Hereís a routine Iíve been
using now for about six months. I admit Iíve
used it mostly for magicians and it has left
them baffled; the few laymen Iíve performed
it for had no clue whatsoever and everyone
Iíve performed it for were surprised to be
holding their selection at the end of the
routine! I hope you are able to use itÖ
Phone Home
By Paul W. Cummins
© 1999
For some years I have been
looking for an easy to do, easy to remember,
baffling card routine that may be performed
over the telephone. I specifically wanted
to give the impression to the person that
Iíd called that they had choices to make during
the routine that would seem to prevent my
having any control over the outcome of the
process. And, importantly, I didnít want the
person Iíd called to be able to reconstruct
the routine by following the steps again after
weíd completed the phone call.
Jim Swain demonstrated a
routine to me after having seen Jon Racherbaumer
perform Marloís "Nouveau 21-Card Trick" (from
Marlo Without Tears, Racherbaumer,
p. 146) at the 1997 Magic On The Beach magic
convention in south Florida. Jimís version
of Marloís routine could be done over the
phone successfully, and he added an important,
appealing, step to it, but the effect could
be reproduced after the phone call if the
spectator could remember the proper steps
to take. Jimís routine led me to develop the
following. Since the patter used in the routine
is extremely important, this description will
be unusually patter-heavy.
Telephone a spectator and,
after making the appropriate amenities, ask
if theyíd like to see a card trick. If they
do, and only if they do, ask them to
round up any deck of cards. When they have
done so, ask them to shuffle the deck and
create three face down piles of seven cards
apiece. Have them place the remainder of the
deck aside.
It is important to give specific
and simple instructions! Say, "Pick up one of the piles and hold it in your hand as if you were
going to deal the cards. Is the pile in your
right hand or your left hand?" Assume
the spectator answers that the pile is in
their left hand. Say, "Then
with your right hand, lift off a portion of
the pile and turn your right palm toward yourself
so you can look at the card youíve cut to.
Remember that card! Okay, place the cards
in your right hand onto one of the piles on
the table."
Continue your instructions,
"Now place the remaining cards
in your left hand onto the OTHER pile on the
table. Pick up that OTHER pile and place it
onto the pile that contains your card."
The spectator will do so.
Youíll now execute Swainís
excellent addition to Marloís routine. This
is the first time that the spectator will
be given some choices that apparently take
all control away from the magician. Say, "Pick up the pile on the table and hold it like you were going to
deal again. Cut a little packet off the top
and place it onto the table a bit to your
left. Now cut another packet and place it
to the right of the pile on the table. Finally,
place the remaining cards to the right of
the piles on the table." Students will
recognize these actions as the first part
of the Ose False Cut. Since the spectator
is executing the false cut for you, some time
misdirection is helpful. Say, "If I were there in the room with you, I might be able to eyeball
all the cuts you made and estimate the location
of your card. But since I am not there, I
can have absolutely no idea how many cards
you cut when you chose your card, nor how
many cards you cut into the piles that are
on the table in front of you, do you agree?"
The spectator will have no option but to agree.
"Okay," you say, "place the pile on your left onto the middle pile. Now place that
whole pile onto the pile on your right, and
pick up the entire packet."
"Please pretend
that Iím sitting across from you and deal
me the top card face down. Deal the next card
to yourself, and one to me, another to yourself,
and keep dealing until you are out of cards."
The spectator will indicate when they are
done. You will now give another instruction
that allows the spectator a choice. Say, "Pick
up either pile, yours or mine, it doesnít
matter which one, and spread it faces toward
you between your hands ñ like you were playing
a game of Gin rummy or Bridge." By
virtue of the mechanics of Marloís selection
procedure, the selection is the fourth card
from the top of the pile in front of the spectator.
The spectator may pick up either packet; you
will learn which packet was selected in a
moment without having to ask.
When the spectator indicates
that they have spread out the cards, say,
"All right, Iím getting the
sense that you can see your card, is that
not correct?" If the spectator had
chosen their own pile, they will respond positively,
in which case you say, "Yes, I thought so." This will in itself surprise the spectator!
If they had chosen the pile they dealt for
you, then they will respond negatively, in
which case you say, "Right,
thatís NOT correct." This is an old
gag that allows you to capitalize on the ambiguity
of the first patter line in this paragraph.
Most importantly, this whole sequence allows
you to determine which packet the spectator
had chosen. If the spectator does not see
their card, they chose your packet; if the
do see their card, then they chose their own
packet.
So, if the spectator can
see their card in the packet they hold, have
them place the other packet aside with the
deck proper. Also, have them close the fan
of cards and hold the packet face down in
their left hand. If they do not see their
card, have them place the packet they hold
aside ñ and have them pick up the other tabled
packet.
