The Genii Forum

What is your favorite "think of a card" ? Direct mindreading, No deck involved. Just you and the spectator's mind ?

I do silent running but a lot of people has told me there are better methods.

I did a review of this ebook - and feel it has some excellent 'no deck' think-a-card effects:

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=41593&p=282277

My favourite trick in the ebook above is a simplified version of 'Invisible Deal' by Derren Brown. The Derren Brown trick is quite tricky to do - and the method above provides a clever shortcut.

I mention the Derren Brown trick since this is usually considered the best of the 'no cards' think-a-card effects.

Also - Paul Harris has a great trick in which any word is written on a piece of paper and it is divined in a very sneaky way.

I forget the name of the trick but it is in one the 'Art of Astonishment' books.

Since any word can be used - you could change it into a 'think-a-card' effect.

I just have them think of a card and I tell them what it is. Though I learned through a combination of studying Garrett and Dingle, the first source you should look to today is the Berglas book.

I found the trick from the 'Art of Astonishment' books.

Check out 'Million-Dollar Mind Reader' from AoA Vol.2 - page 215.

Even though this uses a physical deck, it's one of my favorites:


https://youtu.be/6Q7xUyy1HD0

-Ben

This article from Scientific American should be of interest

http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... book-Share

How odd. I actually thought of the six of clubs even before reading the article.

I love to do this. but needless to say, I use a wallet. I place the wallet on a spectators upturned palm. I have someone simply name a card. Then I flip the wallet open and inside is the freely named card. My fave bit of walkaround as it resets almost instantly. If ya see me at a convention ask and I will show yaz.

Tony

Roger Crosthwaite

Derek Dingle's from The Complete Works is my standby. You have two Outs and can cull the card if your back is to the wall to remove it from the empty card case or pocket/wallet. Dingle's version is basically Crosthwaite's following of the gaze and narrowing it down.

Sid Lorraine's method is also interesting and dates back to the 1940s. It possibly predates him and utilizes a duplicate card in the deck that is laid on the table face down. It's a pure Think a Card where the spectator thinks of any card in the deck. If wrong the second duplicate functions as the Out to reveal the thought of card.

Jack Avis has a nice version from Ahead of the Pack that borrows from Out of Sight Out of Mind but narrows the scope of cards to 5 instead of 9.

Go read Berglas
Do not waste your time with Dingle's inferior method


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Richard Kaufman wrote:Go read Berglas
Do not waste your time with Dingle's inferior method

Could this be one reason for our continually growing magic libraries? The never ending search to find a superior method to the effects we perform?

Richard, is Berglas’ version in your book The Berglas Effect? I have the book, but it’s been several years since I’ve read it. I don’t recall a section on Think-of-a-card.
Looking forward to cracking that book again with fresh eyes.

Think a Card, from page 49 to page 116 in The Berglas Effects - 2011

Cheers! Thanks!

There are about 75 pages on Think a Card!

Richard Kaufman wrote:There are about 75 pages on Think a Card!

You are the stakhanovist of magical literature!

Richard Kaufman wrote:There are about 75 pages on Think a Card!

I’m just about finished re-reading the Think A Card section. So good. I’m re-reading the entire book (I haven’t read it again since it was first released), and I’m realizing page after page how I simply wasn’t ready when I read it the first time. I thought I ‘got it’, but I really didn’t, and this after decades of performing. In just the past 10 years I feel my understanding of magic has increased exponentially. This material and approach excites me more than it could have then. I simply didn’t know what I didn’t know.
It’s such a joy soaking it all in now and putting it into practice/performance.

I like Dani Daortiz - Libertad de Expresion. He has good thoughts.

I do a lot of THink of card routines, but they involves some forcing sequences, Some from Ben EARL, some From Ross Taylor / Parker, some from Dani da ortiz and some that requires some big balls.

I have to read the Berglas book, shame on Me.

We are in 1853 and we can read this:

Announce in advance that a thought-out card is on top of the deck, and show it immediatly after it was named.

In your opinion, what was Conus Père's solution?

