTRODUCTION

The Open Prediction. Three words that have caused sleepless nights for magicians and mentalists around the world. I first became aware of the concept in my mid-teens, almost 40 years ago. I had become a student of the owner of one of North America’s oldest Magic Shops, now long-gone, sadly (both the owner and the shop). He told me about the night that he sat at his kitchen table with a fellow named Stewart James. Stewart performed an effect that he called: 51 Faces North. The effect sounded impossible. My mentor, Harry Smith, shuffled his own pack of cards. Up until that moment, Stewart had been amazing Harry with Stewart’s own pack, performing a series of dove-tailing effects where each effect automatically set up the cards for the next one. But for this effect, Harry used his own cards, and shuffled them himself. Stewart never touched the cards. On a piece of napkin, Stewart wrote the name of a card: The Four of Hearts. He asked Harry to deal the cards, one at a time, face up onto the table in a heap, and to watch for the Four of Hearts. Anywhere along the way, Stewart directed, Harry was to leave one card face down without looking at it, then continue dealing the rest of the pack face up. Harry did as directed. As he dealt the last few face-up cards, the tension was unbearable. The predicted card didn’t show itself amongst any of the face-up cards he had dealt. Harry watched for a move, a switch, ANYTHING. But nothing was done. Stewart never touched the cards. Stewart told Harry to turn over the face down card. It was the Four of Hearts! Harry was not often fooled by a card effect, but this one floored him. I insisted that he must have left something out of the telling of the tale, and he was just as insistent that he had related it exactly as it had happened. Stewart James and his 51 Faces North became mythic images in my mind. Little did I know then, as a rolly-polly 15-year-old wannabe magician, that years later I would meet Stewart and become his friend, and even have to opportunity to ask him about his legendary effect.

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Somewhere between the time that Harry told me of Stewart’s performance and when I actually met Stewart, I learned of the true origins of The Open Prediction and Paul Curry’s Unsolved Card Problem. I scoured the published lore regarding Open Predictions, and even published a few of my own solutions to the problem. 51 Faces North (with the fabled “conditions” Stewart attached to his effect) is almost universally considered to be the ultimate manifestation of the Open Prediction, but others have worked out fine solutions, both before and after Stewart James created his legendary effect. Is 51 Faces North the “Holy Grail”? In fact, no one really knows, since Stewart chose to never reveal his method. Oh, there is a solution published purporting to be Stewart’s actual method for 51 Faces North, but there are some - myself included - who wonder if it is truly what it is purported to be, and even if it is -- is it honestly the ultimate solution? In my opinion, the ‘Grail Quest’ continues, and hence this collection of 51 unique and thoughtful variations of The Open Prediction. Contributors whose solutions you will find here are from all over the world and from all walks of life. Some are well-known professionals in magic or mentalism, and others are hobbyists or accomplished amateur performers. All have one thing in common: They have flexed their creative energies to their limit to meet the challenge of inventing something unique by way of an Open Prediction. If my invitation to contribute to this book has been a catalyst for that massive creative effort, then I feel that this work is already a success for everyone involved.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Tom Ransom made his vast Magic Library available to me, yet again. Without his generosity this work simply would not exist. In addition, he spent many hours of his own time searching for obscure mentions of Open Predictions, checking time-lines re: the evolution of the concept, and acting as a sounding-board for my wild flights of fancy. He is a quiet hero in the realm of magical literature. David Britland shared his own history of the Open Prediction on his internet blog: Cardopolis. It was very helpful in filling in a few blanks. A personal thank-you to Patrick Watson who, despite being a bit under-the-weather, made some inquiries on my behalf that almost helped to land an unpublished solution by Martin Gardner. Unfortunately, Allan Slaight says that the solution is no longer in his files, and neither he nor Martin can remember the method. Finally, my gratitude to all those who shared their creativity and efforts in the pages to follow. Thomas Baxter, December 1, 2008

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PREFACE

In structuring this collection, I was faced with a number of hard choices: How to create Order from Chaos? Should I place contributor’s solutions in the order in which they were received, or perhaps place them by Country of origin? Perhaps they should be grouped by methodology (gaffed; un-gaffed; sleights; subtlety; mathematical; etc.). The fact that this collection would also be a competition of sorts, created even more questions: As Editor, should I include my personal comments on each solution? If I did, would that influence the readers’ votes? Should I re-produce each contribution exactly as I received it, or should I edit judiciously? In the end I was forced to make some executive decisions. In order to avoid bias, I’ve listed the various solutions by their creator’s name, in alphabetical order. I thought this the fairest answer to that problem. I chose not to comment on each solution, so as not to ‘curry’ (pun intended) attention for any particular contribution. I have interjected Editor’s Notes here and there in order to help clarify or to add historical perspective. Editing this book was more of a task than I had expected it would be. In all, I edited, formatted and worked through the handlings of over 70 submissions. For each submitted solution I went through a mountain of research material, attempting to make sure that no solution was an exact copy of anything that had been published by someone else. Despite my best efforts, I suspect that upon reading this book, someone will point out a reference I’ve missed. If that happens, I’ll do my best to send updates to those who buy the book. Some contributions fell by the wayside because they were obviously copied from previously published solutions. Some were left out because the methods could not work reliably. Still others hit the editing room floor because another contributor had already thought of and submitted the same exact idea. While there are cases where the same basic method was used by various contributors (i.e. Three people have used the Cut-Deeper Force as part of their method, each in very different ways), if the individual presentation or handling was unique, I allowed it to stay. Any photos you find included in the book were submitted by the contributors. I hope that all who purchase this collection will find that they’ve received excellent value for their money. My hope is that this book will inspire you to stretch your own creative muscles and will “Open” your mind to possibilities not imagined before reading The Open Prediction Project.

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A BRIEF HISTORY

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THE OPEN PREDICTION

The Open Prediction, now a classic plot in magic with playing cards, was a challenge created by Performer Paul Curry, originally shared only in private discussions and through correspondence with a very small group of performers. It was originally known as The Curry Unsolved Card Problem.

In his challenge, Curry suggested an effect wherein a prediction of the name of a playing card is announced or shown openly at the start of the effect. A spectator then shuffles a pack of cards and deals the cards face up onto the table, one at a time, until they choose to stop at a random point and deal the next card face down, without looking at its identity. They then continue dealing the remainder of the pack face up. Everyone watches the deal, looking for the predicted card in the face up cards dealt. It does not appear. At the end, the participant turns up the sole face down card. It is the card that was openly predicted at the start.

Some historians have erroneously recorded that the first appearance of an “Open Prediction” in print was in Ed Marlo's The Cardician in late 1953. However, an earlier mention of the card problem, together with a possible solution, found its way into print in December of 1949 in Phoenix magazine, when a letter written to Bruce Elliott by Gerald Kosky appeared.

In his letter, Kosky mentions a card problem being worked on by Elliott, Dai Vernon, Paul Curry, Bill Simon and Martin Gardner. He then describes the concept of writing down the name of a card, having the spectator deal cards face up from a shuffled deck, handing you one of the cards face down, and the face down card matching the prediction. In his letter, he doesn’t use the words “Open Prediction”, and indeed, doesn’t make clear that the prediction is shown at the beginning of the effect. But this early mention throws suspicion on events to come a few years later, with regard to who knew what about the Open Prediction concept, and when they knew it.

More solutions and discussion of the problem saw the light of day with the publication of two solutions to the Open Prediction challenge in the March, 1953 issue of Pentagram magazine. Peter Warlock’s Angle on Marlo and Stewart James' Angle on Angle on Marlo were introduced in the article by a piece from Francis Haxton that describes how he became aware of the Open Prediction problem and how he had then “tipped” the notion at an ‘exclusive gathering’ of Performers in London.

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So how, then did Curry’s idea become credited to Ed Marlo, even prior to Marlo’s having published any work on the card problem? And how did Marlo’s idea in turn inspire Francis Haxton, Peter Warlock, Stewart James and subsequent generations of the best minds in Magic and Mentalism to wrestle with the challenge of The Open Prediction?

MARLO TIPS IT

Turns out it was all Percy Abbot’s fault.

Percy, with Harry Blackstone, Sr., had co-founded The Blackstone Magic Company in Colon, Michigan, in the year 1929. Blackstone owned properties in Colon, and used the town as a base to store and build equipment for his famous touring illusions shows. He would rehearse his new shows in the Colon Opera House before taking them on the road.

The idea was that Blackstone would finance the Magic Company and that his name would act as a selling tool for what they manufactured. Percy would run the shop, overseeing the building of props and tricks for sale, filling orders, etc., while Blackstone was on the road with his shows. This relationship lasted for only two years. Blackstone came off the road from a long tour and apparently was incensed at the state of the Magic Company’s business affairs. An angry confrontation took place, and the partnership was dissolved on the spot.

Two years later, in 1933, Percy Abbott and a new partner, Recil Bordner, opened a new company, named Abbott’s Magic Manufacturing Company.

For the first several months, business was pretty bad. In an effort to attract some attention to their products, Percy decided to throw an “open house” and invited Performers from neighboring states to attend. About 50 people turned up for the first “Abbott’s Get-Together”, and it did seem to help in getting the word out about the company, so they repeated the party the next summer, and drew an even bigger crowd.

The next year the Get-Together was opened to the public, and business took off. The Get-Together consisted of public magic shows; lectures for Performers; a large showroom of demonstrators showing the newest Abbott products; and most importantly for those who attended, the opportunity to meet other Performers and magic hobbyists and to talk magic long into the night, either in someone’s rented room or at the local American Legion hall.

The Abbott’s Get-Together became an annual magical institution, and continues to this very day.

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The story of The Open Prediction began when Paul Curry shared his challenge idea, in confidence, with a small group of Performers in late 1948. Among those who were “in” on the concept and who were working on their own solutions were Martin Gardiner, Dai Vernon, Bill Simon and a Performer named Oscar Weigle.

Weigle, without Curry’s knowledge (but crediting Curry with the idea), shared the concept with Ed Marlo during a late-night session at Abbott’s Get-Together, in August of 1949. Marlo’s imagination was fired by the problem. After considerable experimentation and thought, Marlo devised what he thought were a number of fair solutions for the challenge.

He kept the effect to himself for a short period of time, but in August of 1952 he found himself again in Colon, Michigan to attend the Abbott’s Get-Together. Also attending the 1952 Get-Together were good friends Stewart James and Francis Haxton. Haxton, a building engineer by trade, was an enthusiastic and accomplished amateur Performer, specializing in Magic with playing cards. Stewart James was well-known at Abbott’s, having invented a number of their best-selling apparatus tricks, and even having run a “branch office” for Abbott’s in his home town years before.

The British Francis Haxton had met Stewart James while James was posted in England while serving in the armed forces during World War Two. The two became good friends and they continued to correspond when Stewart went back to Canada. In the Summer of 1952 Haxton, with a contingent of British Performers (nick-named “The Flying Sorcerers”), had come to attended the convention in Colon. Stewart re-united with his old friend Haxton at the event.

During the Get-Together, James and Haxton met up with Ed Marlo. Stewart James and Ed Marlo had corresponded frequently, and the three men instantly “hit it off” and shared a love for card magic, so it was natural that a card session would ensue that lasted into the early hours of the morning. During this session, Ed Marlo told the others about a card problem that he had been working on. An Open Prediction.

Marlo expressed the following concept: The unusual effect would begin with the performer openly making a prediction of a card, say, the Queen of Hearts. This prediction could be spoken aloud or written down, but the essential thing is that everyone was aware of the predicted card before the effect would proceed.

Marlo went on to explain that in his effect a shuffled deck of cards is handed to the participant who is then directed to deal cards face-up, one at a time, onto the table, or onto a participant’s hand. The Performer directs the participant to randomly choose a moment during the deal when he will leave one of the cards face-down, a card of his choosing, and then continue dealing through the rest of the deck turning the remaining cards face-up. Everyone else is requested to

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watch for the predicted card as the face-up cards are dealt. As the last card is dealt, it’s obvious that the predicted card has not been seen. When the card that the spectator chose to leave face down during the deal is turned over, it is seen to be the predicted card, the Queen of Hearts.

Marlo performed one of his solutions for Haxton (and possibly James). What he did not do (according to Haxton and James) was tell them that the concept for the challenge belonged to Paul Curry.

Later, upon his return to England, Haxton wrote to James (11th Oct.,1952) excitedly announcing that he had devised a solution of his own for the Open Prediction challenge. In his reply James revealed that he too had invented a workable version. They went on for the next several months corresponding and sharing ideas about what they referred to as: “The Marlo Problem”.

At that time, Francis Haxton met regularly with a small group of magical neighbours and friends in the U.K., meeting informally in each other’s homes. Named "The Six", the original members were Haxton, Peter Warlock, Jack Avis, Dr. Nicholls Harley, Eric de la Mare and Brian McCarthy. At one of these meetings, Haxton shared the concept of The Open Prediction challenge, demonstrating his solution, and describing his meeting with Ed Marlo and Stewart James. In explaining the concept, not knowing the true origins with respect to Paul Curry, Haxton credited Marlo with the creation of the concept.

Peter Warlock, a member of The Six, immediately began work to devise his own version of The Open Prediction, and came up with a very good effect that he ironically entitled Angle On Marlo. Warlock shared his routine, through correspondence, with Stewart James.

Warlock’s solution involved a sleight of hand move that caught Stewart’s fancy. Stewart named the move “The Triple Turnover Reverse Concealment”, and immediately devised his own twist on the move, incorporating it into a routine to demonstrate how it might be used. He mailed this routine off to Haxton and Warlock, never meaning for it to be tied in print to The Open Prediction, as he had quite different thoughts about the Open Prediction problem.

Through miscommunication, Angle On Angle On Marlo was the name given to Stewart’s effect by Haxton and Warlock. With a foreword by Haxton describing “Marlo’s” challenge, Warlock published the two solutions as solutions for The Open Prediction challenge in his magazine, Pentagram (March, 1953).

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EMBARRASSMENT

Haxton took a lot of ‘heat’ for “outing” the concept of the Open Prediction in print.

Shortly after publication of the effects in Pentagram, Haxton received word from those close to Marlo that Marlo was very upset that others had tipped what they had discussed in a private “undeground” session. In Marlo’s view, Haxton was responsible for making it public. Haxton realized, too late, that the man he thought responsible for the concept – Marlo – had not yet published any of his own work on the idea. He immediately wrote to Marlo to apologize and to attempt to ease the embarrassment between himself, Warlock, James and Marlo.

Even at this point in time, Marlo had still not made it clear that the concept of The Open Prediction was not his own, but rightfully belonged to Paul Curry. It was Stewart James who learned shortly thereafter that Curry was the creator of the Open Prediction concept. He shared this knowledge with Warlock and Haxton.

Marlo’s response seems to have been that it was all a misunderstanding. He explained that while he may not have made clear that the idea was Curry’s, he (Marlo) had never claimed that the idea was his own, only that the solution that he demonstrated at the Colon Get-Together was original with him. The misunderstandings that resulted, he explained, were due to false assumptions made by James and Haxton, which were then perpetuated by Haxton sharing the information with “The Six” in England and Warlock’s subsequent publishing of the material in Pentagram.

This “misunderstanding” and the ensuing drama is somewhat of a mystery to me. If you’ll remember, the card problem had been published in The Phoenix back in 1949, and although the source of the card challenge was not credited, the article did mention several very well known card men who were working on the problem at that time, including Paul Curry. Why James, Haxton and Warlock wouldn’t already know the creator of the idea, and why Marlo took Haxton to task for “outing” the concept, isn’t clear.

A clue perhaps, is a frequent mention in print that Marlo would re-issue the card challenge, year after year, at Abbott’s Get Together. It may very well be that Marlo didn’t include credit to Curry at these sessions, and so folks like Vernon, Gardner, Simon, and Elliott associated the idea solely with Marlo. The publication of The Open Prediction concept, attaching Marlo’s name to it as the creator, would have caused Marlo some embarrassment with those who knew the true origins of the card problem.

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The question of why Paul Curry (whose name was mentioned in The Phoenix along with the others) didn’t speak up at that time and claim credit for the idea, also remains a mystery to me. Curiously, Curry’s own solution to the Open Prediction problem didn’t appear until many years later, in his book, SPECIAL EFFECTS (1977). Perhaps someone reading this work knows the answer and can fill in this gap in my understanding of the history of this effect.

Marlo later acknowledged his debt to Curry in his book, THE CARDICIAN (late 1953), where he published the version of The Open Prediction that he had demonstrated to James and Haxton in Colon. Ironically, Marlo’s first solution was made possible only through the use of another Paul Curry idea, a card switch from Curry’s effect called A Cur (r) i-ous Prediction (MORE CARD MANIPULATIONS, Vol. 3, 1940).

The publication of the two solutions to the Open Prediction challenge in Pentagram seems to have caused a minor rift between Stewart James and Francis Haxton at the time as well. Haxton had written up the solutions for Pentagram himself, and according to James had missed one of the key elements of the problem, that the prediction is shown openly and not written down unseen by the spectators on a folded piece of paper, as it was in the versions published in Pentagram.

Haxton took the stance that the open nature of the prediction was the weakest part of the problem. He argued that it lessened the suspense and would lead to the audience believing that the predicted card was not in the deck to begin with. James vehemently disagreed, and it was an issue between the two of them from that point on.

Ibidem # 3

STEWART JAMES SHAKES THINGS UP

At last the problem of the Open Prediction had been made public, and the rightful creator of the concept had been given credit. Stewart James felt free now to share his thoughts on the problem (which was now being referred to as The Curry’s Unsolved Card Problem) with the magical fraternity. Well, perhaps not quite ALL of his thoughts.

In August of 1955, in issue number 3 of Canadian Howard Lyons’ Ibidem magazine, Stewart published a lengthy article dissecting what he called The Open Prediction. Although in his introduction to the issue Howard Lyons makes a brief reference to “what once was called the Curry Unsolved Card Problem”, no mention is made of Paul Curry and his creation of the Open Prediction concept by Stewart in his dissertation on the Open Prediction, even though by this time all parties involved were well aware of the situation.

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Stewart goes so far as to thank Marlo for allowing him to quote the basic description of the concept of The Open Prediction from Marlo’s book, The Cardician, but despite Marlo’s crediting Curry in that book, Stewart James makes no mention of Curry in his contribution in Ibidem. I find this lack of crediting very odd, especially given the misunderstandings and hard feelings that had occurred earlier. Stewart was usually meticulous in his crediting.

Later, in the mammoth tome: STEWART JAMES IN PRINT (1989), in a chapter discussing The Open Prediction, Stewart does credit Curry as having originally suggested the idea, and points out that The Open Prediction was originally known as The Curry Unsolved Card Problem (p.667).

In his article in IBIDEM #3, Stewart details 25 complete variations of The Open Prediction, with explanations of the workings of each version. Howard Lyons then goes on to list 11 more of his own routined solutions for the problem. The wide range of approaches, combined with a two-page over-view of Stewart’s thinking in approaching and analyzing the problem make IBIDEM #3 a wonderful resource for anyone exploring the Open Prediction problem.

As if these 36 intriguing and provocative versions of the effect were not enough to set readers’ heads spinning, Howard Lyons then includes a description by Stewart of the conditions under which his favorite version can be accomplished. 51 Faces North makes its first appearance in print, although without an explanation as to how it might be accomplished. Stewart later claimed that the notes and conditions regarding 51 Faces North that Howard published in IBIDEM were meant as a private note to Howard, and were not sent for the purpose of publication.

Amazing to think that this card effect, which to magicians has become arguably the most famous card effect in history, was accidentally made known and might otherwise have been kept a secret forever.

Stewart James and I ‘openly’ disagree on which card should Face South

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CONDITIONS FOR 51 FACES NORTH

By now it is likely that anyone who has purchased this e-book will be familiar with 51 Faces North, almost universally regarded as the penultimate version of the Open Prediction, along with the infamous “conditions” that Stewart laid out for the effect. For the sake of completeness, I include them here:

1. Borrowed cards may be used.

2. The deck is ordinary, and might even have cards missing. You don't

have to know which cards, or how many are missing. You only have

to be sure that the card you predict is there.

3. You do not need privacy with the cards to set something.

4. The deck is never out of sight for a moment.

5. No card or cards are stolen from or added to the deck.

6. Borrowed writing materials may be used.

7. It is described as a prediction at the time of writing. The prediction is

the name of a card. It is known to all before the first card is dealt.

8. Strictly impromtu. No time alone to set-up the cards or special tools

necessary.

9. No alternative meanings or effect.

10. Nothing but the borrowed articles used.

11. When the spectator starts dealing, the performer does not know where

the predicted card is. It would not help to know with this method. Nor

does the performer know the location in the pack of any other card.

12. The performer never knows when the spectator will leave a card face

down until after they have done so.

13. The spectator deals straight through from top to face, the only

variation is when he leaves a card face down.

14. It is not a once-in-a-while trick. If the instructions are followed, it

cannot fail.

15. The cards are never handled by the performer from first to last, at any

time immediately before, during or after the trick.

16. The spectator checks that the face down card is the predicted one.

17. This method could be used by someone for criminal purposes.

18. While part of this method is already used in Magic, it is not a well-

known method for use with cards. It could be used for other than

cards.

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TAKING THE SECRET TO HIS GRAVE

Stewart James chose never to reveal the secret to his effect, 51 Faces North. He deliberately refused to perform the effect when magicians were present, apart from possibly two notable instances. One such occurrence happened when Stewart performed the effect for his friend Al Richards, in an attempt to go on record to show that the effect could indeed be done as he said it could. Another, less-well-known performance of 51 Faces North was for my mentor, Harry Smith, at Harry’s home in Toronto. More on that later.

Stewart kept the secret of 51 Faces North from EVERYONE. Even when the books STEWART JAMES IN PRINT and THE JAMES FILE (Vol.’s I and II) were being prepared and published, Stewart angrily refused to discuss or give further hints to the workings of what had become his legendary masterpiece. He chose to die without revealing the secret.

Knowing this, I was somewhat taken aback when, shortly after Stewart’s death, individuals who had been close to Stewart announced that they had discovered Stewart’s notes on 51 Faces North while searching through some personal papers, and would publish a copy of this single page of notes, 47 years after Stewart’s description of the effect in IBIDEM. This “revelation” was to take place in the inaugural issue of a new magazine, Penumbra (May-June 2002) *.

* (For a description of the routine that appeared in Penumbra, and some of

the reasons why I don’t believe that it IS Stewart’s final solution for 51 FACES NORTH, see Appendix V at the end of this book.)

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SOLUTIONS

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MICK AYRES (U.S.A.) Two Solutions BIO Mick Ayres has been entertaining professionally since the early 70's...and for the past decade with the Walt Disney Company. In addition to baffling resort guests with mentalism and magic, he also shares tall tales and plays plantation-era fiddle tunes. He is the author of several books and manuscripts, including the acclaimed Act-series. Mick is 49 years old and lives with his two daughters among the sea-islands of South Carolina.

1. FATE

EFFECT From a shuffled deck, a single card is removed and openly shown to the audience. A second card is fairly selected by a guest. When revealed, it is the same color and value of the prediction card.

PERFORMANCE I confess this effect does not meet all the stipulations Paul Curry put forth in his well known Open Prediction challenge—besides, Stewart James’ 51 Faces North already does that beautifully. Nonetheless, with little effort Fate hits the target pretty close to the bulls-eye. Though the handling for Fate is original with me, it is such a simple, easy idea that I'm willing to bet others may have walked this path, too. To begin, remove the deck from your pocket and uncase the pack. Say, “This time I will use a playing card for a prediction.” As you search through the deck, quickly note the top card and find its mate within the pack. For the sake of explanation, assume the top card is a red Seven of Diamonds. Therefore, the mate would be the other red Seven of Hearts. Openly move this mate to the top of the deck. Turn the deck face down and double-lift the top two cards as one. Note: you do not have to do a double turnover. With your right hand, just lift the two cards as one from above. Turn your hand palm up or towards the audience to clearly display the face of the card(s), in this case the Seven of Diamonds. Say, “This time, I’m going to show you my prediction so you know what I’m thinking right up front.”

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Name the displayed card and table this doubled card face down off to the side, taking care to leave it aligned. Two simple things will help you accomplish this easily: first, do not look at the cards while you are tabling them. Remember, in the eyes of the audience, this is not an action that should require your full attention. Second, when performing the double-lift, grip the edges of the double card between your right thumb and middle finger. This allows your right index finger to curl gently against the back of the cards. As you table the cards, press gently in the middle of the cards with the edge of your index fingernail while your thumb and middle fingers release the edges of the cards. Your fingernail comes straight up off the cards a half-beat later and will leave the cards aligned close enough to pass a casual glance from the audience. This is easy to do and will probably work the first time you try it. Hand the deck to your volunteer and ask her to give it a quick mix. When she is done, say, “Please cut the deck in half and hand me one of the portions.” Once she has done so, say, “In a normal deck of cards, there is a four of a kind for every value. That means each card has three other mates. I have used the Seven of Diamonds as my prediction. In this experiment, you will locate the remaining sevens for us. With you calling all the shots, we will eliminate cards by turning them face up. It is time for you to choose: which half gets turned face up—mine or yours?” It doesn’t matter which half she chooses. Turn over the indicated portion and spread them saying, “Do you see any other sevens here?” She may see one of the black Sevens. If so, point it out for the audience. Either way, you will table these cards face up in a loose pile in front of you. Do the same thing with the remaining half of the deck—have her cut it in two portions and select a half, which is turned face up and spread as well. “Do you see any Sevens here?” Again, whatever her answer, leave these cards face up on the already tabled pile. A fourth of the deck remains face down in your hand. Say, “Your choices so far have left us with just a handful of cards. I will deal them face up one at a time. Please tell me to stop dealing at some point.” Stud deal the cards face up onto the loose tabled pile until she says, “Stop.” Immediately move your hands to a spot just to the left of the doubled-cards on the table and pretend to straight-deal the next card on top of them. That’s right—although you go through all the same motions of straight-dealing a card, you don’t actually deal a card at all. You ‘mime’ the deal instead. In fact, when your

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right thumb pretends to place the nonexistent card on top of the tabled pair, the top card will automatically slide generously over to the right and the illusion is perfect. Do not rush this motion. Instead, maintain the same rhythm you had during the stud dealing. You will not get caught because the eye can perceive motion but it cannot perceive detail within that motion. Or to look at it another way, the hand is not quicker than the eye — but it is far quicker than the brain. Please don't think of this as sleight-of-hand because it hardly qualifies. Basically, this is not dealing a card. Think of it like that and you'll likely do it perfectly the first time. Watch in a mirror, you'll be amazed at how easy and clean this false-deal appears. Once you have done the false deal, immediately return your hands to a position over the loose pile and continue stud dealing the remaining cards face up until they're gone. Say, “Other than those two black Sevens, did you see any other ones? No?” By this time, the audience will anticipate where this effect is going. You provide a little doubt by saying, “That means one Seven has yet to be seen. Now, don’t get ahead of me here… because a thinking person would quickly realize that I might have simply removed the perfect mate to my prediction card from the deck before the show. That would explain everything so far, wouldn’t it?” “As you know, every card has three mates. But every card also has one perfect mate—matching in both color and value. I knew you'd find the mates to my prediction...” Turn over the bottom card of the pair to display your original prediction card and hold it displayed high in your left hand. Finish your sentence by saying, “...I just hoped you would save the best for last.” With your right hand, turn over the last face down card and hold it up high (in applause-cue position) showing both red Sevens—perfect mates.

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Second Solution – Mick Ayres

2. UNANIMIS A Direct Handling for Curry's 'Open Prediction'

EFFECT You openly write down a prediction. A guest shuffles the deck fairly. She now deals through the deck and turns each card face up. At any point, she deals one card face down without looking at it. She continues to deal the remainder of the deck face up. The predicted card does not appear. The guest turns over the face down card. It matches your Open Prediction! Bear in mind, the prediction is made openly before the guest shuffles the deck. The guest deals the deck straight through and honestly deals any card she wishes off to the side. There is no sleight of hand. Nothing is gimmicked or prepared in advance. METHOD You will need a deck of cards, an index card and a marker. Place these items on the table and ask a guest to come up and assist you. Pick up the deck in your left hand and introduce this experiment by addressing your audience: “Do you know what question I get asked the most? 'If you can really predict the future, then why haven't you won the lottery yet?'” “It's a good question—and one that is easy to answer: It is because there is too much riding on the outcome. Everyone knows the worst thing a person can do is make life-changing choices based on intense feelings. Emotions cloud the issue. With the chance of winning millions of dollars at stake, there is no way I can distance myself emotionally from those hopes and dreams. Trust me, I've tried! So I am limited to predictions about things that don't really matter in the grand scheme of things. That being said, any predictions made tonight are certainly important for the purpose of this show—but beyond that? I will be content if you simply remember your experience years from now.” To perform this routine, you need to know the top card of the face down deck. To obtain this easily, simply spread the cards face up to display them and glimpse the top card. Let's say it is the Jack of Clubs. Say, “For our first experiment, we will use this deck of cards…”

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Close the spread and turn the deck face down in your left hand. Pick up the index card and drop it on top of the deck while saying, “…and this note card. Now I must predict something you will do — something trivial but important enough to offer undeniable proof of the future.” Openly write: “I PREDICT YOU WILL STOP ON THE JACK OF CLUBS” on the index card. Pick up the index card and blow on the ink as if to dry it more. Lay the index card face down on top of the deck in your hand, and on this other side, write your initials. Hand the marker to your guest and ask her to write her initials next to yours by saying, “Witness this, please?” She is to do this while you are holding everything—that is why you only want her to scribble her initials quickly and not to write her full name. Again, pick up the card and blow on the ink (I realize this is technically unnecessary but it is good for staging purposes). Turn the index card over on the deck so the prediction is showing again. Touch the writing with your finger and check your finger quickly for ink marks. This innocent action provides the unseen opportunity for your left thumb to push the index card and the top card of the deck over about one inch. Once you have confirmed your fingers are ink-free, your right hand takes the index card (with the playing card hidden underneath) and lays it on the table. Say, “Our prediction of the future is made and unofficially witnessed. Now, to keep everything fair and random, please shuffle the deck.” She does so. Continue giving her instructions by asking her to hold the deck face down and begin dealing cards face up into a pile on the table. At any point, she is to stop. When she stops, say, “Please remove the next card and, without looking at it, deal it on top of the prediction card.” Once she has done so, instruct her to keep dealing the remaining cards face up on to her pile. When the last card has been dealt, say, “Do you feel you were influenced at any point to stop at any particular card?” She will answer, “No”. Pick up the deck and, without squaring it, turn it face down and hold it in your left hand. With your right hand, pick up all three cards while keeping them flat so you do not expose the hidden card below the index card. This may seem awkward, but explain by saying, “I want to be careful not to touch your card.” Bring your hands together and allow her dealt card to slide off to the top of the un-squared deck. Drop the index card and the hidden card together onto the top of the deck.

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Point to the message on the index card and say, “Earlier, before you even shuffled the deck, I wrote: “I PREDICT YOU WILL STOP ON THE JACK OF CLUBS” on this card.” Pick up the index card and turn it over. Point to the initials and say, “You and I provided our initials just in case someone wanted to challenge the legitimacy of this experiment.” Lift the index card away from the deck and use its corner to tap the top card of the deck. Say, “Other than being a human-table for these cards, I have not handled this deck at all. But if your card matches my prediction—would you agree that we have accomplished something memorable?” She will nod her head. “Please turn over your card.” The Jack of Diamonds is revealed. Smile and say, “I won't forget you either, ma'am.” Present the prediction card to your guest as a souvenir of her experience. NOTES To give credit where it is due, other performers have used the idea of a playing card hidden beneath a larger item for the purpose of accomplishing a prediction-effect. For instance, Don Alan did so with a regular deck and a pack of miniature cards. But Don Alan's clever effect was in not based on an Open Prediction presentation. Stewart James used an envelope to hide things with his 'Solution Number 24' to Curry's Open Prediction. However, Stewart's method required considerable deck handling by the performer — plus the prediction card was gaffed. In Unanimis, the script, the logical choreography and the theatrical blocking combine to simplify the method and minimize the handling of the deck by the performer. In fact, every time the deck is in the performer's hands, it is during a relaxed, no-heat moment. So Unanimis comes very close to meeting all of Paul Curry's original conditions for his Unsolved Card Problem. The title Unanimis is old Latin for 'of one mind'. 'Unanimis' copyright 2008 by Mick Ayres. For performance use only. All rights reserved.

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JOHN BARRATT (U.K.)

BIO United Kingdom, Bedhampton; Age – 24

3. MARKEDLY OPEN WHAT YOU’LL NEED - A deck of cards; - Depending on what way you want to mark the back of the gimmick, you’ll need either a glue stick, a marker matching the back color of the deck, some Tipex (correction fluid), or some of those little sparkly Sprinklies you get a stationary stores (they come in all sorts of colors and can be used to sprinkle on things such as a birthday card to make them seem or shiny and sparkly). SETUP Pick a card from within the deck to be your prediction card. This is the card that you will openly announce or write down at the beginning, and thus the one that the participant will stop on. For explanation purposes we will pick the 8 of Clubs. Remove the 8 of Clubs from the deck; we will be marking the back of this card. One way is to take a glue stick and on the back of the card draw something such as a big X, a star, or something you can tie into your presentation. Allow to fully dry, you don’t want this to be sticky etc, but be a symbol/marking that has dried to a solid. Though I’m saying glue stick, I actually mean the type where you squeeze out the glue, as this is the type that will dry to a hard clear solid. Once complete, you’ll have a normal looking card except that on the back will be a clear, hard marking of your choosing. Another way to mark is by using a marker. For this you need a marker matching the color of the back of the deck, so red deck = red marker; blue = blue etc. Basically for this you will do the exact same thing you did with the glue, but with the marker... but try to leave bits of the white still on the back of the card, don’t just draw the mark as a solid as it will stand out way too much, and though this can easily be passed over with patter, it’s better to make it more subtle. Another option is to use correction fluid. It’s best to use a correction fluid pen, but any will do. For this the marking will be the same color, etc. as the white

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detailing on the back design. This allows for you to make the marking as subtle or bold as you like since you can either outright draw something or make the mark hidden within the back design so it’s not noticeable at a quick glance. Yet another choice is to use those sparkly card decorations you find in stationary stores. For this you will only want the same color sparkles as that of the back design of the card, so red with red; blue with blue etc. Though this may seem silly, it does the job just fine. Simply carefully place a few sparkles on the back of the card, making sure to keep the white of the design completely intact, with the sparkles only on the coloring. As you will see, this also makes the patter much easier as I don’t need to tie a star or word etc into the presentation. When done, you’ll have a card that if moved will glisten in parts due to sparkles, and it will stand out as different due to this fact. So, there you have a brief description of the markings... I won’t tell you what to do as the mark as this will depend on your style. Just make sure the back of the card is marked in a way that it can be noticed, but at the same time remain hidden from casual glances. There are many options, just use one you’re comfortable with. I mean, if you really wanted you could simply write, in matching marker, the card suit etc. This is bold, but will work... though then you’ll have to be extremely confident in your presentation to make this seem like it’s just in their mind. Once you have the card marked, place it back into the deck and you’re set. PERFORMANCE Hand them the deck and allow them to remove the cards from the case and look through, etc. Now name aloud the prediction card (the one you marked), or write it down to show to everyone. It’s up to you whether or not you tell the participant the prediction at this time, that’ll be left up to personal preference. Have them shuffle, and then when ready you’ll go into the patter that will lead them to finding the card. I’ll give an example of what you might say if you were using say, hmmm, how about the sparklies... “I’m sure many of you have heard of woman’s intuition.... do you believe in such things? Well I believe there is more to this than what at first appears... and believe we can experience this here now.” “I have openly named a card, and you have been shuffling and mixing that deck this whole time... and so there is no way to know at this moment where in that deck this card lays... would you agree? If anyone does not, I offer this chance to once again mix the cards until you are all completely happy that everything is as I say.”

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“Ok, now… What we are going to try to achieve is a more direct version of what some call ‘woman’s intuition’, but where that is thought to be a natural reaction to certain situations, we are going to try and harness this for us to use right here and now.” “I’d like for you to drop your hands to your sides and just allow yourself to relax… Close your eyes, breath in.... and out...and try to have an open mind towards what I’m about to say. Now no one knows how this ‘intuition’ phenomena works, or why it does... but all we need to know is that it is real, and that it will show us the way if we let it...” “I’m going to ask you, in a second, to start dealing cards off one at a time onto the table. I’d like for you to turn each card you deal face-up so that we can all see which cards have fallen... At some point you will deal a card off keeping it face-down, this will be placed to the side and then you’ll continue to deal through the rest of the cards until all have gone...” “Now, I don’t want you to think too much about what card to stop at. This is not something that we can guess or plan, it’s something that you have to let happen... Let yourself be led, wait for that feeling to bubble up inside... If you open your mind to this, you will be shown the way. You will know when the time is right... if you believe you will know... Maybe you’ll feel something strange, maybe hear something... even see something... wait for this moment, it WILL happen... You can begin whenever you are ready.” They do. It is seen that the card they leave face down matches the prediction. The above was simply to give you an idea. Just make sure they understand that they will be shown the way etc, and to not be hasty, but to wait for the sign etc. Basic description in bullet points: • Card marked on back.

• Card replaced in deck... deck now ready to perform.

• Cards given to specs and they can shuffle etc till there hearts content.

• Name/write down prediction.

• Patter and make them know that they WILL see something, be shown the way somehow.

• Sit back and let the effect take it’s course.

• After congratulate and let them know how well they’ve done and that they must be a very perceptive and open person etc.

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THOMAS BAXTER (CANADA)

BIO I am have been a full-time professional performer for the last 32 years. I am married, and live in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, on the shore of Lake Ontario. I became interested in magic and Mentalism when I discovered a magic shop in Toronto when I was 13 years old. Through the shop’s owner I made and got to know folks like Doug Henning, Sid Lorraine, Dunninger, Kreskin, Randi and a number of other top pro’s who influenced my professional approach. For the last 10 years I’ve performed only Mentalism, in theaters and for corporate functions around the world. I enjoy writing, and in my spare time, when the weather cooperates, I love to sail.

4. BRRR!

Several years ago, Allan Slaight wrote to 21 people whom he considered to be “top thinkers” in Magic, and asked each of us to come up with an original solution for Stewart James’s version of The Open Prediction, a version that Stewart called: 51 Faces North. Allan included a list of rather daunting conditions that Stewart claimed his version encapsulated. This was my solution, which was subsequently published in THE JAMES FILE (2000). EFFECT Spectator shuffles a pack of cards while the performer writes the name of a card on a piece of paper. When the shuffling is done, the name of the card on the paper is openly shown to the spectator. It reads, for example, the Ten of Diamonds. The performer instructs the spectator to deal cards, one at a time, face up onto the table, and to stop when the Ten of Diamonds appears. The spectator begins dealing, and as he does so, the performer informs him that he should, in the course of the deal, leave one card of his choice face down. When he has dealt a card face down the remainder of the pack is dealt face up in an attempt to find the Ten of Diamonds. The situation builds up as the cards become fewer and fewer. Finally the last card is dealt face up. The Ten of Diamonds has not appeared. It sounds impossible, but the Ten of Diamonds turns out to be the one card that was dealt face down by the spectator.

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PERFORMANCE An audience participant takes a borrowed pack of cards face down in his hands and shuffles the cards. The Performer states that he wishes to make a prediction, and asks to borrow a pen and a piece of paper. He writes something on the piece of paper, then suddenly stops before revealing the prediction. Since this is a borrowed pack of cards, to be sure that his predicted card is in the pack, the performer asks the spectator to spread the cards from hand to hand, faces toward the performer, so that he can spot that the card that he has predicted is indeed in the pack. When the performer is satisfied that the card he wishes to predict is in the pack, he initials the prediction, letting everyone see the name of the card which he has predicted. The paper is set aside, in plain view. The Magician states that, for this experiment to succeed, it’s necessary that the participant NOT be thinking of the predicted card. Everyone else present will watch for it, but if the participant thinks of it, it just won’t work. Instead, the performer wishes for her to focus her thoughts on a random target-card, so he asks that person to perform the following actions in order to select her target: “Cut off a portion from the top of the tabled pack. It can be as many or as few cards as you would like. When you have done that, with the cut-off portion still in your hand, tip up your wrist so that you can see the bottom card of the part of the pack you have cut off; in other words, the card that you freely cut to. Remember that card. It is your target card, a card that you and only you know.”

“Now to bury that card fairly, cut the cards in your hand a couple of times. Replace the cards that you hold onto the tabled cards. Cut those a few times, and if you’d like, give them a quick overhand shuffle. Are you satisfied now that no-one, including you, knows the position of ANY card in the pack, not alone your target card, or my prediction card? Great. Now the deal can begin.”

The participant is instructed to start dealing cards from the top of the pack, face up onto the table. When they spot their target, thought-of card, they are to stop dealing, slowly deal the next card face down to one side of the other dealt cards, and then proceed to deal the remainder of the pack face up as before, until all the cards have been dealt. The other spectators are reminded throughout the deal to look for the Magician’s prediction card. After the final card has been dealt, everyone will agree that the prediction card was not seen during any of the face up dealing. The assisting spectator is instructed to turn the sole face-down card face up (the others already having “51 Faces North!), and show that it is the card predicted by the performer at the start of the trick, committed on paper and witnessed by all present.

