Last week, I found a single card laying on the floor. Just for fun, I picked it up and put it face down in my wife's hand. I asked her to name any card and then turn over the card in her hand. It was the card she named! In her eyes, I immediately went from annoying novice (I am always asking her to watch my tricks) to potential magician. Too bad I can't repeat the effect (not yet anyway)!

My payment:

The scene: Comdex, in Chicago.
The Players: Me, and the entire attending mob as well as the booth staff for the company I was working for.

I was presenting Brainwave Deck as a straight prediction routine. The first person up named the Queen of Hearts. So did the second, third and the TWO HUNDREDTH!!

During that entire three-day show, for over 200 performances, not one person ever named ANY card EXCEPT the Queen of Hearts!

The staff of the booth were all convinced that I was using hypnotism to make people name the Queen of Hearts!

What are the odds on that?!

Now add in that, in the intervening 14 years, NO ONE has EVER named the Queen of Hearts again?

Way too strange!

Here's my donation, too -



Lee Darrow, C.Ht.

I was doing the invisible deck on someone, and they asked me to do it again. I didn't really want to, but they named the card I knew was on top of the deck.

So I said, "I'll do a different trick. I'll make that card come to the top of the deck!"

Reputation builder!

James.

On Tuesday evening this week, I was at my magic club.

A few of us were chatting, and one of the guys, Frank, did an effect involving myself and another guy, Ashley. He took two decks of cards, spread one deck in his hands, I took a card, a totally free choice. It was the Ten of Diamonds.

Frank took the other deck, and asked Ashley for a number. “Thirteen”, said Ashley. Frank counted down thirteen cards, and there was the Ten of Diamonds. The twelfth and fourteenth cards were shown to be different.

I won't go into the details of the second deck (but they're probably obvious).

I then said to Frank that that first deck was presumably a one-way force deck, all Ten of Diamonds. Yes, it was, he grinned.

But here’s the spooky thing. When Frank then showed us the one-way force deck ….. it wasn’t. It was an ordinary deck. The case had “10D” written on the flap, but Frank had accidentally put a vanilla deck in the case.

So I had, by pure happenstance, chosen the right card.

Dave

I can actually hear the Twilight Zone music playing in my head with that story Dave. Kinda makes you wonder doesn't it about coincidences and sheer luck. Great story!

Mine is really simple...
I was showing off my card prowess in the lunch room. This one guy was watching me and finally asks me to do one to him. As he's reaching toward the fan of cards he remarks how cool it would be if he chose the ace of spades...

I think you know the rest!

I was talking to my new assistant late after the show the other night about 1:30 am. She asked me a how a mutual friend friend felt about a personal situation she was in. I said that it was important enough that she should talk to her personally. "oh no its too late" Then I said "we can make it happen" just then the phone rang and it was the mutual friend. She had been sleeping and woke up feeling the need to call. I am still going hmmm over that one.

To make a long story shorter, I once flipped a nickel and said something about "...if this lands on it's edge..."...and it DID!!!!!!!!! Bounced a couple times, landed flat and stood up on it's edge and stayed that way!!!!!
Only thing, nobody saw it happen but me!! Still I have that nickel somewhere...in an envelope with the date and time it happened!!!
My theory is...my gardian angel was having fun with me!

In High School, I was showing off for these three friends and had one guy pick a card and put it back. I was going to Hindu Shuffle it to the top, but I screwed up and ended up doing a REAL Hindu Shuffle. I knew I had blown it, so I just faked fatigue and said I couldn't do any more magic. They said 'oh come on, just try', so I just cut the deck without looking and showed them the face. The guy's eyes got huge, and I knew I had found the right card by sheer luck. I just played it cool and finished my performing for that day!

I'm curious. If you were just estimating, what was plan B if the card didn't turn out to be her card? Did you have a back-up plan, or were you just kinda wingin' it?