No force, no trick deck, no stooge

No sleights, fuss with a portfolio (index) and done with a borrowed deck? I wish.

How about a 52 on 1 card on top of the pack?

Jonathan Townsend wrote:No sleights, fuss with a portfolio (index) and done with a borrowed deck? I wish.

How about a 52 on 1 card on top of the pack?

You have to do a sleight and the deck can't be borrowed... and you have to do a technique which Marlo devoted in one chapter in his RCT

Jerry Sadowitz has a great version of OOSOOM called No Questions Asked which speaks for itself, using six cards, but with a little spec control, I use nine. Killer version.

Joe Mckay wrote:I found the trick from the 'Art of Astonishment' books.

Check out 'Million-Dollar Mind Reader' from AoA Vol.2 - page 215.

I could never get that idea to work very well when I trialled it; despite using paper and card.

I might try it again with Post-it Notes; replacing something natural as per the original, with what is found on every Post-it Note.

However, I'm not convinced that either option is better than pencil-reading.

Philippe Billot wrote:

Jonathan Townsend wrote:No sleights, fuss with a portfolio (index) and done with a borrowed deck? I wish.

How about a 52 on 1 card on top of the pack?

You have to do a sleight and the deck can't be borrowed... and you have to do a technique which Marlo devoted in one chapter in his RCT

Still thinking about this...maybe not so instant, but a memdeck, left little finger estimating the correct position, and a side steal to the top?

magicfish wrote:Roger Crosthwaite

The Thesaurus is indeed essential reading for anyone interested in exploring the broad gamut of approaches to "Think-a-Card."

Jack Shalom wrote:

Philippe Billot wrote:

Jonathan Townsend wrote:No sleights, fuss with a portfolio (index) and done with a borrowed deck? I wish.

How about a 52 on 1 card on top of the pack?

You have to do a sleight and the deck can't be borrowed... and you have to do a technique which Marlo devoted in one chapter in his RCT

Still thinking about this...maybe not so instant, but a memdeck, left little finger estimating the correct position, and a side steal to the top?

Yes, you have practically the solution.

The deck is in numerical order. When the spectator name a card, you estimate its position then you make a one-hand pass to obtain the card on top of the deck. (If the spectator cut the deck before, you glimpse the bottom card before your estimation)

As Ponsin wrote in 1853 : "It's not easy but it's doable"

I actually invented a method of knowing beforehand what card a person is going to think of. Some decades ago somebody or other described the method in three or four lines or so and it went completely unnoticed. I think it was either Martin Breese or David Britland who wrote it up but it was so long ago I just can't remember.

Joe Mckay wrote:...Also - Paul Harris has a great trick in which any word is written on a piece of paper and it is divined in a very sneaky way.

I forget the name of the trick but it is in one the 'Art of Astonishment' books..

I believe that it was Paul Lackey who created the trick (known as "Million Dollar Mind Reader"), and it was published in Close Up Fantasies - Book 1 in 1980, 16 years prior to publication of the Art of Astonishment book in question (Volume 2). To his credit, Harris credits Lackey.

As the years go by, and the 100s of magic books I have, I keep going back to one creator: John Bannon. He touches on pretty much all the card plots and always makes it easier and they are often more amazing than other versions. I don’t know why I keep buying other card magic books… he is also my favourite columnist in Genii.

AK-47

This is Daniel wrote:What is your favorite "think of a card" ? Direct mindreading, No deck involved. Just you and the spectator's mind ?

Jim Gerrish's The Cardless Card Trick - Psychic vs. Skeptics found in The Wizards' Journal #34-05:
Based on a concept by mentalist Ford Kross, adapted by mentalist Bob Cassidy , and given the final twists by Jim, this is a card trick which requires no decks of cards. You do talk about cards, however. And you use a Psychic spectator to convince a Skeptic spectator (and the rest of your audience) that just maybe paranormal powers really do exist. In the course of this presentation, everything used may be passed out into the audience so they can see that it is all on the up and up with no possibility for trickery.