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METHOD For those who haven’t already guessed, the answer is simply to spot the top card of the pack as the spectator spreads them before your eyes to verify the existence of your prediction card. This top card is the one that you predict on the piece of paper. It is the ACTING exercise of pretending to look for the predicted card as they spread them that sells this effect and that hides the method, even from those who know the KEY Card principle. The spectator’s target card becomes a Key Card of sorts, even though you don’t know which card they are thinking of. In the action of cutting the cards as described, their thought-of card is placed on top of the prediction card. The prediction made when you first write on the paper is merely your own initials. As if an afterthought, you ask to see that your predicted card is in the pack. Once you’ve noted the top card, you write that on the paper, saying that you’ll initial your prediction to “make it official”. As you finish writing AC or 5D (or whatever your prediction is), tip the paper forward and circle your initials, as if you’ve just written them. This “pre-writing” could, with some imagination, be used for criminal purposes. Later, the audience will remember that you made the prediction BEFORE the cards were shuffled and before the effect began. The rest is self-working. The spectator deals through until they spot their “target card”. They deal the next card face down, and then finish as described. Read this again carefully, matching each step against the conditions set out by Mr. James, and you will find that it meets each requirement for “51 Faces North”. Second Solution – THOMAS BAXTER

5. Salarium

EFFECT Two members of the audience take part in this effect. Let’s call them Andy and Sue. Sue turns her back or goes out of the room while a prediction card is named by the Performer. Andy shuffles a deck of cards. The cards are spread before the Performer’s eyes so that he can be sure that the card he wished to predict is indeed in the pack. Once he is sure, he writes his prediction (i.e. The King of Diamonds) on a piece of paper, which is openly shown to everyone except Sue, who has her back turned.

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Andy then cuts the cards, making sure that no one knows the location of any card in the pack. The Performer turns the prediction down so that Sue can’t see it, and then asks her to join him at the table. The Performer recaps for Sue: A Prediction has been made. Everyone present except Sue knows what it is. The cards have been mixed by Andy. The Performer has never touched the cards. In a moment, Sue will deal through the pack, turning the cards one by one, face up on the table. While she does this, the entire audience will be “yelling” the name of the predicted card in their minds. Not out loud, you understand, just in their thoughts. Along the way Sue will leave one card face down, without seeing its identity. Andy will watch to see if the predicted card shows up in the face-up cards. Sue cuts off some cards and begins dealing them face up onto the table. She finishes dealing the cut-off portion, and the predicted card has not shown up. The Performer directs Sue to deal the next card on the pack, the one that she cut to, face down on top of the face-up cards she has dealt. Sue does this, and then continues dealing the remainder of the pack, face up on top of the others. Andy verifies that the predicted card has not shown up. Sue spreads the cards on the table and removes the sole face-down card. It is the Predicted Card, The King of Diamonds. The Performer never touches the cards. Borrowed cards may be used. METHOD The word “Salarium” is used in economics, and its Latin meaning is “Salt Allowance”. Now you know the modus operandi for this effect – a few grains of salt. Many readers will be familiar with the ancient concept of sprinkling a few grains of salt onto a deck of cards, so that when the cards are cut, the salt acts as an obstruction between the two halves of the pack. Now, if the pack is nudged to the side, it will automatically break between the two “salted” halves. This effect utilizes a refinement of that principle. The participant shuffles his pack of playing cards. You ask him to spread the back before your eyes so that you can ensure that the card that you wish to predict is indeed in the pack. (If you like, you can use the post-writing dodge that I used in BRRR! a few solutions back.) During this spread you note the top card of the pack. This is the card that you predict, writing its name in large letters on a piece of paper or cardboard. Andy squares the cards and sets them face down on the table.

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What the audience doesn’t know is that before your performance you dropped a few pinches of salt inside the cap of your Sharpie marker. When you remove the cap in order to use the marker to write your prediction, lay the marker across your palm-up left hand for a second, with the cap at the top of your hand. Using the left thumb and pointer finger to grasp the cap, pull on the pen with your right hand, un-capping the marker and taking it away in your right hand, leaving the cap in your left hand. As you are writing the prediction with the pen, simply tilt your left hand back slightly, allowing some grains of salt to fall out of the cap into your left fingers. All attention is on the writing of the prediction at this time. Just don’t stare into your left hand to see if the salt is really there. It will be. Once the prediction is written down, re-cap the pen, and as you hand the prediction to Andy so that he can show it to everyone but Sue, it’s a simple matter to turn your left hand (which holds the pen) palm down as it passes above the deck of cards, allowing a few grains of salt to fall onto the top of the pack, directly on top of the Predicted Card. Don’t be too concerned about how few actually stay on the pack. If even one or two grains are on top of the pack, this will be sufficient. Direct Andy to cut about half of the cards off and to set them to one side. Then ask him to complete the cut and square the cards. This will place the bottom half on top of the salt grains. By using the above directions when telling Andy how to cut, and by miming the actions you want him to follow, his movements will be restricted and he won’t dump the salt from the pack accidentally. Ask Sue to turn around and join you and Andy at the table. Recap what’s gone on, and then ask Sue to rest her pointer finger’s tip on top of the pack and to close her eyes. She is to try to pick up the thoughts being screamed at her by the entire audience, telling her which card was predicted. Instruct her to open her eyes and to cut off a block of cards. The reason for asking Sue to place her fingertip on the pack (apart from a little presentational build-up) is that by doing so, no matter how well the cards were squared by Andy, when Sue removes her finger from the pack she will slightly jostle the pack, causing the cards to break minutely at the point where the salt grains are. This may not be visible to the naked eye, but it works. Now, when Sue cuts the block of cards off of the pack, she will cut directly to the salt grains, with the predicted card now on top of the lower half of the pack. Have Sue deal out the cards in her hand, face up, onto the table. Have her take the next face-down card, the one she cut to, and leave it face down on top of the

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dealt face-up cards. Then ask her to deal the remainder of the pack face up onto the cards already dealt. For the finish, instruct Andy or Sue to spread the cards and remove the sole face down card. They turn it over, and the audience and Andy will react strongly, knowing that it matches the Prediction. Sue won’t know exactly what has happened. Show her the prediction, too, and you will get a second strong response from Sue, with attending amusement for the rest of the audience. TIPS This method is perfect for an impromptu performance while sitting at a restaurant table. In such a case, you don’t need to prepare the salt in the marker cap. At the appropriate moment, just obtain some salt sprinkled from the salt shaker without anyone being aware that you’ve done so. Leave the salt in a little pile on top of your leg. When the time comes to “do the dirty work”, just clip some grains of salt between your fingers and proceed as directed earlier. You might also “accidentally” sprinkle some salt onto the table earlier, so that if the lighting is bright, the few grains that might fall onto the table as you dump the grains onto the cards won’t be apparent. Try this “salted” cut of the cards for yourself to see how dependable it is. Don’t use Sea Salt. The grains are huge and unless your audience is visually impaired, they’ll see what you’re up to.

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Third Solution – THOMAS BAXTER

6. 27 BELOW EFFECT An experiment in numerology. The Performer asks the participant’s birth date, their favorite color, the number of times a months they eat broccoli, and then appears to make a mental calculation, finally settling upon the name of a playing card, which he writes down on a piece of paper and openly shows to everyone. The participant deals through the cards, one at a time, face up. At one point he stops, at a place of his own choosing, and deals the next card face down without looking at the face. He continues dealing the rest of the pack face up. The predicted card hasn’t shown up. The participant turns the tabled card face up. It is the predicted card. A borrowed deck of cards can be used, and the Performer never has to touch the cards. METHOD This effect is based upon a self-regulating principle that I hit upon by accident years ago. Since that time, I’ve found that Stewart James used the same sort of principle, in a different way, in a packet type of trick, but to my knowledge this hasn’t been used (before my discovery of it) as a force of a particular card from a full deck. Take any deck of cards. It doesn’t even have to be a full deck (which seems counter-intuitive to this working, but it does still work). Count to the 27th card from the FACE of the pack. Note that card. That’s your entire set-up and method. You predict that card, and the rest is self-working. In an attempt to meet Stewart James’s fabled “conditions”, I start by borrowing the pack, if possible. I ask a participant to shuffle the cards thoroughly. As if an afterthought, I say that I have a card in mind that I’d like to predict, but since the cards were borrowed, I’d like to make sure that my prediction card is indeed in the deck. I direct the participant to spread the cards face up in a row on the table. In appearing to look for my prediction card, I really just quickly count the cards from the face of the pack, finding the 27th card from the face. That is the card that I will predict. (Counting the cards in groups of three speeds the count up considerably, by the way.) Have the deck squared on the table, face down. Turn your back to the participant. Direct the participant to begin to deal cards into a pile on the table, face up, off of the top of the face down pack. All other spectators should watch to see if the predicted card shows up. As they count, you listen carefully and

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when they reach about the 10th card, you tell them that they should stop dealing anywhere they like. They will deal several more cards and then stop. The point at which they stop is absolutely their free choice, and you don’t know where they will stop until they do. The audience will verify that the predicted card has not appeared. State that the calculations that you made earlier were based upon numerology. Remind the participant that they had a free choice as to where to stop dealing, and ask them to silently count the remainder of the cards in their hands. Ask them to count by spreading the cards from hand to hand, so as not to change the order of the cards. When finished counting, they will have a two-digit number as a total in their mind. Let’s say the number of cards they left behind after the cut is 35. Explain that, for whatever reason, they were drawn to leave behind exactly that amount of cards, one fewer would leave 34, one more would have been 36. Either choice would have changed the final outcome. They have 35 cards. A 3 and a 5. Direct the participant to deal 3 cards (for the “3”) from the top of the cards they hold in their hands, face up onto those they have already dealt onto the table. They do, and again, the predicted card doesn’t show up. Ask them then to deal 5 card, for the “5”. They do, and again there is no sign of the predicted card. Patter: “You’ve arrived at this time and place by virtue of your own actions. You could have stopped dealing anywhere in the pack –deeper or more shallow -- but you chose to stop exactly where you did. That resulted in a seemingly random number of cards being dealt face up. One card either way, more or less, would have resulted in a different, but equally random outcome. Deal the next card face down, without looking at its face, over to one side. Then deal the remainder of the cards face up onto the pile you’ve already dealt.” The participant does as directed, dealing through the entire remainder of the pack. The predicted card does not show up. Finally, the participant turns over the face down card, to reveal that it is the predicted card. As I said, this effect is based upon a self-regulating principle. A shallower or deeper deal will regulate the number of cards being dealt after the first block is dealt off, resulting in the arrival of the original 27th card from the face of the pack as the next card. The goal is to time things so that, when you give the direction to "stop somewhere along the way", they will deal to a point between 13 and 22 cards. The ideal is if they stop at between 16 and 22 cards. If they stop between 16 and 22 cards, you use the "bring the number to the simplest form" notion, adding the two digits together to get a single digit. You can tell by listening if they go shorter or further. If they stop at 13, 14, or 15 cards, just have them deal the

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number that they arrive at by counting the remaining cards, which will be (with a full deck) either 39, 38, or 37 respectively and dealing the number of the first digit first, then dealing the number of the second digit. This will bring them to the predicted card. With practice, the timing is such that they won't stop until between 16 and 22 cards. If you want to be sure they get the right range, instead of dealing cards at the first, you can ask them to cut off about a third of the deck to begin, then start dealing those cards face up. This will always bring them within the ideal range. If you choose to do this from a new, sealed pack of cards, using Bicycle playing cards the 27th card in new deck order will always be the King of Clubs. This comes in handy if someone pulls out a new, sealed deck and asks you to do something magical.

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TOM BEGLEY (U.K.)

BIO I'm 18 years old, my home is in Poole on the South coast of England, though I am currently at University studying a masters in Math’s at the University of Bath. I dabble in all forms of Close-Up magic as a hobby, but have a special interest in card magic (as common as it is). In terms of other hobbies, I am very interested in math and logic, as well as music, and I play the piano.

7. POW! (Prediction/Open/Wow)

REQUIRED PROP Masuda's Wow Gimmick* SETUP Before you begin, secretly remove the card that matches the WOW gimmick card from the deck. PERFORMANCE Have the spectator shuffle the cards as you take out a written prediction and the WOW gimmick, which is in 'empty mode'. These are placed on the table for all to see. Your written prediction should match the removed card and the gimmick. Instruct the spectator to deal the cards face up, one at a time, stopping whenever they feel like it. They should also stop if they see the predicted card. When they stop tell them to place this card face down into the face down WOW gimmick. The need for this is justified by the performer saying he wants the spectators to be sure that he can't switch the cards. Once the card is placed in the WOW holder, the spectators continue dealing the remainder of the deck, but the prediction is not seen. The performer then turns over the WOW gimmick, at the same time activating it to show that the card that was stopped at is in fact the predicted card. To clean up, just remove the indifferent card from the gimmick and shuffle it into the deck.

That's it, I hope you like it. It is, after all, a very different approach than most. I didn't go into to much detail because it's fairly self-explanatory to anyone familiar with the gimmick.

* (For a Video Demo of the WOW Gimmick: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS2FiMnR2-M)

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BEN BLAU (U.S.A.)

Two Solutions

BIO Ben Blau is a musician, recording engineer, and college professor in Michigan. He has never worked as a professional magician or mentalist, but has always had a love for close-up, intimate performances among friends and family. Ben's philosophy is that the word "amateur" doesn't necessarily have to have a negative connotation. He believes that informal performances have unique challenges that can be every bit as demanding as "professional" presentations. Ben has been an "underground" writer of magic and mentalism since 1998, and hopes you enjoy his contributions to "51".

8. 51 FACES SAVED

This is my first attempt at working out a method for Stewart James’ legendary 51 Faces North. What follows is a description of exactly how the audience experiences the effect. This routine is impromptu, given that the necessary items are at hand -- a deck of cards (which can be borrowed), a pad of paper, and writing implement. There are no other items used. EFFECT One spectator assists. The performer writes something down on a piece of paper, folds it well, and places it in the spectator‘s shirt pocket. The deck is then given to the spectator, who is instructed to deal through the cards face up, leaving one card face down at any random location, and then continue dealing through the rest of the pack to the last card (the same procedure as outlined in the original description for 51 Faces North). Having done this, the pack is squared and left face up on the table. The performer picks up the pack and comments that obviously, since every card is different, there is no way anyone could have known which card he’d leave face down. He then spreads through the deck until the one reversed card is found. The spectator is asked to hold out his hand, and the card is removed and placed face down onto his outstretched palm. He is then asked to cover it up with his other hand (i.e., to “sandwich” it between his two hands), so as to prevent any tampering. As both of the spectator’s hands are now occupied, the performer (in helpful fashion) reaches into the spectator’s shirt pocket and retrieves the piece of paper placed there earlier. Without saying anything (though the impending outcome is clearly telegraphed), the paper is unfolded, and seen to bear the name of a

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single playing card. The ending is obvious; it is the same as the card between the spectator’s hands. METHOD This handling comes close to meeting all the conditions set forth by Mr. James. The only departure is that the performer does need to handle the deck somewhat, both before and after the dealing process. Begin by ribbon spreading the deck face up, apparently to show the cards all mixed, and all different. As you do this, secretly take note of any card near the face of the pack (approximately 4 or 5 cards in). Gather up the cards, and give the deck a riffle shuffle. Make sure that not too many cards intersperse with the original bottom of the deck as this is done. Ideally, you want your spotted card to end up anywhere between the 5th and 7th position from the bottom. When you pick up the pad to “write something down,” you write the name of this card (which will turn out to be your prediction later). Instruct the spectator to begin the dealing process. As long as the card he decides to reverse isn’t too close to the end of the deck, the routine can be brought to a successful conclusion. The card he actually reverses is irrelevant. What you do is keep your eye on the deck as he nears the end of the dealing process. When you spot your previously sighted card, count the number of cards that follow as the rest of the deck is dealt down. There should be approximately 5 cards (or so) remaining in the deal after you see it go by. Remember this number (suppose it‘s 5). When you pick up the deck, begin spreading cards slowly from hand to hand (face up) as you comment that, since they are all different, no one could have known ahead of time what card he would stop on. During this exchange, you take care to spread through exactly one fewer cards than the number you’ve remembered. In this case, you’d spread four cards, keeping the fifth card as cover for the sixth, which will be switched in for the reversed card (using a mechanical method about to be described). The purpose for remembering the number is to allow you to maintain eye contact with the audience during this phase. Once you have established eye contact with the spectator (and the rest of the audience, if possible), the sixth card is culled under the spread. After you have finished making your comments, you then look down at your hands, and continue pushing cards from left to right, now apparently looking for the card the spectator left reversed. As you run through the spread, remember that since the spectators themselves do not yet know the identity of what will ultimately be your prediction, the earlier appearance of this card during the rapid dealing process will not be especially noticed or remembered.

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When you come upon the reversed card, separate your two hands keeping the reversed card, apparently, as the bottom card of the right-hand's group. Though it appears to be the bottom card of the right hand's portion, the card to be switched in is secretly underneath it, and invisible to the onlookers (the position here is identical to the Hofzinser Under-The-Spread Force). Flick the edge of the reversed card with your left thumb as you say, "Now be honest -- you have NO IDEA what card this is, right?" The spectator affirms your statement as true. You then place the group of cards in your left hand down on the table (leaving them face up), and ask the spectator to hold out his hand. As he does this, you will need to perform a series of coordinated actions (the explanation sounds confusing, but the actions are not especially difficult to pull off correctly). As the spectator extends his hand, you shift your body weight back slightly, as if to allow him some “personal space” do so. At the same time, you will perform the smaller action of squaring the cards held in your right hand against your left palm, and turning the entire deck over into left hand dealing position. At the very moment the transfer is complete, slide the new top card to the right slightly with your left thumb. From the top down, it will look like there is now one face down card on top of the face-up deck, which will be assumed to be the same reversed card seen moments ago. In reality, though, it is the card that was previously culled under the spread. The card underneath it is the card the spectator reversed in the dealing process, but since it is now the only card below the switched-in card whose face is visible, the assumption will be that the entire half-deck is face up, and that the top card is still the original reversed card. This is technically a visually discrepant switch, because if you were to turn the packet over without culling the card to be switched, the original reversed card would now be face up, with the rest of the deck face down. To cover the discrepancy, you time the “move” so that it takes place while the spectator’s hand is in transit. I also use my free right hand to gently grasp and “adjust” the position of the spectator’s outstretched hand (as if to make sure it’s in a position everyone can see) to further divert attention away from the deck. Now, very fairly remove the top face down card of the packet, and place it onto the spectator’s waiting hand. Tell him to cover it up with his other hand, and demonstrate this action by placing your own right hand on top of the cards you’re still holding in your left hand. When the spectator is in this final position, innocently drop the remaining cards onto the tabled group, without turning the packet over (be sure to keep them squared). The entire deck will appear to be face up, but in reality, there will be a large block of cards immediately after the face card that are reversed. This is of no concern, since the deck at this point is of no importance. If you wish to eliminate this problem, you may do a half-pass under the top card of the packet before placing it on the table (a good time to do this is under cover of

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demonstrating how you want the spectator to “sandwich” his card between his hands). At this point, everything is set. Even though the description sounds complex, I can assure you that if you’re comfortable with the Hofzinser culling action, it’s fairly easy to do technically, and the whole exchange takes only a few seconds to complete. The important thing in making this work is in the timing of your secret actions, and your body language in shifting attention to the spectator’s hand at the right moment. To all appearances, the card in the spectator’s hands can only be the card he previously reversed, and it will positively match the prediction in his pocket. (Editor’s Note: In Ben’s first solution, the prediction is not revealed until the end, so that when the participant deals the face up cards they won’t react upon seeing the prediction card go by. By definition, then, this is not technically an Open Prediction, but the thinking behind this routine merits inclusion, in my opinion.)

Second Solution – Ben Blau

9. THE HIDDEN PERSUADER (Addendum to 51 Faces Saved) As a supplement to 51 Faces Saved, I decided to include this alternate method for those who might object to the inherent discrepancy of the switch employed. This method results in the handling of the cards appearing exactly as it should if all the actions taken were legitimate, but it also takes the effect out of the “impromptu” category to a certain degree. It involves a simple gaff, which can be easily made. This gaff can reside in the deck from the beginning, or be added to a borrowed deck during the course of a performance. The gaff is nothing more than two cards stuck together with some Performer’s wax. They are placed back to back, and this double card is positioned fourth from the bottom in the deck (or shuffled to that position if the card is added in during a performance). When the deck is spread face up, there will be nothing to appear out of the ordinary. The card you predict, however, is the one on the other side of the double. [Note: I usually leave the deck ribbon spread while I write my prediction, and place it in the spectator’s shirt pocket. This allows me to give the spectator the instruction to gather up the cards, and hold them in dealing position. I like to do this, because it subtly reinforces that I have nothing to hide about the deck.]

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At this point, the handling proceeds in almost the same fashion as 51 Faces Saved. The spectator is asked to deal the cards face up, and to stop somewhere on impulse. Ideally, the spectator will stop dealing roughly halfway through the deck. As long as he doesn’t deal to the vicinity of the gaff (which is almost all the way through), the trick can be brought to a successful conclusion. When he stops, he is instructed to deal the next card face down, and then deal a few more cards face up, apparently to show that had he kept going it would have been a different card. You do not, however, instruct the spectator to deal through the rest of the pack. (To be honest, this procedure is tedious anyway, unless the prediction card is announced to everyone ahead of time.) The spectator is rather asked to place the balance of the pack face up on top of those already dealt, and to square them up. You pick up the deck, and begin to spread through the cards as described in 51 Faces Saved. This time, you cull the double, which has no heat on it whatsoever since the face that is showing is not the same as the face of the hidden prediction card. When you come upon the reversed card, the culled double goes underneath, and is kept in the Hofzinser force position as you separate your hands. Keep the spectator’s reversed card apparently as the bottom card of the right hand’s group, and place the left hand’s cards on the table. Ask the spectator to extend his hand. As he is doing this, you square the packet against your left palm and slide the double flush with the rest of the cards. The fingers of the left hand then take over the grip of the entire packet at the short ends, keeping the packet face up, as the fingers of the right hand separate the bottom card of the waxed pair from its mate. This card is then placed into the spectator’s hand. Note that this appears exactly as it should -- as if we were really giving him the actual card he reversed. Furthermore, the top card of the waxed pair will now serve as a cover card when the packet is turned face down (concealing the “real” reversed card). At this point, I casually spread through the cards I’m holding, while making a comment such as “Obviously, you could have stopped on any of these, but you chose not to.” You can spread through the majority of the cards without revealing anything. The packet is then squared, and turned face down as it is tabled. (Remember, you automatically have a cover card on top.) I pick up the other portion, and do the same thing, making the same comment. This portion is placed on top of the other. What’s left is the spectator holding a card he believes to be the one he reversed, which matches the prediction in his pocket. Proceed with the rest of the presentation to your liking.

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ANDREW BROWN (U.K.) Three Solutions BIO I am a director of a firm of accountants… Okay -- somebody has to do it! Aged 40. Interested in magic since 15 - My focus is card magic using simple sleights, subtleties and good scripting; and the same goes for mentalism. 40% of my time is spent reading magic effects to increase my understanding of principles, sleights - 40% of my time creating new effects or revising existing effects to suit my level of competence - 15% emailing my stuff to people who perform in the real world to test my ideas out - 4% of my time helping magic mates when seeking an effect or premise for an effect they do and last but not least 1% of my time is spent performing. I am a thinker, not a performer. Other hobbies include Volleyball, Martial Arts and Fencing.

10. LEFT OPEN BACKGROUND Having read on the Magic Café, Thomas Baxter’s invitation to submit solutions for possible inclusion in a book effects with the Open Prediction theme, I continued reading an old book on mentalism. The chapter in question focused on book tests and one caught my attention using the old principle of a dry marker. At the back of my mind the cogs and wheels began turning to see if this long-standing method could be combined with an Open Prediction-style effect. Having played around with the idea, the effect below is the final version. REQUIREMENTS A deck of playing cards A Black Sharpie A Black Sharpie – dried out that will not write at all. (Dry marker) An index or business card. Since the spectator is going to be asked to scribble on a card, it is best if the “duplicate” is made following the same procedure. Take the deck and place the Four of Hearts on the face of the deck. Hold the deck facedown in the left hand with thumb on top and first and second fingers below at the bottom left corner. With the Sharpie in the right hand mark the bottom card of the deck sight unseen, by making a random scribble near the center of the card. SETUP The marked card is now moved from the bottom of the deck and put face down on top of the deck. The card below it, which can be any card, is remembered (i.e.: the Jack of Clubs. This card will be the open prediction.

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EFFECT The performer brings out a deck of cards and shuffles it using an overhand in-jog shuffle to control the top two cards back to the top of the deck and tables the deck before a spectator. “I am often asked ‘how is the magic done?’ and my response is, “With great difficulty!” For magicians are constantly battling against one of the fundamental laws of nature – The law of Probability, or Chance if you will. This law affects every minute of our lives. The minute you put a foot outside your house this fundamental law knows what the chance is, or odds are of you being struck by lighting.” “I am glad that a lighting strike is not something we shall need concern ourselves about. However in a few moments, if we are going to achieve a successful outcome, I will somehow need to bend this law for a short period of time and it is this act that magicians find difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish. “Can I ask you to pick up the deck and give it a quick shuffle?” As this question is being asked the performer mimes the actions to an overhand shuffle. Prior to tabling the deck, the performer has already given the deck a short overhand shuffle, which, together with the mimed actions, will guide the spectator to carry out an overhand shuffle. If the spectator only does one overhand shuffle, the marked card and Prediction Card will end up somewhere in the bottom quarter of the deck. If the spectator does two overhand shuffles the two cards should end up in the top quarter. Even with two shuffles the probability of the two cards remaining together is over 87%, according a friend of mine who loves math. As you will see in a moment for risk adverse performers the risk can be reduced to zero. The performer asks the spectator to hold the deck face down in their left hand near the corner with thumb on top and fingers below. Prior to the above instructions, if you are performer who wants to be sure that the effect has a 100% outcome, tell the spectator he is going to make a prediction about a specific card but to ensure it is still in the deck, the spectator is asked to hold the deck with the backs toward them and show the faces to the performer. The performer should still see the marked Four of Hearts is above the Jack of Hearts. If the two cards have become separated then simply remember the new card directly below the marked card. I prefer to take the small risk since at the end the impression left with the spectator is that he shuffles the deck and without seeing the faces of any card in

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the deck you make the open prediction. The performer now focuses his attention on the spectator. “Thank you for shuffling the cards. Have you any idea what order cards are in? Without looking, would you know, for instance, what the 10th card or the 33rd card is?” The spectator will respond ‘no’ to both questions. “Given that a full deck of cards can be arranged in billions of combinations, and with each shuffling action a new combination is created, then knowing the position of any card in the deck is near to impossible.” At this stage I am focusing on the odds associated with a full deck rather than just saying to the spectator, the chance of getting one card is 1 in 52. The performer now takes from his jacket or trouser pocket the sharpie pen, the business card, and on the blank side of the business card in bold he writes JACK OF CLUBS. At this point the prediction is kept secret from the spectator. Holding the business card in the left-hand the pen is put back in the pocket by the right hand, which returns immediately to hold the other side of the card and at that moment the performer blows on the writing to ensure it is dry. The business card is tabled, prediction side down. The above actions give some justification for putting the pen in the pocket and then later taking it out again. “On the table is a simple prediction -- the name of a single card known only to me. However a few hours from now when you look back at these events, you may recall not seeing the prediction until right at the very end, or wonder if I managed to switch this prediction for another one.” “I promise you I shall not touch the business card again. (PAUSE) In fact, to be completely fair, will you turn the card over so the prediction is face up, and everyone can see what I’ve written?” The above scripting provides enough time delay between putting the pen in the pocket and taking it out again that the action seems reasonable. With two Sharpie pens in the pocket there is a danger of taking the wrong one out at the wrong time. A solution is to have one in the pocket with the cap end up and the other with the cap end down. By feel you can tell which one is which. The performer takes out the dry marker and hands it to the spectator.

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“Would you please take the pen, and with the pack still facedown, can I ask you to make a scribble on the bottom card somewhere near the middle?” The pen is returned to the performer and pocketed once more. “At the moment the card you have marked is at the 52nd position. Will you cut the deck a few times? With each cut your marked card will change position. One time it could be the 3rd card, the next, the 42nd card. Please keep cutting until you are sure that neither of us could have any idea where your marked card will be in the deck.” The spectator stops cutting when he is satisfied the marked card is lost. Now it’s time for a quick recap for the spectator. “Let us consider the challenge I face. You have taken an already shuffled deck of cards, shuffled them some more, marked a card neither of us has seen, and lost that card in the deck. You may be wondering how the Prediction that I made right at the very beginning comes into play. “ Pause for a couple of seconds. “OK, when I say “go”, slowly deal the cards face up onto the table in a pile. If, at any time, you deal the Jack of Clubs then I will have failed. At some point, your marked card will turn up. It could be the first card or last card in the deck, I honestly have no idea where it is, BUT when it does turn up, take the next face-down card and, rather than turn it face up, keep it face down and place it next to my prediction.” The spectator carries out the instructions and places a facedown card next to the prediction. “To satisfy yourself that there is nothing out of the ordinary concerning the cards, continue dealing the card face up until the deck is exhausted. Once again, if the Jack of Clubs shows up then I have not met the challenge.” The spectator deals the remaining cards but does not see the Jack of Clubs. Point at the facedown card. “You chose a random, unknown card from a deck of 52 cards and lost it in the deck. The laws of probability would suggest that the chances of your card finding the card I predicted, out of 52 cards, would be nearly impossible. However, if it were possible to suspend this law for a brief period of time then that face down card could match the prediction I made. Turn over the playing card for me.” The spectator turns over the card. It’s the Jack of Clubs.

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Variation 1 If carrying a dry marker around affects pocket space then as an alternative: Have the open prediction card third from the top of the deck. Jog shuffle as above but then do a double lift with the top two face down cards. The spectator is asked to initial this card. The double is turned face down and the top indifferent card is handed to the spectator. Believing this to be his card he is asked to insert it anywhere in the deck and is handed the cards to overhand shuffle. At this point the signed card is above the prediction card and after the shuffle the routine continues as above. Second Solution – Andrew Brown

11. THE BROKEN PREDICTION BACKGROUND After spending many a happy hour thinking of effects which did not break the list of rules I thought, what the hell, if I am going to break one of them I might as well break a few to come up with a simple, clean version of the open prediction. REQUIREMENTS A red backed thin card – 10 of Spades A double-faced thin card – 10 of Spades (both sides) Ordinary blue-backed deck with the 10 of Spades removed 3M Re-mount spray

SETUP With the 3M mount spray, spray both sides of the double faced thin card and stick to the face of the thin red backed 10 of Spades. EFFECT The blue deck is handed to the spectator who is asked to shuffle it, as they are doing this the prepared 10 of Spades is removed from the wallet and held face up on the right hand -- the open prediction. The spectator holding the face-down blue deck is asked to deal the cards face up onto the table. If they see a 10 of Spades they are to place it face up on the performers right hand. At any time of their choosing the spectator is to stop dealing and place the next card face down on top of the face up 10 of Spades held by the performer. The blue backed card will stick to the face-up, thin double-faced card.

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The spectator is asked to continue dealing the cards face up to see if they can spot the 10 of Spades. During the time the spectator is dealing the balance of the deck face up the performer has ample opportunity to separate the bottom card of the packet he holds from the other two cards and hold a little finger break. Once the dealing is completed, the performer turns over the blue-backed card showing a 10 of Spades, which matches the red backed open prediction card, held from the start.

Third Solution – Andrew Brown I like the 3-phase* premise of the solution that was published in Penumbra, purporting to be Stewart James actual solution for 51 Faces North, with each phase setting up the last one. I have, IMHO, come up with a better 3-phase version, but as in many effects I do - needed the inspiration of others first. I did not like he second phase in Penumbra - a bit too mechanical to set the card at the specific spectator number. Here is my version:

12. TRIBUTE TO S.J.

PHASE 1 Spectator shuffles deck and you shuffle deck - Performer cuts off packets until spectator says stop, and a card is shown to the spectator and remembered. The deck is given to the spectator to shuffle . They slowly deal the cards face up calling out the names of the cards until the performer says “Stop!” - The performer says stop on the spectator’s card. The purpose of this stage is as follows:

• The spectator remembers shuffling the deck before the effect starts and during the effect;

• I suggest a simple Hindu force of the bottom card glimpsed when you do a riffle shuffle with subtleties so the spectator thinks of a card but he never touches it;

• The dealing face up allows the most important part of the last phase: You remember the first card that is dealt face up onto the table (10S);

• The premise is that you can judge by the spectator’s body language and voice when he names his card - which many spectators buy as the method.

* (Unlike the solution published in Penumbra, Stewart had actually suggested a 4-phase routine, with 51 Faces North as the climactic 4

th phase. See Appendix III, p. of this book for

further information. – Ed.)

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PHASE 2 The dealt packet of cards are turned facedown and returned to the top of the deck by the spectator. The spectator is now asked to think of a number, say between 5 and 20; not too small but not too high. As this number is to be used much later it needs to be cemented in his mind, and to reinforce this he is to count cards onto the table in a face down pile whilst you back is turned. Spectator thinks of 17 - and counts the packet of 17 cards onto the table and then pockets the packet. The spectator is asked to think of the packet as a little post-it note memo -- should he forget the number he can always count the cards again. The spectator is asked to shuffle the balance of the cards.

The performer takes the pack and shows the top card’s face to the spectator without seeing it himself, and then drops it onto the table. This process is continued with each card, and the spectator, without giving any visible clues, remembers the card at his special number (17). For our example, let’s say that the card at his number is the JH. The performer continues dealing cards until he has reached say, 28.

The performer returns the dealt packet to the top of the deck and gives the deck a false cut and shuffle. The performer asks the spectator if he still remembers his special number (17), and he is asked to return the packet in his pocket to the deck whilst your back is turned.

The deck is given a false cut and you spread the cards face up in a row on the table. The performer takes holds of the spectator’s hand and moves his hand along, above the spread, asking the spectator to say, “stop” mentally when his hand is over his card. The hand is moved a few times along the spread. Satisfied, the performer releases the spectator’s hand and closes the spread and turns it face down.

The performer pauses for a moment, and knows the spectators card is 28 +1 = 29 cards from the top of the deck or 52-29 = 23 from the face of the deck. The performer says that the feel of the spectator’s hand indicates that his card was

located 23 cards from the face of the deck. The deck is given to the spectator face up, and he deals cards off the face onto the table counting them as he goes. The 23rd card = JH, proving the Performer is correct.

The purpose of this stage is as follows:

• The spectator once again has given the pack a full shuffle before the phase begins

• He has a choice of number between 5-25 which is a fairly free choice • He only thinks of a card he sees and never touches the deck

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• The packet he counts onto the table to reinforce the number places the top card (which you know from phase one is the 10S) at his special number in the packet.

• When he returns his pocketed packet to the deck we now are ready for phase 3 because we now have a card at position 17 which we know the identity of.

• The process of the hand passing along the face up spread gives a premise for how the card position is detected.

• The spectator counts the cards from the face of the deck, which means no sleight of hand by the performer to manipulate the deck. Also, counting from the face keeps the 17th card still in the right position at the top of the deck.

PHASE 3 (The Open Prediction) The performer gives the deck a simple tabled false cut and hands the deck to the spectator to hold face down.

The performer says he will not use any NLP skills this time but will make a prediction. In fact, it will be an Open Prediction!! On a piece of paper he writes 10S, shows it to everyone, and places this face up on the table.

The performer asks the spectator to deal cards face up onto the table, counting the cards as he goes. When he gets to his special number, which he can now reveal for the first time to be 17, he is to place that card face down to one side. The rest of the deck is dealt face up. The 10S is never seen. The spectator turns over the face down card that was at his special number. It is the 10S!

• the last stage is clean - spectator holds the deck from the start • spectator does all the counting • the prediction is an open prediction

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DAVID BUI (USA) Two Solutions

13. T.O.P. (The Open Prediction)

EFFECT A deck of cards is handed to a spectator (the deck can be borrowed). The performer states that he will try a little experiment in synchronicity, which will be a playing card in this case. The spectator shuffles the cards and spread them face up on the table. The performer looks at the spread to make sure that the needed card is indeed there. The spectator closes the spread and continues shuffling a couple more times. Meanwhile the performer writes down a name of a playing card on a piece of paper. Let’s say it’s the Nine Of Hearts. The paper is shown to everybody in the audience and then is handed out to one of them for safekeeping. After the spectator has done the shuffling, he is told to deal the cards from top down face up onto the table, one card at a time. Everyone in the audience is told to watch out if the prediction card shows up at anytime. At some point the spectator just suddenly stops the dealing and deals the next card face down on the table. He then continues, dealing the remaining cards of the deck face up on the table. The predicted card never shows up. The spectator is told to turn the card that he’s left isolated before, face up. It’s the Nine Of Hearts. PRESENTATION The Open Prediction is an interesting plot: The prediction card is shown openly to all of the audience that means you cannot change the outcome of the effect. So if you want a totally hand-off way to accomplish the effect, the spectator must stop exactly at the prediction card. In other words, it must be an off-hand card force. The next question is HOW? Let’s break the process into two little states: Knowing where the force card is. Stopping at the force card.

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KNOWING WHERE THE FORCE CARD IS Since the spectator truly shuffles the cards there’s no way on earth you will know the exact position of the force card in the deck. Or do you? Yes, the card right before it will tell. Take a deck of cards and spread them face up on the table, from left to right. Next I want you to move the Queen of Hearts and the Five Of Spades so that they are the second and the third cards from the left side of the spread. Now close the spread and do a couple of overhand shuffles casually. After finishing shuffling, hold the deck face down in your hand and slowly deal the cards face up onto the table one card at a time. Continue until you see the Queen Of Hearts turn face up. Deal the next card face down and continue dealing thru the rest of the pack face up. Turn over the single face down card that left on the table. It’s the Five Of Spades, right? THE MECHANICS When doing the Hindu or the overhand shuffle you always start by drawing a block of cards at the first time or one single card at the first time follows by a block of cards. What that does is putting the key card (the second) and the force card (the third) in place with each other. Another nice thing about that is after you are out of cards in the right hand (if you are right-handed) the key card and the force card stay together somewhere at the bottom portion of the pack. At that position, same thing happens: You always pull out a block of cards to shuffle and the bottom portion will be move to the top again in the next shuffle. Even if you pull out cards from somewhere in the middle of the pack, the 2 key cards will be still intact as they are not in the middle portion. Doing the overhand or Hindu shuffle for 2 or 3 time is more than enough with lay people. You control the shuffling action on the routine (more on that later) and after he did the shuffling you will know where the force card is, based upon the key card. STOPPING AT THE FORCE CARD Now you know where the force card is. The problem is how to stop the spectator at the force card. Here comes the tricky part -- You signal them to. Yes, you signal them to stop.

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HOW YOU DO IT You invite a spectator to come onstage and sit with you at the table. The table should have a long tablecloth that comes to the floor. At the beginning of the effect you hold out your hand as if you were holding an imaginary deck of cards in your hand, and ask the spectator to do the same with the real deck. You say: “For the next moment, I’d like to attempt a little experiment in synchronicity, but to make it happen we must both want it to. Are you with me?” He says: “Yes.” “The idea is simple. You will take the deck of cards in your hand like so and then slowly deal cards face up from top of the deck all the way down to the bottom, one card at a time, just like this…” At this point you demonstrate the dealing with your imaginary deck of cards. Do it slowly, because you will need him to have enough time to stop at the key card later. The spectator will follow your action as he is dealing the cards face up on the table. You continue dealing a few more cards and say: “At some point…” As soon as you say this, stop dealing cards and use your left toes to press on the spectator’s right foot (Assuming you are sitting on the right hand side of the spectator). You don’t need to do it hard, just enough to let him feel that your foot suddenly steps on him. Your action will synch with your words perfectly. The spectator will stop dealing and look at you with a confused look, waiting for instructions. The moment that you see him stop, you say: “…you will feel something strange happen, you will feel a sensation, something unexpected. Please go with it and when you feel it, stop dealing. Yes.” (Nod your head and remove your left foot.) Basically, your left foot did a tapping action on the spectator’s right foot. It happened for a brief moment only but it was enough for the spectator to feel it. You pause for a moment and let the idea of this ‘stopping-when-being-tapped’ feeling register in the spectator’s mind. “Now deal the next card face down beside the dealt pile and continue dealing cards face up like this until you run out of cards…” You continue the dealing action and ask the spectator: “Do you understand what to do?” He says: “Yes.”

