When I was an itinerant magician travelling through the southern USA, I often had to "sing for my supper". Also was very often invited to homes as a guest ("but be sure to bring your deck of cards...").

The following kind of outlines without exposure one very fruitful method.

On arrival at the home or club, I would take cards from my second expendible deck and place them in various places around the room in which I was to perform. The hardest part is to remember where and which card!

You are then set for an incredible miracle. You don't want to be greedy and use them all, in fact one card only revealed is the best.

Using for starters an effect where any card can be used, you request that someone name a card. If it happens to be one that you hid before, reveal it with some dramatic intro (ghost of Malini, a de jevu you had of being in the room before, you know what I mean)if not, just proceed with the single card effect you were planning anyway. This is far better than forcing a duplicate but of course does not always work.

So go ahead and force a duplicate at some point. Then do the dramatic reveal. This is as good as the card under the posterior (I have been slapped for that one, incidently. The young lady thought I had to have had my hand there to put the card there!)

One variation also is to have someone pick out an object in the room. If it has a card under it then proceed with another incredible miracle if you can get the force card in place.

I often did wonder what the owners thought when they cleaned house and found all those unrevealed cards...

Interesting idea...

I have been doing this for years, under tables, behind pictures,under the drip tray on the bar, etc.The best one ever was one night I was performing at a local bar. Somebody had picked a card & I peeked it & remembered that I had a duplicate in an awning above the entrance to another bar a few blocks away.

I palmed the card off as I handed the deck to a spectator to shuffle it. After they had thoroughly mixed the cards, I took them back & spread through them face up. The person who had picked the card said they could not see their card.

I asked her if she would like to see something amazing, but we would have to take a walk over to the other bar. She agreed, her & about 15 other people followed me over to the other bar.

When we got there, I asked one of the men in the group to reach into the awning. He did & pulled out"her" card. Everyone freaked out!


It was great! By the time the story was retold many times, it was a signed card.



Mike