Hello all. Here's a trick to perform at home for your friends after dinner. I thought this routine up over forty years ago, and this is the first time it has seen the light of day. This is a remote card divination in which the performer is isolated from the medium, and has no contact with them whatsoever, and in which the medium is not allowed to speak to anyone. The only person who is allowed to speak to the performer and the medium is the spectator, and yet the performer is able to divine what the card is. Below I have described a method and routine to accomplish this seemingly impossible feat.


Actually it's only half of it, but if anyone shows interest in it I will gladly provide you with the rest of the method. Some of you may think it's a load of crap, but I really don't mind. Feel free to say what you like about it I really don't mind anyone's opinion at all. Anyway, it's free. I hope that maybe a beginner might find a use for it. For those of you who do show an interest ... I'll help you all I can with it ... because the other half of the routine is going to require a fair bit of practice.

The main attributes required are an ability to act a little, and a very good sense of timing.

WillMagicMan's Secret to the Mental Card Divination. For: Anyone who wants it.

For this example we will use a husband [performer] and wife [medium] team.

So let me set the scene:

You have a friend for a spectator, probably you will be the performer, and your lovely wife will be the medium. You go out of the room, maybe into the kitchen or hallway or whatever, and close the door behind you so that you and your friend the spectator will have to stand close to the door in order to hear each other clearly when speaking through it. It is important to set this up properly and It will become clear why as you read on.

Next, your friend/spectator will take out his own shuffled deck of cards, or open a brand new sealed deck and shuffle those,or any deck as long as no one has any knowledge of the order of the cards, keeping everything fair and honest. Your friend will then spread the cards face down onto the coffee table, and either slide a single card towards your wife, or she can slide one out herself, whatever. The important thing at this stage is that the spectator must NOT! know the identity of the card selected by your wife, so she must always handle it so that the spectator never sees it. In fact, it must be made clear at the offset that the spectator does NOT look at the card.

Now here's where you start using the the first part of the method:

First of all, you wait for your friend the spectator to tell you that they are ready and then you can begin. It is very important at this stage of the performance, that your friend/spectator is standing close to the door so that you haven't got to raise your voices in order to hear each other. The idea here is to ensure that no one else in the room, especially your wife, can hear you clearly enough to understand what you're saying to the friend the spectator. You ask for silence, especially if there are other people in the room, saying that you need to concentrate and tune into your wife's mind.

The next thing you say is spoken just loudly enough for your friend the spectator to hear, because we may need him to relay information to your wife during the performance, and if your wife can obviously hear you, then there would be no logical reason to have them do that. So the next thing you say is:

[With a soft voice]

''I need my wife to be holding the card in her hand, it's very important that she is in physical contact with it. If she's not holding it I won't be able to tune into her mind, so if she isn't holding it would you please tell her to pick it up and hold it in her hand , or is she already holding it?''

Your friend the spectator will then look to see if your wife is holding the card, and inform you which is the case'

Now here's the first sneaky bit. But we have to go back to when your wife first selected and looked at her card.

When your wife has drawn her card from the deck she must peek at it immediately to see what it is, and if it's a red card, then she must pick it up straight away and hold it in her hand face down so that no one else can see it. But if it is a black card then she must leave it face down on the table after peeking at it. So if the friend/spectator sees that your wife is holding the card [and she will be making it obvious that she is if it is a red card] he/she will immediately answer you saying ''Yes, she is holding the card'' so now, because you were answered quickly and there was little time delay, you know that it is a red card. If your wife had left the card on the table, then the friend /spectator will either answer you with something like ''No she's not holding the card'' and then he/she will have to speak to your wife saying something like ''[performers name], wants you to hold the card in your hand'' So then your wife will pick up the card and then the friend/spectator will say to you ''Ok, she's holding it in her hand now'' And now you know that it is a black card. Simple!