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“Good. Now please collect all the cards and shuffle them.” You do a short overhand or Hindu Shuffle action with your imaginary deck of cards. The spectator will follow your action again. Wait for him to do a short shuffle only then both of you stop. Tell him: “Fine. Now please spread all the cards face up on the table and look at me.” As he’s spreading the deck on the table you look at the spread and remember the second card (the key card) and the third card (the force card) from the left of the chain. Look at the spectator for a moment then turn to the rest of the audience and say: “Now I will show you the name of a playing card which will be the target of our experiment today. I have a feeling about it when I looked at the cards on the table and this gentleman here but I’m not sure if this is gonna work.” You say to the spectator: “Would you please close the spread and give the cards another shuffle again.” Do the shuffling action as you say. He will mimic the short shuffle action before. It will leave your key card and force card intact. Write down the name of the force card on a piece of paper, showing it to everyone but the spectator on stage, and let someone from the audience hold it. Ask the spectator: “Now please hold the deck in your hand and slowly deal the cards face up onto the table, once card at a time as we did before. Everybody please take a close look at the face up cards and see if our target card shows up.” The spectator is now dealing the cards onto the table. As soon as you see the key card, do the tapping action with your foot. The spectator will know it’s time to stop. He will deal the force card face down beside and continue the dealing until the last card. After the spectator finishes his dealing, ask everybody if they saw the target card show up. They didn’t. “ As I’ve said before. Today we’ve tried an experiment in synchronicity. That means it only works if we are at the right time, in the right place and willing to make it happen. Sometimes it works with me, sometimes it doesn’t. But I have a strong feeling that it will for today because all of us want it to. You sir, please turn the card face up.” It is the target card. Say thanks to the audience and tell them to give the spectator on stage a big round of applause.

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Second Solution – David Bui

14. CUTTING A KEY If the boldness of the previous method doesn’t suit everyone, I hope that you’ll enjoy this one. It has its own interesting points. So, we know the core method for the effect to work is the spectator stops at a key card. So if we don’t signal him to stop we must KNOW where he will stop at. Yes, we force a card! I prefer the Cut Deeper Force in this case as it can be done in a very natural manner. PRE-SHOW WORK Prior to the show you approach the spectator and hand him a deck of cards. Let him shuffle the deck and then casually spread it out on the table to show him that all of the cards are indeed different. As you spread the cards remember the top card of the pack, as it will be our force card. Let’s say it’s the Four Of Clubs. As soon as you note the force card, turn your head away and ask the spectator if the cards were well mixed. He’ll say, “Yes.” Square up the deck, lay it face down on the table and say: “I will need you to choose and remember a card for me, but I want the selection to be as fair as possible, so you will do it yourself and I will not touch the deck at all.” “Please lift up a small portion of the cards, turn them face up and then put them back above the remaining cards. No one knows how many cards you have cut to. I don’t want to know that either.” Turn your back away from the spectator and say: “Now that you understand the process, so to keep the experiment as fair as possible, I don’t want to look at the cards this time. Please lift up some cards. In fact, more cards than last time so you will cut somewhere deeper into the deck. Turn all the cards face up and put them on top of the remaining cards on the table. Tell me when you’re done.” He says: “Done”. You continue: “Fine. Now if you take the cards and run through them you should see a bunch of face up cards follow by face down ones. I want you to take a look at the first face down card, which is right next to the last face up cards. Tell me when you’re done.”

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Again, he says: “Done.” You say: “Very good indeed. Now I want you to burn the image of that card clearly into your mind and don’t forget it. We will try a very interesting experiment later. By the way, please turn all the face up cards face down and give them a quick mix.” He says: “Done.” Turn back and say: “Now you’ve already had a card in mind, haven’t you?” He says, “Yes.” “That’s very important, as we will do a little experiment with your mind later. I will invite you to join me on stage and I will need you to focus on that card.” He says: “Yes.” You reply: “And you may keep the cards as I don’t want to touch them anymore.” Let the spectator keep the cards. You have just forced the Four Of Clubs. PERFORMANCE You’ve done a couple of effects in your show and now it’s time for the Open Prediction. Turn to the audience and say: “Next I’d like to do a little experiment involving synchronicity, and I’ll need somebody from the audience to help out.” Point to the spectator among the audience and say: “Sir, please come join me on stage. Everybody please give him a big round of applause.” The spectator comes on stage. Hand him a deck of cards and say: “Please take a look at this deck and see if the cards are all different and well mixed.” Spectator confirms. Turn your back to him and say: “Now to make it fairer, please look at the face of all the cards and remove a few cards in the deck which don’t feel important to you in anyway. Any number of cards will do. After you do it give the cards a quick shuffle.” The phrase “Doesn’t feel important to you in anyway” eliminates the chance of the spectator removing the force card and helps to make the effect looks more impossible to the audience.

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You do a shuffle gesture. Spectator puts some cards away and shuffles the deck. Turn around, take the deck from the spectator. Casually run thru the cards in your hands and say: “Do you have any idea of how many card you have just removed ?” He will say: “No.” You reply: “Me too. I’m not good at math either.” As you run thru the cards find the force card (The Four Of Clubs in this case). Note the card next to it on the right (The Four Of Hearts in this case); and the card to the left of the force card (in our example, the Ace of Clubs. Break the spread above the Ace of Clubs, and either visibly cut the cards or perform a Pass, taking the Ace and all the cards below to the top of the pack. Table the deck face down. The order of the 3 top cards from the top down will be: Ace Of Clubs, Four Of Clubs, Four Of Hearts. Turn to the spectator and say: “In a moment I’d like you to take the deck and deal cards face up on the table, one card at a time. I want you to do it slowly so that you can clearly see the face of each card as you deal. No need to be rush. See and feel them.” Do a dealing gesture for a moment and pause: “As you’re dealing the cards onto the table, there will be some point when you see a card and you feel that it is the right one. One card that suddenly has some special meaning with you today and only you know it.” Nod your head and say, “Yes”. The spectator will know which card you are talking about, yet the rest of the audience have nothing to suspect. The spectator will nod his head and confirm. “I’d like you to stop dealing at that card. Then, without looking at its face, deal the NEXT card face down over to the side, here. Then you will continue dealing the rest of the cards face up onto the table. Do you understand the idea?” He says, “Yes.” Your reply, “Very good. Now please look at me.” You look at him seriously in the eyes then take a pen and a piece of paper and write down “Four Of Hearts” but do not let the spectator see it.

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Show the prediction to the rest of the audience and let someone keep it. Ask the spectator to take the deck and give it a quick shuffle. Turn to the audience and say: “In a moment this gentleman will start to deal cards on the table. I’d like you all to watch carefully with me as he does so and we’ll see if anything interesting happens.” Stand in the audience and tell the spectator to begin to deal cards. The spectator will stop at the force card (Four Of Clubs) and the next card will be your prediction card (Four Of Hearts). After he finishes dealing cards, ask him: “Did you stop by your own choice sir?” He says, “Yes.” “Would you say that the selection is fair and that I did not tell you to choose any particular card?” He says, “Yes.” “Do you have any idea what the identity of the face down card is sir?” Of course he will say, “No”. This is a nice subtlety. It will eliminate of the idea that you forced a card on the spectator before, yet you are honest with him too. Let the spectator turn the card face up and you end pretty much clean. The effect is almost the same to the spectator on stage as it is to the rest of the audience, as they truly don’t know the identity of the face down card. Note: If you don’t feel like forcing a card beforehand you can use some kind of impression device to know which card he chose. (Editor’s Note: The notion of using Ed Balducci’s Cut Deeper Force as a solution for the Open Prediction has been used before, and will turn up again, in various guises, in this e-book. It was first used in connection with an Open Prediction by Karl Fulves in his booklet, SOLUTION # 11 and later in his book, MORE SELF-WORKING CARD TRICKS. Subsequent versions using this method include solutions by J.K. Hartman and Larry Jennings; and the recently published routine: IN PLAIN SIGHT, by Mick Ayres and Jim Callahan.)

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HECTOR CHADWICK (U.K.)

BIO Hector Chadwick is a magician and mind reader who lives in London, England. He does not perform much formally these days since he is focusing his creative energies elsewhere, but he still delights in all the different aspects that make up an effective performance of magic or mentalism. He released his book, "The Mental Mysteries of Hector Chadwick (revised edition)," to the magical masses in early 2008. Sadly, it is now out of print. Hector considers himself a fairly liberal, easy-going cancerian who enjoys nothing more than good company, a well made ham sandwich, and an ice-cold glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

15. JOHNNY’S DILEMMA (thoughts on the open prediction plot)

EFFECT An Open Prediction. INTRODUCTION: I love learning clever methods and new tricks as much as the next mind reader. In point of fact, I suspect that even the hardcore traditionalists among us would secretly enjoy the latest gizmo or trick, if only they’d allow themselves to. Having said this, and given the fact that this book will probably be packed to it’s literary rafters with method upon method upon method, I thought it might be worthwhile to express my thoughts on the performance of an effect such as this one. As far as I’m aware, most of the work on this plot has been done by card guys who, brilliant as they are or were, tended not to come at the plot from a particularly “mental” point of view beyond it’s already inherent mental flavour (or, “flavor,” if you will). The structure of the open prediction plot (in its purest form, as laid out by Stewart James) is a truly beautiful one and contains within it all the makings of a wonderful piece of theatre, so it makes sense to have a discussion about how best to frame and enhance it. The method that I shall discuss in tandem with these thoughts comes close to what I consider to be an almost-ideal solution in terms of practicality and structure. There are trade-offs, of course, but then there always are. As is so depressingly often the way with these things, I discovered this handling independently and was foolish enough to hope it might be original. Alas, no. The various elements that comprise the mechanics of the effect as I perform it have all been discovered and re-discovered by numerous people, whom I shall list and begrudgingly “thank” in the credits at the end.

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I hope, however, I have some insight and subtleties to share that might contribute something to the existing literature, and I hope that most of what I express here with regards to performance can be applied to this plot whichever brilliant method tickles your fancy.

BASIC MECHANICS Let’s get the technical stuff out the way. You’ll need a double-faced card with a different value on either side. You’ll also need a deck of cards without the two cards that correspond to each side of the double-facer. You will need to rough this deck on all of its fifty faces and leave the double-facer untreated. What’s nice about this set-up, and what makes it practical, is that you can use your roughed fifty-card deck for a great number of other effects should you wish to. The double-facer need only be introduced when you want to perform the open prediction. We’ll get onto how best to introduce the double-facer later, but for now, just so you understand the basic mechanics, let’s imagine that you have sneakily sneaked the double-facer onto the bottom of a face down deck and that your audience is none the wiser. The openly predicted card will be the side of the double-facer that is now facing up. You’re ready to perform. Make your prediction. To commence, hold the deck face down in one hand and start to deal the cards stud-style with the other hand face-up onto the table one at a time. When Johnny Spectator says stop, deal the next card face down onto the already dealt, face-up portion of the deck. Then turn the remainder of the un-dealt cards face-up in your hands, so that the non-predicted side of the double-facer is now looking right at you. Starting with the double-facer, deal these cards one at a time onto the face down card to show that the predicted card is not among them. Turn the deck face down and ribbon-spread it across the table. The predicted card will be the only one face-up. Because the double-facer was placed right next to the selection in the dealing procedure, it will show up at the correct place in the spread, and because the cards are roughed on their faces, the real selection will be hiding face-up beneath a face down card above it. So there you have the very basic mechanics of it. The mechanics are not really the purpose of my contribution to this book, but these are the mechanics I use when performing this and so I offer them here as some background for you to better understand where I’m coming from throughout the rest of my “essay.” There are a number of different elements to this particular plot and I’ll address them one at a time. I’m bound to digress a bit along the way because that’s what I do. I hope the reader will bear with me. MAKING THE PREDICTION I think for any prediction effect to be believable, the prediction has to come from somewhere. And by that, I mean there must be some apparent process to how the prediction is made; there must be weight behind it. Where a card magician might happily predict a card for no real reason, the mentalist must appear to have a reason for his choice of card. To give you an example of the type of thing I

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mean: When I perform this, I have the deck thoroughly shuffled by Johnny Spectator before the double-facer is added to the bottom. I have him verify all the cards are facing the same way and then tell him to hold the cards facing me and spread them from hand to hand so that I can see them. I’ll say, “Ok… it’s going to be one of two cards, I think.” And notice I say this before I’ve explained the premise of the effect. In making this statement, I’m quite deliberately raising questions in the minds of my audience and raising intrigue even before anything noteworthy has happened. Making a statement that hints at things to come without qualifying that statement is quite a powerful theatrical hook that can be applied a number of different ways. I’ll have Johnny repeat his earlier process of spreading the cards one more time before committing to a card. When using this method, of course, I already know which side of my double-facer I’m going to predict and—to begin with—I write the prediction down so that no one can see it. I make a big deal out of hiding what I’m writing and, again, this is intriguing because making a big deal over hiding something naturally gives it more importance than it would otherwise have. Would you rather read a secretive friend’s diary that’s hidden away in a locked box at a secret location, or the diary of a more open friend who leaves it quite casually lying around his flat for all and sundry to pick up and read? I’ll reveal my prediction to the audience in a moment when I feel it is dramatic to do so. A personal touch that I employ when making this prediction (when performing close-up) is writing the name of the card lengthways across the bottom half of a piece of paper. What this allows me to do is fold the paper in half lengthways and display the prediction on the table as if it were a name placard on a desk. It feels more “present” somehow throughout the rest of the effect when displayed in this manner. For now, I make the placard and keep it facing me so that no one can see it.

INTRODUCING THE PREMISE There might be a tendency when performing this effect to explain the premise before making the prediction. It is, I suppose, the obvious order in which to do things and it might well even be fine depending on context. However, for my purposes, it’s more effective to make the prediction first, explain the premise, and then reveal the prediction. My feeling is that there are more ways to hook an audience when working the effect this way around. There are plenty of different ways to cover the dead time as Johnny shuffles without explaining what’s about to happen; and, in fact, there are at least a couple of ways I can think of to frame Johnny’s shuffling so that it’s a presentational focal point rather than dead time. Here is how I introduce the effect: “In a moment, Johnny, I’m going to start dealing cards, very fairly, one at a time from the top of the deck. At any point you like, you can say stop.” “At that time I will give you one chance and one chance only to change your mind and keep going. You can take that chance or not; it’s up to you.

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However, I will say this: Despite how fair all this is going to be, and despite the very real chance you’ll get to change your mind, I already know what decisions you’re going to make. Something about your character, your background, the way you’ve been raised, the essence of who you are, is inevitably going to lead you down a particular thought process and make you stop on one card… the Seven of Spades.” As I name the card, I turn the placard around so that everyone can see it. Notice how with the explanation and the turning of the placard, the audience have been fed little answers to earlier questions they may have had, whilst at the same time new, more important questions are being raised. This is a nigh-on perfect dramatic device if you can pull it off well and is the main reason those wonderfully addictive American TV shows like Lost and Heroes are so effective. Notice also please—because I really think this is important and lies at the very heart of any successful mentalism presentation—how the effect, when framed in this manner, is driven not by the card that will be stopped on. What drives the effect when it’s framed like this is Johnny Spectator: the person1. The focal point here is not the cards themselves, it’s the decisions that Johnny will make that just happens to relate to the cards. There’s a very big and very important distinction between the two. If you want to present this as an effective piece of mentalism, you must make it all about Johnny. The cards aren’t interesting. Johnny is interesting. Remember that. THE DEALING I am happy to have been one of the fortunate few to see Thomas Baxter perform his version of the Open Prediction plot. Like Berglas with his any-card-at-any-number performances, I suspect Tom is trying to keep his performances of this effect pretty exclusive -- And with good reason, because as far as I can see, it’s pretty much the perfect effect. What I remember is that four of us were sat in London at a table in the The Ivy after a particularly tasty dinner. We were deep into a magic session, it was late and we were the last table to leave. The scene, as you might be imagining, was very nearly perfect. Tom asked me to pass my deck of cards to my friend who then shuffled them. I don’t quite remember if Tom ever saw the order of the cards after the shuffle, but what I do know is that he didn’t touch them. He made his prediction—the Four of Hearts—and told my friend what to do. The one thing that sticks out vividly in my memory as my friend dealt the cards was the utter silence. Even the clatter of the waiting staff seemed to fade. The slow, rhythmical snap, snap, snap of each card as it was dealt to the table was like a ticking time bomb as we all waited to see if the four of hearts would show up. It didn’t. My friend (whom Tom had only met that night), clearly giddy at the

1 This would also make an excellent film title, I feel.

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prospect of the effect actually working, very slowly and very deliberately came to a halt and dealt one card face down without looking at it. Then, as per Tom’s instructions, he continued to deal through the rest of the cards face-up. The snap, snap, snap continued and we all stared at the cards as they were dealt in silence. With each card dealt, anticipation grew and grew. My friend had five cards left, then four cards, then three… two… one…none… and still no sign of the four of hearts. “No way,” we all started saying, “There’s no way…” I was waiting for the move, the switch, the clever bit. It didn’t come, or, if it did, it had already been and gone. “Turn the face down card over,” Tom said. We did. It was the Four of Hearts. Now: I know Tom and am pleased to say he’s a friend. But I promise you, reader, (cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye) this is exactly how I remember it. The son of a gun never touched the cards. Not once. I have since tried to reconstruct it. We all have. Occasionally, I’ll have an idea about how he did it only to realise that it couldn’t possibly have worked that way. I’ve not pestered Tom about how it works, because—in a fashion typically reserved for the ever-so-slightly pretentious layman—I don’t want to know. I’m happy not knowing. Few of us will be performing an effect quite so clean as Tom’s, but I tell you this story in order to make a point about the dealing procedure in this effect. I’m going to shout it so cover your ears: THE DEALING PROCEDURE IS NOT DEAD TIME. You do not have to talk over it. In fact, you must not talk over it. The dealing process is the very thing that makes this effect so strong. It’s just like Russian roulette. With each “blank” that’s fired the predicted card is more and more likely to show up. The audience will sense this and—assuming you’ve given the effect the correct build up—with each card dealt, the effect builds and builds and gets more and more exciting. Assuming you’re performing a version of this effect that allows for cards to be dealt face-up one at a time and allows for a decision to be made at any point, my biggest piece of advice for you as the cards are being dealt is to say nothing. There’s inherent drama here which you’ll utterly dilute with any kind of running commentary. As for how you should act: you shouldn’t. Keep an entirely expressionless face. Don’t smile, it would be a bit smug; don’t frown, it would be a bit strange. The only thing it makes sense to do is occasionally look from the cards to Johnny and back again. That aside, remain blank and allow the audience to interpret that how they will. Most humans have an extraordinary capacity to read into things that simply aren’t there. Take advantage of this. If you keep a neutral face, people will look at you and be thinking, “He’s trying to get him to stop; I know it,” or, “He’s wants him to keep going.” Allow the audience their room to interpret and put their own spin on proceedings; it’s a sure fire way to spark discussion once the performance is over.

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This seems like about the right time to discuss why—despite Stewart James’ conditions—I believe it’s preferable for the performer to hold the cards during the effect. With the method I use and good enough audience management, I could let Johnny Spectator do the dealing. The reason I don’t, aside from the numerous and unpredictable issues that arise when you hand a certain level of control over to Johnny Spectator, is simply this: I have a better sense of theatre than Johnny. I know the pace at which I would like the cards to be dealt and I know the tone I would like the effect to have. In letting Johnny Spectator—lovely as he may be—deal the cards, I am handing him control of both of these. Also, given that the method I use is not perfect, there are a number of ways he could ruin things for me. If I knew how to perform Tom’s version, I might be forced to reassess, but for my purposes, I think it’s important that I hang onto the cards. As for how I think the cards should be dealt: I believe they should be dealt metronomically2 and slightly faster than one per second. I think the performer should not speed up or slow down when he deals and I think the pseudo method, whatever it may be for you, is better placed before any cards have been dealt. The balance is always a delicate one between making the process behind an effect believable, and making the feat itself impressive. In this case, I think the effect is much more memorable if no apparent effort is made to influence Johnny during the dealing. The most effective attitude I think you can have when performing this is one of just quietly knowing that what you’ve predicted will come to pass. The question, “How did he make you stop on that card?” might be answered with, “I don’t know. I guess he sped up a bit when he dealt so I said stop.” Conversely, the question, “How did he know you’d stop on that card?” is a more difficult question to answer. And the more difficult questions to answer are the ones that tend to stay with people. THE CHANCE TO CHANGE You’ll remember that in the ‘Introducing The Premise’ section above, I mentioned that I would give Johnny one chance to change his mind. This is probably a matter of personal preference, but I feel that giving Johnny one chance and one chance only to change his mind about the position that he stops on heightens both the drama and the impossibility of the effect. I perform this “bit” in the following fashion: The first time Johnny says stop, I deal the next card face down and say to him, “Johnny. You’re most welcome to stop me there, but I’d like to give you one genuine opportunity to change your mind and keep going. I think I already know what you’re about to say. Would you like to stick or change your mind and keep going?” Most people will stick with their initial “stop.” If they do stick, I say, “Johnny, you’re most welcome to stick with that decision, but I promise you, when you’re lying in bed tonight you will be wondering what would have happened if you’d carried on. Are you sure?” If they want to change, I say, “Ok. You’re most welcome to carry on going, but I promise

2 I notice that this isn’t actually a word. It bloody should be. What I mean here, if it’s not clear, is that the

cards should be dealt at a steady pace, in the manner of a fully functioning metronome.

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you, when you’re lying in bed tonight you will be wondering what would have happened if you’d just stuck with your initial decision. Are you sure?” And if Johnny does want to change, you’ve been gifted the wonderfully dramatic moment of turning the face down initial selection face-up to reveal it’s not the predicted card. It’s a beautiful moment, so treat it with respect if it ever comes your way. My preference for dealing with this moment is by simply pausing, looking at the face down card, slowly turning it over, looking at Johnny, and then continuing to deal. THE REVEAL The revelation of the prediction in this plot is an interesting one, because—if you’re a convincing enough performer and you’ve sold the effect well—it’s very nearly not even necessary. Paul Curry, on p230 of Worlds Beyond, describes the final revelation of the open prediction as, “… a small piece of unfinished—but necessary—business, needed after the effect, for all practical purposes, [has] finished.” I think that in the perfect version of this effect, the way to conclude need be no more complicated than simply saying, “Turn the card over.” In the version I perform, however, I don’t have the luxury of simply saying, “turn the card over,” because the card cannot really be turned over. There are a number of effects with a similar method to the one I use that also use a double-faced card. Such effects tend to conclude with the performer simply ribbon-spreading the cards face down on the table to reveal the one card that’s face-up. I don’t think that’s quite convincing enough though, because there’s no continuity to this revelation. That is to say: the audience remembers a card was dealt face down, and when the performer ribbon spreads the cards, they see only one card face up. Therefore the card is identified purely by default. AND: if Johnny Spectator didn’t stop the deal at a particularly memorable place—near the beginning or near the end—there’s no point of reference for what position the face-up card should actually appear in the spread. An intelligent mule of a spectator might well reason that there was somehow already a card reversed or that the card we see face-up at the end is somehow not the same card that was chosen. It’s for the above reasons that I have added an ever-so slight “move” at the end of the effect. Once the very last card has been dealt, I pick the deck up and spread it from hand to hand as I make a comment along the lines of, “You could have stopped me at any one of these cards,” and as I reach the face down card, I say, “but you stopped me on the Seven of Spades.” At the exact moment I name the card, I tilt the spread so that the backs are facing the audience whilst simultaneously up-jogging the double-facer from the spread. Not only does this concretely reinforce the position of the single face down card in relation to the single face-up card when the audience sees the reverse side of the spread, but timed correctly, it looks exactly like the face down card has been up-jogged. My feeling is that with this additional move, it appears as though the audience have seen both sides of the same, stopped-at card. I feel this is a compelling strengthener that is not present when the cards are simply ribbon-spread face down on the table.

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To clean up once the effect has finished, simply perform Anniversary Waltz. I kid. You’ll probably need to switch out the double-facer. The cleanup will depend entirely on where you’re heading with your next effect. Perhaps the switch will be aided because you still have the seven of spades inadvertently in your hand as you search your pockets for an item for your next effect. Although, if you’ve performed this on stage, you needn’t really worry about cleaning up at all. You could very easily just put the whole deck away in your pocket.

ADDING THE DOUBLE-FACED CARD TO THE PACK There are a number of different ways you can add the double faced card to the deck. I’ve always simply copped it from my jacket pocket as I’m putting away the pen that I wrote the prediction with. Once I have the card copped I add it to the bottom of the deck in the act of setting the deck to one side just before I explain the premise. Don’t forget that the cop was designed as a method of palming cards at the table, so if you’re seated, make sure the table edge is covering that exposed corner. If you’re performing this on stage, you might want to find another way of adding the card to the bottom of the deck. I used to perform an effect in my stage show that required adding a small group of index cards onto the bottom of an already existing pile. To do so, I simply had a small clip under the table that held the cards I wanted to add. In the act of sweeping the pile of cards off the table with my right hand, my left hand quite naturally went beneath the table to catch them and slid the additional cards onto the bottom of the pile as it did so. You could very easily use the same method to add a double-faced card to the bottom of a deck. I’m also currently playing around with the idea of having the double-faced card somehow attached to the pad that I write the prediction on. This would seem to be an ideal place to retrieve the card from, although at the time of writing, it’s proving a little bit tricky to work out the specifics. You’re entirely welcome to have a play with this idea.

DEALING WITH AWKWARD PEOPLE I like to present this effect as (almost) challenge mentalism. I feel that challenge mentalism, done sparingly, carefully, and with thought, can be a very strong addition to any performer’s repertoire, and I certainly feel that it’s the strongest way to present this particular effect. I don’t mean, of course, that you should in any way goad Johnny Spectator. I mean only that the challenge element to this effect should be present and not shied away from by the performer. For this reason, I will never choose Johnny at random. I will always have someone in mind to perform the effect for and I will always hand pick him myself. And even having hand-picked him, I will still take measures to negate the possibility of him stopping me after the very first card or on the very last card, because if he were to do so, it not only makes the handling awkward (or impossible), but it also dilutes the impact of the effect a bit. If he says stop immediately, the audience loses out on some of the wonderful suspense that would otherwise be present. I therefore prevent him from stopping me too early or too late by talking over the

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first few cards as I deal them, and what I say as I deal these first few will guide Johnny away from stopping me on the last card. I tell him, “Johnny, you can stop me anywhere you like. All I ask is that you stop me at some point before I reach the last card. Okay?” Another subtlety that I think is important when dealing these first few cards—and something that I think really helps prevent Johnny from being a wise guy and calling stop straight away—is maintaining eye contact with him as I’m talking and dealing the first few cards. Maintaining this eye contact and chatting as the effect begins really helps soften the start of the dealing procedure and almost completely eradicates the opportunity Johnny has to be awkward and get a small laugh from the audience by calling an immediate halt to the dealing. Another “softener” is to start dealing the cards mid-sentence, rather than at the beginning or end of one. In my case, I start dealing just after I’ve said the word “before.” If you do what I recommend above, you’ll never have a problem with Johnny saying stop too soon. Even if he persists with his awkwardness, you’ll have already dealt a few cards so you’ll have no handling issues. What if, however, despite your request, Johnny continues the dealing disturbingly deep into the deck? I’ve never had this issue, but I do have a plan for if it ever happens. Let’s say I’ve got about ten cards left and it looks like Johnny isn’t going to say stop any time soon. My plan is to stop dealing and say the following: “Ok, Johnny. I’m slowly running out of cards here so I’m going to give you just five more chances to say stop. If you don’t stop me at any one of those five points, I’m going to assume you wanted the fifth card and stop there. Ready? Five. [Deal a card] Four. [Deal a card] Three….” and so on, until Johnny says stop. It’s a nice way of dealing with a potentially awkward situation and may even serve to heighten the drama. VARIATIONS You may choose to perform this effect in Johnny’s hands. I prefer not to for reasons already stated, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing to do so. Just be aware that there’s a double-faced card he could well expose on the bottom of the deck and make sure you’re clear as crystal with your instructions. There are a number of versions of this plot already available, and with the release of this book, I dare say that there are now more variations than we could shake our collective sticks at. In case I haven’t made it clear, I’d like to mention that the most important aspect of this effect—from a theatrical perspective and as far as I’m concerned—is the option Johnny has of stopping at any single card and the drama that naturally accompanies the snap, snap, snap as the cards are dealt face-up. Whichever version you find yourself drawn to, I encourage you to choose one that allows room for Johnny’s dilemma to breathe.

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CREDIT WHERE CREDIT’S DUE My sincere thanks to all the people who have worked on the mechanics behind this effect before I did. I am reliably informed (thanks Tom) of the following: - This method is an offshoot of Version Number Sixteen, from Stewart James'

25 Methods for Open Prediction, originally published in Ibidem Magazine (Issue #3,1955).

- Robert Parish innocently reinvented the same method and published it in Pallbearer’s Review in the Winter, 1968 issue.

- Ed Marlo is credited with being the first to publish the idea of roughing the entire

deck and using a double face card. Marlo's version was called Open Prediction (12th) and was published in Jon Racherbaumer's Sticks and Stones (Number 7; July, 1977) within Lloyd Jones’s The Greater S.O.B. Jr.

- Bill Goldman later re-invented the roughed deck method, as did Ken Krenzel,

Lee Freed, and a number of others, including Gary Ouellet, who marketed the effect in 1994 under the name The Proton Deck.

- I happen to know that the enviably clever Ben Blau has an unpublished version

of this effect that’s also very similar.

BONUS HANDLING Perfect your stud second deal.

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VERNON COSMIANO (USA) Two Solutions

BIO Age: 32; Location: Jersey City, NJ. Occupation: Graduated in Computer Science, now taking certification for Java. Recently unemployed but blame it on the economy. I’m a hobbyist who's in love with magic. I have several original items that I hope to send to magazines. I respect the art, and am not an actual paid performer. I'm not a member of SAM or IBM but have attended lectures. I like to collect magic, learn methods, and perform when I have a chance. I was hooked on magic at such a young age. It's a fascinating hobby for me. It has helped me be more open to others and has become an avenue to allow easy conversations for me.

16. ALMOST OPEN

WHAT YOU NEED

1) Paper and a pen or pencil

2) Double stick tape

3) A complete deck of cards

METHOD Take a random card from the deck, let’s say 5 of Spades, place the double stick tape on the back of it and place it on the bottom of the pack. The double stick tape will adhere to the card on top of it. This should be fine. Take the 2 of Hearts from the pack and place it face up in the face down deck, about four cards from the bottom of the pack. You’re set to go. THE PLOY Introduce the deck to your spectator. Say you will make a prediction, and take the paper and write: Two of Hearts, showing everyone your prediction. Lay it on the table. Take the deck out of the case; freely spread the cards face down in your hands making sure not to pass the reversed card in the deck. Hand the deck to the spectator face down. (Remember, the five of spades should be in the bottom of the deck sticking to a random card; the spectator will find nothing wrong with the deck. The duplicate 2 of hearts sits about 4 cards above the 5 of Spades, reversed.

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Tell the spectator he is to deal cards face up on the table until he feels he feels the psychic vibes. Tell him he can stop at anytime and then deal the next card face down, without looking at it. When he does, there should be one card face down and a number of face-up cards below it.

Take the remainder of the deck from him and place it face up in your left hand. Patter a bit as, using both hands, you slowly peel off the 5 of Spades from the card it was sticking to.

Show him the 5 of Spades and tell him “You could’ve stopped here, but you didn’t” and drop it face up on his face down card. The double-sided tape on the back of the 5 of Spades will adhere to the face down card.

Take the next card and say the same thing dropping it on the 5 of Spades. From here, you’ll be hitting your reversed card. Lift the double slowly and say you could’ve stopped at this card, and drop it on the cards on the table. When the dirty move is done, start spreading in clumps and keep pattering, dropping the cards face up on the table as necessary. When it’s all said and done, you’ll have a pack of face up cards on the table, your force card, the sticky 5 of Spades on top of his face down card, and the rest of the face up deck.

Square up the deck and apply slight pressure. Spread the deck on the table face up (not face down or else you’re screwed). One card will be face down from the face up deck (due to the 5 of Spades adhering to his face down card). Tell him to take his card and your card and turn them face up. A MIRACLE!! They Match!!

Second Solution – Vernon Cosmiano

17. A Little Miracle!

THE GOODS The Solution utilizes miniature playing card, sometimes known as a “Tom Thumb” Deck. Because these cards are less than half the size of a normal pack of cards, you can invisibly do things with them that would not be possible with the larger cards.

Using the Tom Thumb cards, have a force card classic palmed, face out (easiest thing to do since the size of the card is about the size of a palm, like classic palming coins). We’ll say the card palmed is the seven of hearts. This will be our force card.

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Just like the original plot, write down your prediction card (Seven of Hearts) on a piece of paper, show it to your spectator and proclaim it as your prediction, and explain to him how he’s to deal cards face up until he feels the psychic vibes, then deal one card face down.

When he’s done that, take the card that he dealt face down, briefly, by the fingers of the hand that holds the palmed mini-card (you can do a Ramsey Subtlety here, making it look like your hand is empty).

Say your patter about how he could’ve stopped at any card. Here comes the dirty part, but should fly by the spectator: Tell him to turn the remainder of the deck in his hand face up, and to look through those cards to see if the Predicted Card is there.

At the same time you do a quick switch.

Using both hands, you take the card that he placed face down and flip it face up under the cover of your palm. At the same time you lay both cards down on the table, on top of the face up cards that he dealt at the beginning. His face down card is now face up, blending in with the already-dealt face up cards, and the classic palmed card now going to be face down on top of the rest of the mini cards.

In the meanwhile, he’s flipping his mini-deck over, and you continue with your patter about how he could’ve stopped at any of the cards and have him briefly run through those in his hands.

Have him place the face up cards on top of the face down card (which was previously classic palmed) and the rest of the face up cards, do the patter you need, have him spread through the cards and VIOLA!! A little miracle!!

P.T. Barnum & Tom Thumb

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OLLY CROFTON (U.K.)

BIO Olly Crofton is 34 years of age and lives in London. He began studying magic and psychology around 2001 and mentalism around 2003. He got his BSc in psychology in 2005, studying part time and working full full time. He is now working towards an MSc and he works in the field of Mental Health.

18. SOMEBODY STOP ME!

METHOD Use the Psychological Stop Trick (as described by Jean Hugard in his ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF CARD TRICKS *) as the force. Just predict the card at the 10th position in the deck.

(I'd like to point out that I've seen the psychological stop trick/force described by Derren Brown and Harry Anderson. They describe it differently to Hugard, but I have always used Hugard's method from the beginning of my career in magic with great success many, many times.) You identify this card using Thomas Baxter’s method – having the spectator spread the cards before your eyes, while you are pretending to make sure that that card is in the deck. (Sorry and thanks!) Or you could ribbon-spread and say something like, “So, a good mix, that you did yourself.”

Your prediction, written on a business card or small piece of paper, reads: “You will NOT choose the four of hearts” (or whatever the force card is). Using the procedure described by Hugard, for our purposes the cards are dealt, not onto the table, but into the palm of the Performer. If the PS force fails, there would be the possibility of doing a double lift (or top change)or perhaps a triple lift, if the PS force does not hit exactly on the button, but gets close. * (See Appendix I, p. for a detailed description of The Psychological Stop Trick)

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If things go right, you have pure mentalism! This could be really clean and worth the risk. If the PS force works directly, you will then need to use your Mavenesque skills in covering up the 'NOT' part of the prediction with your thumb, which you have positioned strategically, as in Max's Positive/Negative. If the force does not work and misses badly, you just hold up the prediction as written ... and it's a bit of a lame joke. And you move on to another routine using that card as the selected card. Obviously choosing the right spec would be important. I've been doing the PST for years now, and you can get a feel for who will be vulnerable to the suggestion. Above all, don't do the PST, or this trick, as an opener. You need to get your spectator or participant into a state of suggestibility. Finally - Sometimes when doing the PST (and hence this trick too), if the force does not work it is possible to fan off a few cards, say to the spec, “You could have stopped on any of these cards right? Right? It was a free choice wasn't it? Don't just agree with me?” Hopefully this will provide the chance to cut these superfluous cards to the bottom of the dealt packet. You could do a pass or a shift (but, alas, I never really mastered that move, so I have to rely on the bold cut).

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IAIN DUNFORD (UK)

BIO 36 years old - English - I have been studying mentalism and magic for nearly a decade now. I’m a semi-pro performer, close-up and parlour. My other job is building websites for the visually impaired. I have a huge interest in the Victorian era, the mixture of science and the spiritual. It seemed at odds with itself in lots of ways. My other loves are music, art, films and literature. My favourites of mentalism are works by Annemann, Riggs, Canasta and Hoy, mainly. I also have a love of card magic, especially Lennart Green, Lewis Jones and Jerry Sadowitz.

19. AN EXPERIMENT IN THOUGHT

PRESENTATION A deck is shuffled by different audience members, and you place the deck very fairly onto a table. “Ever thought of a friend and suddenly…the phone rings; and it’s them? Ever been humming a song, and when you’re driving along – its being played on the radio?” “When we stop to consider the odds of that happening and just how powerful our brains are – I find that amazing.” ”We can often think the same things as each other… say the same words at the same time. Those million-to-one chances, and yet – they happen.” “What I want to show you all now with this experiment is quite simply that miracles – million to one shots -- can really come true…Or maybe show how we can all truly influence one another.” Two people are now selected from the audience. “I will now make a prediction for you all to see.” On a post-it note you write “Seven of Spades”. This is stuck onto the back of the card case, shown around and placed face down. Turn to your first participant: “First of all, I want you to get a number in mind between 1 and 52...keep it to yourself though…got one? Good.”

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”Spread the cards face down across the table… and now count silently to that number in the spread, from the top of the deck down, and place your finger on the card that rests at the number you have thought of. Next, separate all those cards below the one your finger rests on, and square them up. Good. Now flip the top bunch of cards, that includes the one your finger rests on, over 180 degrees, square up those cards too, and put them back on top of the rest of the deck…thank you.” ”Now, you have selected completely at random a number, and therefore arrived at a card. If that was my prediction, maybe there could have been a chance that I could have influenced you. With that in mind, I’m going to ask you to whisper to your fellow helper here, what number you thought of…” ”You’ve done that? Good. Now I want you, second participant, to choose any one of those numbers… Hopefully they’ve whispered a two digit number in your ear, so you can chose either the first digit of the number, or the second digit… a free choice..change your mind a few times if you wish..once you’ve settled on that number stick with it…” Wait for them to confirm they have a number in mind. “Good. Now take all the cards, and count off that many cards into your right hand hand..” Wait for them to do so. “…and then flip all of the remainder of the cards in your left hand over 180 degrees too, just like your friend did. And put those back underneath the bunch you have in your right hand.” “Thank you both Would you now spread all the cards across the table in a straight line the best you can…and slide out the very first face down card, next to all of those face up ones, you chose. Leave it face down, but put it to one side for the moment, if you would, and check that all the other cards are fair and face up. Thank you.” RECAP “A random number was thought of from a deck that I didn’t touch. Those cards were turned face up, and another person then picked another random number and did the same.” ”There really is no way that I could somehow forsee exactly what you would do, or could influence you to stop at different numbers – numbers you have not said aloud – is there?”

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”You had freedom of choice yes? Both of you? I didn’t touch those cards either…but I did write a prediction at the very beginning, did I not? Would one of you lift up the card case and read it out loud, to remind us all of my predicition?” They do. “THE SEVEN OF SPADES” “Good, thank you. And the single face down card, would you both look at it and show it to everyone now? What is that card?” THE SEVEN OF SPADES!!! Kept it as simple and as self working as possible. A freely shuffled deck, a peek of the top card afterwards, in placing it down on the table, or when handed to the first person (up to you when you want to write your prediction). The Balducci Cut Deeper Force dressed up a little.

Rodin’s “THOUGHT”

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AARON ENYEART (USA) Two Solutions BIO Aaron Enyeart (AKA Oyama) ; Beaverton, Oregon I am 33 years old. I am a Loss Prevention Manager (I catch shoplifters and employees stealing from a retail store). I love to do Mentalism with a pack of cards.

20. PATH OF A SHERPA

PRESENTATION As I placed my cards back into the box and tossed them onto the table, I reached over and took a sip of my White Russian. Just at that moment I looked up and noticed a young lady sitting across the room. She had dark flowing hair and wore a shawl around her shoulders. She too, was drinking a White Russian. At that moment I could not help but feel a connection between her and I. Not sure if the rum was playing tricks on my mind or not, I decided to see if this connection was real. I reached over, picked up my cards and stood up from my chair. My drink in one hand, the cards in another, I slowly walked toward this lady. I was about halfway to her when she looked in my direction and made eye contact with me. Once again, the connection was strong. I approached the lady and asked if I could have a moment of her time. She smiled politely at me, as if she knew me from another time and place. I sat down in a chair and placed my cards on the table along with my drink. I explained to the lady that I felt this strong connection with her from across the room and wanted to find out if this connection was real or not. I asked her to please remove the cards from the box and to mix them up. I said that I wanted to write the name of my favorite card down on the napkin, but as I had been performing earlier that night, I wasn’t sure all the cards were accounted for. I politely asked her to spread the cards from hand to hand, with the faces toward me, so that I could verify that my card was truly in the deck. Once I was satisfied that my card was accounted for, I had her place the cards on the table. I then wrote on the napkin “10 of Diamonds”, and let her see it. I told her that I wanted her to cut the cards wherever she would like, in order for her to find a card of her own. By way of demonstration, I cut a small portion of cards off the top of the pack and flipped them face up onto the pack. I then

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explained to her that I would turn my back and I would like her to cut the cards herself this time, in a different place. She was to remember the card she cut to and replace the cards back onto the deck. Once she completed this simple task, I turned around to face her. I asked her to give the cards a mix and then to place them on the table. As I reached down to pick up my drink, our eyes locked. This connection seemed to be getting stronger by the minute. I explained to her that the card she cut to was now lost somewhere in the deck. As well, my favorite card, the one that I wrote on the napkin, was also now hopelessly lost somewhere in the deck. As I continued to sip on my drink, I had her deal the cards, one at a time, face up into one pile. I told her that once she dealt her card face up, she was to place it off to the side and deal the next card face down on top of her card, just leaving enough of her card exposed so that we could still see what it was. As she came to the “3 of Hearts,” she stopped. She removed this card from the face up pile and placed it off to the side. She then removed the next face down card and placed it face down on top of her “3 of Hearts.” She then continued to deal the remaining cards face up until there were no more cards to deal. I placed my now empty glass on the table and looked into her eyes once more. I asked her if she had seen the “10 of Diamonds” while she was dealing the cards. She looked at me as if she was starting to feel the same connection, and whispered, “No.” I explained that if this connection were real between us, the card that was placed face down would be my card the 10 of Diamonds. She slowly reached for the card, her fingers trembling, and her eyes wide. As she began to turn the card, she looked at me one last time. This time she seemed almost frightened. She looked back down at the card and slowly turned it over… Later that night, as I thought about all the people I had performed for, I still wondered about my connection with that mysterious lady…. I guess some things should remain a mystery.

