A Meeting of the Minds

Still another card trick in which the key card is distant from the card which it keys is this impressive feat, which may well pass as a demonstration of genuine mind reading.

1. Note the bottom card of the pack for use as a key card, and shuffle it to the top in the course of an overhand shuffle ; then spread the cards from hand to hand, asking someone to remove a group of cards from the centre and leaving to chance the number he will take. Square the remainder of the pack and place it to one side.

2. Take the spectator's packet of cards and pass them one by one from your left hand to your right hand, faces toward the spectator, asking him to think of one of them. Turn your head away as you do this but silently count the cards so that you know how many there are in the packet.

3. Hand the packet to the spectator, then move away a few paces and turn your back. Instruct him to remove his card and place it face downwards to one side, then shuffle the remainder of the packet and replace it on the deck and consequently upon your key card. Finally have him place his selected card on top of all.

4. Have him cut off about two-thirds of the pack, then place the cut to one side; take the lower portion, shuffle it, and place it on top of the other portion; make one complete cut.

5. Returning, take the pack and recapitulate what has been done in some such words as these: "You will remember that you have thought of a card and replaced it in the pack after shuffling and cutting. You are the only person present who knows the name of the card of which you are thinking. If you doubt this, say so at this time. You are satisfied that no one else can know the name of your card?

Good. Therefore it is impossible that a confederate could transmit its name to me. I assure you that I have never found it necessary to employ confederates and would find it distasteful, but this trick is so amazing that some people afterwards think that this may have been the case. I mention it only to forestall such criticism.

"Others have claimed that I do not really succeed in the feat, but that the spectator who thinks of the card, through courtesy and a kindly desire not to embarrass me, agrees that the card I show is his when it is not. For this reason I shall ask you, sir, to write the name of the card of which you are thinking on a slip of paper or an envelope, being careful that no one sees the writing. In this way all of us will know whether I fail or succeed."

6. When this has been done, continue: "Finally, some persons have claimed that I study the expression of the person who thought of the card and by this means learn which is the proper card. To forestall this criticism, I shall turn my head away from you, sir, so that I cannot see you. Under these conditions, which are the fairest that I can devise, I shall show you the cards and when you see your card I will ask you to think 'That is my card,' and I will attempt to pick up your thought."

Turn your back and hold the cards well above your right shoulder so that everyone can see them. Push the cards off the face of the pack one by one with the left thumb, taking them in the right hand and allowing sufficient time for each card to be seen by the spectators. When your key card comes into view silently count the next card as one and count off as many cards as you counted in Step No. 2. The last of these is the spectator's card.

7. "I think I have your thought," you say, holding the card aloft. "This is your card!" The spectator acknowledges that this is so, and you have him hand the slip on which he wrote its name to someone, who reads it aloud and thus certifies to the success of your experiment. Sincerely presented, the feat is most impressive.