An easy "Is that your card?" magic trick.

I learned this magic trick a while ago, and it still amazes people. It's not the one where you turn the card backwards.

Step 1: Intro

This is the step where you say the famous "is this your card?"


NOTE:::: once an audience member selects the card, DON"T LOSE THE PLACE!!!

Comments

[Kamm]

Just an FYI, its 8 of clubs :P

[RonGo]

except you should remember that your helper card was an 8 of SPADES...

;⁾

[987456321]

lol

[Coolboyme]

good trick my father used to show me this and i was amazed and i suggest you cut the deck instead of shuffling as chances of changing the order is much much low

[animan1]

i use that and then add one more part... il make an ible if you want.

[timmy310m]

erm thats the 8 of clubs not spades

[animan1]

ur right

[CaffeineHouse]

I noticed that too

[fireblast_1212]

I have had the initial card get separated a couple times before.

[christ123]

pretty cool!!!

[davidfriedman]

Lol, Timmy...good catch. You'd think someone revealing a 'secret' would double check what they're posting. It is EASY to separate cards when doing a 'regular' shuffle. It may be possible to keep 'em together, but do you want to take that chance when doing this trick for a friend and end up looking like an idiot? Check out YouTube, there are plenty of videos of magic tricks revealed there.

[uzerzero]

A good magician never reveals the secret, because then it defeats the purpose of the trick. And if he chooses to reveal it, he reveals it anonymously. Like instructables :) A good magician also uses the macro setting on his/her camera.

[jeffreyf]

You know, I go back on forth on this point. Magic relies, to a degree, on the audience's amazement. But this is how magic has been practiced up to now. Perhaps the future of it has to do with amazement over skill, and ability to perform a trick, even if the "secret" to that trick is known.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

Another reason you don't reveal the "secret" is that in most cases, such as this one, the "trick" is so simple that it actually insults the audience's intelligence when they learn how easily they were fooled. They become "dis-enchanted" very quickly.

There is a level of craftsman where you perform for other magicians, and they are truly impressed by your level of skill. But that is not what happens when amateurs perform for "lay-people". Then the key is contained solely within keeping the "secret".

I've been wondering how to get started here. Maybe my first instructable will be a "magic trick", since the "pointer card method" has already been revealed. :-)

---

** I don't mean "amateur" as an insult. I mean simply "someone who performs a service, but the service is not their livelihood".

[uzerzero]

That is a good point. But if you look at it from a financial standpoint, for magicians that actually make money off their skill, what would bring people back more? The fact that they can perform a certain skill with agility, or the fact that the audience doesn't know how he does it? If you've ever seen The Prestige or The Illusionist, you would see how people keep coming back, trying to figure it out on their own. The human mind is curious by nature, and it won't settle until it has been sated, no matter how much it costs.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

The top level professionals always stay ahead of the curve, and actually benefit from people believing they know how an effect is done. The Pro then throws a monkey wrench into the audience's expectations and produces something truly unbelievable. The main ones who get hurt by revealing secrets are the amateurs and the guys who really should have kept their day jobs.

(...speaking as a former member of IBM Ring 112...)

[killerhamster]

:D i did NOT understand a word you just said

[killerhamster]

does any1 get how to do this, though?

[mrmath]

http://www.pokerology.com/articles/shuffle/hindu.htm

While the person has the card, start the hindu shuffle, and ask them to tell you when to stop. When they say stop, use the top part of the deck to square up the bottom part, turning the bottom of the cards towards you. Remember that card. Continue the hindu shuffle until complete. Then find the card you saw at the bottom of the top part of the deck. That will be the card next to the card you need to find. Much less likely to lose the card, and much less likely to be noticed.