These effects are designed to help you create your own ideas on the many ways you can use 'The Decksterity Code' to produce incredible experiences for your spectators ... This page will be updated regularly so please revisit soon.
|
X-Ray Vision: By Martin T Hart
Give the spectator a mobile phone number and explain that he will need to call the number later. Have him shuffle the a deck of cards and when he is happy, select any card. Now have him place the chosen card inside any pocket. Using his own mobile phone, have him call the number and follow the instructions given |
INSTRUCTIONS given to the spectator over the phone or speaker phone:
“Thank you for calling. Please hold out your other hand palm side up. My friend will use an eyeline pencil to draw an eye on your palm. Once he has done this, place the eye over the pocket containing the card. (DONE) I can’t see anything… Oh, I know why. Have my friend draw an X over the eye. This turns it into an X-ray eye. (DONE) Once again put the eye up against the pocket containing the card. (DONE) That’s much better. I see you selected the King of clubs."
“Thank you for calling. Please hold out your other hand palm side up. My friend will use an eyeline pencil to draw an eye on your palm. Once he has done this, place the eye over the pocket containing the card. (DONE) I can’t see anything… Oh, I know why. Have my friend draw an X over the eye. This turns it into an X-ray eye. (DONE) Once again put the eye up against the pocket containing the card. (DONE) That’s much better. I see you selected the King of clubs."
|
Panoramic Vision: By Martin T Hart
Your partner-in-magic is blindfolded or turned away. Display a selection of 10 photographs. These can be cut from a few magazines. Have the spectator select any of the pictures and concentrate upon it. Your blindfolded partner does all the talking from here on: “You were presented with a bunch of images that have been cut from a magazine and you freely selected one of them. Please look at that picture and take in some of the detail in it. – Wow, you have looked straight at the lady in the red swim suit. Next to her is a bucket and spade and she is surrounded by golden sand. What else can you see? I sense you have noticed the little dog running from the sea. Look in the sky. You can see a red and white striped hot air balloon, right?” |
NOTES:
(Ensure all the photos are of different scenes & genres. Beach scene, City Scape, A Bridge, Cars, Bedrooms, Fashion Model and the like. Associate a number to each scene and memorise it. OR - Use the inside space between your fingers to hide printed reminders if necessary. For example: The word “Beach”. You will find that this simple reminder will spark all the details you have memorised. Being turned away will hide your peek. Assign certain fingers to represent different numbers, which represent the different images – If you perform this over a telephone you can just use in-hand notes or copies of the images). |
|
The sound of POP: By Martin T Hart
Have a bunch of 6 fully inflated balloons float on strings. With your partner-in-magic blindfolded ask a spectator to burst any balloon. (DONE) Your partner claims that she can tell which colour was burst simply by the sound it made. She is correct every time. NOTES: (Simply assign a number to represent each colour. For example: Red-(3) Blue-(4) White-(5) (Yellow)-(6) – Notice that the number of letters in the colour is the same as the assigned number. – You can add Black-(1) & White-(2) because this is easy to remember anyway. |
|
Object Location: The Impossible Coin Psychic
On a table sits a variety of objects. Such as a few books, a couple of magazines, a newspaper, a cup, a glass, a match box, a tobacco tin, the empty card box, a pizza box, a bottle of wine … Give the spectator a telephone number and ask them for a small coin. Ask your spectator to hide the coin under or inside any of the 13 objects on the table. Once this is done they can call the number using speaker phone. “You have placed a coin under or inside one of the many objects on the table. Please concentrate and I will attempt to identify where you put it. You put in inside the ‘Harry Potter’ book –" You open the book and praise your partner for getting it right. Pick up the coin, hold it up in the air and explain that there is only one explanation for this success, that telepathic communication is real. Now return the coin to your spectator. Your partner on the phone interrupts immediately and says to the spectator – “Hang on, can you concentrate on the value of the coin you hid inside the book? Please stare at it intently.” (Concentrates) – “It’s a 1 Pound coin” – (Correct) - (YOU don’t say a word. Allow the spectator to speak only) “Hang on – I think I’m strong enough to take this one step further – please find the date on your coin and again, stare at it intently. Let me know when you have found it. – Concentrate harder – It’s dated 2005 – (Correct) NOTES: Here you will need to assign a number to the 13 objects you choose to use. Your partner on the phone can have them written down but you will need to memorise them or place the objects in rows, so that you can count the position in your head. Meanwhile, your partner on the phone is listening-in to your set-up. This is best achieved using a hidden mobile phone with a wired head set, (Earphones) the type with the mic on the wire. This can be concealed under your shirt by your chest area. The phone can be inside your pocket. Assign a number to each of the coin values. There are 8 coins in the UK. When praising or thanking your partner for finding where the object was hidden, code this number so they know the coin value. After retrieving the coin – in the process of explaining that telepathic communication must exist, switch the coin for one of your own. You will have plenty of time to retrieve the correct coin and prepare for the switch. Your partner on the phone will have a list of dates corresponding to all the coins you covertly have inside your pockets, or where ever you chose to hide them. |
The best set-up for covert listening-in over the phone. Hide both the phone and the wired ear-phones.