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METHOD I am sure you have figured it out by now. The face down card was the “10 of Diamonds.” I am also sure you have figured out that I am using the Balducci Cut Deeper Force. I use it to force the “Top” card, and to set up a “Key Card.” In my presentation, I perform the first cut and turn over as a demonstration of what I want the spectator to do when my back is turned. The “Key Card” is of course their random, cut-to card. Once they turn all the face-up cards over face down, their cut-to card will be on top of the force card. Have the spectator do an “Overhand Shuffle” to lose the cards in the deck. The rest is in the presentation. I should note that I always have the spectator do an “Overhand Shuffle” at the beginning of the effect for consistency. I also have the spectator spread the cards toward me “looking” for my card. I just spot the top card of course. That’s the card you write down. This way, you never touch the cards from start to finish. CREDITS After many nights thinking about this problem, I thought about the “Cut Deeper Force.” I then went on a hunt for other versions of the “Open Prediction” and came across a book called “More Self Working Card Tricks” by Karl Fulves. In this book they explain an “Open Prediction” effect that uses the “Cut Deeper Force”. Fulves credits Lin Searles and Ed Balducci for this. Although I did think of using the “Cut Deeper Force” on my own, it has been done and in print. The version in “More Self Working Card Tricks” uses just the “Force” as the trick. I thought of using it as a way to get and place a “Key” card along with forcing a card. This also allows for a shuffle after the “Key” card has been placed. I would also like to mention that I got the ideas of using a “Key Card” for the Open Prediction, and spotting your prediction card by having the spectator run the cards in front of your eyes, from Thomas Baxter, A.K.A Entity.

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Second Solution -- Aaron Enyeart

21. IMPROMPTU VERSION OF “L.A. OPEN” EFFECT Performer places a deck of cards on the table and either writes down a prediction of a card, or states the card out loud. The performer then picks up the cards and begins to spread the cards from left hand to his right hand and asks the spectator to say stop when they choose to. The performer then asks the spectator if they are sure that’s the card they would like to stop at. Once the spectator is satisfied with the card they stopped at, the performer takes all the cards on the right side of the selected card (leaving the selected card face down on the left hand pile) and turns them face up onto the pile in his left hand. The performer then begins to spread the face up cards and asks the spectator to look for the predicted card. Once all the face up cards have been shown and the predicted card is not there, those cards are placed on the table, face up. The performer then removes the top card from the pile in his left hand (the card they stopped you at) and places it face down on the face up cards on the table. The performer then turns the remainder of the cards in his left hand face up. The performer then spreads those cards asking the spectator to look for the predicted card. The predicted card will not be seen. Once all those cards have been shown, they are placed face up on the cards on the table.

The cards are then turned face down, on the table and ribbon spread. There will only be one card face up. It is the predicted card. METHOD It’s actually very simple. Before you begin the effect, take the deck and turn the second from the top card face up. So the top card is face down and the second card is face up. The card that is face up (second card) is your predicted card.

Now begin to spread the cards from left hand to right hand and ask the spectator to say stop when they want. Be careful not to separate the top two cards or you will expose your predicted card. I usually push about four cards over into the right hand before I ask the spectator to say stop. Once they say stop, take all the cards on the right side of the card they said stop at and turn them face up on the left hand pile. You have now placed your predicted card above the card they stopped you at and it is now face down. Spread through all the face up cards asking the spectator to look for your predicted card. It obviously won’t be found. Once you finish spreading all the face up cards, you will arrive at the face down cards. Be careful not to spread the first face down card you come to, it will expose a face up card. Place the face up cards on the table.

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Now tell the spectator that we have arrived at their card. Get a break under second card and place the two cards as one on the face up pile on the table. It is sort of like a double lift, without the turnover. Just have a break under the two cards and pick it up as one. Once you place the two cards on the face up pile, their will only be one face down card and it is the top card of the pile on the table. The performer then turns the remainder of the cards in his left hand face up. He begins to spread the cards asking the spectator to look for the predicted card. They will not see it. Once you have shown all those face up cards, place them face up on the cards already on the table. Pick up the cards and turn them face down. Do a ribbon spread. This will obviously expose the one face up card. This is your predicted card.

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SEBASTIAN FRIESKE (GERMANY)

BIO

Name: Sebastian Frieske Magic Cafe Nickname: piefke666 Born: 04.03.1983; Town: Vreden; Country: Germany Homepage: www.sweet666.de ; email: S.frieske@gmail.com Six years ago I saw a book test on a familiar show. From there on I knew that I need these skills. So my way to mentalism was born. I started with Corinda and Annemann. In my world there are two ways to perform mentalism... one is the dark way where you can show all the bizarre stuff, and then there is the psychological way. I decided to name my open prediction effect "Spontane Einsicht". It is German and stands for "Flash of Insight".

22. SPONTANE EINSICHT

What? The mentalist takes out a deck of playing cards and removes them from a plastic card case. He then writes down his open prediction (Seven of Spades). The spectator deals all the cards face up but one. In the face up pile there isn't any Seven of Spades. Now the spectator turns up the chosen card... it is the Seven of Spades! How? Needs: 1 "double blank playing card" 1 "blank back playing card" with any random card on its face 1 plastic card case 1 normal deck Spray Mount (or double stick tape) PREPARATION On one side of the double blank card you write the name of the force card (Seven of Spades). On the "blank back card" you spray the Spray Mount on the blank side. Then you place the "blank back card" on top of the "double blank card", so it looks like both sides are blank. Take the deck of cards and remove the prediction card (seven of spades). You don't need it.

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LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE Take out the cards and give them to any spectator. Now take out your prepared blank cards. To the audience they should appear as if it is a single card, blank on both sides. Show them as one and write your prediction on the sticky side (Seven of Spades). Your writing should match the writing you did earlier, which is now on the inside of the double. Place this the prediction into the card case. The spectator should now deal the cards face up onto the table, one at a time, stopping at some point to deal one card face down to one side without looking at its identity. This card is placed into the card case, along with (but on top of) the prediction (this is for safekeeping, so no manipulation could be done ;). Thanks to the Spray Mount this face down card will stick on the "blank back card". You could press with your fingers on the card, so it really sticks on the other card. When the spectator has all the cards dealt he turns over the plastic card case and slides the top prediction card away.

He will find that the card that he intuitively dealt face down is the Seven of Spades. It is the same card as the prediction.

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JOSHUA GILES (USA)

First, I would like to say “Thanks” to Thomas Baxter for giving everyone a chance to have their effect posted in an e-book. After about a week of brainstorming over the Open Prediction I have come up with the following method. It is a bold routine that relies on a little misdirection, which, with practice, I have found quite easy to master. For the few spectators I have performed it on, every routine has gone as planned ending in a nice climax. I would never perform this for another Performer, but for now, this is the method (that I know the secret to) that is closest to Thomas’ legendary Prediction: A Dianoetic Rage. Thanks again Thomas!

BIO I am a "Livin' Large" high-school senior at a new public school located in the Charleston County District in the state of South Carolina. Being academically strong I plan to graduate from Clemson University and make a living being an electrical engineer. I have yet to have a serious job with a decent pay since my parents are blessed with an abundance of God-given wealth that has made my life very easy. As far as magic goes my parents are the ones that purchased the basic kits, cups and balls, etc., and thus I performed for audiences before I turned seven years old! Up to this day I have only had minor jobs practicing illusion and have focused on card magic for the last 7 years. I am interested to see where my experience in illusion takes me throughout the rest of my life, knowing that I will never enter the professional world because better opportunities are present. I cannot say that "I live for this" art card magic but on a rainy Saturday morning I cannot resist.

23. UNDONE EFFECT The spectator hands you a packet of cards and says “do something amazing.” I take the cards out of the box and say “Have you ever performed a miracle?” The spectator says “no”, of course. I announce that with the help of 2 cards we will see how close we can get to performing a miracle. Two cards of the same color and value are selected by the spectator and dealt to the side, face down, their identities unknown to anyone but the Performer. The spectator takes the deck of cards and is told by the Performer to give them a thorough shuffle, which he/she does.

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The spectator is asked to spread the cards face up onto the table so the Performer can consider which card he will predict. The cards are gathered up and the Performer names the prediction out loud. The spectator then shuffles the cards some more. The Performer tells the spectator to “Start dealing cards face up and at ANY point place a single card, without seeing its identity, face down between the pile and the 2 cards previously dealt to the side.” When the spectator places a card aside it is clearly placed between the two “helper” cards, out jogged, so that there are three face down cards, one top of one another. The spectator is told to deal the rest of the cards face up onto the table and to look for the prediction card…. The card is not seen. The spectator takes the middle card and flips it over…it is the prediction card and the 2 “helper” cards are in the Performer’s hands. If done correctly, everything ends up clean.

These were my goals when figuring out a solution:

• Uses the “help” of 2 other playing cards.

• The trick follows as many of the “51 Faces North” rules as possible.

•

METHOD I have found that with the use of “Bee” playing cards, this effect works a little better. This is because when I place the spectator’s freely dealt card in the middle, I am actually placing it onto the top of the other 2 “helper cards”. Borrow a deck or use your own; this effect is impromptu. The only setup is that you need to wear pants or a jacket with normal pockets.

Tell the spectator that you are going to select 2 cards in order to help you accomplish a miracle. First, ask if they would like the cards to be red or black. As they answer, cut a card of the same color to the bottom and memorize it. This is going to be the prediction card. Although they probably won’t remember seeing it, try not to flash it. I do this because the prediction card will take the place of one of the helper cards. Have the spectator name a value, and go through the cards with the faces toward yourself. Out-jog the 2 cards that the spectator has specified. (i.e. the JS and the JC) Just make sure they are the same card and color.

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So the faces are spread towards yourself and the 2 desired cards are out-jogged. You are now going to secretly deal one of these cards to the side, along with the prediction; both face down: Bring the 2 selected cards to the face of deck (with the right hand) on top of the prediction card so that the bottom 3 cards of the deck are PREDICTION – TWIN – TWIN (See Picture 1) Before you do this action, hold a break under the prediction so that you are holding the deck face up in the left hand with the prediction beneath the twins, all part of the pinky break. You should now see one of the twins at the face of the deck.

picture1: pinky break exposed

With the right hand take all 3 cards in biddle grip and slide the top twin to the left with your left thumb. Hold these cards out a little so the spectator can clearly see you apparently holding the 2 cards (See Picture 2).

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picture2: Biddle grip exposed

You will now slide two cards face down to the left near the spectator (both cards face down). The top card will be the prediction and the bottom card will be one of the twins. I use a move from Thomas Baxter’s e-book (NOT A DIANOETIC RAGE) that is found in the trick “Delusional”. It uses the left index finger to accomplish this feat. In the trick he uses two cards; this trick is obviously done with three. * As of now you have 3 cards in the right hand, close to the spectator, in biddle grip. From your view the card that has been previously pulled to the left with your left thumb is a single twin and the other 2 cards appear as one and are held by your right middle finger and thumb.

Holding the remainder of the pack in your left hand, face up in dealing position, take your left pointer finger and curl it to touch the card on the face of the pack. If the face card were a King, the tip of your pointer finger would be touching the forehead of the King. (See Picture 3)

* (In the handling of this switch in Delusional, there are actually 3 cards in play. While the following handling of the switch by Joshua differs somewhat from what I described in NOT A DIANOETIC RAGE, Josh’s handling still works perfectly for what he wants to do. –Ed.)

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picture3: pointer finger position

Square the 3 cards in your right hand together and place them on top of the left index finger. Support the 3 cards with your left thumb and left middle finger and take your right hand away. The three lifted cards should line up with the rest of the deck. The three cards should also be slightly bent since they are making contact with your left index finger. (See Picture 4)

picture4: Cards on pointer finger (not exposed)

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Next, turn your left wrist inward, turning your left hand face down, as if you were simply going to place the two bottom cards to the side. As you do this pinch the corners of the cards onto the deck slightly with your left thumb. To complete the move, straighten out your left pointer finger, which should cause two face-down cards to swivel out from the pack. (See Pictures 5 & 6) The audience believes these cards to be the two Jacks. In reality, you have switched one of the Jacks for your Prediction Card. Place these two cards face down onto the table.

picture5: slip move exposed

picture6: what it looks like

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I know this may sound complicated, but go through it a few more times…it really isn’t.

You will now perform a form of gambler’s cop and put the bottom of the card of the deck (the second mate card) into you pocket. Here is how I do it:

If I am standing up beside a table: Hold the deck in left hand dealing position. With your right hand, grasp the face down deck in Biddle grip. That is, the deck is held with your right hand’s middle and ring fingers at the outer short edge of the cards, and your right thumb at the inner short edge. Your right pointer finger slightly curled on top, pushing down onto the deck.

With your left pinky finger, separate the bottom card from the deck ever so slightly (about a centimeter). You are going to grip the bottom card’s top 2 edges in the following places: (See Picture 7)

• The highest crease in your left ring finger

• The “fleshy” part under your thumb.

picture7: Cop exposed Secretly take the card off the bottom of the deck with your left hand (fingers together) and let your hand fall naturally so that the back of your hand is facing the spectator. Now hand them the deck for shuffling as you casually put your hands into your pockets, carrying the copped card into your left pocket.

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Your right hand is still in the exact same position holding the deck face down from the top in Biddle grip.

If I am sitting at a table with the spectator: You are going to perform a gambler’s flat palm of the bottom card of the pack with your left hand. Hold the deck in right hand Biddle grip with the faces pointing left and the deck pointed up and down vertically. The side of the deck should be in front of your face. Bring your left thumb over and cause the face of the card to be separated from the rest of the deck by about half a centimeter. Your are going to put your left palm near the face of the deck and grip the top 2 edges of the face card in the following areas of your left hand: (See Picture 8)

• The inner-bottom part of your pinky finger.

• The fattest part of your thumb.

picture8: Palm exposed As you remove the card it should align with your left wrist. Put your left hand palm down onto the table and slide the cards in your right hand over to the right for shuffling purposes. As they begin to shuffle, put the palmed card into your left pocket.

You are now ready to move on. You have ditched the errant twin.

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After the spectator shuffles, ask the person to spread the cards across the table face up. Look at the cards as if you are considering which card to predict. (You really already know your prediction. It is currently the top card in the 2 card pile you have recently set to the side.)

Have them square the deck, and you reveal the prediction by writing the name of the card down and showing it to everyone, or by simply saying it out loud. Insist that they shuffle some more.

Tell them to hold the cards face down in their left hand and then to start dealing cards face up onto the table, one at a time. As they deal the first few, tell them to, at any time they wish, deal one card face down to the side. Also tell them to keep an eye out for the prediction card. Emphasize that this is a free choice. This effect will be more memorable if all of the key points are hammered in.

When they deal one to the side, say: “Believe it or not, the twins you selected at the beginning influenced you to stop here”. Place the card stopped at between the 2 cards so it looks like the following picture:

picture9: card goes in-between

After you have done this, direct the participant to continue dealing cards face up, still looking for the prediction card.

The next thing you must accomplish is to make it appear that you are sliding the card that they dealt face down, between the two face down “mate cards” on the table. You are actually going to slide it on top.

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I have found this quite easy since they are focusing on the cards they are dealing onto the table. In the action of squaring the three face down cards on the table, simply pull the dealt card that is in the middle back a little and slide it on top of the other 2. I prefer not to say anything about this move; just do it. I have never been caught doing this.

When the spectator has finished dealing ask them if they have seen the prediction card. They will answer: ”NO!” Take the 3 face down cards and turn them face up into your left hand, being careful to only show the face card. Hold them face up in dealer’s grip and recap everything that has occurred. Turn the cards face down, spread them slightly, and ask the spectator to take out the middle card, but not to reveal it yet. Square up the 2 remaining cards in your left hand and transfer them, face up, into your right hand so they are in a face- up Biddle grip. Your right pointer finger should be lying on the face of the twin.

When you have done this tell them to flip the card they hold over. It will be the Predicted Card.

As they do this, and while everyone is reacting, reach into your left pocket and pinch the card in it with your four fingers on top and the thumb on the bottom. (See Picture 10) Take it out; it should be face up.

picture10: pinch the card Place it under your right index finger on top of the 2 cards in Biddle grip. Make sure the 2 twins are visible. I have never had this move discovered since there is misdirection (the card being flipped over.)

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picture11: Biddle grip exposed. NOTE: KS is actual dealt card.

I simply place these cards on top of the face up pile and leave them for examining.

I have found this an easy trick to perform and I hope I have made everything clear in terms of how to accomplish it. I hope everyone likes it.

NOTES In my opinion this is an example of one of the simple ways to accomplish the open prediction. I hope at least one person that reads Thomas’s book comes to like it. There is one last thing I would like to recognize: In each picture description if there is an “exposed” in it, then the picture states not how it should look, but gives you hidden details for an easier understanding.

CREDITS In this trick I used 2 moves in order to bring the card into my left pocket: The basic cop move and a palming move that I learned from Vinny Marini. The move where I slide the 2 face down cards aside, as I stated, I learned from Thomas Baxter’s ebook, NOT A DIANOETIC RAGE. He stated that this move is a combination of Larry Jenning’s Simplex Switch (described in THE COMMERCIAL MAGIC of J.C. WAGNER by Mike Maxwell) and Marlo’s Mechanical Second (described well by Allan Ackerman in his Advanced Card Control Video Series in Vol. 2).

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JON HACKET (U.K.) Two Solutions

The Open Prediction is a mystery that has kept many a magi awake at night. Its time to keep our participants up... These solutions can both be performed impromptu, and can conform to essentially all of Paul Curry’s stipulations. I give these two solutions as an offering to provide a different perspective on how the effect can be interpreted. There are many differences here to how most people would perceive how the effect should be performed. Let me explain why. I am a close-up performer, originally performing what is known as Mentalism. I often also stretch out my arm into the mysterious art of magic. I am different however, in that I do not perform for my spectators; indeed, I try and ensure that there are no spectators. Instead I employ into my art form, participants. But really they become more than that, they in fact become the performers themselves. This has many advantages, which are too numerous to be listed and explained here. I’ll allow others to think it over themselves. One that I would like to point out though, as it refers to this effect, is how much more powerful it can make a singular effect. As it is often said, the magic is much more powerful when in the 'spectators' hands, well, it is even more so when they believe, and often are, responsible for it. The opening transcript of this effect is rarely said as it reads. It is brought out through the course of the entertainment in snippets; I place it here as a background for you to try and understand who I am and where I come from and what my participants understand already.

24. My Grandfather’s Curry PERFORMANCE “I would like, if no one is opposed, to push the boundary's a little further. Tonight we have seen, experienced and created some truly amazing happenings. But I would like us to try something that has eluded the magic world for decades, something in particular that has caused wonderment in bounds for Performers themselves. I am not a student of magic in the traditional sense -- as you may know Performers are ordinarily taught through a master, as an apprentice, if you will. I have never been an apprentice to a Performer in the ordinary sense.”

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“You see, I learnt my particular set of skills over a long period of time. These skills I learnt from my Grandfather. My grandfather was a widower with six children, and an accomplished architect. But this was not his profession. He was a professional gambler, and frankly -- he cheated.” “He taught me those skills, which started with the art of cardistry, sleight of hand and directional employment, namely misdirection. But he also taught me the 'real work', the art of employing people to become the best at what they can do, influencing them in their decisions and profiling them in an instant. This more recently has become to be known as Psychology.” “It wasn't what my Grandfather thought he was using! But these skills are very different to that of a Performer. After all, a magic man is hired, knowingly, to deceive as entertainment. A card shark takes his life into his hands every time he tries to do anything. Which puts rather a different spin on things!” “I was taught that deceit was an art form, but must only be used in the correct circumstances.” “Moving on though, my grandfather of course retired at some point and fell into the magic community, more specifically card workers and such, and it was he who brought me to this world.” “I mentioned earlier that even Performers can feel wonderment. That is because something in particular has eluded them. One of my grandfather’s friends, a non-professional, but a man with amazing skill with a deck of cards, was an American named Paul Curry, and he proposed a challenge to Performers, something that he called: an Open Prediction. Along with it Curry also set out some rules. I’d like to try this tonight with you if we can, and I’ll explain a little more as we go on.” “For this I shall need your help, Susan.” “Ok”, she says. “I shall need you to think of a location within a deck of cards… Imagine all of the cards spinning ‘round your mind like a whirlwind, and then see them come back together, but you notice that they aren’t all there, a lot are missing… Translate that please into a number…between 1 and 52… not an EASY one, and write it here please.” A deck of cards is handed to her in the box with a post-it note stuck on. She writes her number and then is asked to take the post-it note off of the deck and crumple it up and put it in her pocket, just in case she forgets, but she must remember and focus on that location. The deck is left where it is for the moment.

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“Now, the idea that Mr. Paul Curry challenged Performers with was this -- The name of a single card is written down as a Prediction, out in the open, and is shown to everyone; then a deck is dealt face up and an audience member deals aside one card face down at any location they choose. They then continue to deal the rest of the cards face up. The predicted card is not seen. The lone face-down card is turned over by that very audience member, and it matches the prediction.” “Quite an amazing feat I think, and something that has never been able to be solved by Performers, and I would like to explain why I think that is.” The magic man himself picks up the box of cards as he continues, takes them out and gives them a quick little shuffle. “Performers, you see, have always tried to be the God, the deity, the miracle man who causes wonder everywhere he goes. The truth is, magic can happen -- we see it every day -- but magic is not a bunch of tricks and illusions. It is in the mind. For that reason, Id like to ask for your help too, Daisy.” The Performer displays a wry smile and a quick flicker of an eyebrow as he hands the deck of cards to Daisy. “What is needed you see, is synergy.” There is a pause as the magi looks ‘round the table. “Synergy is sometimes described as cooperative action, and we shall use that here, but the real magic is created when those two forces come together and create a whole new level of wonderment.” “For instance, you can hear two individual singers and they sound great, but when they sing together, their sound is majestic. Synergy is also something that is prominent in the financial industry, and what isn't that affecting?” “They say that when combining two sectors they become bountifully more successful. Well that is what we must strive for tonight.” “Daisy, please shuffle the cards. What we need to do is to create a prediction, an open prediction, of what card Susan shall deal aside when she reaches her location. Now this shan't be easy, but lets try, okay?” “Sure!” she says. The Magi begins to put a few piles of cards in front of Daisy.

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“Of course it is not easy to know how to do this, and please Susan, we need you now to concentrate as fully as you can on the location that you are only thinking of, and try and almost send it to Daisy here.” “The best way to try, Daisy, is to pick up a small group of these cards and spread them in front of yourself and concentrate on them, and then concentrate on Susan, then look back at the cards and see if any jump out at you as the one to go with. Try it with a number of these groups… all of them if you want!” All the cards are in front of Daisy now and she freely deciphers between piles of cards, analyzing which to go for. “If you feel you’re not getting anywhere, you could flash some cards up at Susan and see if that helps, but in the end, go with your gut instinct. And please, before you pop the groups down, shuffle up the cards to help them be mixed.” A card is picked by Daisy. “Excellent! Are you happy with that choice?” “Yes”, she says, and you hand her a piece of paper and a pen. “Please write down the name of the card for all of us to see.” The cards are collected and she shows her written prediction to the entire table. “Please pop your card on a pile and put the other piles on top, burying it. Then collecting all the cards together again. And slide the well-shuffled cards down to Susan.” This is done. “We can all see the prediction is the Eight of Hearts. It has been put here and we can all see it. Don't worry at all if this goes terribly wrong. Performers have been unable to perform this, so if you even get close that would be amazing.” “In fact, lets set up a little margin for error, lets say if the card is within one or two of the Eight of Hearts, or if its the Eight of Diamonds, or Spades or Clubs, we will all give you both a resounding round of applause! “ “Please Susan, deal through the cards face up in a pile, counting to yourself as your go. When you get to your location, deal that card aside and then continue dealing the rest of the cards face up.” “We must all be looking for the eight of hearts!” The cards are dealt face up.

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You continue: “Remember, Daisy shuffled these cards thoroughly a multiple of times; she then openly wrote the prediction in front of us all.” More cards are turning face up “There's an eight of spades! Susan is freely dealing the cards, and she shall deal one aside freely when she wants to… Ooh there's a seven of hearts! My heart raced for a moment, Daisy.” “…And now, she is dealing one card aside. Please continue so we can see through the other face up cards, Susan. Oh look an eight of diamonds!” “Now Susan, you have finished. You were holding the cards. Before then Daisy, after thoroughly shuffling the cards, handed them to you. She predicted openly that you would deal aside the Eight of Hearts, and we agreed to give you both a resounding round of applause if that card is indeed the Eight of Hearts. Please turn it over.” It is the Eight of Hearts. Everyone reacts with great applause. METHOD This effect is entirely presentation. To give it to you straight, Susan is a stooge who has perfected the second deal. No, I'm only joking! But really, this is all presentation, and I suggest you spend a lot of time perfecting a presentation that is really going to grip the audience and believe. It is best performed after some other powerful pieces where the participants have played a big role. In my case they have essentially performed everything. This method can be entirely impromptu, but the version in the above effect was not. It used a 'Mental Masterpiece'* not to be described here because any serious student of the at should study Annemann and anyone whom does not know how to construct this should consult the Annemann literature in whole. What it allows you to do is receive an impression of what the participant had written. The reason I have her think of a 'location' so early is to try and allow everyone time to forget that she wrote it down. Which is why the phrase, 'a location that you’re only thinking of” is included and the time allocation is put in. *(Annemann’s Mental Masterpiece is a card box rigged so that the top flat surface serves as a carbon impression device. It was first described by Annemann in his booklet, Annemann’s Mental Bargain Effects. A Google search will show a number of sources where this can be purchased. – Ed.)

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If doing this impromptu, you could do a billet switch, or a center tear. If you don't know either I would suggest (for billet switches) buying SWITCHCRAFT, one of the best tomes on magic created in e-book format by the talented and dedicated Elliott Bresler. I will give a very quick description of a center tear. I am ashamed to say to say I don't have a camera so cannot provide any pictures, but here we go. It assumes you are using a post-it note as they are natural and familiar. 1. Draw a circle in the middle of the post-it note, about the size of a 2 pence piece in the UK, or a half dollar in the US. 2. While your back is turned, have them write their number in it. 3. Have them fold it once lengthways and again cross-ways so that the paper is folded in quarters. 4. Receive it and ensure the folded corner (not the sharp edges) is in the left hand, the opening side in the right fingertips, held from the top. 5. Tear down, 40% of the right side. Move the right hands pieces behind the left hand’s. 6. With the right hand grasp the bottom of the pieces and spin it up 90 degrees. 7. Repeat step 5. 8. And again, put the right hands pieces behind (as in closer to the spectators) the left hand’s. 9. Now drag the top piece with your right thumb into a loose finger palm, and show the other torn pieces and left them drop to the floor if you don’t respect the venue, or put them in a glass or ashtray like an ordinary human being. Now, if you use the center tear, I suggest you do this at a different time. You need to provide logic, so, I would suggest doing it while Daisy is picking a card. With the following sort of script: “Susan, allow your location to become lucid with every tear of this paper… see it break up, and become pliable, and see it being moved piece by piece to daisy's mind. Daisy, your conscious mind won’t be able to understand these signals so allow your unconscious to suck it all in as you relax and release control. Now, begin choosing a card.” Or something like that.

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But if, like me, you will be using a Mental Masterpiece or an impression device which is explained by Daisy's writing the prediction ;) then one piece of advice: ignore the above with respect to the Center Tear. An important point is that when I ask Susan to think of a location, I have her visualize about half of the deck in her mind and think of the number missing as a hard number. This is to ensure the number is quite large. I also always stress it has to be two digits. Continue on with the presentation, and only take out the cards just before you give them to Daisy, then getting your peek. This allows for time misdirection. Another very important point here is to never call it a number except the once when you ask her to think of it and write it down. Beyond that point refer to it as a location. This strengthens the effect and seems like she could almost change her mind and that she decides randomly when dealing the cards. If you use the imp pad, I would suggest writing down Paul Curry's Rules, or having them pre-written in the pad thus explaining why you are looking through it! Get your peak then! I always use the rules, and show them just before Susan begins dealing. I have another participant tear the prediction off and read the rules out so I am way away and they al seem correct as the effect begins when Susan deals. Remember all the business that happens before that point is very quick, but for me it gives the participants a process, something that is very important and makes them believe in themselves and feel better for it. What great entertainment! So we know the number. All we need now is for Daisy to choose a card and have Susan deal that card. So the card must be at the correct number. Okay, so this is why Daisy uses groups of cards to help her. It makes sense. Have you ever tried to clock a deck? Well it’s not that hard, but try it without a system, and it’s impossible for most people. That is essentially what you are asking the participant to do, and to, at the same time, read the future. So you say it is easier if you create a synergy with Susan, and that she should do this by concentrating on a small number of cards at a time. The cards of course are split into groups according to the number the other spectator chose. This really depends on your preference. You can split them exactly, so if the number is 19, deal 19 cards down. But what I like to do is a little more involved, but it’s easy-peasy. Lets say the number is 21…

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I get the deck and make about five piles instantly of around 5+ cards in each, ensuring there are more than 21 cards left. As Daisy begins and you talk her through the visualization etc., you push across 5 cards exactly, and lay them in front of the other cards, remembering their position, then another 5, then another 5 and then another group of 5 and put the rest of the cards on a pile on their own or on top of one you did a moment ago. This gives you the perfect misdirection to spread across 5 cards at a time, no one is looking at you, no one thinks you are putting the cards in a specific pile or amount. So you have four piles remembered, you do not lose sight of them or forget where they are. Encourage the participant to shuffle the cards as she puts them down. This will show they are all well mixed, but not together! Best-case scenario is she chooses a card from the other piles. So she takes that aside and you hand her a pad and paper to carefully write her prediction for us all to see! She will be a little slower than normal because everyone will be looking and she wants their writing to look nice. During this time you collect up all the piles except the ones you remember. Don't collect them in your hands; put them on top of each other on the table and square them. Leave the other piles. Ask her to show everyone the prediction, and a little quietly ask her to put the card on top of the pile and (at normal volume) direct her to collect up the other cards and put them on top. This will give you a little shading as to other pile being pre made, and will make it impossible to reconstruct the effect. Everyone, including her, will remember her putting the deck back together herself. This is because you use two pieces of shaded misdirection -- collecting the other piles whilst she is writing the most important part of the effect (everyone will look, and you should too. Don't pay much attention while you quickly collect up the non-remembered piles.) -- and the revelation of the prediction. This will distract others from noticing that she is putting the card on a pre-gathered-up pile. BUT this is all hiding things that are totally innocuous! No one will catch a thing! But what if she chooses a card out of the remembered piles, well, you simply put a card from the collected piles in with the remembered piles whilst she writes the prediction, do it as if dropping a card, and all is sorted! Now essentially just continue as in the effect and all will end marvelously! Emphasize the shuffled nature she has just put on the deck, have her slide them

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to Susan, if you are using the rules now is a good time to have them read out, stating: “ And now it begins. We must adhere to these rules!” And everyone will agree that they were and are. Susan deals through and by golly, it’s a wonderful success. I hope you like this effect. It is a real worker. I will quickly summarize the method for you here so you can understand it. 1. First spec thinks of and writes a number; 2. Number is discovered (switch, peek, center tear, or Mental Masterpiece); 3. Quickly a few piles are put in front of spec 2 as she begins looking for a suitable card; 4. You count out in groups (I suggest 5) a you spread the cards and pop them in piles; 5. Spec 2 chooses one card, having shuffled the groups; 6. Writes her prediction as you gather all the groups except the ones you counted to be 1 minus spec 1's number; 7. Have spec 2 replace all the cards together and slide the cards to other spec; 8. Done! And have it revealed! Please consider all the subtleties given here and produce your own presentation. It should be original to you. Second Solution – Jon Hacket

25. HACKETING ALDO OPEN

This is essentially the same, except entirely impromptu. You do not need to know the number the spectator is thinking of, and the deck is thoroughly shuffled. I include no presentation here, just the method because I have rambled on long enough. This explanation will be shorter but at least as much effort should be put in to find the subtleties and such.

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METHOD Have a deck of cards shuffled. Then one spectator (whom we’ll call Spec. 1) cuts off some (about half) and counts them quietly and remembers the number. This will be important later, as a location. Tell her to remember this number as her secret number. The other spectator (Spec. 2) should have a look through the rest of the cards for a prediction card, bring it to the top of the pack, show it to the audience, and write it’s name and place the paper aside as an open prediction. As she is doing this, turn the Prediction Card over, face-up. Putting your first, second and third finger on the face of the card, thumb on the back, begin turning it over face down again, and extend your third finger to the bottom corner of the card, applying pressure to create a corner crimp. Have her (she is Spec..2) shuffle her chosen card back into her half, and the other spectator (Spec. 1) also shuffles her cards. Now continue with the Little Bunny's card trick procedure, or Aldo Colombini's Pre-Deckability, which is as follows… Each spec (1&2) has their pile in front of them. Have spec 1 cut any amount of cards off of spec 2's pile. Once they’ve done this, direct that person to turn the cards they’ve cut off face up, and then put them on their own pile and shuffle them thoroughly. Spec 2 does the same from spec 1's pile. Both shuffle until they are both satisfied that their cards are well mixed. You now have spec 2 cut their pile and they should bring the Predicted Card to the top, if the crimp does its job. After a maximum of three cuts, if they haven’t brought the crimped card to the top, do it yourself. This should rarely happen. You will now perform a riffle shuffle with both spec’s blocks of cards. Two critical things to remember: First, you must maintain the top card from spec. 2’s card on the top of the pack after the shuffle. It is the crimped Prediction Card; Second, before you shuffle the two halves together, you must turn spec 1’s pile of cards over. Perform the shuffle, and then ask spec 2 to take the pack and pull out all the face up cards out of the pack and turn them face down. When all of these face up cards have been removed and turned face down, they are placed on top of the remainder of the pack (and, unknown to the audience, they are directly on top of the Prediction Card). Due to the mathematical and topological principles involved, the face up cards that were turned face down will total spec. 1’s secret number. When the deck is assembled, ask spec 1 to deal, face up, her secret number of

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cards, to attempt to locate the prediction. Once she has dealt a number of cards equal to her secret number, she should stop. If the Prediction Card has not yet appeared, she should then deal aside the next card face down, and then continue dealing the rest of the cards face up, everyone watching for the Prediction Card. It doesn’t show up, and to finish have them turn over the face down card. It matches the prediction. This bare bones method doesn't sound very good, but it is very strong when practiced and all the correct subtleties added. Emphasize the fairness of everything.

(This photo doesn’t mean anything. I just thought it was a cool-looking case. – Ed.)

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BEZALEL HERMOSO (Philipines) BIO Bezalel Piczon Hermoso, born April 4, 1990, is a full-time college student and part-time performer from Cebu, Philippines. Still just with a few years under his belt, he has been a guest performer on local television, and is one of the pioneers of Cerca Trova - the largest and fastest-growing nationwide community of magicians and mentalists in the Philippines. Alel also contributes his knowledge to the community, being a contributor of ideas for some of newer magicians and mentalists in the city. Alel's interest in magic started in childhood, having the inherent curiosity and hunger to know how things work at a deeper level. But the 'magic bug' only bit him during the outburst of magic around the year 2005, and then he delved deeper into the art of magic. Kenton Knepper's materials changed him from being the typical magic junkie into a magician, and also prompted him to delve more into Mentalism and leave close-up card magic in the background. Mentalism, after all, reflects his personality, thinking and philosophical views more than any other art form can. Also a non-professional graphic artist, Alel spends his spare time on his computer, creating digital artworks and other stuff.

26. UNABRIDGED

EFFECT A volunteer is ask to shuffle a deck of cards. She is to do a good job at it, so as to really invite a very fair demonstration of clairvoyance (precognition, or a trip to memory lane, or whatever). You talk about your fascination with playing card games, poker in particular. “It is a very interesting and fun game for me,” you say, “because it does not rely on pure luck, but on the mental acuity of the players. It stops being just a game of cards, and turns into a very exciting mind game. There are sharks that play big money, but also there are cardsharps - bad people that cheat for the big money. They use their physical dexterity to manipulate the cards to their advantage. I, being a mentalist, don’t have that dexterity, nor do I have that perverse desire to cheat on poker or on anything. But I want to show you how – using pure psychological methods, “sleight-of-mind” techniques, it is possible to completely manipulate the whole game of poker”.

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”For the purpose of clarity for this demonstration, let us just focus on one poker hand. This one .” You then introduce 4 cards and only four cards (nothing more nothing less), their identities undisclosed. You point out that this is your poker hand, with a card missing. And it is the aim of the demonstration to complete it. You deal the four cards into a row, leaving a space for a fifth card in the middle. “This is where the missing card of my poker hand goes.” The volunteer is told to deal cards on the table. You say that you need a card on that empty space to complete this hand, and that you will influence them to deal you the card that you need. The volunteer is to deal cards from the top of the deck, face up on the table, and at any time that they want, to deal one face down card. They can change their mind if they want to and deal another face down card if they choose to. Once they settle on one card, the volunteer is asked to turn over four cards, to show a 10 of Clubs, the Jack of Clubs, the King of Clubs and the Ace of Clubs. The face down card is flipped over by the volunteer (you never touch it) and it is shown to be the Queen of Clubs! The only card that could make your hand a Royal Flush!

The deck is really shuffled. No switches are ever made before, during and after the routine. ANY deck can be used. This can be done totally impromptu. The technique can be utilized to perform an Open Prediction. I need to mention that the presentation that I outlined above is inspired by an effect called: Missing, by my best friend and mentalist Noel Samson, who in turn, is to some extent inspired by a routine that Derren Brown did in one of his Mind Control programs. METHOD The methodology behind this routine brings together a combination of techniques that are quite known but are rather under-used. Coupled with sneaky linguistics, this miracle can be achieved rather easily when the working behind it is fully understood. In a nutshell: You are going to psychologically force the volunteer to deal the top 14 cards face up but to deal the 15th card of the deck face down, utilizing a variation of the psychological stop force found in Expert Card Technique. If this 'fails', I provide a very ingenious 'back-up plan,'- an ‘out’, if you will – that blends so naturally and smoothly that you won’t really consider it as an out.

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You will realize that the stop force does not play the major role when you fully understand the work involved. It only provides the opportunity for an outcome that is a tad cleaner. The nature of the modus operandi warrants a genuine shuffle to be performed by the volunteer. The only technical methodology, which is a non-move, starts when the deck is handed back to you, and this procedure can be justified by taking out the four-card hand that is integral to the effect proper. When the deck is handed back, briefly shuffle the cards. After the shuffle, ‘necktie’ * the deck, faces towards you. Then, spread the cards, faces towards you, in preparation for up-jogging and removing the four cards you need. What you do is note and commit to memory the card on the face of the deck. This card will be the force card. Commit this card to memory. Now you must work out in your mind what four cards you will need to form a straight flush (four cards in numerical sequence, and of the same suit) – a straight flush in which the force card will fall at the middle or at the third position of the hand. For example, if the card on the face is a 7 of Diamonds, you will need to remove the 5, 6, 8, and 9 of Diamonds to form a straight flush (5-6-7-8-9). If it is a 4, then you will need to remove the 2, 3, 5, and the 6 of the same suit as the 4. (You will realize that any of the Aces, 2s, 3’s and the Kings will not work as a force card. If any of these cards end up on the face of the deck, just casually cut the deck and start with the new face card.) For the sake of this explanation, let us assume that the card on the face is the 6 of Hearts. This is going to be our force card. So, we need to out-jog the 4, 5, 7, and 8of Hearts. Once you know what cards you need, you begin to spread the cards between your hands. But you might want to spread it in a special way to facilitate what you are going to do next. What you need to do is to note and commit to memory the sixth card from the face of the deck (Again, for clarity, let us assume that the sixth card from the face is the Ace of Spades.). This card will serve as an invisible indicator for you later on, so you should commit this card to memory, too. (See Afterthoughts.) Also, during the spread, you will need to break the spread between the fifteenth and sixteenth card from the face and to cut the block of 15 cards to the back of the spread. You will see why later on. * (To “necktie” the deck is to, with the deck in dealing position, tilt it back and bring it close to your body, so that the top surface isn’t seen. –Ed.)

