Magicians tend to carry a pack of cards wherever they go. In time somebody or the other invariably requests you to show a magic trick. This is for the time you find yourself attending a business lunch. You want to stun them and still be subtle about it. This magic trick is one of my favorites.

Effect
A deck of cards is spread face down on the table. You remove a business card and write a prediction on it. The hapless spectator signs the back of the prediction and then inserts it anywhere inside the deck. The cards are gathered and spectator is requested to remove the prediction card along with the playing card immediately above it and the playing card right below it. The prediction is read and believe it or not, you predicted the exact 2 cards between which the spectator would insert the business card!

Requirements
A borrowed deck of cards and a business card. No gimmicks, no crazy sleights, just pure grit for this shocking interlude.

Performance
1.Hand the deck of cards over to the spectator to shuffle.

2.Take the cards back in your left hand and give them a lazy shuffle while talking to the spectators.

3.Now comes an important move in the effect. You have to find out values of the top and bottom cards of the deck. You can do this by casually glancing at the bottom card and then nonchalantly sliding it to the top in the course of the overhand shuffle. Then peek at the bottom card by tilting it momentarily. Ribbon spread the deck face down on the table.

4.A simpler and more direct approach to the above would be to receive the deck from the spectator and ribbon spread it face up on the table, drawing attention to the fact that it’s all mixed up. You’ll have ample time to peek at the top and bottom cards before you gather the deck together and ribbon spread it face down.

5.Now that you know the names of the 2 cards, you write them down on the business card. This is your prediction. Turn the business card over and have it signed by the spectator to ensure that you are only going to use one card and won’t switch it for another prediction.

6.The spectator then inserts this business card anywhere inside the deck. Your patter would be, “Insert the card anywhere in the middle, not too close to the top and not too near the bottom.”

7.The deck of cards is gathered in your left hand. It’s held face down on your palm. Your objective now is to move the business card between the 2 prediction cards secretly.

8.You refresh the spectator’s memory by telling him all of what has been done so far. ‘You shuffled the cards and spread them on the table. I took my visiting card and wrote something on it.’ At this point your left thumb assisted by the right thumb fans the cards till you reach the visiting card.

9.At this point you cut the deck by holding the cards above the visiting card in your right hand. You show the spectator his signature on the business card lying on the left hand stack  and  flip it over on to the right hand pile to show the prediction on the back. Now casually drop the left hand pile over the business card. This way you have sandwiched the business card between the predicted cards (the original top and bottom playing cards). The deck is held in your right hand.

10.Drop the deck on the table. Draw attention away from it as you talk about how the future can be foreseen sometimes. You want to do this so that the spectator forgets how big or small the stack of cards over the business card originally was.

11.Instruct the spectator to now remove the business card along with the playing cards that lie immediately above and below it.

12.The prediction is read and the 2 playing cards are turned over. VIOLA! You have a mini mystery.

This effect can be played up as much as you want. A  real stunner, show it sparingly and you’ll soon be the talk of the business lounge.

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