Ensure the mic is not rubbing on clothing when in use. |
The Impossible forceThis effect is - Open for Development - By Martin T Hart
|
|
Faily and randomly select a spectator.
Say to your spectator – “I am going to attempt to force you to choose my favourite card in the deck. Your job is to stay very alert and avoid being influenced at all costs. – Furthermore, I will attempt to do this without touching the cards whatsoever. (Hand the spectator a deck of cards)
(Have the spectator shuffle a deck of cards in different ways. This can be comical if they can’t handle cards. Feel free to have them copy you as you shuffle another deck. Ensure that the final shuffle is using the basic overhand shuffle. You want to ensure that you can peek the bottom card when they have finished the shuffle. If your positioning is wrong, ask the spectator to repeat the overhand shuffle, but this time left handed. You will now get to see the bottom card). (DONE)
(Communicate the KEY CARD) (DONE)
(Remind the spectator that the cards have been shuffled every-which-way-but-loose and placed face-down on the table. Now ask the spectator to remove any card from the deck, peek at it without allowing anyone else to see it. Then to place their card on the top of the deck. Next, have them cut the cards and complete the cut, thus losing it in the middle of the pack. The bottom card is now on top of the chosen card and is doing the job of a KEY CARD).
(Now introduce your partner-in-magic and walk away).
Say to spectator - “Now if my partner has done his job properly you should have picked the one card we wanted you to pick all along. I will now go through the deck and find that card now. (Spot the KEY CARD & see the chosen card).
(Pretend that you can’t find it).
(Ask spectator) Did he tell you to replace your card in the deck? (YES) Would you mind looking through the deck yourself and without revealing what your card is, just check to see if it is in there? (YES) (Communicate chosen card) (Spectator looks through the deck)
“Can you see your card in there somewhere?” (YES) Oh great. Just give them another quick shuffle and let me look again. (DONE) (Take cards, look through and pretend you still can’t find it) I’m so sorry but I still can’t find it. (Call your partner back)
(Your partner-in-magic returns) – (Ask your partner) “Did you manage to force JAMES to pick the right card?”
PARTNER
“Yes – He shuffled the cards, picked one out without allowing anyone to see it and then lost it back in the deck!
“Well I can’t find it. Can you see it in here? (Partner looks through and finds the card)
PARTNER (Removes the card and holds it up but doesn’t reveal it yet). (To Spectator) “What card did you pick? (Spectator names card)
PARTNER (Shows the same card -) “And , as I said, the reason I wanted you to choose this particular card is because it’s my favourite card in the deck. In fact I am such a fan of the NAME CARD that I have it printed on my T-shirt”
(Removes jacket to reveal a T-shirt printed with that same card chosen) -
NOTES:
(Yes, you will need 52 T-shirts back stage, each printed with a different card on the rear. You can buy plain white T-shirts in bulk and then get the ‘Iron on’ transfers of playing cards. These are also very cheap to buy. Because the spectator will only see one T-shirt at a time, it is Okay to make all 52 transfers unique. Lay them in new deck order in a suit case and use a strip of paper to mark the position of each value, so it will be quicker to retrieve the right T-shirt and put it on. You will need a plain white T-shirt at the beginning of the routine and a jacket to cover the rear).