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What I specifically do to accomplish these things in a streamlined manner is, after committing the card on the face to memory, and after discerning what four cards I need, I do the following as I spread and search for the four: I begin spreading the deck between my hands by pushing over a block of five cards from the face, into my awaiting right hand, thus exposing the sixth card from the face. (See Fig. 1)

Fig. 1 After committing this ‘indicator card’ to memory, I push over another block of five cards, receiving them under the previous five cards in my right hand. (See Fig. 2)

Fig. 2

Then I spread over another block of five cards, again, receiving them under the cards in my right hand (ten cards), successfully spreading over fifteen cards into my right hand. (See Fig. 3)

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Fig. 3

I then break the spread at this point, ending up with a block of fifteen cards held in my right hand, and the remaining cards still in my left hand. I then square together the 15-card block that is in my right hand to facilitate what I do next (See Fig. 4)

Fig. 4

Instead of receiving the spread (the cards that the left hand will push over) under the 15-card block and my right-hand four fingers (which is what one would normally do), I receive the left hand’s card spread under the right thumb, pinning the card spread above the 15-card block. (See Fig. 5)

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Fig. 5

If you followed along, I am now in a position akin to culling multiple cards under the spread via Hofzinser’s Spread Cull *, where the culled cards will be brought to the bottom of the deck when the spread is closed. But before I close the spread, I would out-jog the necessary four cards first in preparation for removing them out. This is the motivation of spreading the deck in the first place. After out-jogging the necessary four cards, I close the spread, thereby bringing the 15-card block under the spread to the bottom of the face-up deck.(Which is like giving the deck a single cut.) I then strip out the out-jogged cards, one-by-one, and table them in position accordingly. After this lone technical work is done, I table the deck face down, and I am all set. Once the above procedure is accomplished, what you have is a situation set up for the completion of the whole routine. You have an incomplete straight flush on the table (in our example, the 4, 5, 7, 8 of Hearts in order, with a space left empty between the 5 and the 7), faces unseen. The card that would complete the straight flush, the force card (6 of Hearts in our example) is located at the 15th position in the face down deck, counting from the top. The ‘indicator card’ (Ace of Spades in our example) is now also positioned at the 10th position in the face down deck, counting from the top. What is left for you to do is to compel the volunteer to deal the force card face down. Here is where the sneaky linguistics comes to play. Ask the volunteer to deal the cards from the top, face-up on the table, and to look at the cards as they are dealt. In a moment, you are going to use the ploy used in the Psychological Stop Force taught in EXPERT CARD TECHNIQUE **.

* (See Appendix II, pg. , at the end of this book, for a detailed description of this sleight. – Ed.)

** (See Appendix I, pg. , at the end of this book for a detailed description of the PS Force.–Ed.)

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But as you probably realize, it would be impossible if you do it as written, since the original handling requires the performer as the one holding the deck in order for the force to work *. To get around this, you ask the volunteer the name every card that they deal face-up, so that you can provide a somewhat similar 'psychological pressure' for them to stop dealing. The main goal is to let the volunteer give off a little bit of mental effort for them to do every time they deal a card one at a time. Let us say they have started dealing and naming the cards as they are dealt. What you do is you wait until the ‘indicator card’ is dealt and named. This prompts you that the force card is now four cards away. As the first few cards are dealt, you can name the cards along with the participant, but after a few more cards, you should keep quiet and let silence build up, so that the volunteer will focus more on the effort and the psychological pressure. As a measure, I stop talking when the volunteer deals the fifth card from the top. Now, here is a tricky part. This is a bit knack-y, but soon enough, you will get the feel of it. Remember, you want to volunteer to deal 14 face-up cards, and then stop. You accomplish this by providing them a ‘getaway’ from their current mentally-consuming work. You giving them a chance to stop, any time. You can just say, breaking the silence, “And ohh, just stop *pause* anywhere.”

For this particular psychological stop force to work, you must say that they are allowed to stop dealing, and you must tell them at the right time. When the ‘right time’ is, would depend on your judgment and gut feeling, depending on the pace and speed that the spectator is dealing the cards. Here is a point that you should keep in mind: It is better if you wait longer than usual rather than offering the chance for the volunteer to stop dealing too early. You would want the spectator to deal more than you want, rather than dealing fewer cards than you need. (This is because of the nature of the ‘back-up’ plan that I will explain shortly.) I would say that you should offer them the chance to stop right around the 12th or 13th card. But this varies, of course.

*(An alternate handling for the Psychological Stop Trick, where the audience participant does the dealing, was published in THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF CARD TRICKS, by Hugard and Braue. See Appendix I, pg. , at the end of this book, for a detailed description.)

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What if they don’t stop dealing on the 14th card? This is where more clever linguistics come to play: You WILL notice ahead of time when they are going to deal more than we need, by the way that their voice sounds. After they deal the 14th card, and when they decide stop, you will know it because they will relax, and their voice will 'close' - like how we sound when we end a sentence. If they don’t decide to stop, you WILL notice that the infliction of their voice as the 14th card is named will not denote a ‘stop’ or will not sound like an end of a sentence. If this happens, right after he deals the 14th card, lean forward, rest your hand on their arm ever so slightly, and speak in a slower but more authoritative and imperative voice, as if you are going to say something important. This will invite an interrupt, (you will notice a sign of slight confusion while you say the following words. That is exactly what you need. ) You say: "And if you want, you can deal one card face-down over here...” Look down on a spot on the table and emphasize it. Then look up to the volunteer, and nod while you continue: “…Yeah, just deal a card face-down here... ". As you say “here”, gesture in a rather imperative manner at a spot on the table (NOT on the empty space in the 4-card row). This is important for later on. You have just psychologically coerced the participant to deal the next card (the force card) face down. Yes, this seems a pretty bold thing to do, but there is something else that you can do to soften it up, and to make it more likely that they will later swear that it was all a totally free choice. You say, in a trailing voice, “any card that you want.” right when he deals the 15th card face down. Remember, this instruction will be perceived as a different instruction from the ‘stop’ you offered them earlier. This will work to our advantage. Here is the rest of the procedure: After they deal the 15th card face-down, You continue: "Oh-OK...So deal again face-up until we finish up the whole deck...Yeah, go ahead...And only if you want to change your mind, just deal another card face-down along the way...And, you know what, you don’t have to really name the cards out loud. You can do it only in your head if you want to. The important thing is that you are conscious of the cards that you are dealing face-up, the cards that you eliminated. As I said, you can deal another card face down if you

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want to...You don’t have to, really. If you are happy with that card (pointing to the 15th card), we can stop here and now...It is your choice... ". I know that you can appreciate what this script does. I don’t think I need to elaborate on it. Lets continue. Let us say they decide to continue and deal a few cards face-up, and deal a second card face down again. When this happens, they will look up at you. This happens every time. They do so because they don’t know whether they are to deal through again. When they do, you should encourage them to go ahead and deal through again and deal a few more face down cards. This provides you a great opportunity to 'jab' them psychologically when you say: "Yes! You can continue if you want to. Go through dealing the whole deck, because I want you to have every opportunity in the world. Deal another card face down if you want, because what is really important that everything is your decision, and are your totally free-choices”, gesturing towards the face-down cards they dealt. You just sneaked in that ALL cards are their free-choices. Of course, one of them is forced rather boldly. But this script totally erases that memory. Here is another important point. You don’t want them to just deal two face down cards. You want them to deal a few more. Around 4 or 5 cards are perfect, because you need to equivoque the force card later on. The more cards, the better. Personally, 5 cards is the maximum. And you will see that this is also the number of cards that they are likely to deal before the whole deck is exhausted. When all the cards are dealt, you would end up with a few cards face down, dealt by the volunteer. (That is, if they choose to continue through dealing multiple cards face down.) Then, you close in for the kill. Equivoque the force card. This might be a let-down, but it is not. If done correctly, the equivoque should blend together with the previous procedure. There are lots of systems out there. What I use is an adaptation of Phil Goldstein's/Max Maven's Verbal Control. Remember the line where we implied, "the cards you dealt face up are the cards you eliminated"? You can use this to your advantage during the equivoque process It only requires a bit of thinking on your part to exploit it. Let us say that we ended up with 5 face-down cards. The force card is at the bottom of the face down pile. I spread them over so that they will be in a row.

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I ask the volunteer to mix them around. What I do is keep track of where the force card ends up in the table. Easy-easy. I could have chosen to crimp it, but I am happy with just visually track it as they mix them around. I say: "Now, we have 5 cards that you freely chose, identities undisclosed. We only need one of them to complete my hand, hence we need to eliminate four of them. We only need one, so… (etc.,as in Verbal Control) That is always the way that I start, and of course it will end in different ways. When you have done forcing the force card, ask them to place it in the space provided, and reveal the straight flush hand in any manner that you wish.

AFTERTHOUGHTS You don’t have to note the sixth card from the spread. You can just count to the tenth as they deal the cards. I choose to keep it in memory so that I don’t need to be too preoccupied, counting. This can easily be adopted as an Open Prediction effect, either by turning the four straight flush cards face up at the beginning; or by, instead of using the straight flush concept, simply out-jogging the mate of the force card and tabling it face-up at the beginning as you Open Prediction.

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CLAUDE IMPIRIALE (U.K.)

BIO

Claude has some miles on him. He was born in Venezuela, his father was Italian and his mother Belgian. And if you’re not already lost he’s French. He lived in Paris until he was 30 and then settled in London working as a database administrator for a telecommunication company. He has practiced card magic for about 35 years.

27. SPEEDO PREDICTION

EFFECT A spectator is asked to shuffle his own deck. The performer spreads it face up for a moment to confirm that the card he’s about to predict is in the deck. The deck is given back to the spectator for further shuffling while a card from a different deck (or a written prediction) is displayed face up. The performer gets the deck back and ribbon spreads it, face down on the table. The spectator is then instructed to remove some cards, at will, from both ends of the spread and turn the discarded cards face up, to ensure that the predicted card is not among the discarded cards.

When about 1/3rd of the deck is left on the table, the spectator is instructed to gather the remainder of the pack, remove the bottom card and leave it face down, unseen, next to the prediction. The remainder of the cards are then spread (or dealt singly) face up to make sure than the predicted card is not among them. Finally the face down card next to the prediction is turned face up: It’s a match. I tend to use this as a quick Open Prediction effect or as a follow-up to the classic OP when time is short or when I don’t want to go through a full pack dealing yet again. I believe the method is original with me.

MOVES Hofzinser underspread control

Tabled underspread force

METHOD A soft surface will be required for this effect to succeed. Once the deck has been shuffled by a spectator, you get it back and spread it face up in your hands, pretending to check that the card you’re about to predict is present. Under the cover of the spreading action you actually crimp the lower

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right corner of any card you fancy. The pack is then given back for further shuffling while you extract the matching card from your own pack and display it face up as your prediction. (If you want to dispense with the crimp, see the Comments section.) Once you get back the shuffled deck, face down, ensure that the crimped card (crimp will be visible on the lower left corner) is among the top half or so; if not cut the deck to bring the crimped card among the top half. You’re about set up for a Tabled Under-Spread force. The beauty of this force is that the cards are off the performer’s hand, ribbon-spread on the table and most of the time the performer does not have to touch the cards again; the spectator literally forces the card onto himself. Here’s the description of the “Tabled Underspread Force”: Take a left-pinkie break above the crimp, spread the cards until your reach the crimp and control the card under the spread as in the classic Hofzinser Spread

Cull *, however you’ll try to position the force card about the centre of the pack. That means that if the card is near the top once the card has been brought under the spread by the right fingers, the left hand keeps on pushing cards towards the right hand (see movie further down). When the force card is about the centre, the left fingers jam their fingertips between the force card and the spread (photograph 1).

Photo 1

The next step is to ribbon-spread the cards in such a way that the force card is kept positioned in the centre of the spread. You bring down both hands, still held in position as in photograph 1 onto the table, and then at once ribbon-spread the right hand cards, while the left hand stands stationary above the table until the right side has been spread out. The left hand then spreads its own cards by releasing them gradually from right to left. * (See Appendix II at the end of this book for a description of the Spread Cull –Ed.)

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If possible, try to make the bottom edge of the force card stick out ever so slightly under the spread, towards you. If it does not appear at once, you can make it so by seemingly adjusting the spread more evenly (and take this opportunity to remove the crimp from the force card by pressing the edge of the cards above it). This is not strictly necessary, but adds some visual comfort. Bear in mind that the card is located at the junction of the two half spreads: the regular spread on the right hand side and the jagged one on the left.

Ask the spectator to remove a good bunch of cards from the left of the spread (bottom) and have him spread them face up to check that none of them is the predicted card. Instruct him to remove some more from the top and a few more from the bottom. If there are two spectators, one on each side of the spread, it may be more convenient to ask them to alternately remove cards from their side. In any case the idea is to make sure that from the bottom side of the spread, the force card is “cleared”, and by that I mean that all the cards positioned on its left are on top of it. (See Photograph 2). Fear not, if you can’t coax the spectators to remove enough cards on the left side to achieve that goal, I’ll explain how to fix that in a moment. But let’s assume that you have reached the position described in Photograph 2.

Photo 2 You can ask the spectator to remove a couple of cards more if they wish (in fact up to four from the bottom in this particular example), and then gather the remainder of the spread himself. Formulate your request so that the cards are not lifted off the table but simply bunched up together into a pile. If the force-card was “cleared”, it’ll be at the bottom of the pack. Instruct the spectator to remove it, face unseen and place it face down next to the prediction. The remainder of the cards are displayed (or dealt singly) face up to ascertain that it does not contain the predicted card. Finally the selected card is turned face up, it’s a match.

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So what do you do if the force card is not cleared? Simply gather the cards yourself in this way. You insert your left 2nd finger under the bottom of spread and position your 1st finger and thumb onto the spread. At the same time you make sure that the top edges of the cards held by these fingers is maintained against the mat by pressing onto them. The card edges closest to you will rise by one inch or so (photograph 3).

Photo 3

You position your right hand on top of the right hand side of the spread, then gather the cards by applying a kind of semi-circular movement from the left hand. The idea is to avoid catching the force card, which is lying undisturbed under the spread, by riding the left hand cards above it. When the force card is “cleared” as in Photograph 4, I usually stop the gathering and let the spectator complete the “move” by saying something like “Oh, why don’t you gather the cards yourself…” That’s it.

Photo 4 -- Left hand open for clarity.

COMMENTS If you prefer, you may want to table a card or write down a prediction before checking that the card actually is present in the deck. Table the prediction card and then locate it in the borrowed deck, crimp it and carry on.

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If you’d rather do without a crimp, you could spread the cards face up, remember the 4th or 5th card from the top as your prediction and cull it for the Tabled Under-Spread force as described. Obviously you would not ask for the deck to be shuffled again after you’ve tabled your prediction. I do use this method when the borrowed deck is quite worn, and crimping would therefore be inappropriate.

CREDITS The “Tabled Under-Spread force” is original with me, I believe, but obviously would not exist without the Hofzinser move and the Under-Spread force. The force came to me (pun intended) after watching a friend magician of mine do an excellent closed prediction trick. The card to force was positioned towards the bottom of the deck (2nd say) and the pack was ribbon-spread repeatedly towards the right and then the left spectators. After every ribbon spread the spectator was asked to remove a few cards, until about 4 were left on the table. A simple magician force would then deliver the right card for a successful completion of the trick. All the removed cards came from the top but because of the incessant ribbon spreading and the gripping story I was fooled. But after some analysis I realised it and called my friend to ask him who had originated this force. He could not tell me, having been taught the force by someone else. In any case I wanted to make sure that the force would defeat any tentative of retro-analysis by lay people.

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MISLAV KOVACIC (CROATIA) Three Solutions

BIO My name is Mislav Kovačić. I come from Croatia, small Mediterranean country, stretching alongside Adriatic Sea with one of the most beautiful coasts in the world. I am 20 years old and have been interested in magic and illusions since early childhood. I have started taking it more seriously only about 3 years ago. I mainly do card magic but often love to present my card effects as mind reading feats. I really enjoy performing for family and friends and I could hardly see myself ever being paid for it. My other hobbies include chess and backgammon. I prefer strong, practical and --above all -- impromptu card magic and cunning principles instead of knuckle-busting sleights. I love creative challenges of any sort and I'm glad I could contribute to the OP project. I don't plan to stop thinking about OP until I come up with The Holy Grail (or Tom publishes his A Dianoetic Rage ☺☺☺☺).

28. BRRR! GONE MENTAL

EFFECT A Deck of cards is borrowed and they can be thoroughly shuffled by a spectator. The Performer writes a prediction, which is the name of a card. A Spectator is asked to merely think of any card that he wants (a completely free choice). He is then directed to cut the deck in 6 piles and check each pile to see where his mentally selected card is. The Prediction is shown, but it does not match his thought-of card. The Participant notes the position of his thought-of card in the pile it sits in, and then reassembles the packets in any way he wants, optionally shuffling the packets and making sure his card is completely lost. He checks to see that his card is not at it's original position, divides the deck once again in a few packets, re-assembles them again in any way he wants and then gives the deck a quick overhand shuffle in case he thinks anyone could possibly know the position of his thought-of card.

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He starts dealing cards face up and stops when his mentally selected card appears. He deals the next card face down and continues to deal the remaining cards face up. Predicted card never shows up and the spectator himself checks that the face down card is the predicted one. METHOD After spectator shuffles the cards (which can be borrowed), the Performer has to glimpse the bottom card of the deck. This is usually very easy, since most people don't try to hide it. In case he can't spot it after spectator's shuffle, the Performer can say that he is going to write a prediction but has to make sure that the card he will predict indeed is in a deck. Spectator spreads the cards face up from hand to hand and the Performer watches to make sure that his card is there. He pretends that he spotted a card somewhere in the middle (little bit of acting, borrowed from Tom Baxter's effect, Brrrr!), but in reality uses the opportunity to spot the bottom card of the pack. Or you could simply use Bottom Card All-around Square-up Glimpse after spectator has finished shuffling. So, you spot the bottom card and write it as your prediction. You don't show it to the spectator yet but it can be clearly put in front of the spectator so that he is sure that you can't change anything and that you have committed yourself to that particular card. (Editor’s Note: Technically, in order to qualify as an Open Prediction, the identity of the card MUST be shown to the audience at the beginning of the effect. In this case, the prediction could be shown, rather than hidden until the end, so long as the bottom card of the pack isn’t flashed to the audience. Spectator is now asked to merely think of any card that he wants, and then to cut the deck into 6 piles (you'll see later why). Don't lose track of the packet that has your predicted card on the bottom. Spectator is asked to check each pile to discover where his thought-of card is located, and when he sees it in one of the piles he is asked to shuffle that pile, placing his thought-of card at a random position. He is then asked to deal that pile (of 8 or 9 cards) face up onto the table, and to note and secretly remember the position (the number down as he deals) of his thought-of card. He turns that pile face down again. The Performer now says that he would like him to take any pile he wants, shuffle it and then put it on the one that has his card in it. Performer demonstrates this by taking the pile with the known bottom card, shuffling it (without changing the position of the bottom card) and putting it on the pile that contains the spectator's mentally selected card.

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“Or”, says the Performer, ''you can put this pile (shows the larger one which consists of 2 packets) on any of the smaller packets''. So, smaller packets can be freely shuffled before being put either to the top or bottom of a larger packet and the deck is assembled in any way the spectator wants. For a completely hands-off approach (even though your shuffling the cards as suggested won’t be suspicious) you can simply ask the spectator to put the pile with the known bottom card on top of the pile that has his card, to bury it's position, and then continue shuffling remaining small packets assembling them in any way he likes. (Editor’s Note: I might suggest a variation here. When the Performer picks up the card with the Key Card on the bottom, rather than placing the entire pile on the one that contains the spectator’s thought-of card by way of demonstration, instead -- quickly get a thumb break above the Key Card, and as you motion to set that pile on the other one, simply leave the Key Card behind, on top of the pile that contains the thought-of card. Then place the pile you hold back in its original place on the table. Now the spectator has a free choice of which pile to pick up, shuffle, and place on the thought-of card pile. After this is done you ask the spectator if there is any chance that someone could possibly know the location of any card in the deck, including his thought-of card and your predicted one after all these cuts and shuffles. He will confirm that it's impossible. Performer now says something along these lines: ''Just to make sure your card is really lost, and I know that there are always skeptics around here, what was the original position of your card? I want to make sure that your card is not where it used to be''. The participant states the number where his card fell in the packet earlier (for our example, we’ll say it was at number 5). You ask him to deal the 5 cards from the top of the pack face down in a row and then to check to see that the 5th card really is an indifferent card. He does, and it is. Now as an afterthought you ask him to continue dealing the remainder of the pack, one at a time, face down on top of these 5 already laid face down on the table. You now ask him to use his intuition and guess in which pile his mentally selected card is. You ask him to pick up that pile, give it a quick overhand mix and then to once again reassemble the packets in any way he likes. Note: (It's safer if he does not mix the smaller packets but if you are willing to take a small risk go for it. IMO, it's not necessary that he gives them another shuffle since he already shuffled before and he should already be

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convinced that there is nothing you can know about the location of any of the cards.) When the deck is assembled, believe it or not, the Predicted Card will be immediately below his thought of card! If he wants he can give the deck a quick overhand shuffle in case he thinks anyone could possibly know the position of his thought-of card. Chances are that it won’t upset things. He starts dealing cards face up and stops when his mentally selected card appears. He deals the next card face down and continues to deal the remaining cards face up. Predicted card never shows up and the spectator himself checks that the face down card is the predicted one. NOTES Here are some ''what ifs'' that you might have encountered while reading through the effect: 1) At the beginning, you do not show your prediction immediately since there is a possibility that spectator's thought-of card is in a same pile as your predicted card and you don't want him to see where your predicted card is. As soon as he notes where his card is and remembers its position, you can ask him to turn your prediction over. 2) In case his thought-of card IS in the same pile as your remembered bottom card you simply ask him to remove it and bury it in any of the remaining 5 packets. Everything else is same. 3) The reason why you have him cut the cards in 6 piles in the beginning is because each pile will have about 8 or 9 cards and you don't want his thought of card to be at some larger number (because he would later have to deal the deck into that many piles). You'd also want to make sure that his card is not at position 1 because ''that would be too easy''. 4) It's not necessary that he gives the deck a quick overhand shuffle at the end but if you are willing to take the tiny risk and think he will follow your directions and just give them a quick mix then go for it! 5) I know that this routine probably reads long at first with all these shuffles and cuts that you ask him to do but you should put the emphasis on the fact that the only reason for it is to completely lose track of the cards (so that not even he can know where his card is) and also stress the fact that you have committed yourself to a particular card before he even thought of one.

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CREDITS I got the idea for spectator selecting a target card from Tom Baxter's Brrrr!, that can be found in his e-book NOT A DIANOETIC RAGE and in THE JAMES FILE by Allan Slaight. I tried to make it more impossible by allowing the spectator to mentally select a card but what you get in impossibility you lose in directness of the method. I got an idea to use the automatic think-of-a-card control (with the dealing), from Rufus Steele's Think Of Any Card which can be found in his LAST WORD ON CARDS. Second Solution –Mislav Kovacic

29. SUMO

EFFECT You invite 3 spectators to assist you. While the deck (which can be borrowed) is being shuffled by each spectator you say that a premonition has just occured to you. You take a piece of paper and write a name of a playing card (let's say King of Hearts) which you show to everyone, claiming that you feel that this card is going to be very important in what you are about to do. Each spectator selects a random number in a very fair way. You really don't know what the numbers are. A 4th spectator is asked to write down the names of each of the assisting 3 spectators on the same piece of paper where you already wrote King of Hearts, and to write each participant's chosen number next to their name. He then adds the numbers, arriving at some unknown number (let's say 19). At this moment you really don't know what the particular numbers are and what their sum is. Spectator starts dealing cards face up but when he arrives at the 19th card he leaves it face down and continues dealing remaining cards face up. You remind everyone of your premonition. The only facedown card is turned over (by the spectators) and it is the King of Hearts!

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METHOD While the deck is being shuffled by the spectators, you openly write the name of whatever card you want. Just make sure that it's not missing from the deck. You now say that you want everyone to select a number. You say: ''Of course, I could simply ask you to think of any number but since I often get accused of reading people's thoughts I want that number to be arrived at completely at random. So all you have to do is take some cards from the deck and hold them against your chest.'' While you are explaining what they are to do you demonstrate by grabbing a small bunch of cards (about 5,6,7 - it doesn't matter) from the middle of the face-up deck. During that demonstration you have to casually transfer your predicted card to the top of the deck. There are numerous ways to do it. I do it by taking a small bunch of cards in such way that my predicted card is a top card of these. I then hold them against my chest and when I am finished with the explanation I put the cards back to the top of the deck and optionally false shuffle the deck retaining the top card. Spread the cards face down in your hands, inviting each spectator to grab some cards from the middle of the face down deck. Since you took a smaller number of cards before while demonstrating, it's likely that they will also not try to grab too many cards. (They can actually take as many as they want but it's better if the number is not too large). They hold their cards against their chest. Say:: ''Each of you took an unknown number of cards from the deck. I want you to remember that at this moment, absolutely no one knows how many cards each of you has; not even you, because you haven't yet counted them, therefore it's impossible for me to read your minds.'' You now put the remaining cards of the deck (with your predicted card on top) onto the table, and turn your back while you ask them to silently count how many cards they've got. When they are done, ask them to collect their cards in whatever order they'd like and to then retun their cards back to the top of the deck. While they are putting them back on top of the deck you keep your back turned so that you can't see how many they return. After that is done, turn back and, as you square the cards you double undercut the top card to the bottom and immediately place the deck on the table again. It's important not to have the deck for too long in your hands because they will later remember that you hardly ever touched it at all.

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Your predicted card is now in a position corresponding to the sum of their chosen numbers. You now invite the 4th spectator, ask him to write the names of the 3 assisting spectators on the same piece of paper with your predicted card written on it (or the names are written at the very beggining). While you turn your back each spectator writes his secret number next to their name. 4th spectator is asked to add the numbers and write down the sum. He then deals cards (which have now been on the table for quite some time) face-up, leaving the n-th card (the card that falls at the total of the secret numbers) face-down. It will be your predicted card.

Third Solution – Mislav Kovacic

30. YOUR O.P. EFFECT Spectator shuffles a deck of cards (which could be borrowed). He freely selects any card and Performer says that it's very interesting that he chose that card because he was just intending to use it in an experiment. The name of that important card is written on a piece of paper as a reminder. Spectator puts the cards behind his back (so that nobody, not even him, could see them), turns over one card, puts it anywhere in the deck and cuts it few times. He now starts dealing cards face up until the card that he has turned over and inserted anywhere he likes appears. He deals the next card (one immediately after the turned-over card) face down and deals the remaining cards face up. The Spectator looks up the lonely face down card in the deck to discover that it's the very card he has selected at the beginning and whose name has been written on a piece of paper from the very start! METHOD Spectator shuffles a deck of cards. Performer takes the cards, turning them face up, and does the Braue Reversal of the top card (or bottom one if the deck was face down). This should result with a face down deck with the bottom card turned face up. The cards are immediatey spread from hand to hand so that spectator can select any card. You have to be careful so that the bottom face up card doesn't show up. (Pressing the bottom few cards with the left forefinger can help). After he has taken out a card, it is turned over, and the Performer writes the name of that card on a piece of paper as a reminder, commenting that he

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actually intended to use that very card as a prediction in this experiment. If you want you can simply select the card yourself but I like to let the spectator do it and then make it look that he has got the right card. Performers puts it face down on top of the face down deck and double undercuts it to the bottom. This should be enough to convince the spectator that the card is cut somewhere in the deck, but if you want you can Hindu (or overhand) Shuffle the cards into the left hand until the spectator says stop. He then puts his card on those in your left hand, you catch a break beneath it, put the remaining cards on it and double undercut. Card will again end up on the bottom of the deck. But as I said, simply putting it on top and double undercutting is good enough. Spectator's selected card is now on the bottom of the deck, with the face up card immediately above it. You now start explaining to the spectator what he is to do. ''In a moment I'll ask you to put the cards behind your back so that nobody can see them, not even you. Holding them behind your back, you will take the top card and bury it somewhere in the deck, you will take the next card, turn it over and then insert it anywhere you want in the deck.'' While explaining, you take the top card, bury it face down in the deck and you then take the next top card again, turn it over and put it somewhere in the deck. It's best to put it near the top (about 10th position, but it doesn't matter) to speed things up. You now say: ''After inserting a face-up card wherever you want you will take out the deck from behind and start dealing cards to the table face-up until you spot the card you turned over. You will deal the next card (one immediately after the turned-over one) face down so that we don't see what it is. Obviously, what card is it going to be depends entirely on where you insert the face-up card.'' During this explanation you turn the top card face up, and while turning it over you catch a little finger break beneath the card directly beneath the card you're flipping over. You immediately put the card you just turned face-up, on the deck, lift the two cards as one and use them to turn over the next top card face up. The newly turned over card goes under the two held as one. You put these two face-up cards (actually 3, one card is face down between them) on the table and continue dealing the cards messily, face up on the 3 already on the table until the face-up card that you inserted a moment ago appears. When it appears you deal it onto the tabled cards, and deal the next card face down.

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''After you have dealt the face down card you will continue dealing all the remaining cards face up''. You demonstrate by dealing few more cards face up on the face down card. You now return those few face up cards you've just dealt, the top of the deck, one by one, turning them face down, followed by the face down card from the table. Then take all the remaining face up cards together turning them face down and returning them to the top of the deck. As a result of this demonstration, the second card from the top will secretly be turned face up. (Note: Another way to do this secret reversal: While demonstrating to the spectator what he is to do, simply deal the cards face up until the reversed card appears. You deal that card face up, and then next card face down and a few more face up on it. You now put all these cards face up together on top of the face down deck, turn over the one that was dealt face down and then spread all the face up cards catching a break beneath the first face down card. All the face up cards plus the one face down card beneath are lifted and held in a biddle grip. You now pull the top card of these lifted with your left thumb, and put it under the face up cards, turning them over in one motion.) Situation: You should now have whole deck face down with the exception of 2 face-up cards; one is second from the top and another one is second from the bottom. Also, spectator's selected card (which is your open prediction) is at the bottom of the deck.

You now give the deck to the spectator and as instructed, he puts it behind his back. You remind him what he is to do by saying: ''Ok, so insert the top card anywhere you like but do not turn it over yet. Did you do it? Great, now put the next one again anywhere you like but turn it over before inserting it somewhere.''

After he has done it you ask him to cut the cards few times (or just once - it is enough) and then take out the cards from behind and start dealing them until the lonely face-up card appears. As instructed he will deal the next one face down (you can remind him in case he forgets what he is to do), and all the remaining cards face up. The only face down card is going to be the card that you openly predicted at the beginning of the experiment.

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VINCENT MARA (Canada)

BIO Vincent Marra is a father, husband, blogger, consultant and mentalist. He does the consulting bit to pay the bills, and all the rest for pleasure. Vincent began performing magic at a young age, putting on shows for his parents with his first "Houdini Magic Set" while dreaming of becoming the next David Copperfield. In more recent years, Vincent expanded his performance portfolio to parties and larger audiences. Most recently, Vincent has taken a deeper interest in mentalism and has been studying the art carefully, from the staples of Corinda, TA Waters and more, to more recent releases, such as those from Bryn Reynolds, Jerome Finley, Tom Baxter and many others. His goal is to develop mind-blowing mentalism routines that can be performed up close and impromptu, or nearly impromptu, with only a few small props; then, like he did with magic, perform his routines everywhere and anywhere he can find an audience. You can find Vincent's fatherhood blog that is all about being a dad at http://thedadjam.com. A blog about his experiences with performing mentalism may be coming in the future... that is an open prediction he is willing to bet on! Vincent's version of the open prediction was inspired by Tom Baxter's wonderful book, "A Card Merely Thought Of," and his research on the subject of NLP.

31. NORTHERN NIRVANA EFFECT The spectator is given a deck of cards (which may be borrowed) and is asked to shuffle the cards. It is a completely free shuffle and the spectator verifies that the cards are indeed all different and shuffled. The performer writes down a prediction (the name of a card) and leaves it on the table for everyone to see. At the same time, he/she instructs the spectator to deal the cards face up, one by one, starting from the top, dealing only one card face down whenever he/she feels like it. The spectator gives the pack a final cut and follows the instructions. After all cards are dealt, the spectator turns over the one card he/she dealt face down. The spectator is shocked to see that it matches the prediction that has been on the table the entire time! METHOD The first idea for this method came from what Thomas Baxter wrote in his book, A CARD MERELY THOUGHT OF… , about flashing a card to subliminally put it in the mind of the spectator. The second idea came from my knowledge and

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readings of NLP and methods to create a mental "bridge" or association/link in one's mind. Some of the patter comes from what I have learned about hypnosis and suggestion. Choose a spectator that seems to be open to your suggestions, mentally. You can determine this either through previous effects you have performed for the spectators, by noting who in the group seems to be most cooperative and open to your instructions, and is able to follow your instructions. You can also fairly reliably determine someone's openness to your suggestions by shaking their hand vigorously, and noting if they go along with it or resist it. If they go along with your handshake and mirror it, they are likely more open to your suggestions than if they resist your handshake with a firm handshake. Ask your chosen spectator to shuffle the deck, which can be a completely free shuffle with a borrowed deck. Have the spectator turn the cards face up and spread through them to make sure they are all different and all well shuffled. At this point, note the top card of the deck. Say, for example, the top card is the Jack of Hearts. Ask the spectator to square up the cards and place them on the table. Do not ask the spectator to hand you the cards. You want the spectators to think that you never touched the deck. Casually pick up the deck while you are explaining the instructions. You want the spectators to forget that you have picked up the pack when they are recollecting the trick in their minds, so don't bring a lot of emphasis to the pack. Give the spectator the instructions as so: "Now... I want you to relax and keep an open mind. Now... for this effect, it is important that you follow my instructions carefully and remain relaxed." This is attempting to relax the spectator and put them in a state of hightened suggestability. "I am going to ask you to deal the cards from the deck, one by one, face up. Now, at some point, you will deal one card FACE DOWN…” As you say the words FACE DOWN, flash the bottom card of the face of the deck. “…that is, one by one, you will place cards face up on the table, and whenever you feel the time is right, place one card on the table FACE DOWN.” Again flash the card on the face of the deck.

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“At the end of your dealing, only one card on the table should be FACE DOWN (flash) and the rest will be face up. Are you ready? Have you understood? Now deal the cards face up, and deal only one card FACE DOWN. (flash). Good." This is the most important step and absolutely needs to be done correctly. If done correctly, you will have created a mental bridge in the spectator's mind between the bottom card of the pack and the words “FACE DOWN”. Casually place the deck back on the table. Take out a piece of paper and write down your prediction. The prediction you write down is the card that you noted as the top card in the pack (e.g. the Jack of Hearts). Writing the prediction at this point in time creates some time delay between touching the pack and the end of the effect, so it will be harder for your audience to remember that you even touched the pack at all. Ask the spectator to cut the pack and then to following your instructions. The action of cutting the pack places the top card that you predicted exactly one card after the card that the spectator has associated with the words FACE DOWN. Lets say the bottom card with the mental association is the Ace of Spades. Now the Ace of Spades is directly above the Jack of Hearts in the pack. The spectator begins to deal cards face up. When he/she gets to the associated card (e.g. the Ace of Spades), without knowing why, the thought of FACE DOWN will come to the spectator's mind. Without even thinking of it, the spectator will be compelled to deal the next card face down, because this mental association has been built and ingrained into the spectator's mind. He/she can't help but to think of FACE DOWN when he/she sees the Ace of Spades. The face down card will of course be the card that was formerly at the top of the pack, and this is the predicted card; in this example, the Jack of Hearts. The spectator deals the remainder of the cards face up. All cards have been revealed except for one. The spectator can turn that card over and will see that it matches with the prediction that has been openly on the table the entire time! The spectators can examine everything and will not have a clue how it was done. Recount that the spectator shuffled and cut the pack (without mentioning that you touched the pack in between). This will help to erase the memory that you picked up the pack in between these two actions.

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ALEXANDER MAY (USA)

BIO Alexander's interest in magic began at a young age, after seeing his cousins do tricks for family and friends. However, it wasn't until 1997, when he went to the library to get books on optical illusions, and the lady mistakenly gave him three magic books, that he started to become actively involved in the art. Still in school then, he performed at school functions and fund-raisers, and soon decided that magic was his passion. Soon, he was performing all over - from a street festival in front of 2000 people to a small hut in rural Swaziland. In 2005, he took the leap and left his job to start performing professionally. Now, at age 26, he travels across South Africa to perform his blend of magic and Mentalism, mainly at corporate events and private functions. He calls Cape Town, South Africa home; and if all goes to plan, an exciting career in the magical arts awaits.

32. AZTEC OPEN PREDICTION

EFFECT The Performer removes a single card from a deck (can be a borrowed deck) and shows it to all but one spectator. This card is placed face down on the table. The rest of the deck is given to this spectator, who is instructed to start dealing the cards face up in the table, and the stop at any card he chooses. He then places this card face down next to your prediction. The selected card is turned over, and shows for example a 4 of Diamonds. Your prediction card is also turned over - it is the selected card's "twin", the 4 of Hearts 1. Borrowed & shuffled cards may be used. 2. The deck is ordinary, and might even have cards missing. You don't have to know which cards, or how many, are missing. 3. You do not need privacy with the cards to set something up. 4. The deck is never out of sight for a moment. 5. Strictly impromptu. No set-up, stooges or special tools necessary. 6. The spectator deals. 7. It is not a once-in-a-while trick. If the instructions are followed, it cannot fail. 8. The cards are SEEMINGLY never handled by the performer from first to last, at any time during or after the trick. 9. The performer never knows when the spectator will leave a card face down until after they have done so. 10.The spectator deals straight through from top to face, the only variation is when he leaves a card face down.

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METHOD This effect depends upon one sleight, the Mexican Turnover, hence the title. After they have shuffled the deck, you fan the cards with their faces towards you. Note the top card. In our example it is the 4D. You now locate the cards "twin", the 4H, remove it and show it to a couple of spectators. I'll discuss why you do not show everybody or leave it face up on the table in a second. This card is placed to the side of the table. As you hand the deck to the assistant, palm off the top card (4D). He may shuffle again if he wishes, and then start dealing face up, one card at a time. When he wishes to stop, he places this card face down next to your prediction card. Even though the effect is done, you instruct him to keep dealing the rest of the cards. This is just to build some suspense, as the other spectators will be looking out for the 4D. After the last card is dealt, pick up the deck, and add the palmed card to the top. You now recap what has happened, and state that you do not want to touch the two cards, so you will use another to turn them over. This helps create the illusion that you never touched any of the cards. Simply take off the top card (4D), making sure the face stays hidden, and proceed to the spectator's selected card. You will have to turn their card over first, otherwise the card in your hand will be flashed during the Mexican Turnover. Perform the Mexican Turnover, and all the other spectators should react. But your assistant of course still doesn't know, so he'll be eager to see for himself. Take the now indifferent card over to your predicted card, and turn it over in the same manner as you would if you were doing the Mexican Turnover (without actually doing it). It is important to have both turnovers look the same. You end clean, and everything can be examined. There is a reason why the prediction is only showed to some of the spectators and placed face down. Of course, it might just as easily be placed face up. However, because you will be doing the Mexican Turnover, I feel it is very important to turn both cards over in the same manner. It makes sense to the audience, and doesn't arouse suspicion.

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HIRO OKADA (JAPAN)

Four Solutions

BIO Full name is Hiroyuki Okada. I was born in 1987 (so I'm now 21). I live in the ancient capital of Kyoto, Japan, studying Optical Electronics at Kyoto Institute of Technology. I love magic, especially sleight-of-hand card magic and diabolical mentalism. My other hobbies are to read and write mystery novels. Both are rooted in the same desire: "How to trick and amuse them?"

33. cOmPatibility

(Sleight Method)

PRESENTATION From a shuffled pack, in use:

Glimpse the bottom card of the shuffled pack. That is the card that you write down as your Open Prediction.

Deal cards face up from the top of the pack until the spectator calls stop. Cop off the bottom card (the Prediction card).

Deal the next card from the top of the pack face down onto the face up pile of cards already dealt. Table the rest of the deck. Spread the dealt cards wider, roughly, purportedly to show that the predicted card has not appeared yet. As the spectators scan the face up cards looking for the Prediction card, you transfer the copped card to right full palm. Scoop up the dealt cards in order to square them up. In the motion add the palmed card on top. You now have your face down predicted card, followed by the face down card that the spectator stopped at, followed by the face up cards that were dealt before the spectator directed you to stop. As you scoop up the cards, the left hand taking them into dealing position, they will be spread slightly to the right. When you add the palmed card, set it slightly in-jogged to the next face down card. As you square the cards, the fingertips of your left hand reach up to the right edge of the still-spread cards and contact the second card from the top. The left fingers pull that card under the block of cards, reversing the card to a face up

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position as you do this. The slightly spread position of the cards helps to hide this action, and it is all done as you are squaring the block of cards. The originally selected card is now face up and at the bottom of the packet. The Predicted card is now on top, face down.