So now we know the colour of the card, let's get on to how to discover the suit:

Next, you go on to divine the colour of the card by saying to the friend/spectator something like ''I'm seeing an ocean of colours but one is becoming far brighter than all the others and that colour is red .... yes definitely red ... it's a red card! Can you check with my wife to see if I'm correct''? So now the friend /spectator will ask your wife if it is indeed a red card, and she will let him know whether it is or not by holding up one of two cards that were placed face down on the table in a single envelope at the offset. These cards will have Identical backs, and one of them will have the word 'red' printed on it's face in large red letters, and the other one will have the word 'Black' printed on it's face in large letters.

Now we have to slightly rewind a bit. When your wife first peeked at her card earlier on, if it was a diamond She would have casually removed both these colour cards from the envolope in readiness so that when she is asked if her card is red, she can immediately pick up the red card and show it to the friend/spectator which means that your friend/spectator will answer you immediately with ''yes it's a red card'' and because you got such a quick reply, you know that the suit is diamonds! If the card had been a heart then you would have had a delayed answer because your wife would have taken time to reach over and open the envelope, take out the cards, and eventually show one to the friend /spectator, As you can see, this is where you need to have a good sense of timing because now, the information is arriving to you in a binary format discriminated by differing periods of time. Quick reply equals one value, and a slightly delayed reply gives you another value. Simple!

Exactly the same principle is used for a black card. if it had been say a club, [we'll pair clubs with diamonds for demonstration purposes] then she would still have taken the colour cards out of the envelope in readiness, and would have immediately been able to show the 'black' card to the friend/spectator thus enabling he/she to give you an immediate answer,and then you would know ti was a club.

So to recap on the above .... We pair [It can be any way you want] Clubs with diamonds .... these will be th quick replies.
And for hearts and spades there will be a delayed answer because your wife will have taken time to remove the colour cards from the envelope and therefore the friend/spectator will be slightly 'delayed' in answering you, and thus enabling you to discern the suits.


The other half of this routine not yet posted deals with divining the value of the card.

Here's a challenge for anyone who cares ......... In the above method, so far we have divined the colour and suit. Just for a challeng, maybe some of you can try and work out a way to get the exact value of the card in one move. I'm not asking you to post it here though. I just thought I'd throw it out as a challenge .... it can be done. I'm sorry but there are no prizes.

This routine could be simplified further by using a custom set of cards with drawings, or pictures, or esp cards, or whatever .... that way the whole divination process could be done in less moves that it takes with an ordinary deck of cards




WillMagicMan.

I like leaving it as playing cards. I know work has been done on unspoken codes for ESP cards, but I can't recall where I read about this. This is a good idea, as it allows for impromptu performing in a social setting. Not everyone on this board is into stage work.

Thank you for the idea. It is stimulating. My wife and I started working on a code a while back, but never really pursued it to the point of being able to use it in public. Just not enough hours in the day, I'm afraid. I'm thinking we might have to play around with ESP cards and an unspoken code for times when opportunity allows.

One of the nice things about a husband and wife team is that it provides an out if someone says "what card am I holding?" Of course, you have a rapport with your spouse, but that doesn't mean you can establish one with other people. Limits on your abilities make them more believable, I think.

-Patrick

Hi Mr. Woolery.
Thank you for a nice positive response. I bet if you and your spouse played around with this method/routine you could make it into something really good. Originally my partner and I used to perform this in the age old way using a two person verbal code. The routine would look like this:

I [as the performer] would go out of the room in order that I did not have visual contact with my partner the medium, or perhaps I would just turn away blindfolded, but we did have vocal contact. The only word in reply that my partner would ever use was a simple 'Yes'. We had rehearsed a way of saying the word 'Yes' in two distinct ways, [to us], which was imperceptible to the uninitiated ear, and we used that feature in combination with the time delay method I've previously described. The resulting performances were to all intents and purposes pure mind reading to our friends/spectators. Some cards were direct hits in the system, and required very little feedback from my partner the medium. The card was devined in a very rapid flowing manner, and it looked great.