If you fail to spot the KEY CARD during the shuffle process, ask the spectator to spread the deck face up to satisfy themselves that the deck is mixed. Tell them that you want to avoid any 2 cards of the same value being together. You can now spot the KEY CARD. Now have them square up the deck and place it face down.
Say to your spectator – “I am going to attempt to force you to choose my favourite card in the deck. Your job is to stay very alert and avoid being influenced at all costs. – Furthermore, I will attempt to do this without touching the cards whatsoever. (Hand the spectator a deck of cards)
(Have the spectator shuffle a deck of cards in different ways. This can be comical if they can’t handle cards. Feel free to have them copy you as you shuffle another deck. Ensure that the final shuffle is using the basic overhand shuffle. You want to ensure that you can peek the bottom card when they have finished the shuffle. If your positioning is wrong, ask the spectator to repeat the overhand shuffle, but this time left handed. You will now get to see the bottom card). (DONE)
(Communicate the KEY CARD) (DONE)
(Remind the spectator that the cards have been shuffled every-which-way-but-loose and placed face-down on the table. Now ask the spectator to remove any card from the deck, peek at it without allowing anyone else to see it. Then to place their card on the top of the deck. Next, have them cut the cards and complete the cut, thus losing it in the middle of the pack. The bottom card is now on top of the chosen card and is doing the job of a KEY CARD).
(Now introduce your partner-in-magic and walk away).
Say to spectator - “Now if my partner has done his job properly you should have picked the one card we wanted you to pick all along. I will now go through the deck and find that card now. (Spot the KEY CARD & see the chosen card).
(Pretend that you can’t find it).
(Ask spectator) Did he tell you to replace your card in the deck? (YES) Would you mind looking through the deck yourself and without revealing what your card is, just check to see if it is in there? (YES) (Communicate chosen card) (Spectator looks through the deck)
“Can you see your card in there somewhere?” (YES) Oh great. Just give them another quick shuffle and let me look again. (DONE) (Take cards, look through and pretend you still can’t find it) I’m so sorry but I still can’t find it. (Call your partner back)
(Your partner-in-magic returns) – (Ask your partner) “Did you manage to force JAMES to pick the right card?”
PARTNER
“Yes – He shuffled the cards, picked one out without allowing anyone to see it and then lost it back in the deck!
“Well I can’t find it. Can you see it in here? (Partner looks through and finds the card)
PARTNER (Removes the card and holds it up but doesn’t reveal it yet). (To Spectator) “What card did you pick? (Spectator names card)
PARTNER (Shows the same card -) “And , as I said, the reason I wanted you to choose this particular card is because it’s my favourite card in the deck. In fact I am such a fan of the NAME CARD that I have it printed on my T-shirt”
(Removes jacket to reveal a T-shirt printed with that same card chosen) -
NOTES:
(Yes, you will need 52 T-shirts back stage, each printed with a different card on the rear. You can buy plain white T-shirts in bulk and then get the ‘Iron on’ transfers of playing cards. These are also very cheap to buy. Because the spectator will only see one T-shirt at a time, it is Okay to make all 52 transfers unique. Lay them in new deck order in a suit case and use a strip of paper to mark the position of each value, so it will be quicker to retrieve the right T-shirt and put it on. You will need a plain white T-shirt at the beginning of the routine and a jacket to cover the rear).
If you fail to spot the KEY CARD during the shuffle process, ask the spectator to spread the deck face up to satisfy themselves that the deck is mixed. Tell them that you want to avoid any 2 cards of the same value being together. You can now spot the KEY CARD. Now have them square up the deck and place it face down.
Check back for new ideas - This page will be updated regularly -