Deal the remainder of the cards face up onto the squared block of dealt cards on the table. At he end, the participants can spread the pack and turn over the face down card to reveal that it matches the Prediction.

Usually, I perform this with a presentation that "the cards will tell us how compatible we are". I state the prediction and say “It is my Special Card. Now let’s find yours.”

I deal and ask the participant to say stop anywhere. When they do, I point out the face up card that they stopped on and say: “Okay, that’s your special card. My card hasn't appeared yet. Deal the rest of the deck, and let’s see how compatible we are." This presentation makes the “stop point” less important and the switch then becomes an off-moment action. (Editor’s Note: Although the modus operandi involved in this method is much like Solution #46 (Standing Prediction, Patrick G. Redford), there are considerable differences in the presentation and handling that I felt warranted the inclusion of both routines.) Second Solution – Hiro Okada

34. EVENING THE ODDS Self-Working Method

(Editor’s Note: Hardly self-working, but very clever.) Borrow a shuffled deck of cards. If you can do a faro check to make sure the total number of cards is even, do so. Otherwise you’ll have to have the cards counted. You don’t have to have all 52 cards, so long as there is an even number. If the deck has an odd number, palm off one of the cards and secretly discard it. Have the cards shuffled again by the participant. Spread the deck face up in your hands and search for any mate cards (two cards of equal value and color) that lay adjacent to each other. For the sake of the description, we'll assume two red 8s stand together in middle of the pack. If you cannot find two mates together, shuffle again.

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Remember the card to the RIGHT of the mates as the Key card. Secure a break below the random card to the LEFT of the two mates, and perform a Turn-Over Pass, bringing the lower portion of the pack to the top as you set the pack face down onto the table. You will now have an indifferent card on top of the pack, followed by the two mates (red 8’s in our example), followed immediately by the Key Card, and then the remainder of the pack.

Take out red and black marker pens. (You have one of each color, as if you don’t know if the card will be a black card or a red one. Look deeply into the spectator’s eyes, and then write, with the red marker: “Synchronicity will occur at the two red Eights.”

Now you must perform what I call the "Even Control". This will set the deck up for the actions to follow, which are then self-working. Announce: "Ok, one more shuffle".

This is psychologically important because a moment ago you saw the faces of the cards. You now do the Faro Sluff-Off as described in CARD COLLEGE, volume 3, chapter 34: FARO. It goes like this: Take the deck in left hand dealing position. With the fingers of the right hand, strip off the bottom third of the pack. Push right hand packet into the left one, performing a faro shuffle, perfectly interweaving one by one. The right hand block of cards can be Faro’d in at any point in the middle of the left hand packet, so long as you don't involve the top four cards of the left hand packet. Push the right hand block into the left hand cards for about two inches. Then the right forefinger presses down the right hand packet and pulls it back and out again, but this time it carries with it all of the cards involved in the shuffle that lay between the top and bottom cards of the right hand packet. This strip-out of the partially inter-woven block of cards is facilitated by the slight relaxing of the left hand as the block is pulled out of the left hand’s cards. (If you analyze this move, you will discover that because this new block of partially inter-woven cards is contained by a top and bottom card of the original right hand’s packet, the entire new block of partially inter-woven cards must contain an odd number of cards.) Place the partially inter-woven cards you have stripped out onto the top of the pack, and square the cards.

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Before the strip out, you were in a position with one indifferent card on top of the two red Eights. Now, because of the mathematical properties of the Faro Sluff-Off that you’ve just performed, the odd cards you’ve placed on top of the pack, added to the single indifferent card, means that you will now have an even-numbered block of cards above the red Eights. What’s more, because you began the effect with an even number of cards in the deck, this means that you will also have an even number of cards below the red Eights. This is very important, as it makes the following actions automatically work. Direct the participant to deal the cards into two equal piles. This will reverse the cards’ order, and, unknown to the audience, it will place the two red Eights at identical positions in each pile, and place the Key Card in a position one above the red Eight in one of the dealt piles.

Direct the participant to choose one of the piles for themselves, and to give you the other one. You each hold your packet of cards face down in dealing position. Tell the participant to follow your actions exactly, performing them simultaneously with you.

You begin to deal the cards from your packet, very slowly and deliberately, one at a time, face up into a pile on the table. Mirroring your actions, the participant deals his cards face up one at a time into a pile of his own on the table. It is VERY important that you control the pace in the deal of the cards. If the participant tries to deal at a different pace than you do, admonish them to deal as you deal.

At some point you will see the Key Card appear face up, either in your pile or in the participant’s pile of face-up cards on the table. When the Key Card appears, begin to reach for your next face down card on your packet, but pause dramatically for a moment, and then look at the participant, who should also have paused, matching your actions. Look at each other (the participant will always return your stare), a very deep, meaningful look, with silence. Then say: “Did you feel it too? Okay… Deal this cards face down." Creating this illusion of both of you having this “intuitive moment” at the same time is difficult to describe, and I’ll leave it up to your own theatrical skills. However, here are a few thoughts that might help:

1. Never say, "Please stop anywhere, when you feel something". The effect you are creating is not a challenge, but a moment of synchronicity. 2. Vary the pace of the deal. Slow, fast, it's not so obvious, but very important. This underground flow is the essence. The Participant cannot help but to focus and to mimic your moves.

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After you and the participant deal the two face down cards to the side, continue to deal rest of the pack face up onto your face up piles of cards already dealt. You will come to the end of the deal without the two red Eights having made an appearance. Recap what’s happened, remind the audience of your Open Prediction of the red Eights, and have the participant turn the two face down cards face up, showing that your prediction was correct. Yes, it's just matching effect, and it really isn’t necessary to use a prediction, but the right patter and presentation can make this a perfect "OP illusion" to the audience. Third Solution – Hiro Okada

35. DIANOLOGOUS Mental Method

I love Max Maven's Astrologous from his NOTHING DVD. It's one of the best mental effects ever, I think. In this presentation, the participant and rest of the audience perceive different things. There is a wonderful use of Double Meaning or dual reality. I sometime tried to work this concept into magic, and in Thomas Baxter’s book, NOT A DIANOETIC RAGE, he successfully connects Dual Reality to OP. Thomas’s effects: Brrr!, and 27 Below, together with his description of the "how it looks (referring to his unpublished version of the Open Prediction called A Dianoetic Rage), linked with Max Maven’s Astrologous have led me to this method. I combine the two solution, and use Dual Reality as glue. PERFORMANCE The deck is shuffled completely by a spectator. To be sure that the card going to be predicted is indeed in the pack, have the participant spread the deck face up, and you spot a random card somewhere in the middle, for example, the Four of Hearts, and remember the card just beneath it in the pack (if the pack were face down), say the Six of Clubs. As in Thomas’s effect 27 Below, you ask the participant's birth date, their favorite color, etc. Write these things down on the upper half of the paper. Pretend to do a mental calculation, and then write and say, "and those things mean that your card is....".

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As you say this, you will write Four of Hearts at the bottom half of the paper, without showing it to the audience. Keep what you’ve written hidden. Hold the paper up to see it, as if your eyesight isn’t that good. To the audience, you have just written: “Those things mean that your card is…”, but they are unaware that you’ve written the name of a card there. Turn the paper over on the table and write Six of Clubs in very large letters. Show this prediction of Six of Clubs to the audience, including the participant. At this point, on one side of the paper you have Six of Clubs written in large letters, and on the other side, you have "December 3rd, green, etc.....” and “Your card is the Four of Hearts". Announce: "This is my Prediction…". Show the paper to the participant and rest of the audience. Hold and point at the Prediction card, Prediction side (Six of Clubs) toward the audience, but with the back of the paper, showing “Your card is the Four of Hearts” toward participant.

Say: "…and I want you to remember YOUR card, OK?"

The audience thinks that when you say "your card ", you mean the Prediction, the Six of Clubs, but from the POV of the participant it means the Four of Hearts. Say: "Your task is easy. Deal the card face up and stop at the location of your card." The Participant will stop the dealing when the Four of Hearts appears. It looks completely free from the POV of the audience. "Deal next card face down. You shuffled the cards. No one knows the position of any card; no one knew when you stop at this the card. Right? and it's..." They turn over the face down card and show it to the audience, and it is seen to match the Prediction made at the beginning.

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Fourth Solution – Hiro Okada

36. F Is for Fate, Fear, and Free Will Multi-Prediction

I love this one. I think it's my best OP (except for the necessity of a little set up and preparation). The Key element is presentation. Although I suspect that there is little groundbreaking methodology here, I hope that it is a unique combination of old things. My point is to indicate the presentational and methodical advantages of Multi-Prediction. EFFECT The Performer set four cards in a row on the table, face down. "These are my predictions, and your fate. A person cannot run away from his Fate. I deal the cards, one by one. Please say stop, anywhere." The Performer begins to deal cards cleanly and slowly in front of the first prediction, the unknown face down card. Somewhere along the way, the participant calls, “Stop!” "This one? Ok, turn over the card." When the participant turns his card over, it is the Five of Spades. The prediction card is turned over. It is the Five of Hearts. A match. "Ok, I'll be even more open and honest. Turn over my other predictions.” The remaining 3 Prediction Cards are turned face up. They are: 3 of Hearts, 9 of Clubs and Queen of Diamonds. “The next one is 3 of Hearts. OK, I deal the cards. Please Say stop anywhere... Here?” The card on which they stop is the Three of Clubs. Another match. "Do you understand FATE? Okay, this time, please, YOU deal the cards. But it WILL be a 9, as I predicted. ...Here? Turn it over... Yes! The 9 of Diamonds!" A third match.

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"Last one… the Queen of Diamonds. You will choose the card using what you think is Free Will. I spread the cards and you can select any 4 cards. Touch any one of the four -- but it's going to be the Queen. It's your Fate. No one can run away from it. Choose one." "This one? Okay, turn it over. It isn't a Queen?" "Well... you know, I think you have the rare ability of transcending Fate, overcoming your Fear, and shaping another Future. At the last second, you’ve run away from the hand of FATE". Performer turns over remaining three cards that the participant touched. They are all Queens.

MY THINKING The first repetition of matching means that "It isn't an accident". The choices and displays become progressively more free (First: Closed prediction; Second: Open prediction; Third: Open Prediction plus participant deals the cards; Fourth: Participant can touch any card from the spread. But how did the audience feel about it all? I performed Sympathy (for the Devil) Cards by Paul Vigil" and realized that the too-perfect match was just weird, because it proves: "There is no free will". Therefore, my Multi-OP begins with Fear. Then, I wondered: "Should the entire routine deal with Fear? How about Fate? Why don't I Fail?" Following these thoughts, my multi-OP evolved to the state as I described above. STRATEGEM FOR METHOD Because of four Predictions, we are able to control the participant more easily. Psychologically speaking, because of the four predictions being taken one by one, when dealing cards from the ever-diminishing pack, the natural tendency will be to not deal too many cards for each prediction before calling stop!” METHOD Set-up: (from top to bottom; X equals an indifferent card): 5 3 9 Q – Xcards(about 15) – 3-X-3-X-3 - X-cards (about 3 to 5) – 9-X-9-X-9 – Xcards(the rest) - QQQ5. (Note: X = an indifferent card.)

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In the block of 3X3X3 cards, you must edge-mark the first 3. This can be done with a nail-nick, but a tiny mark with a pen or pencil on the inner short edge of the card is more reliable. The same is done with the first 9 in the 9X9X9 block of cards. Later, when the cards are being dealt, you will be able to easily spot these cards. Assemble the pack in the above order. When ready to perform, cut the pack and retain a break at the cut. Perform a riffle force to yourself, cutting to the break, and from the lower portion of the pack (originally the top, before the cut and force), you thumb off your four Prediction cards, face down in a row onto the table. Replace that bottom section of the pack back on top. FIRST PHASE You begin to deal cards slowly face up, one at a time, into a pile on the table, directing the participant to say, “stop” when they feel the time is right. When they have stopped you, remove the top face down card and hold it in preparation for a bottom-change. While all eyes are focused on the participant as she turns over the prediction, execute the bottom change, switching the random card in your hand for the 5 on the bottom of the pack. Paul Cummins' Visual Retention Bottom Deal (with adjustment) is my favorite way to do this switch. It is described in his awesome notes, …FROM A SHUFFLED DECK IN USE. If the "first prediction" is red, the bottom card that is switched in must be black. If it is a color mate, it impairs following phases. SECOND AND THIRD PHASES Turn the remaining three Prediction Cards face up in a row. Deal the cards, one by one, on top of those you dealt earlier, asking the participant to stop you again when they wish. This is actually a force of sorts, timing your dealing and talking so that the participant will say “stop” as you reach the block of cards that contains the 3X3X3 cards. Because you edge-marked the first 3 earlier, it is easy to spot it from the rear edge of the pack as it is getting near the top. At the beginning of the effect, after dealing the four Prediction Cards onto the table, you had a block of 15 cards before the 3X3X3 cards. To time this properly, you must estimate how many cards you dealt off for the first prediction. You now know approximately how many cards remain before you will reach the 3X3X3X block. Give your instructions to the participant, telling them that as you deal they should say “stop”, somewhere. Time your instructions so that you stop talking one or two cards before the first, edge-marked 3 is dealt. Timed correctly, you now have a spread of four or five cards where the participant can stop you.

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People will seldom say “stop” while you are speaking, but because you deal a number of cards while you speak, the impression the audience gets is that the participant had a large number of cards they could have stopped on. If they stop you at an X card, you use either the card before or after as the focus for the prediction. If they stop on a 3, use that card as a clean match. Next, spread the top few cards so that you can spot the edge-mark of the first 9 in the 9X9X9 block. You do this in order to site how many card remain above the stack. In my experience, five or four is best. If you think that there are too many cards on top of the stack, going into the third phase, we can reduce one or two cards in giving the instructions: "Please deal the cards slowly, like this.....". If there are four or five cards on the stack, you’re fine to go. Simply put the deck on the table, face down. In this third phase, tabling the deck is important. If you hand the participant the deck in order to deal, his tendency will be to deal more cards, because it’s easy. Dealing from the tabled deck is more awkward, and so the participant is led to deal fewer cards before stopping. Again, use timing so that you stop giving your instructions as the 9X9X9 block is coming up. Make sure they deal very slowly, then look up into their face and say, "…and, please stop dealing any time". During these deals, I think the important thing isn't how many cards are dealt, but rather, the pace at which the cards are dealt. Let’s say you took 5 seconds to deal 5 cards. In another instance, you take 5 seconds to deal 2 cards. From the audience’s perspective, the two cases are almost the same. In their minds, the participant has the same opportunities to stop on a particular card. My point is that you should deal the cards slowly… with drama… with tension. If you do this, people will not recognize the narrowness of the choices, and will always say, “stop” when you reach the stacks. FINAL PHASE The more cards used here, the better. It looks very free --indeed, it is free. So add the already dealt cards face down on top of the remaining pile in your hand. You will still have the 3 remaining Queens on the bottom of the pack. Direct the participant to touch any four face down cards as you spread the cards from hand to hand. As they touch each card, out-jog their facedown choices. Say: "Every touch leads you to Queen". When they’ve touched four cards, square the pack and fan the four chosen, out-jogged cards, still sticking out of the end of the pack.

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Say: “Now your final choice: Touch one card. Whichever card you touch will match the prediction, a Queen." They touch one of the cards, and you slowly remove that card and set it face down on the table. Say: “You could have chosen any of these cards…” As you say this, you strip the other three, still-fanned cards from the pack, and as you lay them face down on the table in a fan, you secretly touch the top left side of the lower-most of these cards to the table first, applying slight pressure to bend that edge of the card slightly. Now when you place the three cards on the table in a slight spread or fan, the weight of the top two cards will act as a counter-weight, pushing down on the right side of the bottom card and causing the left side of the bottom card to lift up slightly from the table; a sort of teeter-totter action. This is important for the upcoming switch. Turn the pack in your left hand face up, with the assistance of your right hand, but as you do so, turn your right hand palm down, so that the face cards of the pack (the Queens) won’t be seen. While you say the next lines of patter, secretly use your left thumb at the top corner of the pack to thumb-count 3 cards (the Queens), and let the fleshy side of your thumb hold a break there. Say: “…but you chose that one. Turn over the card!” They do. It’s an indifferent card. Say, “It’s not a Queen?!! Well... you know, I think you have the rare ability of transcending Fate, overcoming your Fear, and shaping another Future. At the last second, you’ve run away from the hand of FATE". As you say these words, your palm-down left hand approaches the three fanned face down cards on the table. As you get near the cards on their left side, let the knuckles of your 3rd, 4th and 5th fingers slide on the table. At the same time, release your thumb-break, allowing right edge of the 3 Queens to slide along the table. Because of the lifted left edge of the bottom of the three fanned cards on the table, the Queens will automatically slide underneath the fanned cards. Scoop them up, and as you turn your left hand palm-up, square the cards with your right hand. The appearance to the audience is that you’ve simply scooped up the cards from the table and added them to the face of the pack. Now just spread the three Queens on the face of the pack and drop them on the table. This switch was invented by two giants, independently. Rene Lavand thought of it and called it: Change As You Go (pg. 19, SLOW MOTION MAGIC). Ross Bertram thought of the same switch.

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MIIKKA PAKARINEN (Finland)

BIO My name is Miikka Pakarinen and I live in Finland. I am eighteen years old, and I've been studying mentalism for a few years now. I am not a professional, but I hope to be someday. I mostly perform for my friends, family and the people I meet, but I do some paid gigs occasionally for private and corporate clients. At the moment I do mostly close-up, but I am currently building my own mentalism stage show, which will hopefully be a great success.

37. FINISH OPEN FROM THE START

My solution for the Open Prediction problem uses a ordinary deck of playing cards, and starts of by spectator shuffling the cards, until he/she is happy that the cards are already thoroughly shuffled. You take the cards and glimpse the second card from the top, using your favorite method. I do this while removing the jokers from the deck. This card will be the Prediction Card, which you say will be the one on which the participant will stop. Write the name of this card on a piece of paper and show it to everyone, saying it is your Prediction. You explain what will happen: The participant is to deal cards face up onto your palm. Anywhere along the way through dealing the cards, they are to stop. In explaining what you would like the participant to do, you turn over the top card, and demonstrate by dealing that card face up onto the table; and while doing that you get a pinky break under the next card of the deck (which is the Predicted Card). Bring the face-up card back to the top of the deck (still face up), and at the same time you lift your eyes up from the deck and look at the participant and ask: “Are you ready?” While asking this question you just do a simple 'sandwich add-on', and add the Predicted Card underneath the face up card, lifting both away in right hand biddle grip. Then you give the rest of the cards to the participant and ask him to deal some cards face up to your left hand (where you have placed the two aligned cards (that appear to be just the one, face-up card). The participant begins to deal cards face up onto the card(s) on you palm. Somewhere along the way, they choose to stop.

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The participant is instructed to deal the next card face down on the table, which they do. Place the cards in your hand on top of the card that the participant just dealt. Say: “Let's put these here so I can't switch the card or do anything of that nature.” Direct the participant to continue dealing the remaining cards face up onto the pile of cards on the table. This change from dealing onto your hand to dealing onto the table gives a time lag between when you set the cards down and what follows, when you must pick them up again. When the deal is exhausted, the situation is that you have 50 face up cards on the table, and 2 face down cards at the bottom of the deck. Recap the events that have taken place for the audience. A prediction has been made at the very beginning. Everyone saw the name of the card that you wrote down. The participant shuffled the cards, and then dealt the cards face up, leaving one card face down along the way. The rest of the cards were dealt face up and yet, nowhere along the way has the Predicted Card been seen. Pick up the deck from the table and take the bottom two cards in your left hand as one (don't turn the deck upside down or anything, just grab them the way they are). Keeping the two cards squared in your left hand (they will appear to be a single, face down card), turn your right wrist as you carry the pack away and place the pack onto the table, face down. Take the double 'card' from your left hand into a right hand Biddle Grip. Put the double down squarely on the top of the deck and move the pack in front of the participant. Ask him to turn over his card. (The moving of the deck is a perfect excuse for the putting down of the card). He does, and it matches your Prediction.

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MARC PAUL (U.K.) BIO Marc became a full time professional Performer in 1988 performing close-up magic at London's top hotels. In 1995 he felt he needed a change so turned his talents to mentalism. Since then Marc has made regular appearances on British TV. They include… Equinox - Secrets of the Psychics (Channel 4) Paul McKenna’s Paranormal World (ITV1) Mysteries (BBC1) and Secrets (BBC1) In 1999 he got the opportunity to create and perform in his own 16 episode series for cable TV called “Mind Games”. This show was seen by the judging panel for the World Magic Awards in Las Vegas and as a result Marc won the title of “Best Mentalist” for that year. On Christmas Eve 2002 he appeared on the BBC’s Parkinson show and amazed Michael and his guests Tom Jones, Martine McCutcheon and Alistair McGowan. More recently you may have seen him heading up the mentalism show as part of the BBC’s History of Magic series and crossing swords with Ann Robinson on a special "psychic" edition of "The Weakest Link" Marc lives in rural Southern England with his wife, two children and one small dog.

38. SHUFFLE CHALLENGE TOO

To an audience this appears to be a really impossible mental card effect. The inspiration for it came from an effect in Stephen Minch's book 'Mind Novas' called 'The Sure-Fire Shuffle Challenge'. In the original, Minch used ESP cards and a completely different method, but it was the effect that intrigued me, so here is my version.

EFFECT The performer shows a deck of cards to all be different. These he then shuffles and sets in front of the spectator. He does not touch them until the end of the effect. The spectator is asked to think of a number between 1 and 52. This number is a free choice and is never revealed to the performer. While the spectator is concentrating on their number, the performer makes an open, verbal prediction of a playing card, let’s say the Five of Clubs. The spectator now

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shuffles the cards, and then they deal down to their secret number. When they turn over the card that they randomly arrived at it is the Five of Clubs.

METHOD

Before I reveal the secret, think about it for a second, try and figure it out. The points to remember are: The performer does not touch the cards until the end; The spectator never reveals the number, and they have a free choice; The verbal prediction seems to prevent any opportunity for 'outs'; The spectator shuffles the cards themselves. If someone really did this then maybe you would have to consider the possibility that they were genuinely psychic! Of course you don't have to be psychic to do this. All you need is a pack of cards consisting of 26 indifferent cards and 26 all the same, in this case the Five of Clubs. All of the Five of Clubs are subtly marked on the back. I use a blue or red ink pen to fill in a small area of white on the back of each card. Start with all the Fives face down on top of the face-down indifferent cards. With the cards in this condition you can casually and genuinely shuffle the top half of the pack without changing the order, because they are all alike! You can casually show the faces of the cards to the spectator by cleanly spreading up to half the deck, OR you can shuffle them with the faces towards the audience, so that they will see loads of different cards being mixed up. This is the subtle approach and the one I tend to use. At this stage you openly announce your prediction as the Five of Clubs. Place the cards face down in front of the spectator and ask them to think of a number between 1 and 52. The spectator is now asked to cut the cards into two approximately even piles and to riffle shuffle the two piles together. During your other effects you have observed someone who normally shuffles in this way. The nature of the riffle shuffle ensures that the Fives are regularly distributed throughout the pack, it won't be perfect, but it will be close. The spectator now deals to their secret number and when they stop you need to observe the backs of the cards, looking for a marked Five. With luck you won't have to do anything. There may be one on the pile of discards, or there may be one on the pile still in the spectator’s hands. If not you simply may have to do a double or triple lift with either pile, it all depends on how good the shuffle was. You have to be on your toes at this stage so that you can act accordingly, without

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hesitation. Sometimes you will be able to reveal the card on either side of the five as being different, which makes a nice convincer. This effect was originally published in Volume 3, Issue 3, Feb 1998 of the now defunct “The Conjurer Magazine”. Since then I have had some further thoughts: What is the effect on the audience? This is a rather unusual effect. I was never quite sure how to present it. It could be framed as a prediction or even as telekinesis; you mentally move the card to the right place! I perform it now as a demonstration of the power of the spectator’s unconscious mind and the amazing things it can do. I explain that they have just seen me shuffle and display the deck, and so, subconsciously they are now aware of the location of every card (this subtly reinforces the fact that all 52 are different). I get them to riffle shuffle the cards and explain that even though they have just shuffled, their unconscious is still aware of roughly where every card is. I say “Let’s put it to the test. Tell me roughly where you think…say the…Five of Clubs is?” The beauty of this presentation is that if you are unlucky and the shuffle has not been particularly even, you can be a few cards out and the effect still seems amazing to the spectator…after all they did it. This is now my favorite way of performing the effect. It is a clear plot that has an amazing conclusion. Exactly what a good effect should be.

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MATTEO PERLINI (Italy)

BIO Matteo Perlini (aka Ipe on The Magic Café) is 25 years old. He lives in Italy and studies Computer Science. A few years ago, he discovered Magic, but he soon became dissatisfied due to its lack of credibility and mystery. As a remedy, he began to explore Mentalism, beginning with the study of Corinda, and then moved on to Cassidy, Shaw, Goldstein and many more.

39. OPEN UNCONSCIOUS

PRESENTATION The conversation is about unconscious, and the mentalist explains: “The unconscious is our dark side, where are stored our undesired memories. Undesired because they are considered shameful and destabilize our minds, or because simply useless. It would be craziness if we could remember anything, every single moment of our life! However, in the unconscious mind is stored a huge amount of information, far superior to the one in the conscious mind. The psychotherapists, for example, use hypnosis to bring back up lost memories, infantile memories too, with an incredible otherness and richness of details. I would like to try an experiment to test the potentiality of our unconscious.” The mentalist takes out a deck of playing cards: “For the experiment we need a deck of playing cards. Could you mix them?” The mentalist invites the subject to ribbon spread the cards face up on the table; then, the mentalist runs his first finger above the card indexes, about one centimetre from the cards, from his right to his left. “Follow my finger and look at the cards.” “Perfect!” The mentalist invites the subject to square the cards and to put them face down. “You can not remember the position of every card, for sure. For example, what about… the Seven of Hearts?” The mentalist writes casually the name of the card on a piece of paper. Everybody can see it and the name of the cards stays in view all the time.

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“You may not remember consciously its position, but unconsciously you have stored this information. According to psychoanalytical research, some place in your mind, the information about the position of the seven of hearts is deposited. In a moment I will ask you to hold the cards and begin dealing, one-at-a-time, cards face up onto the table. We will see when the seven of hearts will appear.” “I will try to bring back up a very small part of your unconscious without hypnosis. I will utilize some psychological principles known by everybody. But first, to make the experiment more intriguing, lift up half of the pack… and complete the cut. For the conscious memory a cut destroys the order, but for the unconscious memory this action is nothing. Now, I do not know the card’s location, either, therefore I cannot influence you.” The subject cuts the deck. “As you well know, if we follow repetitive instruction our brain deteriorates, our conscious mind becomes weaker and we begin to follow instruction in a mechanical way, unconsciously.” “The same effect happens when we listen to a person who speaks with a constant and flat tonality, without variation or emphasis. I will try to use these psychological principals; in a moment I will start to call “up”, “down”, “down”, “down”, “up”, etc., in a random way. When I say “up”, I would like you to deal the card face down from the top of the pack. When I say “down”, I want you to deal the card face down from the bottom of the pack. Do you understand?” “Let your body relax, and free your mind, while I say the “up-down” sequence… as if you would be almost hypnotized. This is very important!” “…and one more thing -- Deal a few cards and when you wish you call STOP, you stop dealing. Ready?” The mentalist begins to say, randomly, “up” or “down”. The subject follows the instruction; he deals some cards and then calls, “STOP!”. “You have stopped here. Nobody knew how many cards you would deal before you called “STOP”; maybe not even you. “Would you like to discard the top card or the bottom one? The bottom one? Ok, discard the bottom one and put it face up together with the other discarded cards. Now, without looking at the face, deal face down the top card. By the way, did you notice that the Seven of Hearts is not come out yet?”

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Here the mentalist, if he wishes so, can invite the subject to move just a little bit the dealt pile to check the truth about the last mentalist’s sentence. “Let’s continue the experiment to see how many cards we have to deal to get the Seven of Hearts. Since the face down card is dealt, now we do not need to draw from your unconscious. Therefore, you can deal all the remaining cards from the top, to speed up the process.” The subject deals all the remaining cards and the Seven of Hearts did not come out. The mentalist recaps what has just happened and then shuts up while he is looking at the cards. The subject moves the pile and turns up the face down card. It is the Seven of Hearts! METHOD This method meets almost all the Stewart James’s conditions. The 13th is not followed: “The spectator deals straight through from top to face, the only variation is when he leaves a card face down.” There is an equivoque (9th condition) but is not central in the routine and someone can choose to remove it. The 11th condition is followed at 99%. This is true: when the spectator starts dealing, the mentalist does not know where the predicted card is, nor does the mentalist know the location in the pack of any other card. The entire routine is self-working; therefore the burden is on the procedure. But the procedure needs to be well-justified. This was the focus of my work here. The method behind it all is very simple. When the cards are ribbon spread, the mentalist looks at one card after the middle of the pack, for example, the Two of Spades, and the card immediately following it, the Seven of Hearts (the predicted card). After the cut, the Two of Spades and the Seven of Hearts will be in the first half of the deck, close to the top. This could be some problem if the subject cuts too deep (or too little) but the mentalist does not ask “cut the deck”, but he asks “lift up half of the pack… and complete the cut”. So this problem is quite improbable. Despite this, if it happens the mentalist can change effect.

The mentalist can call “up, up, up, down, down, up, up, up, …”, and he continues to call “up” until the subject deals the Two of Spades. Now, the next card is the Seven of Hearts, so the mentalist continues to say “down” until “STOP” is called. When the Two of Spades is dealt, the mentalist says firmly: “Call “STOP” when you want!”

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We also have to notice the mentalist, before the dealing process, say: “you deal a few cards and when you wish you call STOP and you stop dealing”. All this to force a stop in the short term. Another psychological point -- When the subject calls “STOP”, the mentalist says that none could know when the “STOP” would be called and how many cards would be dealt. The subject has always dealt the cards from the top or from the bottom, so it would be fishy to ask to deal the top card. Therefore I prefer to use a simple equivoque here. After asking which one he wants to discard there are two cases:

1. The top one: “The top one? Ok, without looking at the face, discard face down the top card on the rest of the pack.” 2. The bottom one: “The bottom one? Ok, discard the bottom one and put it face up together with the other discarded cards. Now, without looking at the face, deal face down the top card. By the way, did you notice that the Seven of Hearts is not come out yet?” In both cases, the face down card will be the Seven of Hearts. After the face down card is dealt, it is useless to continue with the “up-down” sequence, and the script justifies this point. But I think is better to continue with the “up-down” sequence if the subject has called “STOP” after a lot of cards have been dealt, because we use the remaining cards to generate a more random “up-down” sequence, to remove from the subject’s memory the almost-random sequence before the “STOP”. But this last case will be unlikely if the script is followed. At the end, the mentalist can recap what happened. This is a very important point: The mentalist can shape the subject’s memory, removing some details: “At the beginning you have mixed the cards and looked at their faces. After that, to make the experiment more intriguing, you have cut the deck. You have focused on the seven of hearts and among all the 52 cards you have left only one card face down… and the seven of hearts has not come out yet!” In the recap the mentalist does not talk about the “up-down” sequence; nor does the mentalist say that the Seven of Hearts was chosen by the mentalist. The sentence: “You have focused on the Seven of Hearts” seems to mean the choice was made by the subject.

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SHELDON PETERS (SPAIN)

BIO Age: 18. Country: Spain (originally born in the UK) I currently work part time as a magician at a local bar. My style is usually visual and direct. I take a keen interest in the theory behind magic and studying the art and it's greats. During my spare time I love to learn about mentalism, psychology and NLP hence the contribution. Other: I like cheese, a lot!

40. DOPPELGANGER PREDICTION

PERFORMANCE

The deck is shuffled by the spectator.

Instruct the spectator to count how many cards there are in the deck, because you will be making a prediction and you need to be sure all are there. While they are doing this, glance the bottom card. After they have finished counting this, the noted card will finish on top. (Note: Most people tilt the deck at an angle when counting, which allows you to see the bottom card.)

Have them think of a number between one and ten. While your back is turned instruct them to deal the cards one at a time, face down, until they arrive at their thought-of number and remember the card that lands on their selected number. Tell them it will be used to mark a random position in the deck. Make a point of telling them it is imperative they remember the number thought of, too.

Instruct them to shuffle the rest of the deck, to cut it, more or less in the middle, and to then insert the pile of cards into the middle of the rest of the deck.

Turn to face the spectator and openly write down the name of the card you glimpsed. Show your prediction to everyone.

Have them hold the cards face down in their hand, and to deal the cards face-up until they arrive at the card they remembered. When they arrive at the 'thought-of card' (the card they remembered), tell them to count the same number of cards they dealt at the beginning, dealing in the same fashion as before, starting with the thought-of card first. Make sure they count in their head.

Tell them when they finally arrive at the card that lands on their thought-of number to keep it face down and place it to one side. Instruct them to continue dealing the rest of the deck.

Finally have them turn over the face down card. It matches the prediction.

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JOSHUA QUINN (USA)

BIO Joshua Quinn is a part time mentalist from New Orleans. His published items include the new book ParaLies, the effects Conjunction and Ascension, and a few odd contributions to other authors' works. When not reading minds he can usually be found playing a piano somewhere, either in his hometown or on the road. His hobbies include building impossible objects, and trying to get his mentalist buddies and his skeptic buddies to play nice together.

41. O.P.P. (Open Prediction Pipedream)

DISCLAIMER The following is a purely theoretical, wholly untested, never-performed pipedream of an effect that, as of this writing, exists solely in the mind of the author, who makes no claims as to its real-world practicality, perform-ability or usefulness. You have been warned.

EFFECT You remove a deck of cards from its box. It’s a full 52-card deck, all cards can be shown front and back, mixed around, etc. You announce your prediction of the card the spectator will stop you on—say, the Eight of Clubs. Then with the deck face down, you point to the top card and ask the spectator if she wants that one. Assuming she says no, you turn it face up and lay it on the table. It’s not the Eight of Clubs. You repeat this with the next card, laying it face up on top of the previous one. It too is not the Eight of Clubs. You continue this process, creating a pile of face-up cards that aren’t the Eight of Clubs, until the spectator stops you. You take the card she stops you on (not the one before or after) and cleanly lay it aside, face-down. You then go through the rest of the deck, either dealing them one at a time as you had been, or else simply spreading through them in your hands. The Eight of Clubs is nowhere among them. Finally, after a suitable buildup, either you or the spectator turns over the face down card she stopped you on. She gasps as she sees that it’s a Joker on which you’ve written the name of her first pet, the color and style of underwear she’s sporting, and her PIN number. No, I’m just kidding. Really it’s the Eight of Clubs.

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METHOD The reason I’ve never performed this in real life is because it would require a heavily gaffed deck that would be ridiculously costly and difficult to put together. However, if anyone ever did go to the trouble and expense of making one, it would offer a sparklingly clean and almost embarrassingly easy solution to the Open Prediction plot. The other main advantage it would offer over other gaffed solutions is the ability to genuinely show 52 different cards (not 26 or 39) front and back.

(NOTE: From here out I’ll talk about this deck as though it actually existed, so I don’t have to keep using words like “would” and “should” and “theoretically ought to.”) The deck consists not of 52 normal cards, but 78 thin cards, like those from a blank Phil deck—so a stack of 78 of them is only as thick as a normal 52-card deck. 51 of these cards are the ones you would expect to find in a normal deck, minus the Eight of Clubs. One of them is a Joker (to fill in for the force card). And the other 26 are duplicate Eights of Clubs. They’re half-roughed together in a way that makes the handling remarkably easy: as you deal the cards, any time you push over the top card from the outer end of the deck, it will be an indifferent card. It may be a single card or a roughed-together double, but it will always be a non-8C. However, at any time, if you push over the top card from the inner end, you’ll get a force card. Again, it may be a single card or a roughed double, but it will always be an 8C. So the handling can be summed up as, “deal from the outer end until the spectator stops you, then deal that card from the inner end, then deal the rest from the outer end.” The cards are arranged in repeating groups of three, with an Eight of Clubs in the middle, and indifferent cards on the top and bottom. In each of these groups, the inner ends of the top and middle card are roughed together, and the outer ends of the middle and bottom card are roughed together:

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So for each group, if you deal the top card from the outer end, you’ll get only the top card. If you deal the top card from the inner end, you’ll get the top card and the force card beneath it as a double. But then, assume the top card is gone because you’ve just dealt it off. The new top card is a force card roughed to the card below it at the outer end. So if you deal it from the outer end, you’ll get the force card and the X card beneath it as a double, with the X card showing. But if you deal it from the inner end, you’ll get only the force card, leaving the X card behind. That X card will then come off as a single (regardless of which end it’s pushed over from), and the cycle then starts over again. In practice then, you’ll be dealing from the outer end of the deck, dealing an alternating pile of singles and doubles until the spectator stops you. When she does, deal the next card from the inner end and lay it aside. If it’s a single, be as flip with it as you like; if it’s a double, be a bit more careful. From there, you can either continue dealing through the rest of the deck as you were (from the outer end), or you can simply turn the remainder of the deck face up in your hands and spread through it... as long as you’ve got it turned the right way. To do so, flip the deck over end for end in your hands (not side to side), and handle the cards by what are now the inner ends (which were previously the outer ends) as you spread through them. This is also the end you hold them from during the initial display, mixing around, etc. If you spread through the cards while holding the wrong end, every other card shown will be an Eight of Clubs, and people will laugh at you and walk away. Then when it’s time to reveal the face-down card, half of the time you can let the spectator do it herself (because it’s a single), and the other half, you’ll have to do it (because it’s a double). So to make this theoretical deck, all you would need is a can of roughing spray, a little patience... and 26 blank Phil decks. Hence the reason I’ve never done it. Of course that would actually give you the cards to make a total of 26 OPP decks, assuming you had the time and tolerance for Dullcote fumes. I have neither. I’ve talked to a few people in the biz about having the deck manufactured, but gotten no promising responses so far. So I’ve submitted the idea here partially in the hopes that someone with knowledge and clout in the trick deck-makin’ business will see it and take an interest, because I think that as expensive, heavily gaffed, non-examinable, one-trick-pony decks go, this could be a pretty good one.

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TOM RANSOM – (CANADA)

BIO Tom Lives in Toronto with his artist wife Gerry (yep, that’s Tom & Gerry), amongst his vast library of books on Magic, Puzzles and Mathematical oddities. He has been interested in Magic for 70 years, and has contributed both effects and research to various magazines and books on Magic. He has a continuing interest in collecting historical magical literature and ephemera, and has a fascination with mathematical principles as they are applied to Magic and Puzzles. Tom is the inventor of the well-know effect, NEEDLE THRU BALOON.

42. THE OPEN SECRET

As I was assisting Thomas Baxter with some research for this very interesting project, I was struck by one of the solutions offered by Japanese contributor Hiro Okada (Evening the Odds, Pg. 129). The Open Secret uses a very different technique, but was inspired by the other fellow’s presentation. EFFECT The Performer runs through a borrowed pack of playing cards and removes one card, whose identity he shows only to the participant, but not to the entire audience. The participant places the card in their pocket or face down on the table. That is The Open Prediction. The participant now shuffles the cards thoroughly. For the rest of the audience, the Performer now makes a “Closed Prediction”. He removes another card from the pack, this time without showing anyone its face, and uses a pencil or marker to write something on the face of the card before returning the card to its place in the pack. He does not re-arrange the pack after the shuffle. He hands the squared deck to the participant. The cards are cut into two piles by the participant. The participant chooses a pile for themselves (no force), the other pile is used by the Performer. Both the participant and the Performer deal cards, one at a time, face up onto the table in their respective piles. Somewhere along the way, both the participant and the performer feel the urge to stop dealing, at exactly the same time. At that point, they both deal the next card of their packet face down on top of the face up cards on the table. The Performer and the participant resume dealing the remainder of their cards face up on top of the cards on the table. Again, oddly, they feel a simultaneous

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urge to stop at some point. When that happens, they each deal the next card of their packet face down onto the already dealt cards. This done, the remainder of the cards are dealt face up onto those on the table. Slowly and fairly, the cards are spread by the participant, revealing four face down cards, two in each spread. The participant cleanly and honestly turns up one of the face down cards in his spread. It is an Ace. The participant turns up one of the face down cards in the Performer’s spread. It too, is an Ace. The remaining face down card in the Performer’s spread is turned over by the participant. A third Ace. Finally the participant turns up the last remaining face down card. It is not an Ace, but is just an indifferent card. The Performer looks confused, but then remembers that he wrote a prediction down at the beginning of the effect. He points to the Ace of Hearts, and it is seen that it is the card that he wrote on. The participant reads the message to the audience: “Remember the Open Prediction!” The participant removes the card from her pocket. It is the final Ace, the Ace of Spades. (Note: The words: “the participant” are highlighted in bold letters in the above description to remind the reader that all of the key choices and handling of the cards are done in the participant’s hands.) METHOD The methodology behind this effect can be used in any number of ways, and I think is something new, or at least is used in a new way. Here is how the above variation is accomplished: The effect relies upon the synchronous deal of the necessary cards, and upon the Performer knowing when the desired cards will appear. A borrowed deck can be used, and the deck needn’t be complete, so long as the four Aces are present. Run through the deck and remove the Ace of Spades, not letting the audience see what card it is, but showing it to the participant, and allowing them to place it into their pocket or face down on the table. Announce it as your Open Prediction. Have the participant shuffle the cards thoroughly. Stress the fact that she is shuffling the cards herself.

