The Sphinx Golden Jubilee Book of Magic

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Card Spelling De Luxe
By George G. Kaplan

THE performer fans a deck of cards permitting the audience to see that they are all different, and, after allowing the pack to be cut several times, requests a spectator to cut the deck at any point while the performer's back is turned, remove the top card and, after remembering its name, to insert the card in the center of the deck. Then he is told to place the entire pack in the outside pocket of his coat.

Although this is done while the performer's back is turned, he nevertheless takes the spectator's wrist and requests him to mentally spell out his card, using one letter for each card removed from his pocket. When the last letter of the card being spelled mentally is reached, the spectator is told to think "Stop."

In spite of the fact that not a single question is asked, the performer, after removing a number of cards from the spectator's pocket, suddenly calls out: "You just thought of the word 'stop,' did you not? Well, strange to say. I not only received the mental impulse to stop, but the card I am now holding is the one you are thinking of. Will you please name it for the benefit of the audience?" When the card is named the performer displays the card he is holding. It proves to be the thought-of card.

The clean-cut manner in which this effect may be performed from beginning to end will leave a profound effect upon the spectators and, at the same time, should commend itself to the up-to-date performer.

Secret: Although the performer fans the pack and the cards appear to be different, it consists of four series of twelve cards each, arranged as follows:

5S  KH  QC  9H  JS  8C
3C  QH  9S  4H  JH  KH

Now, regardless of where the spectator cuts the deck, if he should glance at the top card and replace it in the center of the pack, the twelfth card from the top will always be a duplicate of the one he looked at.

Furthermore, any card that he will think of will have exactly twelve letters, so that although the spectator spells out his card mentally, if the performer counts the cards as they are removed from the pocket until the twelfth appears, this will be the duplicate of the selected card.


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