In the same Wizards' Journal #34-03, Jim's "CLEAR-voyance Cards" also can be done without a deck of playing cards. The spectator can just think of one card and the card reveals itself using some transparent slides (which can be projected to a large audience if you wish).

Spellbinder wrote:Jim Gerrish's The Cardless Card Trick - Psychic vs. Skeptics found in The Wizards' Journal #34-05:
Based on a concept by mentalist Ford Kross, adapted by mentalist Bob Cassidy , and given the final twists by Jim, this is a card trick which requires no decks of cards. You do talk about cards, however. And you use a Psychic spectator to convince a Skeptic spectator (and the rest of your audience) that just maybe paranormal powers really do exist. In the course of this presentation, everything used may be passed out into the audience so they can see that it is all on the up and up with no possibility for trickery.

What a delightful plot! Just the kind of presentation I'm drawn to. Fundamentally, people are interested in other people. This takes the focal point away from the all-too-common "Watch how clever I am" presentation. Bringing the spectators (participants) center stage and letting them act out the drama makes for great, captivating, entertainment, that the audience is bound to be drawn to as well. Found myself unable to resist clicking on the Paypal button, especially for the very reasonable $7.00 price, which I believe just the idea itself is more than worth.

To MagicbyAlfred: I'm glad you were finally able to get the PDF file downloaded to your computer. Now the fun begins. I love performing this, and I have discovered that you don't need to work with an up-to-date journal. I am still using the journal I put together in 2018 and claiming that it was a special year for astrology so it still works today in 2022!

Spellbinder wrote:To MagicbyAlfred: I'm glad you were finally able to get the PDF file downloaded to your computer. Now the fun begins. I love performing this, and I have discovered that you don't need to work with an up-to-date journal. I am still using the journal I put together in 2018 and claiming that it was a special year for astrology so it still works today in 2022!

Excellent! I look forward to this. I must confess that at first, I was surprised when I was informed that I must first verify that I am a bona fide magician before being provided access to the PDF; otherwise I would be denied access and my money refunded. But then I realized that this is a good thing, placing integrity and respect for our art above commercialism. Fortunately, I was able to provide a link to my magicbyalfred website to provide the verification

I perform 'Think A Card' constantly, often as an opener at each table.

As Joe Riding used to say "asking someone to just think of a card as you fan them is a challenge; and even people who don't like Card Tricks can never resist a challenge".

The method I now use? Eight Kings stack - works every time.

'Think A Card' is probably one of the strongest Card Tricks that you can perform.......plus it's over quickly - which is generally beneficial with most Card Magic.

As an aside, as I now only present Mentalism, Eight Kings is now the modus operandi for around 90% of the Card stuff that I use. All those decades wasted learning unnecessary sleights. If only I could go back in time.

Robert Harbin had a method that I confess I have never tried. It is hard to believe it works but I suspect it does. I am hesitant to post the method because there is more than enough exposure on the internet for my liking.

Just to add, again without wishing exposure, I've recently been playing around with only half of a pack in 8 Kings Order.

This obviously allows for a cleaner display and more open shuffling. A corner short on the bottom card of the half stack - the JD (I use CDHS set up), quickly puts me back to wherever I need to be after cutting.

I have a weird way of knowing what card a person is thinking of. It is almost a psychic thing probably based on intuition gathered from thousands of psychic readings. It is very hard to explain but I will try. I have to do it while not consciously thinking too much. I spread a deck of cards face upwards on the table asking someone to think of one. I sort of watch their eyes and the cards at the same time and simultaneously think of a card myself. I have noticed it tends to be near the right end of the pack. I don't know why it works. A gut feeling of some kind. Works 7 times out of 10.

You don't need a stacked deck if you're doing Think a Card from a fan or spread. I use Berglas's methods with a shuffled deck.

I have another method. Check out the routining chapter in the Royal Road to Card Magic. Therein is what appears to be a gag where someone thinks of a card. At some point in the future .......................

No. I think I have said enough. Something tells me I should keep the secret for myself but if you figure it out you will deserve it. I do claim that I invented it though.