In taking it a step further and eliminating any contact with the medium, I have of course had to introduce props ... envelopes, colour cards, and other things, etc. This may seem contrived, which in fact it is, but it's really only 'Setting up the stage' for the performance as you would do with other routines. Plus the props add to the theatrics and make it a little more interesting. [Well that's my excuse anyway]

In essence the spectator becomes a puppet, and the performer, and the medium are pulling the strings.

I'm glad that you like it, and I wish you well with it should you choose to adopt it.

In the latter stages of this routine in which the value of the card is divined, I had to introduce a third information carrier. [13 different values is a lot] It is in the form of yet another time slice/delay. So now there are three distinct time measurements at play. In order to achieve this, a prop is used allowing for a legitimate action to be carried out by the medium which will add just e few extra seconds delay to the response from the spectator to the performer. We are only talking very short times here, nothing that will arouse suspicion from any of the spectators, but will be easily discernible to you the performer. [After lots and lots of rehearsing and practice of course]. But hey folks, you only get out of something what you're prepared to put into it, and if you want it to appear as if you can read minds, you have to put a lot of effort into learning the method and have to practice until you can pull it off flawlessly.

The idea is to avoid a prolonged divination from the performer which would sound 'fishy'. We don't want an ''It's higher than a 10'', or ''its' somewhere between a 2 and a 6'' situation developing. The value should be divined in as short and high impact a manner as possible.


Thank you, Willmagicman.

Will - this is interesting. Thanks for posting your ideas. I will try to think on this as well and let you know what I come up with.

Thanks Phil,
I'm glad you find it interesting. It's nice to have something to chew over in the mind isn't it? I look forward to hearing what you might come up with.
Thanks for your interest.

In the next stage of the routine, the performer will go on to divine the suit of the card [which of course, he already knows]. This is where the triple time slicing code is combined with clever use of another prop. The information coming back to you via the friend/spectator this time will be the value of the card.

Let's just recap on what has taken place so far:

The performer has made two statements in advance of their respective confirmation.

1, He initiated the proceedings by stating boldly what the colour of the card is, and this was confirmed by the friend/spectator.
2, He has stated boldly what the suit of the card is, and this too was confirmed by the friend/spectator.

So far so good.

3, Well it hasn't happened yet, but I assure you all that the next thing the performer will boldly announce will be the value of the card.

I'm going to take a small step back for a while guys. I'd like to think that there are some of you interested enough to contribute your thoughts on this last piece of the puzzle/method. It can be quite mind boggling when you start wrapping your head around this sort of thing, and the brain can easily start going around in circles! It's quite easy to forget what stage your at when trying to figure out how this is going to work. Rest assured, there is a way, and I shall explain it in the fullness of time. Until I do, I want to give you guys the opportunity to come up with your own ideas and thoughts. Now that your minds have been put on the right track [by joining this topic and reading my posts] I'm sure that some of you might even be, dare I say it? .. slightly excited or stimulated by this process! It's good food for thought guys.

Will.

I'm back already! I thought I'd better mention a couple of things that may help you in trying to figure it out.

Firstly: Certain aspects of the method that I have not yet mentioned are dynamic and therefore adaptable in their deployment. [according to the circumstances under which the performance is to be given]. For example: We may or may not have had to carry out a manoeouvre before the routine even began [all part of the initial setup]. Or else we may have had to have added some extra script to the routine at the very start. Either one or the other will have been done.

Secondly: The final prop provides a lot of information.

Thirdly This routine has a lot of sneakyness to it.

Will.

It's a nice idea. But there are better methods out there imo. You could know the card just by looking at the position the deck was left by the medium on the table. The medium don't even had to be present when you arrived at the room. It didn't even had to be a deck left on the table. The deck could be gathered by the participant and a personal object left on the table, for a "psychometric transmission". They would die without knowing how the hell you knew it.

Max

Hi Max, Thanks for dropping by.

The Performer never gets to look at anything because he/she is not even in the room. He/she is never in the room and is completely isolated from the entire room and all it's contents from the offset. So 'Looking' at any object etc is not an option here. The divination is carried out from an isolated standpoint. Think of it like this: The whole routine could be performed over the telephone! That is why I have set such stringent criteria for the performance. I have eliminated the possibilities of using methods such as you suggest. Thanks for your comment.

