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pegasus Eternal Order United Kingdom 10537 Posts |
I have had a few enquiries from members who frequent this forum in reference to the Phil Routine. I suspect that many of you have at least 1 deck. Trilogy, for instance, uses the same deck type.
This is a new release in that it is the Phil Plus deck, but it is customizable, as opposed to factory printed. You the performer mark the back of the cards which takes away the suspicion of a 'magic' deck, and also makes the deck personal. I must say that marking the deck with numbers as opposed to names makes for a much better routine in terms of a 'mentalism with cards' effect. For the few who do not know, below is the basic routine. You place the deck in full view and inform the specs that this is not a card trick but a mind reading effect and the cards are just used as a prop as you are about to see. Ask them to imagine a shuffled deck of cards, and each card having a unique number written on its back. The numbers range from 1 thru to 52, and only I, the performer, knows the 'card / number sequence'. You ask a spec to just THINK of any playing card and to keep it to herself. Ask her to imagine sitting in a cinema and looking up at the huge white screen to her front. Ask her to project her card onto that screen and to keep it there. You now, after a few seconds of deep concentration, inform her of the number of that card. "You have chosen card number 27". remove the cards from the deck (face down) and spread thru showing the specs that indeed all the cards have numbers on the backs, all different, ranging from 1 to 52. Now turn the deck face up and ask the spec to now reveal her chosen card to all. "8 of Spades". Search through the shuffled deck and locate and table the 8 of Spades. Remind everyone of what has just occured, and get the spec to turn over the card to reveal it is card number 27. Accept your applause. To convince the specs that this was not just a lucky 1 in 52 guess, you now ask the spec to THINK of a number. Same patter as before and you now name the card "you have chosen the 5 of Hearts". Ask her to now reveal her number. She states "I chose number 43". With the deck face down locate card number 43 and table it. Remind the audience once again and ask her to turn the card over. Indeed it is the 5 of hearts. I am sure that all who has used the Phil deck will agree that this is a very powerful effect, very easy to perform and with no sleights at all. My numbers routine which I supply is slighly different from others and in my opinion an improvement and takes away all suspicion completely when spreading through the face down deck. I have recieved some excellent reviews so far via PM from members who have used this deck with my routine. Comments from the mentalists here would be very welcome, thanks. |
Turk Inner circle Portland, OR 3546 Posts |
I think that that is a terrific idea and routine. It has a certain built-in logic and consistency that makes it a very powerful effect. And mindreading "either direction" (i.e., number to card or card to number) just cements the deal.
I've PM'ed you with clarifying perfromance questions. Mike
Magic is a vanishing Art.
This must not be Kansas anymore, Toto. Eschew obfuscation. |
Roger Kelly Inner circle Kent, England 3332 Posts |
A variation on a theme Pegasus but I suspect the latter part of the effect requires some management in what number to choose - high/low or odd/even.
I'm a huge fan of Trilogy and use it with Peter Scarlett's card box so that it is on display from the start. If yours is as clean as you say it is, I'd be very interested in that too! But it does sound a little like Trilogy Streamlined and Duality. |
pegasus Eternal Order United Kingdom 10537 Posts |
Hi Roger, yes, as I mentioned, it is similar to Trilogy Streamline and Duality (my decks and routine are half the price) however, my routine eliminates only having odd or even, or high or low cards during the face down spread. My 2nd phase makes complete sense to the spec along with the patter. I use a fair spread of high, low, odd and even numbers from 1 thru 52.
One thing I forgot to mention, and Mike rightly guessed correctly is that you should only perform this effect once, per deck, per audience. |
deputy Inner circle USA 1041 Posts |
I have Pegasus's routine and deck and it is a great effect. have used it for walk around now a few times and has gone over well. It is easy to do and plays out logicaly. Good thinking on part of Pegasus
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eSamuels Inner circle 3085 Posts |
Hey Pegasus, I do Trilogy Streamline, and while I see the differences your routine offers, it's still close enough that I would stick with Trilogy for this effect. But I do see how your suggestion is far better than the original 2-deck Trilogy.
But I'm also a huge fan of the Phil Deck, including the Blank Phil, which I've had for some time. One of the oddest coincidences of my performing career is that the very first time I performed the original Phil, I brought someone up from the audience, asked his name, and, you guessed it, it was Phil. I did a mental stutter-step, but managed to somewhat awkwardly make the effect seem impossibly customized. Now that was a coincidence, but here comes the ever odder thing...second time I did this...exact same thing happened (albeit his name was Phillip). This time it went a lot smoother thanks to the first experience. Complete stunner to everyone there. What I'm getting to with all of this, is the power to make the blank Phil deck, a 'one-off' for a special performance, where you know the key audience member's name in advance, and can prep the deck in his/her name. A little costly, yes, but I can't overstate how strong this is when their chosen card has their name on it! |
pegasus Eternal Order United Kingdom 10537 Posts |
Now that was a coincidence. How lucky was that. I have 1 particular deck customized to British Football teams and I use the patter that I am going to mentally force them to pick my football team 'Portsmouth'. Of course, whatever card they choose, its Portsmouth. I never have to buy a beer.
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