I've been involved in magic and mentalism for over 40 years, and hate to admit it, but never thought about joining the IBM! But all that changed a few months ago as I finally sent off my membership application. So happy I did. A couple of weeks ago, I received my membership card, and after examining it a bit, an idea came to mind for a card trick based on a feature of the card. If this has been discussed before, my apologies, but as a new member, I wanted to share this idea...

I take out my membership card and show it to the participant. I tell them that I've recently joined the International Brotherhood of Magicians, the world's largest organization dedicated to the art of magic. When you become a member, you agree to follow a code of ethics. The big rule is - don't reveal the secret to your tricks. That's an obvious one, right? But here's a lesser known rule on page 137 of the manual, article 498. As a magician, you are required to perform one card trick (said tongue in check, with a smile). So, since I don't' want to be kicked out of an organization I just joined, let's try a card trick! Hold this...

I hand the participant my membership card and take out a deck of cards. After a few shuffles I riffle the front end of the deck, asking them to slide the membership card anywhere into the deck, marking a random location in the deck.

Once done, I ask them "Did you notice the back my membership card?"

As I say that, I execute Bill Simon's Prophecy Move, turning over the membership card. I point out that there's a picture of two cards on the back - one is the King of Clubs, the other is the 2 of Diamonds.

I then carefully remove the membership card along with the card above and below it. Turning them over, it's the King of Clubs and the 2 of Diamonds.

That's it, and as I said above, glad to be an IBM member!!

Well, I had a chance to log onto the I.B.M. website and discovered that this exact effect is already described. I'd like to think of this as an instance of prediction the past! ;-)

Welcome to the IBM!

There are a lot of great benefits. Have you checked if you have a Ring local to you? If you are not aware, as a member you are already a member of Ring 2100, the Ring that meets online. The meetings are a lot of fun

Also, the access to all the past IBM linking rings through Ask Alexander is amazing Lots of neat things to explore.