Will.

I see. I think you're in the right direction with this criteria. Just keep in mind the less steps you need, the more invisible the method becomes.

Thanks Max.

There are only three steps in all:

Step one, = Colour.

Step two, = Suit.

Step three = Value.

No more and no less.


Thanks, Will.

If the wife can get hold of the cards beforehand she could steal one and switch it for the chosen card while the friend is messing around at the door. Easy as pie then.

Yuan ...Lol. Very good comment indeed, but no, nothing at all like that happens. All the eyes in the room [if there are others present] would be watching her. Anyway... the wife does nothing like that at all ... there is no need in this method. In fact someone else in the room could have chosen the card and then, after having looked at it, passed it to the wife. In that case, switching out the card would not work. The card that is chosen at the offset IS the card divined by the performer.

Thanks for your great input.
Will.

Will, I'm not sure if you got what I meant. In the example I gave there's only one step. I think 3 steps is not "only" 3 steps, it's too much actually. It might point to a direction we don't want spectators to look... and I don't think that's even necessary. You could forget the color, as the suit already indicates the color... you would could put a single action for suit, like hand not touching the card, hand touching the card on the table, hand holding the card above the table and hand pressing the card on the chest. Just an example to ilustrate how you could simplify 2 steps in a single step. If you manage to do suit and value in a single step, you could already think about selling it. But again, it's just a though...

Max, It would be wonderful to know what the suit is in just one move. But because the information is getting to the performer only via the spectator, at the moment I can't see how to do that. But I'm thinking about it. Here is a breakdown of the information we need to transmit to the performer:

1, = Colour. = 2 possible values
2, = Suit. = 2 possible values ... [4 if the colour hasn't already been transmitted]
3, = Value = 13 possible values

Total = 17 possible bits of information to transmit to performer.

I have divided the numerical values into different groups and I shall talk more about this later on.

I like the way you think Max, but under the strict criteria in which the performance is given, I can't see how to transmit the suit without first transmitting the colour. It's nice that you are interested, and I respect your thoughts.

Will.

Genuine question : how is this interesting for all of the guests watching with all of the secret whispering going on? Also, would folk not find the 'red card, black card' bit strange? Don't get me wrong, the theory is clever, it just seems a bit elaborate. Depends on how well you sell it I suppose.

Hi Phil, Thanks for your question. It doesn't have to be whispering at the door. It could just as easily be done over the phone, so it would be as interesting as any other mind reading trick done in that way, for example: 'Over Space and Time' by Phedon Bilek. (check it out) Regarding the red card, black card business: It's just a way for the medium to communicate with the spectator without verbal contact, and without letting the spectator know any further information about the chosen card at that point other than its colour. I get your point Phil, but here's the thing: The whole performance is delivered as speedily as possible. From start to finish should only take 30 to 40 seconds, So there's not much time for anyone to get bored, or overly suspicious.

I'll say this: I started this topic because I'm interested to see if any of you out there can improve it, and perhaps make it more performance worthy. It is after all just a simple little mind reading trick, the sort of thing that we would do when we we young, maybe try to fool our parents with it or whatever. It was never meant to be a professional commodity, just a bit of fun.

This whole affair is merely my attempt at trying to establish a way in which a remote divination could be performed without ANY contact between the Performer and the medium whatsoever. And without any secret radio communication devices, or code words, or anything at all like that. And let's face it.... that's a pretty tall order. It's also food for thought for those of us with nothing better to do! Lol.

Thanks for your comment Phil. You asked a fair question, and I hope I've given you a fair answer.

Will.

Thank you Will for this thread. I really like this divination effect. I also appreciate the fact that you left the second half as a challenge. Time permitting, I'll think about a possible solution.
Best Wishes.

Thanks adiabaticman for your interest and appreciation, it's most welcome. It's nice to get some positivity!

Will.