*****A card is though of by a spectator, but not revealed. That thought of card is "named" by me, with a human name.. then... a deck is pulled out and each card is shown to have a different name written on the back.. their chosen card is revealed by the spectator, and that card just so happens to have the name you gave it.*****


i have seen this a couple times in parlor acts. but I can't for the life of me find the best method for this, which would allow the card to be given out. if that's not possible.
the only method I could see would be with the use of some sprayglue and a quick change to the next trick..

has anyone else seen this effect? do we know what it's called? or who originally did this?
help! it's driving me nuts.

I don't think this is the appropriate forum to discuss this.
You could post this on secret sessions though.

To the best of my knowledge, that's a straight-up dealer's item, so I would feel very wrong in discussing how it works or how it's made, even though I know. I'm pretty sure it hasn't been released into the public domain, at least not legitimately, anyway.

If you want more information on it I'll mention that when I first encountered it, the trick was named "Phil", though I don't know if there are knockoff versions (there probably are). Pretty sure it's a Phil Goldstein ("Max Maven") effect.

But yeah, not giving that away for nothing, as it isn't mine to give. Sorry. Just buy it, like everyone else did; it's a lot easier, and then nobody has to feel bad about it. It's an awesome effect, and worth the money.

This page may provide you with valuable information regarding the history of this trick.

Hey, thanks for that! I just learned something I thought I already knew!

Much appreciated!

This is excellent, thank you!
for some reason I thought this was a very old effect. but by the looks of it. only a few decades.
Mortimer/Dr J.
how would I go about searching for the origins of this and future effects? I didn't even know the name of it.

Have you seen this particular one done in a way that the card is handed out afterward?

I've never seen the card given away. Generally I'd only do that with a signed card, and the card having its own name on the back sort of precludes that kind of souvenir being handed out, I think.

And I'm avoiding anything method related here. So, from the spectator's standpoint from here on out in my advice... your deck only has 52 cards, each with its own name, why would you want to break up the family unnecessarily? Keeping the deck intact makes sense. Fred, or Phil, or whatever its name is would be lonely away from the rest of the gang.

Unless it's a spectator's signed card, I would never give one away and shorten my deck. It just doesn't seem to make sense.

If you want to leave them with something in a case like this, let it be a business card, if anything.

Googling by keywords can be difficult at times, I admit, but that's the only way I know of, aside from reading a whole lot and remembering what you can, or asking magicians you know who know a whole lot, either in the real world or on forums like this.

I've Googled things by description and gotten results before, but aside from doing a lot of research, I'd just recommend asking people here.

In the secret areas, of course, if it has anything to do with methods.

And as for this effect, it's good magic for performers of any skill level. Easy to do, good effect, and it surprises people in a fun way. I recommend it.

Awesome! thanks Mortimer.
So.. good point. I probably would be ok to keep the card.. which means my options for a method.. are pretty much endless.
i saw rob zabreky do it and he kept the card among the rest. so I'm assuming it shouldn't be an issue. although that was stage magic. and I'm not sure what kind of effect it would have on the spectators in a parlor/platform situation. ah well. I'll give it a shot with one of the methods I'm thinking about and I'll go from there.

thanks again