Learn A Card Trick

Effect:

With this easy magic trick, you will amaze your audience with your "power of prediction." At the beginning of the trick, the audience will watch you select a predictor card from a standard deck of cards and place it face-down on the table. The audience member will handle the cards throughout the trick and in the end will deal two cards, one matching the predictor card in number value and one in suit. Spectators will watch in amazement as you "predict" that the two cards will combine to match the predictor card. When the predictor card is turned over and revealed, they won't believe what they just witnessed. This trick does not require sleight-of-hand skills and takes only a few practice runs to perform with convincing ease, yet it truly astounds audiences.

Instructions:

1. Use a standard deck of cards, jokers removed. You can show the deck to the audience to assure them that it is a standard deck. Sitting across from your audience, shuffle the cards a few times. Holding the cards, fan them out in front of you, keeping their values hidden from the audience. Discreetly look at the first two cards on your left; they must be different suits and different number values – if they are not, reshuffle the deck and repeat. (For example, they cannot be a 2 of Hearts and a 3 of Hearts, or a 2 of Hearts and a 2 of Spades.)

2. With the cards fanned out in front of you, casually inform the audience that you are looking for a good a card at random to pull out of the deck. As quickly as you can, find the card that is the number value of the first card on the left and the suit of the second card on the left. For example, if the first card is a 2 of Hearts and the second card is an Ace of Spades, find the 2 of Spades in the deck and pull it out. Do not show the card to the audience. Place it face down on the table and set an object over it to keep it secure and to imply to the audience that you won't be able to manipulate it with sleight-of-hand. This is the "predictor" card.

3. Close the deck and hand it to an audience member face down. Explain that he will be the only one handling the cards from now on and that you will not touch the cards. Tell him to deal the cards from the top of the deck, face down, in a single pile. The two key cards that were at the left of the fanned deck (in our example, the 2 of Hearts and Ace of Spades) will be at the bottom of the dealt pile. After he has dealt the first few cards, tell him he may stop at any time with any card, and that he may deal two or three cards at a time. When he stops, you can ask him if he's sure that that's where he wants to stop and give him the option of dealing more cards. This all increases the perception that he is in total control of the deck and the order of the cards.

4. When he is finished dealing, tell him to set the remaining cards in his hand aside. Tell him to pick up the pile of cards he dealt, face down, and deal them from the top into two separate piles, one by one in face-down position. The last card he places on top of each pile will be the key cards (again, in our example, the 2 of Hearts and Ace of Spades): The card on the top of the first pile will be the suit of the predictor card, and the card on top of the second pile will be the value of the predictor card.

5. Ask him to turn over the top card in the first pile and tell him that this will be the suit of the single card on the table (the predictor card). Have him do the same with the top card in the second pile and tell him that this will be the number of the card on the table. (Using our example, he turned over the Ace of Spades in the first pile and the 2 of Hearts in the second. Tell him that the card that is face down on the table will be the 2 of Spades.) Tell him to turn over the predictor card and watch his amazement that you were able to predict the card.

Acknowledgement: The magician who invented this easy and amazing card trick is unknown to Nathanael, but Nathanael would like to express his appreciation to him or her.

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