Hilarious Finish to an Old Trick

From any pack a card is freely chosen by a spectator who is told to note it carefully without allowing any one to see what it is. The card is replaced, brought to the top and the pack shuffled, by whatever methods you prefer.

Announce that you will make the card appear at whatever number another spectator may call. Suppose eleven is chosen. Count off ten cards, taking the top one, the chosen card, first in the right hand, holding it with its outer end slanting downwards to avoid any exposure of its face, and putting the rest on it one by one. Let the spectator take the next card, the eleventh, off the deck face down. At once bring the right hand with the cards counted off, up to the pack, push the bottom card, the chosen one, to the left about an inch, and turn it face up at the moment the two packets are put together. The action takes but a moment and is covered by the back of the right hand.

The spectator says you have failed, the card is not his. Take it back and push it into the pack, anywhere above the reversed card. After a little argument suddenly perk up, remembering that the spectator should have held the pack himself. Give it to him to hold upright in his left hand, facing inwards. Tell him to count to the eleventh card, taking them off one by one slowly so that there will he no mistake, handing them to you as you stand beside him. When he has taken off the tenth card, stop him and take hold of his left wrist so that he must keep the pack in the same position, that is, with the reversed eleventh card facing the onlookers.

Ask him if he believes in telepathy. Say you are sure he will be an excellent transmitter and ask him to point out any one of the spectators to act as receiver. Remind him that no one but himself can possibly know what card he chose and impress on him that he must think intently of it and then ask the person to name it. The other spectator, entering into the joke, will call the name of the reversed card, much to the victim's bewilderment. After congratulating him on his great concentrative powers and so on, let him discover that his card is reversed.

This little comedy never fails to create amusement and really enhances the mystery as to how the chosen card arrived at the required number reversed.