I can't remember the names of two tricks I had as a kid, during my original incarnation as a magician. Who can name them?

The first may have been called The Electric Cards, I think. In it, you show the spectator a pack of six different cards (or maybe five?), arranged face up, vertically. You ask the spectator to think of one of the cards. You ask him to concentrate on that card. Then you square up the pack and go through the cards face-down, pretending to feel their weight, comparing one card's heft to another, etc., saying their concentration adds a certain weight to the card they're thinking of (to be honest, I don't recall if this patter about weight was in the instructions or just something I added). Eventually, you settle on a card you believe is the one they're thinking of. You put it in your pocket. Then (again, I'm not sure if this was the official handling or my addition) you pretend you're not sure you got the right card. You take the card out of your pocket and reveal it to be (for example) the Jack of Spades. One of two things happens: The spectator was actually thinking of the Jack of Spades and is amazed, at which point you say "Well, it wasn't that hard -- that's the only card you could've picked" -- and turn over the other cards to reveal they're now all the Jack of Spades -- or the spectator says he wasn't thinking of the Jack of Spades, and you say "Well, I can't see how you could've picked any other card" -- and reveal all the cards to be the Jack of Spades. Nice effect.

The other trick...I'm not even entirely sure of the details. As I recall, it was about magically "printing" faces and backs on a pack of cards. You show them all to be blank on both sides; then you show one to have a back printed on it; then you show all the cards to have backs; then, finally, you show all the cards to have faces.

Any ideas?

Possibly a "Nudist Deck", aka a "Mental Photography Deck" invented by Ralph W. Hull.

The second effect sounds like the directions straight from the mental photography deck. The first has me intrigued. I don't know it, but I really want to see it performed, as it sounds interesting. I am a sucker for packet tricks though, they are the effects I buy but never use, just sort of have them for my own amusement.

Bradley

I wish I could find a video of it online. I remember it being a lot of fun to perform; it had a big impact on the spectators, but it was as self-working and sleight-free as any card trick could be. Which was perfect for me at the time, because I was mostly a stage/parlor magic guy at the time; I studied basic card manipulation because I wanted to learn it, but I didn't do much close-up. This trick was great to carry around in case someone said "You're a magician, right? Do a trick!"

It's a shame the way some perfectly good tricks seem to vanish into history. I haven't been able to find this one at any of the online dealers. I've got a great Nick Trost trick called "Half Wild" that also seems to have been forgotten by the magic world. I know new and (sometimes) better effects are invented all the time, and magicians like to keep their acts fresh, but it's kinda alarming to see really smart older tricks go away as a result.

There have been many, many, versions of the first packet trick you mention, although that title I am not familiar with. You can find a version in the Alan Wakeling book by Jim Steinmyer, although the last marketed variant was Royal Opener by Bob Solari and Bill Wisch.

Thanks, Paul. Royal Opener has a different presentation, but it does seem likely that the mechanics are similar. The g**** would be different, because Royal Opener describes initially displaying the cards in a fan, where the trick I had started with the cards held in a vertical spread.

I may have to ask my parents if they know what happened to the stuff that was in my bedside table at their house when they moved. Hey -- they kept all of my other magic gear, so maybe they still have all that stuff, too! I'm pretty sure the bedside table also contained booklets on the Card Warp and the Linking Cards. Maybe also a Svengali deck. (Anyone remember "TV Magic Cards"? )

Same mechanics, probably more natural to display the cards in a spread than a vertical column, unless they are jumbo cards initially held with a clip. Royal Opener is good.

Another good variant sold by Marty Grams is Chris Michaels's "My Sister's Dilemma". Marty has some funny patter for it.

Found a current trick that's very, very close to the first one I described in the OP: Straight N Wild Poker.

http://themagicwarehouse.com/SP7153/Stra......ker.html

It sounds identical to the trick I had, except mine didn't include the idea of your guess being correct because the Joker is wild, and the card all the other cards turned into at the end wasn't the Joker. I like the Joker conceit, though. Adds a nice angle to the trick.

Frenchdrop, I have pinpointed the first effect. I originally saw Terry Seabrooke present this at one of his lectures many, many years ago. I can tell you that the effect is published in Terry's lecture booklet. He titles the effect: "Give Me A Card" It uses six different cards...all of which are shown. In the routine, the six card spread is closed up and handed to a spectator to place behind their back. The spectator is then asked to mix the cards up so that their order could not possibly be known. You, as the performer, then ask the helper to hand you the "Nine of Diamonds" Two different conclusions are possible, as you have suggested. One being that the card handed to the Magician is in fact the "Nine Of Diamonds". Secondly, if the volunteer hands you any other card...let's say the "Four Of Clubs...it is revealed that all of the other cards have now changed to the "Nine Of Diamonds". In this outcome, you give your helper a quizzical look and wonder aloud how their card is the only odd one in the bunch.

I had my set of cards made up quite a number of years ago. I still have them at the ready in my Close-Up case.

I just wanted to mention that Terry Seabrooke credits this effect to an Alan White, who was a member of a local magic club...The Watford Association of Magicians


Best Magical Regards,

Mark Williams

Thanks, Mark, but that's really very different from the trick I described in the OP. Sounds like a good one, though!