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Derek P. Moore New user Kansas City 53 Posts |
I'm a big fan of intellectually stimulating magic. As such, this has to be one of my favorite card tricks. I'm currently working on memorizing the extensive patter, so that I might be able to perform this wonderful effect some day. The magic isn't really in the cards, it's in the words. You'll see what I mean:
"Are you bothered that we are living in a random, godless universe? What does life mean in such a universe? Nothing else for the moment but indifference to the future and a desire to use up everything that is given. Belief in the meaning of life always implies a scale of values, a choice, our preferences. Belief in the absurd, according to our definitions, teaches the contrary. But this is worth examining. Pick a card." Spectator picks a card. Say, the 3 of clubs. "If one could say just once: 'This is clear', all would be saved. But these men vie with one another in proclaiming that nothing is clear, all is chaos, that all man has is his lucidity and his definite knowledge of the walls surrounding him. All these experiences agree and confirm one another. The mind, when it reaches its limits, must make a judgement and choose its conclusions. Look at the card and remember it. "Conscious men have been seen to fulfill their task amid the most stupid of wars without considering themselves in contradiction. This is because it was essential to elude nothing. There is thus a metaphysical honor in enduring the world's absurdity. Conquest or play-acting, multiple loves, absurd revolt, are tributes that man pays to his dignity in a campaign in which he is deflated in advance. Return the card." Spectator returns the card. "Hence, I can choose as illustration a work comprising everything that denotes awareness of the absurd, having a clear starting point and a lucid climax. Its consequences will enlighten us. If the absurd is not respected in it, we shall know by what expedient illusion enters in." As you say the following, shuffle the deck thoroughly. "There have always been men to defend the rights of the irrational. The tradition of what may be called humiliated thought has never ceased to exist. The criticism of rationalism has been made so often that it seems unnecessary to begin again. Yet our epoch is marked by the rebirth of those paradoxical systems that strive to trip up the reason as if truly it had always forged ahead. But that is not so much a proof of the efficacy of the reason as of the intesity of its hopes. On the plane of history, such a constancy of two attitudes illustrates the essential passion of man torn between his urge toward unity and the clear vision he may have of the walls enclosing him." Pick any card from the deck. Say, the queen of hearts. "Is this your card?" Spectator will say, "No." "You see? To the absurd man, it means nothing." Whatcha think?
All my posts are anti-copyright 2002 by myself. No rights reserved. Plagiarism is encouraged. Intellectual property is an oxymoron.
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Euan Inner circle 1041 Posts |
My mind started to wander half way through. I don't get the effect. Euan |
zeroG Regular user 183 Posts |
You are a freak!
I'd love to hear the reactions you get from it! Kids'll dig it! |
Derek P. Moore New user Kansas City 53 Posts |
Quote:
I don't get the effect. Bein' an existentialist (as in the branch of philosophy) "trick", I think that's the point. *smile* I guess you just have to be a fan of Nietzche or something.
All my posts are anti-copyright 2002 by myself. No rights reserved. Plagiarism is encouraged. Intellectual property is an oxymoron.
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Lance Pierce Special user 878 Posts |
The presentation is the effect. However, I think it's pure Penn Gillette.
Derek, is this something you've purchased or simply saw on television or elsewhere? TCR |
Sid Mayer Special user Santa Fe, NM 656 Posts |
I've looked carefully and I don't think that it's a very shaggy dog.
Sid
All the world's a stage ... and everybody on it is overacting.
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Derek P. Moore New user Kansas City 53 Posts |
Quote:
TenCardRow wrote: It's buried in Penn & Teller's Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends. A pretty good (and amusing) book. It's actually presented as a short story in the book. But I immediately fell in love with it and extracted the existentialist magician's patter from the story, as I want to be able to perform it. I'm a huge fan o' philosophy (especially existentialist and humanist philosophies), so it's right up my alley. I just like the idea of bein' able to say, "Wanna see some philosophical magic?" You're very right that the presentation is the effect. I plan of being very animated and passionate about what I'm saying when I'm ready to perform it.
All my posts are anti-copyright 2002 by myself. No rights reserved. Plagiarism is encouraged. Intellectual property is an oxymoron.
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SergeK New user Michigan 8 Posts |
Yeah, I got a huge kick out of that when I first read the book! Never occurred to me to actually DO it, but yeah, with the right attitude it could be hilarious. (And with the right crowd, obviously. College campuses.)
Do you know if they've ever done it? Serge
The Detroit String Quartet played Brahms last night. Brahms lost. (Bennett Cerf)
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Raj New user UK 22 Posts |
Excellent...
I'll have to get "Cruel tricks..." now. It's a nice trigger happy style moment - one of those card tricks you perform when you don't want to perform one at all. Raj |
Derek P. Moore New user Kansas City 53 Posts |
I had a wonderful idea last night. If you don't want to end the "trick" on a purely philosophical note, shuffle their card to top or second from top. Then when you're done and have let the last line--"To the absurd man, it means nothing"--sink in a bit, you can do any number of visual color change. Snap change, spin change, shapeshifter change, Erdnase change, whatever. To match the attitude of the rest of the trick, pull it off in a smart-aleck-y sort o' way, as if saying, "Oh, by the way, here's your card."
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Do you know if they've ever done it? I haven't a clue. *grin* I would venture to guess that maybe Penn only meant it as part of his short story and nothing more. But, because this is Penn we're talking about, I wouldn't doubt at all if he performs it (or did at one point in time).
All my posts are anti-copyright 2002 by myself. No rights reserved. Plagiarism is encouraged. Intellectual property is an oxymoron.
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SergeK New user Michigan 8 Posts |
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pull it off in a smart-aleck-y sort o' way, as if saying, "Oh, by the way, here's your card." That's a brilliant touch! Now it works on all levels.
The Detroit String Quartet played Brahms last night. Brahms lost. (Bennett Cerf)
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Adam V Special user 603 Posts |
I say after you reveal the wrong card you tackle them to the ground and chant 'boolah boolah boolah!'
Adam V - 9 out of 10 dentists recommend him.
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Alan Jackson Elite user Cardiff, UK 432 Posts |
Tommy Cooper did a similar thing and, as you can imagine (those of you who have seen him), his accompanying patter was considerably shorter and less erudite.
There are 10 kinds of people: those who understand binary numbers, and those who don't.
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