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Take the pack back into your hands and fan the cards with the faces towards yourself. Say that you will look through the cards to make a “Closed Prediction” for the rest of the audience. As you look through the faces of the cards, spot an Ace in the lower half (closest to the face) of the pack. Remember the card that is two cards away from its face (i.e.: the 7 of Clubs). Think of that as your single key card. Continue looking through the pack until you spot the other two Aces. Unless you are luck enough to find them already side-by-side, you must remove the first Ace that you come to and then return it to the pack immediately next to the left-most Ace. Your rationale for doing this is to remove the Ace without showing it to anyone, and writing your “Closed Prediction” on its face. One the face of that card you write: “Remember the Open Prediction?” When you replace it back into the fan, place the Ace in your hand right next to the other, left-most Ace. At the same time you will remember the two cards directly to the right of the pair of Aces (i.e.: the 4 of Hearts and the 2 of Hearts). Think of these two cards as your twin keys. Square up the cards. To the audience it will appear as if you’ve just taken the unknown card out of the fan, written on its face, and then replaced it back where you got it from. Make mention of the fact, after replacing the card, that you won’t re-arrange the pack in any way. (Note: When doing the above, the ideal situation is to have the two side-by-side Aces in the top 1/3 of the pack, with the other Ace nearer to the bottom `/3 of the pack. This is important because in a moment you’re going to ask the participant to cut the cards into two equal piles, and you want to be sure that she cuts the single key and its ace into one half of the pack, and the twins keys and their aces in the other half.) At this point you have remembered three locater cards: the single key (7 of Clubs) and the twin keys (the 2 & 4 of Hearts). Hand the pack back to the participant, and ask her to cut the cards into two equal piles. This done, make a point of allowing the participant to remove one or two cards from the top of either half and transfer them to the other half, or even to remove a few cards from the top of either half of the pack completely, and discard them completely. To continue, make it clear that the participant has the choice of which half of the pack they will use, and which half they’d like you to use. When this is done, say that you’d like to mix the cards even more before continuing.

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Take your half of the pack and begin to deal cards into two face down piles, alternating each deal, back and forth. Direct the participant to do the same with her cards. When finished there will be four piles of cards; two for you and two for her. Explain that they way the cards will be mixed is up to her. Would she like to place her two piles on top of your two, or your two piles on top of her two? Once she has made a decision, but before you assemble the piles as directed by the participant, tell her that you’re going to allow her another decision about the mixing of the piles. She can either place the two piles directly on top of the other two, or switch the piles so that her right hand pile goes on your left hand pile, and vice-versa. Once she decides, she assembles the four piles into two piles. (In reality, it makes no difference to the working of the effect, which choices she makes, but it seems that you’re giving the participant complete control over a random mix of the cards. You now have two piles of cards. Tell the participant that she now has another free choice: She can use whichever pile of cards she would like, and leave the other one for you. (Again, this is a free choice, and makes no difference to the working of the effect.) You now direct the participant to begin dealing cards face up from her half of the deck, simultaneously with you, as you deal your cards face up in a pile on the table. Deal slowly and ponderously, making certain that the participant deals with you, at exactly the same speed. As you both deal, you secretly watch for any one of three possible scenarios:

1. The twin keys (2 & 4 of Hearts) show up at the same time, one on your pile and one on hers;

2. One of the twin keys (either the 2 or the 4 of Hearts) shows up on either one of your piles; and

3. The single key shows up on either one of your piles. Events 1. and 2. are remedied by the use of 2 key cards and ONE second deal (don’t worry, it can be a really bad second deal, as the misdirection covers it all). The twin keys start, earlier in the routine, directly below the pair of Aces. After dealing the cards into 2 piles, one key is directly above each Ace of the pair. The order of the keys is not important. As above, the twin keys may appear at the same time, with one on your pile and one on the participant’s, or one of the twin keys might appear first, alone on either your pile or hers.

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If they twin keys appear simultaneously, excellent! The next two cards will be the pair of Aces. If only one of the twin keys shows up, surprisingly it makes no difference whether it is on your pile or on hers. You merely deal a second on the next card only, turning the card face up onto the pile on the table. This rights everything, and the next card on each of your piles will be the paired Aces. (In Detail: If you turn up the only twin key against the participant’s indifferent card, your next card will be one of the pair, and it must be retained by dealing a second for your next deal. The card you deal during the second will fall at the same time as the second twin key in the participant’s deal. Now the paired Aces are at the tops of the respective halves, and will fall simultaneously on the next deal. If the participant turns up the only visible twin key first, then on the next deal the other twin key will be on top of the Performer’s block of cards, and one of the paired Aces will be on top of the participant’s cards. You perform a second deal, holding back the key card and dealing the paired Ace at the same time as the participant deals her Ace. So remember: If the two twin keys show up on each other’s face up piles at the same time, you don’t have to do anything. The paired Aces are the next cards dealt. And if a twin key card shows up alone on either face up pile, you deal a second for your next deal.) By doing the above, you will know when the paired Aces are due to be dealt next. Using the idea from Hiro Okada, you influence the participant to stop at the point that the Aces are about to be dealt. To do this, you must be certain that as you have both been dealing cards face up onto the table, you have controlled the pace so that you both are dealing cards very slowly, at exactly the same time, looking down at the cards the entire time. When you know the Aces are about to be dealt, as your right hand moves to take the top card to be dealt, you pause with your hand on top of the pack, and then slowly look up at the audience. If you’ve timed this correctly, the participant has been conditioned to follow your actions, and she will stop with her hand on her half of the pack and slowly look up at you at the same time. This looks very eerie to those watching. Say, “Did you feel it too?” and nod your head at her. She will nod, too. As you slowly deal your top card face down on top of the face up cards, instruct her to do the same. Unbeknownst to the audience, you have just placed two matching Aces face down on the piles. Now you continue dealing the cards face up, again dealing very slowly and causing the participant to match your timing and actions. When you spot the single key that you remembered as being two cards away from the third Ace, you don’t have to do a second deal. When the single key appears on one of

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your face up piles, the next cards dealt will be an Ace and an indifferent card. That’s exactly what you want. When you see the single key appear, utilize the Okada subtlety again, causing the participant to stop as you do, your hand resting on the top card f the remaining cards in your hand. Slowly deal the next card face down onto the face up cards on the table, instructing the participant to do the same. You have just dealt the third Ace and an indifferent card onto the piles, respectively. Now just quickly deal through the remainder of the cards in your hands, turning them face up onto the cards on the table. (Note: It is entire possible that the single key will make an appearance before the twin keys present themselves. That is why it’s important to differentiate in your memory between the single key and the twin key. It makes no difference to the success of the effect, which appears first. If the single key appears first, you don’t second deal, but you stop there and deal the next two cards face down, then when the twin keys appear during the next part of the deal, you do nothing if both twin keys appear at once, or you second deal if one appears before the other. You stop the deal when you know the Aces are present, as directed, and finish as per usual. If the situation is reversed and the twin keys appear first, you act accordingly.) Once all the cards have been dealt, have the participant spread the two piles of cards. Four face down cards will be seen. The participant can turn the cards up, one at a time, revealing the three Aces and an indifferent card. You look puzzled, then point out the writing that you did on the Ace of Hearts. The participant reads it out loud: “Remember the Open Prediction”. The participant removes the Open Prediction Card from her pocket, and shows the audience that it is the Ace of Spades, the missing Ace. PERFORMANCE While this effect lends itself to many different presentational possibilities, one thought is to present this as a demonstration of “influence” over the participant. As the cards are being mixed at the beginning, you say: “Both people and animals have ways of identifying people or objects that seem magical. Tracking hounds can follow a scent through thick woods; we can identify invisible fingerprints or traces of DNA. We can recognize our friends from blocks away just by their shapes and their style of walking, although we never consciously think about this or deliberately memorize their silhouettes. It’s an animal instinct – not planned at all – we don’t even decide to use it, we just do it.”

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“Some psychics claim to see a person’s past and future in a crystal ball or a deck of Tarot cards. One question has always intrigued me: “If doing all of these things isn’t a deliberate action, but is instead an unconscious act, is it possible that our decisions and perceptions are being influenced by some external source? Does the psychic somehow pick up on signals we give off, and in reacting to those signals, unconsciously formulate their reading? How many of our decisions are free will, and how many are influenced by others? ” You proceed with the effect as described, but place it in the guise of influencing the many decisions that the participant is allowed to make along the way. Each time she has to chose which pile to use, or which one to place where, look deeply into her eyes, and just before she makes her choice, switch one packet with the other, or touch her forehead and tell he to go ahead and make her choice. It’s all just showmanship, but it helps to build the drama of the effect.

NOTES This sort of Synchronous Deal effect is best done with a borrowed pack to exclude the notion of a stack. The temptation is for the Performer to take the cards along the way and to perform a false shuffle, to prove the cards are mixed. This is not only not necessary (the participant shuffled them thoroughly at the start) but it is counter-productive. The less the performer handles the cards, the better. If you use a borrowed pack of cards for this, it’s best to look for one that is in fairly good condition, that will fan smoothly, and that has indices in the corners that will show clearly when the cards are fanned. Some packs with Jumbo Indices, etc., are not so clearly visible when fanned.

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PATRICK G. REDFORD (U.S.A.) BIO Patrick G. Redford is a full time performer, speaker and creator living in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He spends his free time creating new mentalism and magic, creating Ambigram art (those words that transform or stay the same when you rotate them 180 degrees), toying around with his piano and guitar, and tormenting his cat Karina. He is also the author of Triangle, Heptagon +, Prevaricator, Glemme, and a myriad of other mentalism and magic titles.

43. ISOLATED TWIST EFFECT The subject is asked to shuffle the cards and they are return to the performer. The performer looks through the faces of the cards, gives them one cut, and announces that the card the subject will soon choose will be the Ace of Hearts. It will be unavoidable despite being as fair as possible. The cards are handed back to the subject face down and he is instructed to deal cards one a time into a face up pile on to the table. At some point, however, he is to deal one of those cards face down. After doing so, he is to continue dealing the rest of the cards face up one at a time. He begins to deal. At some point he deals one card face down. The performer interjects stopping his deal for a moment: "Have you seen the Ace of Hearts yet? No? The chances of that card being the Ace of Hearts is slim, however you can change your mind if you'd like.” They choose to stick and continue dealing. After the subject has dealt about 40 cards the performer interjects again stopping the deal a second time: "We haven't seen the Ace of Hearts yet. The chances that the one face down card is the Ace, has just gone up dramatically. You can either choose to stick with your choice or change your mind.” The subject sticks - though could change his mind - and continues dealing. There are now four cards left. The subject is stopped and one last time the performer interjects: "There are four cards left. The chance that you've flipped the Ace of Hearts face down has just skyrocketed. Do you want to change your mind to one of those last four cards or do you want to stick with your original choice". The subject sticks. The last four cards are turned over and no Ace of Hearts is found. It seems the subject hasn't been able to avoid the inevitable.

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Of course at this point some folks would want to see that one face down card as proof but it isn't given yet. The subject is asked to keep it face down but slide it out of the pack face down on the table. The Performer goes on to explain: "It would seem you've turned the Ace of Hearts face down. Although this could just be a trick. On the other hand it could be explained away as some kind of subliminal influence, though I did give you several chances to change your mind. If this were a trick, it be easy to make it appear as if you turned the Ace of Hearts face down by removing it from the deck ahead of time. Most people wouldn't count the cards as they were dealt, and I doubt you have." The performer opens the box and removes the Ace of Hearts face up. “Some, however, would be disappointed to come all this way only for this to be the only pay off. That's why this card has a red back as a reminder that it's easy to be taken in by a simple trick..." The performer picks up the blue backed card from the table after and shows the back of the Ace of Hearts to be red only to finally turn over the card the subject turned face down to show it is also the Ace of Hearts. "...but it seems that you've managed to stop in just the right place anyway.” METHOD A blue deck of cards is needed. The Ace of Hearts really has been removed from the deck and hidden away in the cellophane wrapping of the box. It blends perfectly with the back of the box. Two additional Ace of Hearts are needed, both with a red back. Also a stick of reposition-able glue or wax is needed. On the back of one of the two red backed Aces I draw an X of glue across its back. On the second red backed Ace I lightly dab the four corners only. The two cards are stuck together so that the "X" is outer-most and the four, glued corners are stuck between the cards. This double card is then placed into the card box so that the X sticks to the back- most side of the box. The deck is placed in the box so that the faces of the deck are face to face with the double sticky card. When it comes time to perform, the cards are easily dumped from the box and box set aside so that its contents remain secret. The cards are shuffled and returned to the performer. At this point one cut is made. This cut positions the Ace of Diamonds 17th from the top of the pack. The cards are handed back and the Ace of Hearts is announced to be the inevitable card. I let the subject deal. If the subject somehow leaves the Ace of Diamonds face down I remove the blue backed Ace of Hearts from box at the end claiming the coincidence after the fake let down of " I removed it ahead of time".

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If the subject doesn't, the sticky card double brings the entire effect to a much stronger conclusion. After the face down blue-backed card is pushed forward, its a simple matter to bring this card and the sticky double together for a moment and separate them again. Pushing them apart with the thumb and fingers in a sliding motion sticks the glued X to the odd card and detaches the four corners so that both cards may be cleanly showed in a Applause Cue fashion. The blue card is now a double but the Red card is clean. Once they're face up, the audience loses track of which card is which anyway and at this point (layman at least) are already convinced before the cards are turned over that the effect has come to a successful conclusion. To instantly reset: The now single red backed card goes on top of the deck and the double goes on top of this. The blue backed card is easily taken away from its sticky companion and placed back into the deck. It's reset and ready to go again.

Second Solution – Patrick G. Redford

44. ADVANTAGEOUS The impromptu psychological version: This used to be my closer when I was table-hopping at restaurants, years ago. The cards are shuffled by a subject. I take them back and look through the cards saying, "I'm going to jot down a thought based on a decision you're about to make". I run through the entire deck and hand them back to the subject face down. I write a playing card name on the back of my business card and place it face down on the table. I begin to explain that I'd like the subject to start dealing cards one at a time into a face up pile on the table, stop and change my mind about what I wrote. I cross out the card I previously wrote and write a new card - recommitting myself. The effect now begins. The subject is asked to deal the cards one at a time into a face up pile and stop whenever he likes. He does so. He is then asked to deal the next card face down and a few more face up after that to see that he could have gotten a completely different card. The business card is never touched again, the face down card deck is never touched by the performer. They flip over their card, its identity is revealed and I walk away leaving the subjects with a face down business card with something written on the back. Of course when they flip it over it matches their selection.

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METHOD This is a multiple outcome piece. What I described is the best-case scenario. There are three other outcomes. All but one end with the business card matching the card chosen. First Outcome (Ideal) This effect is built around a psychological stop effect but not using the traditional stopping placement. After the cards have been shuffled I remember the 15th, 16th, and 17th card from the top of the deck. I write down the 16th card on the back of my business card and place it down. Seemingly changing my mind last minute I pick it up again, cross out the 16th card and write down the 17th card and underline it. When it comes time for the subject to deal and stop there are a couple things working to help him stop in the right place. First, he doesn't know what the effect is. I'm not having him deal through every single card in the deck. Also he doesn't know he's suppose to stop dealing until he's already uncomfortably dealt 10 cards face up. Here's how its handled in scripting: "I'd like to try something that, honestly, might not work. If it does, you will have done something amazing. If it doesn't, well nothing ever works 100% of the time. Shuffle these cards for me.” The subject shuffles and returns the deck. I note the cards I need to remember and return the deck to him. "I'm going to write down a decision you're about to make. Wait actually hold on. Have you ever changed your mind? I just changed mine. This is what I think (writing it down). I wont change my mind again. I'm committed in ink. I'd like you to start dealing cards one at a time in a face up pile on the table. Do that now." The subject begins dealing and I'm silently counting as he deals. After he's done 10 I add: "Deal a few more cards and stop wherever you'd like." This tends to virtually guarantee the subject won't stop short of where he needs to stop to bring the effect to a successful conclusion. If the subject stops on the 15th card, our key card, I ask him if he'd like to deal a couple more cards or if he'd like to stop there. He may either deal one more card, which stops him on the 16th card making the next card the 17th dealt face down. All is happy. If he deals two more cards the card we wrote down is face up and all is happy. No cards are dealt face down in this case. I remind the subject that we both changed our minds. If he would have stopped one before he would have gotten the 16th card (the card I crossed out on my business card) but he stopped on here on the 17th. In my actual presentation I'd be naming the actual cards, not their position.

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Second Outcome (The Massage) If the subject stops on the key card (15th) and refuses to move on I ask him to deal the next card face down. This is the card that was crossed out. Its now just a matter of massaging the situation to prove that the prediction is correct. This is where I make the call back to, "You didn't change your mind but if you remember I changed mine. My first decision was correct as was yours.” Third Outcome (The Out) This happens if the subject deals completely past both potential hits. I simply pick up the cards the subject has dealt face up and spread them face down and have them touch the back of one card. He can change his mind as much as he wishes as a MC double lift force is used to guarantee that he chooses the 17th card. Last Outcome (Successful Failure) This is very unlikely. If the subject deals short the effect is deemed a failure and aborted. Of course one can point out just how close the subject came to stopping in the right location. I've played with various sleights that bring the effect to a conclusion but any handling really muddles a potentially good effect. I've come to find that after learning how to perform it and managing a subject correctly, it rarely will fail. Final Thoughts: One could use a nail writer to make the out of the two cards play with a guaranteed hit. Although if one is going to the trouble of using a nail writer one might as well nail write the chosen card and be done with it. I've performed this in all sorts of conditions. My favorite memory was doing this in a car with a Performer friend. He was in the front passenger seat and I was in the back seat. They were his cards and he held everything. Even in these conditions, in a moving vehicle the effect came to an ideal close.

Third Solution – Patrick G. Redford

45. THE O.P. SREAD EFFECT The cards are shuffled and held by the subject. The performer announces a card and the subject deals cards, one at a time, face up onto the table and stops at any point and deals the next card face down. The face down card matches the announced card.

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PERFORMANCE As the subject shuffles, get a glimpse of the bottom card of the deck, and remember it. "A lot of performers wont tell you what's going to happen before it happens. You're going to begin dealing those cards in a moment, one card at a time into a face-up pile. As you deal you'll stop at any point and deal the next card face down. That card will be the Seven of Diamonds." Instruct the subject to deal cards one at a time face up onto the performing surface and to stop wherever she likes. When she stops, direct her to deal the next card face down on top of the face up pile of cards, without looking at the identity of the card yet. Gesture for the balance of the deck to be returned to you. Take the bottom card into gambler’s cop as the balance of the deck is turned face up and spread between your hands. Returning the copped card to the pack now automatically means that it will be reversed, face down beneath the face-up cards. During this move, make a comment as you show the face-up cards. "You could have kept going and stopped on any of these cards." The cards are squared into the left hand. Continue: "If you had stopped dealing one card sooner you would have ended up on the Four of Spades. In fact you could have even stopped sooner and ended up on one of these other cards." As the above words are spoken, the right hand moves the face down card on the tabled packet about 1/3 of the way to the right of the face-up cards, exposing, say, the Four of Spades underneath. Next, the cards in your left hand are taken into right hand Biddle grip and placed face up onto the tabled pack, but aligned with the rest of the pack, so that the side-jogged face down card that the subject dealt sticks out the right side of the pack. Without lifting the cards from the table, the right hand immediately ribbon spreads the cards, from the Performer’s left to right, across the table. The result is that the 'dummy' card remains safely hidden away under the spread while the openly predicted card now appears directly above the Four of Spades. To remove the exposed face down card, it may be necessary for one hand to hold the face-up card above the openly predicted face down card in place as the face-down card is pulled from the spread to be shown. Troubleshooting and Clean-Up Looking closely at the back edge of the cards as they're spread, it's easy to see the dummy card’s position and whether or not it will remain hidden upon the removal of the openly predicted card. Noting its position will allow one to split the

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fan at the spot of the apparently single, face down card, remove it, and gather the cards so that the dummy card is now face down beneath all of the face-up cards. To do this -- Split the cards at the appropriate spot, remove the openly predicted card, and take all of the cards on the left side of the spread and place them on top of the cards on the right, and square up. If you find that the dummy card is in a position that may be easily exposed upon the removal of the openly predicted card, with the right hand scoop all of the cards up that are on the left side of the spread, and pull the dummy card further under with the right fingers and the left hand removes the exposed face down card. Observations of an Alternate Move For many years I made use of the Kelly Bottom Placement (Tarbell Vol. 3, Page 184) to accomplish a similar switch that actually placed the predicted card directly next to the facing card while hiding the dummy. That move, however, is much more cumbersome. The move described above flows smoothly and isn't plagued with looking 'too much like a move'. Final Thoughts This is a "knack-y" move to get, at first, but is quite effective. Practice it on multiple surfaces (table, close-up mat, carpet, etc.) until you get a feel for how the cards react to different environments. At the end of the effect you're left with one card face-down under a face-up deck. This is easy to clean up performing the same gamblers cop and reverse described earlier. Fourth Solution – Patrick G. Redford

46. STANDING PREDICTION

EFFECT An incredibly clean version of Open Prediction that takes place away from any tabled surface. (Editor’s Note: Although the modus operandi involved in this method is much like Solution #33 (cOmPatibility, Hiro Okada), there are considerable differences in the presentation and handling that I felt warranted the inclusion of both routines.)

VERITY This version of open predictions offers a handling that works without a performing service as the cards are dealt into the performers awaiting palm.

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The top card of the pack is secretly peeked and noted, then palmed off in the right hand as the cards are handed to the subject to shuffle. This card may be pocketed (if one is uncomfortable palming a card for any length of time) or held in palm position until it's palmed back onto the cards. The performer announces the name of the secretly peeked card (For Example, the Seven of Diamonds) and the subject now deals cards one at a time, face-up, into the performers awaiting left hand. At some point the subject deals one card face down and stops. "Have we seen the Seven of Diamonds yet?" Asks the performer. The subject responds, "No." Performer: "Have a look through the rest of your cards." As the subject checks the balance of the cards two things happen: The face down card is pulled face up around to the bottom of the left hands cards with the left thumb and the palmed card is placed face down on top of the face-up cards, in the motion of squaring the cards after they've been sloppily dealt into the hand. The right hand not only serves as a way to deliver the palmed card back to the deck but also hides the action of the left thumb pulling and rotating the face down card face-up (and secretly) to the back of the pack. THE MOVE BROKEN DOWN Position Check: The left hand holds a group of face-up cards with one face down card on top. The right hand has the secretly palmed open prediction and is resting casually to the side of the performer. The right hand approaches to square the cards from above, and as the left thumb makes contact with the face down card, it pulls it to the left, around the side of the pack. This card rotates face up and ends squared with the cards at the back. The palmed card is deposited at the face and everything should seem copasetic. This face down card may be freely offered to the subject for confirmation. FINAL THOUGHTS Alternatively, one could use Derren Brown's Velvet Turn-Over (PURE EFFECT, Pg 89) to switch in a palmed card in lateral palm position for the facedown card at the face of the pack while turning it over. This move does change the face card of the pack, but once the card is turned face-up to display, it naturally covers the face of the pack anyway, making the discrepancy a non-issue.

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BARRIE RICHARDSON (USA)

BIO Barrie Richardson is a professor of management and Dean of The Frost School of Business at Centenary College, USA. He is also one of the most prominent magicians in the world - his specialty being Mind Magic, or Mentalism, in which he excels and is one of the most highly respected and influential practitioners. His top-selling book THEATRE OF THE MIND (Hermetic Press, 1999) is crammed with ingenious ideas and presentations and has become a source of learning for magicians & mentalists world-wide.

47. JAMESIAN MONTE

EFFECT A red-backed pack of playing cards is removed from its box and is spread face up on the table so that everyone can see the faces of the cards. Gazing intently into the eyes of a female audience member, the Performer passes his hands slowly over the cards, pausing first on a Queen of Spades, but then changing his mind and pulling the Seven of Hearts out of the Spread. He tells the audience that he’s decided that this is the card that the young lady will be inexplicably drawn to. The card remains face up on the table, an Open Prediction. A deck of blue-backed cards is then introduced, and the faces are shown to be normal. The cards are mixed by the helper. She is asked to deal cards face down until she feels she wants to stop. Her choice of when to stop is absolutely free, and is not influenced by the Performer in any way. At that point, the helper deals the next blue-backed card face down, beside the red-backed Prediction card on the table. The cards are turned over and the card that she stopped at matches the Prediction Card, the Seven of Hearts, which was shown to the audience at the very beginning. PREPARATION Red Deck: From a normal, red-backed pack of playing cards, remove the Seven of Hearts and replace it with a double-faced card that shows the Seven of Hearts on both sides of the card. Place these cards in their red box. Blue Deck: You will cerate a deck consisting of 26 regular, blue-backed playing cards, and 26 double-backed cards. The backs of the double-backers are blue on one side, matching the regular, blue-backed cards, and red on the other side, matching the backs of the other, red-backed deck of cards. The pack is assembled as follows, from the top down: One-half of the double backers, blue

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side up; followed by one half of the blue-backed regular cards; then the other half of the double backers, blue side up; and finally the other half of the regular, blue-backed cards. You will now have a deck that you can spread part-way through, showing the faces, and then spread face down on the table, where it will appear to be a normal, blue-backed deck of cards. Place these cards in their blue box, and you are ready to perform the routine. METHOD The red-backed pack of cards is removed from its box and is spread face up on the table so that everyone can see all of the faces of the cards. As the spectators can plainly see that the cards are well mixed, there is no need for a shuffle here. The Performer looks intently at the participant, as if trying to decide how this particular person might think. He then reaches out and slides the Seven of Hearts from the spread of cards, and leaves it face up on the table, stating that this will be his “Open Prediction”. The rest of the red pack is scooped up and placed back in their box, to one side, the Performer incidentally showing the cards to be normal back and front. The blue-backed Deck is now introduced, and the Performer removes the cards from their box and gives the cards a quick overhand shuffle, faces towards the audience. This is accomplished in turning the pack face up and overhand shuffling them a bit, with the faces towards the audience (being careful not to run past the 13 normal cards. The audience will see various face-up cards as you shuffle, and assume the pack to be a normal one. At the end of the shuffle, leave the face-up cards you’ve been shuffling in place on the face of the pack. Table the pack near the participant. Tell her that a more thorough shuffle is where the two halves are riffled together, and you’d like her to do that. Instruct the lady to cut off about half of the pack and to place those cards next to the bottom half, and to them riffle-shuffle the two halves together on the table, being careful not to show the faces of any of the cards, as you want this all to be as fair as possible. These instructions, properly delivered, should keep the cards more or less on the table. If you can spot someone earlier who shuffles well, use them as you participant for this effect. Because of the set-up of the cards, when the participant cuts half of the deck off in preparation for the shuffle, they should have two piles of cards that each consist of mostly double-backers on top, and regular cards on the bottom of each pile. Now, when the two halves are riffle-shuffled together by the participant, the deck is automatically re-assembled so that the double-backed cards will all be together on top of the pack, and the regular cards will all be together on the face of the pack. This won’t be perfect, of course, but the few cards that miss won’t affect the success of the effect.

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The deck is left on the table, the Performer not touching the cards after the shuffle, and the participant is instructed to deal cards from the top of the tabled deck, one at a time, onto the table, face down. Anywhere along the way she can choose to stop dealing. At that point she should take the next card and leave it face down beside the face-up Prediction Card on the table. This dealing from the tabled deck accomplished two things: First, it makes it much less likely that the faces of the cards will be flashed accidentally, showing the double-backers. Secondly, it is more awkward to deal from a tabled deck, and so the participant will not deal for very long before choosing to stop and deal a card next to the Prediction Card. This ensures that the participant won’t go past the double-backers and into the regular cards as they deal. Once she has dealt a card to the side, the blue-backed deck is scooped up by the Performer. In putting the cards back into their box, he incidentally shows the faces of a few cards on the face of the deck. The Performer recaps: He chose a card from a red-backed pack as his prediction and placed it in full view on the table, where it has remained since the beginning of the performance. The participant then shuffled a blue-backed pack of cards, dealt them herself onto the table, stooping wherever she liked, and dealing a randomly chosen card face down next to the Prediction Card. The blue card she stopped at is a double-backer. On its reverse side is a red back. The Prediction Card is a double-facer, both sides showing the Seven of Hearts. The Performer slowly slides the two cards together, face- up Prediction Card on top of the face down, blue-backed card. He turns the cards over and separates them, performing the well-known TWO CARD MONTE move*, to show that the face of the other card matches. Because the audience sees another Seven of Hearts and also the red back of the other card, the illusion is perfect. If you had duplicate, genuine blue-backed and red-backed Seven of Hearts tucked in your pocket, you could them switch the gaffed cards for the real ones on the off-beat, when the audience thinks the effect is over. * (The Two Card Monte move goes as follows: In your left hand you have a double-facer that has the Seven of Hearts on both sides, flush on top of a double backer. The double-backer is red on one side, blue on the other. To begin, the blue side is uppermost. Spread the top card slightly to your right, so that the blue back of the card below can be seen. Your right hand takes the cards, fingers on top and thumb below. As you turn your wrist, turning the cards over, your finger push the new bottom card to the left, while at the same time your thumb pulls the new top card slightly to the right. This reveals another Seven of Hearts and a blue-backed face down card. The audience thinks they have seen two different, regular Seven of Hearts, one blue-backed and the other with a red back. –Ed.)

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TATANKA TAN (USA) I am Magic Of T, from the Magic Cafe. I am a sophomore high school student in NYC. I have been doing magic for a little more than 2 years and mainly do card magic and mentalism. I work at Tannen’s Magic Shop on weekends. I am only a close up worker however I love to watch a good parlor or stage act. I enjoy performing and sharing my magic as much as possible.

48. OPEN SENSATION

EFFECT A red back deck of cards in the box is given to the spectator to hold. The Performer brings out a blue backed card and shows his open prediction, the queen of diamonds. He places this card on the table in full view. He instructs the spectator to take the cards out of the box, give a quick shuffle, and deal the cards face up from the face down deck until he mentally feels the queen of diamonds. The spectator is then instructed to place the card face down on the table. The rest of the cards are dealt face up proving that the queen of diamonds is gone. The red card is turned over, matching the open prediction. Here is a practical powerful open prediction routine that meets all of the conditions.

REQUIRED Any deck of cards (can be borrowed, can have cards missing). One loop. WORKINGS Borrow a deck of cards. Have them shuffled thoroughly as you talk about people having a sixth sense. When the deck is returned to you, quickly peek the bottom and top card (I do this as I perform a waterfall shuffle). The bottom card will be your key card and the top card will be the card that you predict. Write down the top card or just name it as your prediction. Overhand shuffle the cards, making sure your key card and prediction are next to each other. If you would like, you could risk asking the spectator to overhand shuffle as well. Ask the spectator to deal until she feels a "sixth sense" in her arm telling her where to stop, say ""it could feel as if someone is grabbing your wrist, or maybe a slight tingle in your arm; it is different for everyone".

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Set up the loop around both hands as you hold your hands above the participant’s arm to "transfer energy." Tell her to begin dealing face up slowly and when you see your key card, slowly brush the loop against the spectators arm. They will stop, and you instruct them to deal that card face down and the rest of the deck face up. They will not see the prediction and turn over the card matching your prediction. ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS One may use an electric touch to give the "sixth sense feeling." Untested idea: For an impromptu setting you can blow on the spectator’s hand. (I have never tried this but its an idea).

DOMINIC TWOSE (U.K.)

BIO Dominic Twose Lives in Leamington Spa in England with his two daughters. He created 'The Devil's Own Oil and Water' and has contributed to Peter Duffie's Mind Blasters and Best of England Up Close, Harry Lorayne's Best of Friends 3, and the magazines The Crimp, Profile and The Magic Circular. He was also a major contributor to the book The Magic of Fred Robinson. He has written a novel about a magician, Remembering Serena, and a book on marketing, Driving Top Line Growth. He has been described as "Britian's own DDT" by people who ought to know better.

49. THE TRULY FANTASTIC OPEN PREDICTION

STRONG POINTS The deck is regular and borrowed The spectator deals, and leaves face down any card at random in the deal. The spectator spreads the cards at the end You are completely clean at the end

METHOD Note the face card and shuffle it to third from the top of the deck. Write this as your prediction. Patter about how unusual it is to be told beforehand exactly what you will do at some point in the future.

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Explain to the spectator you want them to deal the cards one by one face up – like this -- With the cards face down, turn over the top card and deal it face up to the table. Push off the second card and get a break under the next. Turn the second card face up on the pack. Take it, and the card below and put them onto the card already on the table. (Position check – you have the face down selection between two face up cards).

Repeat dealing a few cards, gradually changing to a more regular stud style deal.

Give them the cards, as you explain that as they go through they are to leave one card face down. At the end of this process, gather the cards, and spread through them as you patter about there being one face down card, and that the predicted card has not yet been seen.

Comment – there are two possibilities. One is that the card is not in the deck. The other is....

Square the cards and perform Cervon’s Invisible Reverse. If you don’t know it – as you square the cards with your left fingers push the face down card out to the right about 2 cms, until its outer right corner is clipped by the right third and little fingers at the joint closest to the hand. Now do a turnover pass around this card. You’ll find it natural that as the bottom half turns face down, the side-jogged card coalesces with it as you begin to turn the top half face down.

This serves the purpose of straightening out the card they reversed, and bringing the card you reversed to the center of the pack. You have effectively just turned the cards face down. Which is what you need to show the face of the reversed card.

In other words, this one move accomplishes the three things you need to happen – one openly, two secretly.

Place the cards face down on the table, and give them a clean spread to show the reversed card is your prediction. Or, if you think they will spread the cards well, get them to spread them.

Notes: Cervon’s Invisible Reverse was published in Genii in 1969; also in The Cervon File, 1988.

Steve Draun used the pass to construct his effect The Truly Fantastic Move, a version of which is published in SECRETS DRAUN FROM THE UNDERGROUND. Hence the title of this effect.

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MICHAEL WEBER – (U.S.A.)

BIO Michael is one of the most creative folks in Magic, in great demand as a Performer and Key-Note Speaker all over the world. A California-based Intellectual Property Lawyer in his spare time, Michael, with his partner, the well-known performer and writer Ricky Jay, founded the company Deceptive Practices, which has provided effects for such movies as Forrest Gump, Congo, and The Illusionist. He has been a technical advisor for both The Illusionist and The Prestige.

50. LIVING PARALLEL LIES Like 51 Faces North, Any Card at Any Number and Premonition, the thought and experimentation inspired by The Open Prediction will most likely always outshine the actual methods developed. One of the presentational challenges of the Open Prediction is the purposeful elimination of surprise: you tell your spectator they will select a particular card and at the end of the effect, your statement is proven correct. While there may be mystery as to how this outcome was brought about, any hope of the spectator being surprised is a small hope. This offering is an elaboration of a classic “Behind the Back” effect and method which has been purposefully modified and engineered to do three things:

1) Allow for a simple “Open Prediction” effect; 2) Create a moment following the successful apparent conclusion of

the effect which results in a mysterious surprise; and 3) Offer a flexible platform on which variations of the final effect can be

built.

PRESENTATION “There is a school of thought which suggests that we continually have "parallel experiences" with other people around us, but we only rarely notice these intersections and synchronicities of life. If we were each to wake up at the same time, eat the same things, drink the same things, do the same things, we could have the same experience and not even realize it.

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You and I will intentionally perform a series of simple actions in common, and then look for similarities in the outcome. Before we begin, I’d like to make a Prediction, and I want everyone here to see it.” Bring out a deck of playing cards, give them a quick mix and hand the entire pack to the spectator, asking them to cut off about half of the deck for you. “I will show you what I would like you to do by demonstrating the actions first, so please pay attention and don’t get ahead of me. You will place your cards under the table like this…” (quickly demonstrate the action and then bring your half above the table top again.)” “Imagine that we are walking along the street, and we pay no attention to the first person we see…” (As you say this, you openly take the top card of the pack and bury it face down in the center of the deck, indicating that your spectator should do the same.) “…and there is nothing special about the last person we see…” (So saying, you take the bottom card of the deck and bury it face down in the center of your half as well, indicating that your spectator is to duplicate your actions, with their cards beneath the table.) " …but there is someone in-between, someone who seems familiar to you, and as you turn back to look at them, you see they are turning to look at you too… but then they get lost in the crowd, so turn the new bottom card face up and bury it in the center and set them here next to mine.” So saying, you take the bottom card of the pack, turn it face up, and bury the face up card in the center of your half of the deck, waiting for your spectator to do the same under the table. Set your half pack face down on the table and say, “If, at the end of the day, it would be possible to go back in time and examine each moment of the day, like the frames of a movie, we might be able to discover some interesting experiences we shared together even though we were apart.” Spreading your half of the pack, the spectator sees the card he watched you turn face up and place in the center- a black eight. Say, “Here is my Open Prediction of the results of our parallel experiences”, You remove the eight and leave the deck spit into two packets, at the point where the eight divided the pack. The spectator’s half is spread across the table, and the only face up card in the deck, the card they turned face up, is also a black eight. You pause.

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Then you turn over the card on top of the left hand packet of your cards, the card that was just under your face-up eight -- it is a red two -- and you place it beside the eight. Point at the top of the spectator’s left-hand packet, indicating that they should turn the top card over. They will discover that they reversed their black eight and placed it just above the other red two. You now slowly turn over your right-most packet and show the card that was directly above the black eight in your packet. There is a black ten at its face. Pointing at the spectator’s right packet, you direct them to turn their cards over to discover the other black ten. Finally, hesitantly, you turn over your entire left packet to reveal a red King, and your spectator will take little prompting to turn over their packet to find the other red King at the face of their cards. The final arrangement of cards is an appealing display of symmetry.

METHOD I have taken a classic, self-working Do As I Do procedure and added a few elements to allow for a series of successive surprises after the initial coincidence is discovered. There is a simple prearrangement of a few cards and this can be performed with any pack, even if some of the cards are missing. You will stack your cards at the top of the deck and the cards for your spectator at the bottom of the pack, in addition to a group of three just below the center of their half (below 39th.) Here is an example stack that will bring about the conclusion described in the presentation above: From the top of the Face Down deck, working down to the bottom of the pack- Red King, Black Eight, X Card, X Card, Black Ten, Red Two, 32 X Cards, Black Ten, Face-Up Black Eight, Red Two, Eight X Cards, Red King, Face Up X Card, X Card (Note: In actual practice, you can adjust the stack to use cards other than the black 8s, black 10’s red 2’s and red Kings for the matches.)

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Replace the pack in the box. As you are delivering your introductory remarks, remove the deck and give the pack a quick false overhand shuffle, retaining the order of the entire deck. I recommend any of the Chop Shuffles demonstrated in the Steve Forte Gambling Protection Series. Be mindful that you have reversed cards near the face of the deck and in the lower quarter of the deck, and so you should shuffle around those slugs so as not to expose the reversed nature of those two cards. Hand the deck to the spectator and ask them to cut off “About Half” and hand the cut-off section to you. You quickly demonstrate that the spectator is to place their half beneath the table, as you want to be “living parallel lives without being able to see each other’s lives.” As your cards go beneath the table, quickly cut the top three cards to the bottom of your half and bring your cards back up above the table top as if nothing has happened, this is intended to be a secret action. (Note that this procedure can be performed standing, with the spectator placing the cards behind their back as in the classic Do As I Do version of this procedure, or the cards could be held under a napkin, handkerchief, tablecloth or seated with a jacket draped across the spectator’s lap.) Now perform the following actions, waiting for the spectator to mimic your actions after each step-

1) Place your top card face down into the center of your half, and wait for your spectator to do the same, with their cards still hidden from view.

2) Slide out the bottom card of your half and place it face down into the

center of your half, again waiting for your spectator to do the same under cover.

3) Slide out the new bottom card of your half and turn it face up, allowing it to

momentarily rest on the top of your cards, as you ask your spectator to slide out their new bottom card, turn it face up and slide it into the center of their half (In reality, they unknowingly will be turning an already face up card face down and losing it in the center of their half.). As you explain, you are openly taking the face up card (in this case, the Black Eight) and also secretly taking the two face down cards beneath it (in our case, the Black Ten and the Red Two) from the top of the pack and placing all three AS ONE into the center of your half.

4) Place your cards on the table, and wait for your spectator to bring their

cards out in the open for the first time and do the same. Pause.

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5) Pick up your cards and spread them between your hands. The spectator can see the Black Eight reversed in the pack, in fact they saw you openly reverse it and place it there moments ago. Split the spread so that the Eight is at the bottom of the right hand spread, which reaches forward to place the Eight on the table. When the right hand returns, the cards at the top and bottom of the split spread meet for a moment secretly transferring the top card of the left half to the face of the right half. Note that this action occurs during a pause, and is not accomplished by speed or action, but by hiding the secret action in a “rest” moment.

