Good evening,

I need some advice really if possible.

I have entered a talent competition at work (30,000 + employees ) and got voted into the last 20 or so people. I performed E.B. 2.0, Sudden Deck 3 and the Mental Photography Deck together in front of a camera. People will now vote on who they want to represent the brand in the finals.

If I make it to the finals I would need to perform in front of around 300 / 400 people.

I was wondering what effects would be good for a room of that size. There will be no cameras or screens etc. The act can last around 10 minutes.

I was thinking of opening with the Sudden Deck 3 to show people who may not have seen the audition video and then use a disposable deck etc. Maybe mention people don't trust magicians who always hold the cards and ' dispose ' the deck.

Then go into a ID routine. Get the room involved ?

I have never done anything like this before, so all ideas are appreciated.

If you do ID, you may want to involve the audience by throwing a beach ball or some other soft object into the audience, have the catcher pick a card color (red or black) and then throw the object to someone else, have that person select a suit and throw, the third picks a high or low card and throws, and a fourth picks the exact card denomination. Gets whole audience involved and the card selection is clearly random. Build it up and reveal. Good luck and enjoy!

Thanks for the advice!

Celebrity Smart Ass by Bill Abbott might play well to a room that size as well. I've seen that trick get big reactions. I've done it before where I mail the prediction to someone a few days before and have them hold on to it until the end.

You can also use some jumbo or ultra jumbo card tricks just to demonstrate that you don't use sleight of hand, then perform Qua-Fiki's Ace Chaser (from The Wizards' Journal #21) or some other jumbo card effect that actually does use sleight of hand - sort of, like The Three Card Trick with Four Cards, found in The Wizards' Journal #22.

Thanks for your advice guys!

Any one of a number of JUMBO RISING CARD tricks would work well, with a Jumbo Moving Pip Card for a surprising finale'.

Easy-to-do with a strong professional impact...

Julie