This may sound a little out in left field (Excuse the Pun), but it has been bothering me for a long time. I finally thought I might get some help here.

I have a delightful effect which uses, of all things, baseball cards. About ten of them. (The number is variable. depends on how many I choose to use at the time.) The effect has a lot of commercial appeal, but the problem is that you need to force one of the baseball cards.

Normally, that should NOT be a problem, but my desire is to force the card in a manner which seems completely free choice, and that does not seem "contrived."

I asked myself "How would Maven approach this?" and the answer came back. "I honest to God don't know"

I am pretty determined not to perform the effect again until I can come up with a way to do this effectively.

I just want the spectator to feel that there was no force involved, and that they had a TOTALLY free choice. I kind of feel that sleights are pretty much out of the question. (The cards are stiff, clumsy, and they don't handle like playing cards) And as I said, sleights would likely take away from that "absolutely free choice" feel I am looking for)

Does anybody here have any suggestions on a good mental force that would accomplish this goal?

Thanks in advance for all your ideas.

There is a very clever effect using baseball cards in Stunners Plus by Larry Becker called "All Star Miracle". No mental forces or sleights.. just a very clever principle. The best part is the spectator handles the cards.

All the best,

Rick

I allready have a particular effect in mind, but I am needing a force for that specific effect.

Maybe Pateo??

Does it have to be a force or do you just need to know which card they have?

If you want the baseball cards to handle more like playing cards, rubbing some Cashmere Bouquet soap on the faces and backs may help. You may have to rub the stuff in and use it sparingly so that the surfaces of the cards don't get cloudy looking. I would probably just use a riffle force and use more cards.

I remember seeing a Svengali deck awhile back on a site made of baseball cards. I forget what the site was though. Might wanna check that out.


Scott

Making your own Svengali stack of baseball cards would be easier than seeking out a pre-made one, provided you have the necessary cards -- especially since you don't have to deal with rounded corners.

Also, could you R&S them? That, combined with the Svengali idea, makes for a number of super clean forces.

(I believe R&S smooth Svengali is a mirage deck). The only problems I would see in doing it yourself is that the ends of the baseball cards possibily becoming frayed, and some cards you cannot trim due to the design (causing the trimming to become obvious to a degree).

Scott

Must be a force.



What (or who) is Pateo? Is that a persons name? The name of an exotic force?

PATEO is the name of a force devised by Mr.Roy Baker, I think.

Or a very long name, if you prefer. Paul Andrew Thomas Edward Ostin

Is it one you can describe without much trouble?

Daffydoug, I've PMed you with information about the PATEO force. It's not hard, and could be justified as "baseball playoffs" in your presentation.

Ok. I'll look for it!

IF you are performing in NEw York, please do not force a Met's baseball card.

Michael

Scott, that may be the best justification for the Pateo force I've ever heard.

Could someone also PM me with the details of the force, I would be very interested as well.

Thank you,

Zak

Why not just use some wax or rough/smooth and let the standard playing card method work for you?

unless this is going to be some kind of magic trick where you make them examine the props, you can have double cards and direct methods.

What about the criss-cross force? No sleights there.

How about the forcing methods in the first couple of chapters of Paramiracles by Ted Lesley? With ten cards this would be easy...

Merlin