6) The right and left hands place their cards to the right and left of the face

up Eight on the table, about a card’s width away, to either side. 7) Reach over and spread the spectator’s half, revealing the face up Black

Eight, which they apparently reversed in sympathy. 8) Move their Eight to a position similar to yours, squaring the halves of their

cards to either side, mirroring your arrangement.

9) Turn over the top card of your left hand packet, revealing the Red Two, which you place, face up, to the left of the Eight. Indicate the top of the spectator’s left packet, and allow them to discover their Red Two, which is positioned in the same way, next to their Black Eight.

10) Turn over your entire right hand packet revealing the Black Ten and

place the packet to the right of the Black Eight. Indicate the spectator’s right packet (on your left) and have them do the same.

11) Finally, turn over your entire left hand packet, revealing the Red King at

the face, and the spectator will do the same. The final display for each of you will be opposite, not mirror image, though you can arrange the layout to create a final display which creates the mirror look.

ADDITIONAL NOTES Thomas Baxter has made a suggestion that might help to make the effect conform more closely to a classical Open Prediction plot. At the very beginning of the routine, take a piece of paper and write the numbers: 281013. Show it to everyone, announcing it as your prediction, and then set the paper to one side. Near the end of the routine, when the reveals of the Red two’s, the Black eights and the Black tens have taken place, point out the prediction that you made at the beginning, and have the audience participant read out the numbers that you

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wrote down. After they say “2-8-1- 0…” you stop them. Point to the cards on the table and say: “Look, a two and an eight and… 10! That’s the 1- 0!” The participant will point out the 1-3 at the end of your prediction. Look puzzled and say: “Hmmm. I’m not quite sure what that means… unless… What cards would have the value of 13? The Kings! What if…?” You then turn over the packets with the 2’s on top, revealing the matching Red Kings, and fulfilling your Open Prediction. - In choosing the specific cards for the matches, I prefer the “randomness” of four unrelated cards matching between our halves, but many other outcomes are possible with the same procedure -- You find the Aces and they find the Kings (there will be a great moment at the beginning of the revelations where you will have a reversed Ace and they will expect to find a reversed Ace in their half and will be surprised by your elation that you each have different cards reversed.) OR -You each find cards that relate to the time and date of the performance. - Also note that VERY FEW other cards in either half are disturbed (three in their half, two in yours) so this could be a great effect to perform at the beginning of a set of effects relying on a Stacked Deck. If the cards at the top and bottom of your and the spectator’s pack were Aces, removing them for the next effect would only leave one displaced card in the spectator’s half, and you know in advance what the identity of that card will be. - If the Spectator had an absolutely free choice of where they were inserting their cards in their half, there might be a risk of interfering with the three-card stack in their block of cards. That is why the stack in their half is set up near the bottom. In demonstrating how to insert the cards into the center of the block each time, the Performer thereby ensures that the participant follows suit, avoiding an interruption of the three-card stack. - The reversal "force" of one card owes acknowledgment to Jon Racherbaumer and his effect Simple Sync from his 2001 notes "CARD CUNNING".

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JOHN W. WELLS (USA) BIO

“I have always found introductions unnecessary, but as it is the custom to have them I prefer to do the act myself. That way I can rely on getting in all the facts.” –Mark Twain I {John W. (Wellington if you’re interested) Wells} am a classically trained pianist/ vocalist/ composer born and bred in the wilds of south Alabama though residing, by the time this has see public light, in a monastery a thousand miles or so from home. I have studied magic, especially card magic, for twenty years, and mentalism (readings in particular) for the last six or so. Feel free to contact me any time: thebarfly@earthlink.net response times vary. For my manuscripts, visit lybrary.com

51. NARROWING THE WIDE-OPEN PREDICTION

Let me state from the get go that “card problems” have never held much interest for me either as a Performer or mentalist. The Devilish Miracle (Ron Bauer has deemed it a card problem) intrigues me, but that’s about the only one. That being said, the various solutions to Paul Curry’s challenge provide a body of work that is, if nothing else, of value as a case study in creativity. Of course, I’ll agree with Racherbaumer. The work-to-effect ratio (the impact of the effect compared with the amount of work required to make it happen) is terribly skewed. I’m not sure the trick can be done so that the final revelation isn’t, to quote Curry’s own assessment, anti-climactic. Over the last several months, I have mulled over thirty or so different approaches to the Open Prediction and its wide eyed step-child “51 Faces North.” Of those, not many seemed viable for my performance style-such as it is. I don’t use gimmicked cards; I don’t do much esoteric sleight of hand. One routine met all of my basic criteria, and was easy to do, to boot. There was, however, a technical issue that plagued me. The particular method, John Morgan’s Wide Open Prediction (from John Luka’s column in New Tops) required a sleight at a very awkward moment. In an effect like the Open Prediction, your choices for a “point of influence”, to cite John Born, are limited. I think Robert Parish’s skepticism towards methods relying principally on manipulation is fully warranted. With the Morgan routine as my jumping off place (incidentally, based on a routine by Robert Parish), I tried to

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turn some things around, quite literally, and eliminate the need for any manipulation whatsoever. My approach has, in my own mind, two cons: 1. There is a small setup, which requires some finagling if the deck is not preset, and 2. Two (2) cards are left reversed in the deck at the end, requiring even more finagling if you want to end clean. Out of three tentative submissions, Tom selected this one for inclusion in the Open Prediction project, and I hope it will be of interest to you.

EFFECT The standard Open Prediction plot. SETUP From the bottom of the deck up: remainder of deck 2 x cards, reversed the prediction card 2 x cards, reversed bottom card of the deck ↑ There are several ways to get into this-having the deck pre-set being the easiest, but you can use any number of combinations of reverses and double cuts. If I’m doing the setting up during a performance, I’ll half pass two cards on the bottom of the deck, double cut a glimpsed card from the top to the bottom (the prediction card), pass two more cards from the top to the bottom-reversing them in the process, and finally double cut the top indifferent card to the bottom. I urge you by the mercies of God to work out your own sequence with fear and trembling. With the set up in place, make your prediction, any patter you like, and begin to deal cards face up from the top of the deck into a pile on the table. At some point, the spectator will tell you to stop, provided they have not suffered a fit of cataleptic neuroplexy. At that point, deal the next card face down onto the pile. Continue to deal two more face up cards onto the face down card (you are looking through the rest of the deck to confirm that the prediction card isn’t there) then, commenting on a need to get things moving, take the left hand cards into right hand end grip, plop them onto the tabled cards, and pick up the whole mess, placing it in left hand dealer grip.

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Rapidly deal the face-down upper half of the deck into a face up pile, stopping when you reach the bank of face up cards. Slowly deal the face up cards onto the tabled pile till you reach the first face down card. (In the minds of the spectators it is the only face down card.) Gingerly slide it forward. It is of course your predicted card. As to clean-up -- you’re on your own. A casual dropping of a few cards works, or try flubbing Triumph. NOTES ۞ While Marlo recommended a very brisk snappy pace, you may want to aim for a more mysterious, suspenseful presentation. Barrie Richardson has some great ideas that could easily be applied to this plot (Do you Wish to Continue… from Theater of the Mind is a good place to start). ۞ You could present it as what it is, a problem to be solved. Treat it as an experiment. Talk about the challenge presented by Paul Curry-he was an interesting fellow in his own right-and invite your spectators to work on the problem with you by helping with a test scenario. ۞ An idea from Chan Canasta. When they first stop you, ask if they really believe that the card they stopped you at is the x of x. When they say no, turn it over to show that indeed it isn’t. “It only works if you believe”. ۞ When making your prediction, you could a. write it out, b. have a duplicate of the card (too much preparation for me), or c. just say it aloud. I like the “feeling that card x will be very important later” more than “I predict that x will happen”. If the prediction pans out, they know you screwed with them. People will buy gut feelings. ۞ I almost always present this as the spectator trying to sense where the card is. Put the focus on them and you can get away with murder. “You’re job is to find the four of spades-please don’t screw this up.” Feed the Amish

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APPENDIX I

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL STOP TRICK (Editor’s Note: Hugard’s ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF CARD TRICKS does not give any credit for an inventor of the The Psychological Stop effect, but to the best of my knowledge, it was invented by…………… This effect re-appears in EXPERT CARD TECHNIQUE by Hugard and Braue, where it is called: The Psychic Stop! It is this reference that is cited by Stewart James on page 690 of STEWART JAMES IN PRINT, in connection with his Version 24 of The Open Prediction. In working, as described in EXPERT CARD TECHNIQUE, the idea is to either note the 7th card from the top of the pack or to somehow arrange so that your force card is brought to the tenth position. The Performer slowly and openly begins to deal cards one at a time from the top of the pack onto the table. He deals the first five cards in silence, looking only at the cards he as he deals them. After dealing the 5th card, the Performer pauses and glances up at the participant in surprise, and in a tone that urges him to make a choice and mildly reproaches him for his tardiness, says, “Say stop whenever you like!” The Performer slowly deals two more cards, and if all of this is done correctly and you have a responsive subject, the participant will call “stop” on the 7th card. The handling and timing is changed slightly in ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF CARD TRICKS. In that book, as in Olly Crofton’s submission above, it is the 10th card from the top of the pack that is to be forced. In this handling, the pack is handed to a second spectator for dealing. They are instructed to hold the pack face down and to deal the cards slowly, one at a time, face down onto the first spectator’s waiting hand. The performer keeps his gaze focused on the cards. After the third card is dealt, the Performer says to the dealer: “Faster.” The pace of the deal picks up, but as the 5th card is being dealt, the Performer looks up to the first spectator and, as in the other description, says in a mildly impatient voice: “Stop anywhere.”

The Spectator will stop on the 9th or 10th card. If they stop on the 9th card, then it is the next, un-dealt card that becomes the Prediction card.)

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APPENDIX II

THE HOFZINSER SPREAD CULL

Hold the pack face down in left hand dealing position. With your left thumb, begin pushing cards over to your right, spreading them into the waiting right hand. The right hand’s thumb rests on top of the spread cards, the right hands fingers supporting the spread from underneath.

Ask a spectator to touch one of the cards as you continue pushing more cards to the right. Once they have touched a card, stop spreading, and break the pack at the card they chose, with the left hand taking its slightly spread packet to the left, with the chosen card on top, and the right hand taking the still-spread cards it holds to the right.

Hold up your left hand, with its cards facing the audience. Use your left thumb to push the chosen card slightly to the right, so that the audience can see its index.

Next, with the chosen card still slightly jogged to the right, lower the left hand, and move as if to slide the two halves of the pack back together. As the right-jogged chosen card slides beneath the lower-most card of the left hand’s spread of cards, two things must happen simultaneously: The left thumb must raise very slightly, leaving the back of the chosen card, and moving onto the backs of the lower-most cards of the right hand spread; and secondly, the right finger which rest beneath the right hand spread of cards contact the face of the chosen card as it slides beneath the right hand spread.

Keeping this contact with the right hand fingers on the face of the chosen card, the hands now change direction, moving slightly in opposite directions. That is, the left hand moves to the left, and the right hand moves to the right. The left thumb keeps its pressure on top of the right hand spread of cards, drawing the spread of right hand cards slightly to the left as it moves. Because the right hand fingers maintain pressure on the face of the chosen card, it will be pulled away from the left hand cards, to the right, where it is hidden under the spread of cards in the right hand. A very slight curling action of the right hand finger will assist this movement of the chosen card.

As soon as you feel the chosen card come free of the edge of the left hand packet, begin pushing cards to the right again with the left thumb, widening the spread of cards between the hands. You will find that all of the spread cards will now lie directly on top of the chosen card. By merely closing the spread and squaring the pack, you have brought the chosen card to the face of the pack.

While this has taken some time to describe, it happens very quickly and smoothly, and when performed properly is absolutely invisible.

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APPENDIX III

CONSPIRACY THEORY

(Editor’s Note: A Warning -- The following will interest only serious Jameseophiles, or those obsessed with the Legend of 51 Faces North. Others should avoid reading what follows at all costs. )

The Penumbra Revelation

(and why I didn’t buy it)

47 years after Stewart James’ description of 51 Faces North in issue #3 of Ibidem magazine, Allan Slaight announced that he had found Stewart’s method and would publish it in the inaugural issue of a new magazine, called Penumbra (May-June, 2002).

I found the notion extremely odd, as it went against Stewart’s clearly expressed wishes. Even if it were true that Stewart had left written descriptions of the workings of 51 Faces North (which I find very hard to believe, given his efforts to keep the method a secret from even his closest friends for over 50 years), the thought that people would go against his stated desire to keep the method a secret, and publish it seemed very peculiar, to say the least.

Out of respect for Stewart, who was a friend and someone that I admired tremendously as a creator, I refused to buy the magazine. Later, an acquaintance did send me a copy, and in reading the article on 51 Faces North several things jumped out at me that raised doubts about the authenticity of the Penumbra “revelation”.

Basically, the effect outlined in Penumbra magazine and labeled as Stewart’s solution for 51 Faces North is a multi-phase routine wherein earlier phases of the routine stack the deck and divulge information that allow for the final phase, the Open Prediction part.

Here is how the routine in the “discovered” note goes:

PHASE 1

A shuffled pack of cards is used. Performer glimpses the face card of the pack and then, taking the cards in his own hands, he forces that card using the TOUCH FORCE.

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Detailed descriptions of this force can be found in J.N Hofzinser’s Card Conjuring on page 136; and in The Tarbell Course in Magic Volume I, where it is referred to as: “Forcing Bottom Card”. Basically, the cards are fanned or spread between the performer’s hands, while at the same time the bottom card of the pack is secretly glimpsed and then pulled to the right under cover of the fan or spread.

The Participant touches a card, and the Performer separates the spread so that the touched card is on the bottom of the right-hand group of cards. Unknown to the audience, the glimpsed card is held under this group of cards. Either the Performer or a participant removes the bottom card of the right hand group, the audience believing that this is the card that was touched by the participant.

The card is noted by the audience, and the Performer re-assembles the deck. The participant then is handed the pack, and he replaces his card anywhere in the pack and then shuffles the pack yet again.

When the participant is satisfied that his selected card is hopelessly lost in the pack, the Performer retrieves the cards and then begins dealing the cards, one at a time, in an overlapping row onto the table. As he does this, the Performer secretly notes the 12th card that is dealt. For the purposes of instruction, let’s say the remembered card is the Ace of Spades.

The Performer continues to deal, and when he reaches the original force card, he stops, dramatically pausing, then pushes the force card forward, announcing that this is the card the was originally selected.

If the force card shows up before the 12th card arrives, the Performer merely continues to deal a few more cards past the 12th card, then performs The Circus Trick (Tarbell Course Vol. I, page 267) to end this first phase of the routine. The Circus Trick is the old dodge of suddenly stopping and saying: “The next card that I turn over will be the chosen card!”, then, rather than turning over the next card from the un-dealt deck, the Performer reaches out and turns the force card face down in the spread already on the table.

PHASE 2

The Performer assembles the deck, making sure to keep the Ace of Spades (in our example) as the 12th card from the top of the pack. From here on in, the cards are handled only by the participants, and not by the Performer.

The deck is handed to a participant. The Performer directs the participant to think of any number less than ten. The Performer turns his back and instructs the participant to remove that many cards from the top of the deck, and to table that small packet. The Performer then directs the participant to remove the same number of cards from the face of the deck, and to place this second small packet

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of cards onto the table next to the first group. The rest of the deck is momentarily set aside.

The participant is asked to pick up either of the small packets, and to shuffle it. The Performer directs him to look at the bottom or face card of the packet and to remember it, and to then place that packet onto the deck. For our purposes, we’ll say that the card he noted was the 9 of Diamonds.

The Performer, back turned, directs the participant to take cards one at a time off of the top of the deck, dealing them onto the table in a face-down pile. As the participant takes each card, before placing them onto the table he calls out the color of the card. This has no real bearing on the method, other than as a form of misdirection to conceal the necessary deal of the cards to set up the stack.

When finished, the participant is told to pick up the remaining small packet from the table, and to tell the Performer how many Court cards are included in that group. This is meaningless to the method, but serves to imply a “process” of some sort. Having done this, the small packet is also placed on top of the deck.

The Performer turns around and has the participant deal the cards onto the table, one at a time, into a face down pile. The Performer mentally counts each card and stops the participant when he has reached the 12th card. The participant is asked to name his card. He does, and when he turns over the 12th card, it is seen to be the 9 of diamonds.

(This portion of the routine is called: It Must Be Magic, from Expert Card Technique, Hugard and Braue, page 382.)

PHASE 3

The participant is directed to place the chosen card, in our case the 9 of diamonds, onto the other dealt cards and to push that packet to one side.

The Performer will now bring into play the card that he noted at the 12th position down at the first phase of this routine, the Ace of Spades.

The Performer writes: “Ace of Spades” on a piece of paper and shows it to the audience, so that everyone knows the card prediction that has been written down.

The participant is asked to pick up the deck (apart from the previously tabled bunch that was pushed aside) and to hold it in his left hand. He is asked to remember the number he chose earlier, when asked to think of a number less than ten. The Performer asks if he is thinking of the number one. If he isn’t, he is directed to deal the first card face up onto the table. He is asked if he is thinking of the number two. Again, if not, he is directed to deal the next card face

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up onto the one already dealt. This procedure is continues until he reaches the number he is thinking of. When the participant announces that it is his number, he is told to deal the card at his number face down to one side.

The participant is then directed to deal the remaining cards in the deck face up in an overlapping row onto the table while everyone continues to look for the Ace of Spades. It doesn’t appear. The Performer draws attention to the cards that were pushed aside earlier. They too are dealt onto the table face up, to show the Ace of Spades is not amongst those cards, either.

The Performer directs the participant to turn over the sole face down card, to reveal the Ace of Spades.

Warning Bells!

While the above routine would be entertaining and mystifying, and while its construction is certainly Jamesian in nature, there are several aspects of the routine that give me reason to doubt that this was indeed the fabled solution to Stewart James’s legendary effect, 51 Faces North.

First and foremost, it contravenes several of the conditions that Stewart himself set out for 51 Faces North. In Stewart’s words:

“No card or cards are handled by the Performer from first to last.”

Those who choose to believe that the Penumbra revelation is the solution to 51 Faces North attempt to rationalize this discrepancy by saying that, after the first phase, the Performer doesn’t touch the cards. Yes, but Stewart didn’t say: “After the first phase I don’t handle the cards”. He said “from first to last”.

Over the years a number of performers have loosely defined this “handling” of the cards to mean any number of things, generally, in my opinion, to rationalize the weaknesses in their own solutions to the problem. Some insist that Stewart meant that, once the final deal of the cards is begun, the Performer doesn’t touch the cards. Others claim that “not handling” the cards, means that the Performer doesn’t use any sleight of hand.

In a letter to John Braun on Sept. 14, 1970, Stewart referred to the 51 Faces North performance that he had done for Al Richards. In the letter he addressed the “no handling” stipulation. In Stewarts on words: “I broke down and had Al get a deck and check every point I had made about never touching the cards, etc.”

I asked Stewart about the “not handling” condition personally, during a 1990 visit to his home in Courtright, Ontario. He told me that he meant what he said, that the Performer at no time, before, during or after the performance, needs to touch any card or cards in order to perform 51 Faces North.

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A FORCE to Be Reckoned With

This “handling” issue is one that slaps the reader in the face when examining the claim that the Penumbra revelation was Stewart’s solution for 51 Faces North. The Performer MUST handle the cards to accomplish the force detailed in the routine in Penumbra.

Here, promoters of the Penumbra revelation again attempt to rationalize by claiming that the first two phases of the routine don’t count when it comes to the handling of the cards, as it is only the third phase of the routine that constitutes the effect known as 51 Faces North. The authors of the Penumbra article even go so far, in their analysis and re-writing of the routine, to label the third phase as: “Third effect – 51 Faces North”. However, in the copy of what are presented as Stewart’s original notes for this routine (dated at July 15th, 1955), the title of the entire routine is printed as: 51 Faces North. A Solution to Open Prediction. The various phases are not subtitled or given separate names.

In my opinion, then, the condition of “no card or cards handled by the Performer from first to last” has obviously not been adhered to in this routine.

In addition, I think that it is worthwhile mentioning that upon reading Karl Fulves’ 1978 publication called Cards #2 – 51 Faces North (Fulves’ exploration of solutions for the effect), Stewart wrote: “Karl Fulves didn’t get the answer – He used a force. (See p. 667, THE JAMES FILE)

More Discrepancies

If one is to seriously consider the Penumbra revelation as Stewart’s genuine solution for 51 Faces North, it’s necessary to contend with several more of Stewart’s daunting conditions:

“When the spectator starts dealing, the performer does not know where

the predicted card is. It would not help to know with this method. Nor

does the performer know the location in the pack of any other card.”

In the routine published in Penumbra, the Performer MUST know that the prediction card at the 12th position down in the deck when the spectator starts dealing. Another of Stewart’s conditions has been ignored.

“The spectator deals straight through from top to face, the only variation

is when he leaves a card face down.”

Clearly, in the routine published in Penumbra, there are several departures from this procedure. There are points where the cards are counted in bunches and

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set aside until later, when they are finally then examined to look for the prediction card. At one point cards are removed from the bottom of the deck and added later back on top. These discrepancies are not easily rationalized away, except perhaps by wishful thinking.

And continuing, with regard to Stewart’s conditions:

“This method could be used by someone for criminal purposes.”

and

“While part of this method is already used in Magic, it is not a well

known method for use with cards. It could be used for other than cards.”

It would stretch credulity for anyone to believe that the concepts incorporated in the Penumbra routine could be used for criminal purposes. Perhaps the dodge used in The Circus Card Trick might be used to scam someone out of their beer money, but as the effect had long been in print already, it would be hard to understand Stewart’s reticence to publish his solution based solely upon its criminal possibilities.

I’m a reasonably well-educated individual when it comes to Magic in all its glorious forms, and for the life of me, I fail to see how a pre-arrangement, however accomplished, is not a well known method for use with playing cards.

Finally, there is Stewart’s “Condition #9 to consider:

“ No alternate meanings, no alternate effect than that described.”

I think that even the most die-hard believer would find it hard to argue that the solution published in Penumbra passes this test condition.

The Al Richards Performance

In 1969, frustrated with the nay-sayers who insisted that 51 Faces North was impossible to perform as described, Stewart performed the effect for Richards. In his performance (using Richard’s deck of cards), Stewart had Al check that each of the conditions and the terms of the description were honestly adhered to.

As per comments that Stewart had made privately to Howard Lyons, he told Richards that he thought that 51 Faces North was more effective as the climax to a routine (which for some, will give credence to the Penumbra revelation). The performance that Stewart did for Richards involved four effects or phases (not

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three, as in the note published in Penumbra), with 51 Faces North coming at the end.

In response to Richards’ direct question, Stewart assured Richards that the 51 Faces North effect could be performed as a stand-alone effect, without the prior build-up of the other effects.

Harry Smith’s Kitchen Table

Stewart James wrote, late in his life, that he couldn’t recall having performed his ultimate version of The Open Prediction for anyone but Al Richards. But if we are to believe the late Harry Smith, another friend of Stewart’s (and my Mentor), Stewart also performed 51 Faces North for Harry, at his kitchen table.

Harry Smith was my early Mentor in Magic and Mentalism. He owned and operated one of North America’s oldest Magic Shops, The Arcade Magic and Novelty Store in Toronto, Canada. Despite being born legally blind and having numerous other health problems, he built a reputation as a businessman and as a performer. He was a close friend and confidante to many of the elite performers of his day, including Dunninger, Blackstone, Le Paul, Kuda Bux, Frakson, Vernon and Dell O’Dell. Over the years Harry helped a number of performers to refine their craft, coaching several fledgling performers, from James Randi, to Ross Bertram, Doug Henning, Elizabeth Warlock, Derek Dingle and last and perhaps least – me.

Harry had a reputation as a straight shooter who always told the truth as he saw it, and was known internationally amongst Performers as a top-notch card man.

Stewart James and Harry Smith were friends. When Stewart created a lecture on Magic with playing cards to demonstrate the benefits of routining effects so that one effect set the pack up for the next effect, he visited Harry and the two spent the night trading insights. Harry was blown away by Stewart’s deep thinking and creativity. In one such session, Stewart performed his effect called The Face Up Prediction , which hit spectacularly and fooled Harry completely.

Years later, during a similar session over a pot of tea with Harry, Stewart performed the now-legendary card effect known as 51 Faces North.

Most important to our discussion is the fact that Harry and I discussed the performance in detail. Harry insisted that, while Stewart had performed a number of effects using his own stacked deck, when the time came for the performance of 51 Faces North, Stewart insisted that they use Harry’s own shuffled deck. Harry also made it clear to me that when performed for him, 51 Faces North was a stand-alone effect, and not a part of a multi-phase routine. Harry remembered the effect being called 51 Faces North by Stewart, and described it as playing pretty much as described in the Curry challenge.

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The Amazing Discovery

In the inaugural edition of Penumbra, Allan Slaight tells how, in searching through some previously stored business files, he discovered the envelope that contained Stewart’s note (the one replicated in Penumbra) that apparently reveals the method for 51 Faces North.

As he describes it, Allan discovered the note by Stewart in a stationery envelope from Radio IWC, a business owned by Allan at that time. The envelope was postmarked May 10h, 1984. In his description, Allan reasons that the ever-so-frugal Stewart had written up his method for 51 Faces North, placed it in Allan’s old envelope, and gave it to Allan and Howard Lyons with other notes and research materials when they were preparing STEWART JAMES IN PRINT. Allan concludes that somehow the envelope was mixed in with his business files, and sat dormant for some 14 years until he discovered it in March, 2001.

I find it difficult to understand how Allan or Howard could have received the solution from Stewart with Stewart making no mention of handing over this very- much-sought-after method for his most closely-guarded secret. It makes no sense that Stewart would have done this.

And why, then, in later heated conversations (over a period of years during which Allan Slaight kept asking for information regarding 51 Faces North), did Stewart steadfastly refused to reveal or discuss the method? There was a single mention from Stewart of the possibility of sharing the method when the first big James book was being contemplated, but upon questioning by Allan and Howard Lyons, Stewart again refused to share the method.

If he had already written up the method and handed it over to Slaight and Lyons, why would Stewart continue to refuse to divulge the method?

I have a great deal of respect for Allan Slaight. He is one of Canada’s most successful businessmen, a Billionaire who didn’t arrive at his success easily, or by being disorganized and absent-minded. To believe that Allan would forget about receiving the answer to the Holy Grail of James’s existence is somehow a notion that is very difficult to swallow. I find it equally difficult to believe that Allan would knowingly be involved in any sort of literary deception. He strikes me as a man of deep integrity.

So why then, despite Stewart’s expressed wishes, would the Penumbra revelation take place? Is it a hoax? Stewart might have enjoyed that.

For those who enjoy Conspiracy Theories, let me posit the following:

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The Case of The Purloined Letter

The following mixes pure speculation and sensational invention with historical facts…

Imagine, if you can, this situation: Stewart has agreed to participate in the publishing of a book that will describe his work. He hands over box after box of files -- notes and correspondence, some typed and others hand-written on the backs of napkins, paper placemats, envelopes and post cards.

The co-editors (Slaight and Lyons), both tremendously busy and successful businessmen, both of whom enjoy many other interests and hobbies, create an ever-growing pile of notes, files, further correspondence and edited versions of it all, with copies of everything going back and forth to all parties involved. Both spend considerable amounts of time in each other’s homes, sifting through the material, sorting, editing, looking up reference materials, etc.

Tragically, Howard Lyons suffers a heart attack and after a short time, passes away before the book sees print. Finally, through gargantuan effort by Allan, the book is made ready, is printed, and becomes a grand success -- such as success, in fact, that plans are made for a follow-up: THE JAMES FILES (1989).

Enter a new gallery (I almost said, “rogue’s gallery”, but that would be wrong -- Most of these people are very nice.) of individuals who come in to assist Allan in producing the two (three, if you count the index book) enormous volumes that contain THE JAMES FILE. These would include Max Maven, Gordon Bean, David Ben, Bob Farmer, Bill Goodwin, Tom Ransom, Joseph Schmidt, Wycliffe Smith, Cara Scime, Patrick Watson and the printer, Stephen Minch.

Allan very generously invites many of these, and other magic and Mentalism-oriented folks into his new home and wonderful hidden library. I’ve been there a few times myself.

Over a period of several years Allan, with the help from those credited above, completes the mammoth collection known as THE JAMES FILE. It goes to the printer in early July of 2000, and upon publication is met with the same resounding cheers and success as was the first book, STEWART JAMES IN PRINT.

(Here comes the sensational speculation and invention…)

WHAT IF…

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… someone who visited Allan’s home, sometime during the preparation of the James books, decided that it would be good fun to play a little joke?

What if --having access to the archival James material being sorted through for the projects -- someone found an envelope in Stewart’s correspondence files? The envelope is marked with the logo and return address of Radio IWC Limited, a company once owned by Allan Slaight. Inside the envelope is a letter from Allan to Stewart, but having nothing to do with The Open Prediction or 51 Faces North. Just a letter discussing other magical things or chit-chat between friends.

The individual scoops the envelope, leaving the letter in the files. Later, as a joke, the individual(s?) mocks up a multi-phase solution for The Open Prediction, places it into the genuine envelope, and on their next visit to Allan’s home, secretly leaves the envelope and its contents amongst Allan’s personal files, a time-bomb waiting to be discovered. I suspect that the culprit would gleefully anticipate a late-night call from a rhapsodic Allan Slaight, sharing the good news that the great secret had finally been solved.

This hoax might have been accomplished in a number of ways. Using the readily available information surrounding the effect, the perpetrator of the joke could make the counterfeit solution appear as genuine as possible. Backdating their forgery as July 15th, 1955 (to fit in with the pre-Ibidem time-line) and labelling their counterfeit: FIFTY-ONE FACES NORTH would be only the start.

The hand-written notes and annotations on the typed solution could have been added later, culled from a variety of Stewart’s hand-written notes. With computer cut-and-paste technology, this wouldn’t be a difficult thing to manage. Indeed, the hand-written notes and annotations on the typewritten page appear in different sizes, pen nib sizes, and even in various handwriting styles!

With the access afforded the various individuals involved, the culprit could even have had the opportunity to use Stewart’s own typewriter to do the dirty work. (I wonder what became of his typewriter after Stewart passed away?)

Another possibility is that, amongst Stewart’s napkin-doodles and placemat jottings, the hoaxer discovered the note that was published in Penumbra just as we see it, but minus the few details labelling it as the solution for 51 FACES NORTH. Stewart, by his own reckoning, had invented and recorded 83-PLUS versions of The Open Prediction. This might conceivably have been one more of those. The hoaxer could have spotted this, filched it along with the envelope, and added the words: “Mark 35”* and “FIFTY-ONE FACES NORTH” later, before enclosing it back into the envelope and placing it back in Allan’s files.

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SO, THEN -- WHODUNNIT?

Well, that’s the billion- dollar question, isn’t it?

If any of this speculation has any merit at all, then I can envision four possible scenarios:

A. Howard Lyons. He certainly had an all-access pass to the materials, the information, and had the skills, resources and knowledge to put something like this together. His wife Pat is an artist, who could have easily helped with the details. (She illustrated all of the covers for Ibidem was also a close friend to Allan and Stewart.)

Howard was known to have a unique sense of humour, and was not above the odd (sometimes very odd) practical joke. I remember one tale told where the setting was an early IBIDEM EVENT*.

Jeff Busby was selling his newly minted replica copies of the Paul Fox Cups and Balls. Jeff loudly touted the load capacity of his cups for producing a final load at the end of the routine. Howard calmly stated that he thought the Ross Bertram cups held a much bigger load. Over the next 10 minutes a small crowd of well-known magicians gathered around them as Howard wound Busby up to the point where the fellow was red in the face, sputtering and practically apoplectic. At the height of Busby’s loud denials, Howard calmly took a Bertam Cup from his coat pocket and slowly set it on the table over top of Busby’s replica cup.

Howard had managed to set up the entire argument, to the merriment of all but poor Busby.

Back to the Purloined Letter – Howard may have instigated this hoax, thinking it would be a merry prank on his friend, Allan Slaight. I’m sure, though, that if Howard were behind it, he never would have allowed it to go on to the point where Allan actually published the counterfeit as Stewart’s actual solution for 51 FACES NORTH.

Howard’s unexpected death would, of course, have meant that the discovery by Allan of the fated envelope would happen much later – too late for Howard to let his good friend in on the joke. This could explain the entire episode.

B. Allan himself could have been the hoaxer, and was in on the deception with a cadre of co-hoaxers. I find this the least likely of all the possibilities. As I mentioned earlier, Allan is a person I admire greatly for his integrity and business acumen. I can’t believe that he would be

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in on a literary deception like this, and I suspect the hoax, if it does exist, was aimed at him, as a joke.

C. The hoaxer (or hoaxers) could be an individual or combination of individuals who had access to Allan’s home(s), Stewart’s archival materials, and the information necessary to put together a passable counterfeit solution and place it in the envelope, back in Allan’s files.

D. Stewart James himself could be the hoaxer. Perhaps, before he died he enclosed the faux solution in his archives knowing full well that one day someone would find it and publish it. Maybe it’s a joke that Stewart has played, from the grave, on all of us.

Because some of the information incorporated in the “solution” that Allan discovered seems to have been made public only after the publication of the James books, I suspect that the third possibility might be the case.

Curiouser and Curiouser

When considering the question of the ‘bone fides’ of the solution published in Penumbra, I found food for thought in The Allan Slaight Solution to 51 Faces North, published in THE JAMES FILE (Vol.1, p.1511). Allan called this routine: 51 North Avenue.

In his solution (which Allan notes was developed in July, 1996), Allan utilizes Stewart’s expressed notion that 51 Faces North would be most effective as the climax of a Four-Phase routine, as Stewart had done in his performance for Al Richards (as outlined by Stewart in a letter to Howard Lyons). Indeed, Allan’s solution bears a very strong resemblance to the solution published later in Penumbra.

Two small clues that may lead to the true origins of the Penumbra revelation are tucked away in Allan’s comments at the beginning and end of 51 North Avenue.

The first is an admission by Allan that an error had occurred in the writing of the first big book he had published on James, called: STEWART JAMES IN PRINT. In the discussion of 51 Faces North in SJIP, the four-phase routine that Stewart had discussed was mistakenly reported as a three-phase routine. It’s possible that someone reading the description erroneously described in SJIP went on to

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put together the routine described in Penumbra. This discrepancy between the erroneous mention of a 3-phase routine in STEWART JAMES IN PRINT and Stewart’s actual mention of 4 phases (the climax being 51 Faces North), should at least elicit some curiosity about the solution published in Penumbra consisting of just 3 effects.

The second tidbit occurs in the last paragraph of Allan’s comments on 51 North Avenue, in contemplating how to come to terms with Stewarts condition that “this method could be used by someone who is a crook”. Allan reveals that Gordon Bean suggested to him that one part of a solution could be “some version of the hoary Circus Card Trick”, with its devious “the next card that I turn over will be your card” ruse. Note that in the solution published in Penumbra, The Circus Card Trick is used. Also worth noting is that Gordon Bean, who made this suggestion, was Co-Editor of the issue of the issue of Penumbra in question.

Coincidence? You decide.

The use of the Circus Trick (something I suspect Stewart would have eschewed), tied in with its mention earlier in THE JAMES FILE, gives pause for thought.

Harry Smith stated that 51 Faces North was performed for him as a stand-alone effect. Stewart assured Al Richards that 51 Faces North could be performed independent of the 3-phase build-up.

The solution that Allan Slaight discovered contravenes several of Stewart’s own conditions for 51 Faces North. All of these things lead me to believe that the solution published in Penumbra can’t be Stewart’s true solution for his most closely guarded effect.

It could have all begun as a harmless practical joke, and then snowballed to the point where the hoaxer couldn’t reveal the hoax.

Of course, all of this may just be the insane ramblings of a Conspiracy Theorist…

…or not.

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APPENDIX IV

Published or Marketed Open Predictions (Note: This list is not yet complete. As I find more information, I will update the file and forward it to all who purchased. If you know of other published or marketed versions, please send me the reference. –Ed.)

(Listed Chronologically)

A Cur(r)i-ous Prediction (premise) -- Paul Curry's; MORE CARD MANIPULATIONS (1940)

Sure-Fire Card Prediction -- G. Kosky; THE PHOENIX, Dec. 30, 1949 Angle On Marlo – P. Warlock; PENTAGRAM, March 1953 Angle On Angle On Marlo – S. James; PENTAGRAM, March 1953 The Open Prediction (multiple versions)– E. Marlo; THE CARDICIAN, 1953 25 Methods – S. James; IBIDEM #3, August, 1955 11 Methods – H. Lyons; IBIDEM #3, August, 1955 51 Faces North – S. James; IBIDEM #3, (Description and conditions only, no method given) August,1955 The Marlo-Curry Prediction – F. Haxton; IBIDEM #4, November, 1955 5 Further Methods – H. Lyons; IBIDEM #4, November, 1955 OPEN INTRUDER – A. Elmsley; PENTAGRAM, 1956 (republished in 1991 in: THE COLLECTED WORKS OF ALEX ELMSLEY) Open Prediction – What Else? – L. Searles; IBIDEM # 26, Sept. 1962 Open Prediction – B. Cervon; PALLBEARERS REVIEW, Dec., 1967 On The Open Prediction -- R. Parrish; PALLBEARERS REVIEW, Winter, 1968 Open Prediction – R. Johnsson; PRACTICAL IMPOSSIBILITIES, 1976 Cards #2 – 51 Faces North – K. Fulves; 1978

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The Re-Opened Prediction –E. Marlo; Marlo’s Magazine Vol. 3, 1979 Barefaced Commitment --William P. Miesel; Arcane; 1980 Orlam’s Open Prediction – E. Marlo; MARLO WITHOUT TEARS; 1983 Open Prediction – K. Fulves; MORE SELF-WORKING CARD TRICKS, 1984 Application to Open Prediction (7 approaches) – E. Marlo; Marlo’s Magazine, Vol 5, 1984 L.J.[s Prophesy – L. Jennings; RICHARD’S ALMANAC, #23/24, 1984 Open Prediction – J. Busby; ARCANE # 13, 1985 Central Limit – Steve Rogers; Apocalypse, Vol. 6-10, 1987 Unclosed Prediction – Tom Craven; Apolcallypse Vol. 11-15, January 1988 through December 1992 The Open Prediction – STEWART JAMES – THE FIRST 50 YEARS, Chapter 46, p.667-692, 1989 13 Prophets – K. Fulves; 1996 Almost Open Prediction – Paul Cummins; from a shuffled deck in use… Part Two, 1996 The Open Prediction – P. Curry and B. Bilis; CARD COLLEGE Vol. 3, 1998 51 FACES NORTH – S. James; THE JAMES FILE, chapter 28, p. 1465-1518, 2000 (Note: When Allan Slaight was compiling the effects and information for the follow-up books to STEWART JAMES IN PRINT, which he titled: THE JAMES FILE, Allan wrote to 25 Performers whose creative faculties he admired, asking each of us to create their own solutions for 51 Faces North, with a request to attempt to stay as much as possible within Stewart’s conditions. He also added the stipulation of “no sleights”. Fourteen of us responded, with Gordon Bean and David Harkey later sending in unsolicited solutions. Most of those who responded had their routines included in a very thorough chapter on The Open Prediction in THE JAMES FILE. A couple of submissions ran afoul of the “no sleights” rule, and were not included.

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The book included solutions by: Howard Lyons – Un-named solution; Sept., 1955 Thomas Baxter – Brrr! ; April, 1992 Steve Beam – Un-named solution; Feb., 1993 Gordon Bean – The Night Has 51 Faces; Dec., 1995 David Ben – Window To The Soul; May, 1993 Peter Duffie -- The Outcast; Nov., 1992 Bob Farmer -- Un-named solution; Feb., 1993 J.K. Hartman -- Solution A; Feb., 1993

-- Solution B; Feb., 1993 -- Senseless Prediction; Sept. 1996

Ken Krenzel -- First Solution; Nov., 1990 -- Second Solution; Sept., 1996 Harry Lorayne / Wesley James – Un-named Solution; Dec. 1995 Bill Miesel -- Un-named Solution; May, 1997 Richard Osterlind --Un-named Solution; March, 1993 Tom Ransom -- Fortysomething Faces North; Feb., 1993 Allan Slaight -- 51 North Avenue; July, 1996) The Open Prediction – P. Curry; PAUL CURRY’S WORLDS BEYOND, 2001 Doubly Open --David Solomon; Kabbala,

A Strong Feeling -- David Regal; CLOSE-UP AND PERSONAL

Open Perception – Raj Madhok; SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS

Open Prediction -- John Riggs; SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS

Hank Miller - ? Manuel Llaser in MAGIC magazine April, 2002 Open From the Bottom – David Regal; Constant Fooling 1, 2002 Roughly Identical – David Regal; Constant Fooling 2, 2002 Trost’s Open Prediction – N. Trost; Subtle Card Creations, Vol. 1; 2008 A Prediction from Bombay -- Patrick Converso and Tom Dobrowolski, 2008

The Proton Deck – Gary Ouellet; (?)