Continue your patter, "Obviously,
we are eliminating cards. Deal the top card
to me again, the next to yourself, and continue
just like before. Let me know when youíre
done." At the conclusion of this deal,
the selection will again be the fourth card
from the top of the packet they have dealt
to themselves. You need to direct them to
pick up this packet, but you should use one
of the following patter lines to emphasize
that the choice is their choice and not yours.
- If the spectator initially chose
packet they dealt to themselves then say,
"I donít know which pile
you chose the last time, but this time
pick up the same pile. So if you chose
your own pile last time, pick up that
pile now."
- If the spectator initially chose
the packet they had dealt to you, then
say, "I donít know which
pile you chose the last time, but this
time pick up the other pile. So, if you
chose my pile last time, pick up your
own pile now."
Have the spectator place
the other pile aside. This is the point at
which your spectatorís retrograde analysis
of the routine will fail if they decide to
try to reconstruct the trick after you are
off the phone. You had given them their choice
of packets earlier. Now, although you are
not giving them a choice of packets per se,
your instruction is based on a choice they
made earlier ñ a choice with an outcome that
you have no apparent means of knowing. Actually,
of course, you are directing them to choose
the packet that contains their chosen card
and to discard the packet that does not.
Continue, "Okay,
one more time. Deal the top card to me, the
next to yourself, like weíve been doing. Let
me know when youíre done." Here comes
another red herring. Say, "Again,
I donít know which of the piles you chose
before, but this time I sense that you must
use the pile that is in front of you. Pick
that pile up and discard the pile you dealt
to me." In the spectatorís mind, this
direct instruction cannot possibly be based
on the spectatorís previous choices because
the spectator believes that their previous
choices are unknown to the performer! More
smoke for the retrograde analysis.
The final red herring: "You
may have two or three cards. If you have three,
then discard any one card of the three. Okay,
are you down to two cards?" The spectator,
of course, only has two cards, but this patter
supports the theme that you do not have any
knowledge of their previous choices because
you have allowed for the possibility that
they might have three cards ñ the exact amount
of cards in the packet they dealt to you in
this round. Also, when you ask them to "discard
any of the three," they will think to themselves
later, "what if I had had three cards and
I discarded the selection?"
To finish say, "Take
the top card into your right hand and give
me a moment." Pause briefly, then say,
"You cut to a card and remembered
it, you cut the deck onto the table into piles
whose number I could not know, you made your
own choices about which packets to discard.
Place the card in your left hand aside. I
believe you are now holding the card you cut
to moments ago, take a look." The spectator
will follow your instructions and be left
with the very card they had chosen. Given
your recap of events in the above patter line,
the spectator has no option but to be surprised
to find that they are staring at their selection!
And, as discussed above, retrograde analysis
will only frustrate their attempts to discover
how you led them, apparently through all of
their own decisions, to the very card they
had initially selected.
References, Credits, Comments
… The only portion of Marloís
"Nouveau 21-Card Trick" that is used in the
above effect is a simplified version of the
cutting/placement procedure from the Third
Phase of the Marlo article in Racherbaumerís
Marlo Without Tears, found on page
148.
… Racherbaumer also cites
Marloís "The 21-Card Trick Streamlined" from
The Cardician, by Ed Marlo, on page
134. He also mentions that David Solomon,
Steve Draun, and Jon himself have work on
Marloís routine, but he didnít reference them.
Steve Draunís "Twenty-One Again" may be found
in Secrets Draun From Underground,
by Richard Kaufman, on page 128.
… See also Marloís "21 Plus
Subtlety" from Racherbaumerís Kabbala,
Volume 1, Number 7, page 57; Chuck Smithís
"Imaginary Card Trick" from his lecture notes
What If; Chris Kennerís "You Must Be
21 To Enter" from his Totally Out of Control,
on page 145; and Doug Connís "Impossible 21
Card Trick" from the soon-to-be-published,
Tricks of my Trade, The Magic of Doug Conn,
by Paul Cummins.
… Jay Oseís great false cut,
"Oseís Cut," was first published in Harry
Lorayneís Close Up Card Magic, on page
93.
I canít let this column go
with mentioning a few things: my new web site,
http://www.fasdiu.com, has been created and
is being administrated by GeMiNiís own Pat
Hennessy and heís done a wonderful job for
me. Thanks Pat (and Doris!). For reasons he
already knows, a big thanks to Joe Stevens
too.
Should you visit the website,
youíll see that I have just released an instructional
video on coin magic, Up In Smoke, The Underhanded
Coin Magic of Paul Cummins. Iím nervously
pleased to say that the reaction to the video
so far has been wonderful and that sales are
brisk. As usual, GeMiNite members receive
a $5.00 discount off the retail price of the
video (much like the FASDIU lecture notes),
and you may contact me here, at pcummins@fasdiu.com,
or via the web site to order. If you order
through the web site, please be sure to send
me a separate email letting me know that you
are on GMN so that Iím sure to apply the discount.
Finally, if you try out "Phone
Home," let me know how it goes for you!
Thanks,
Paul W. Cummins
