Is This Possible?

matthewmikell · Aug 22, 2015

So, I have a great idea for a magic trick, but I'm afraid it isn't possible. The trick is this: two magicians are performing at the same time, each with a different colored deck of cards but during the performance, they "mistakenly" find the other performer's card. (I'm sorry if that doesn't make sense) Obviously, the best option is to have a duplicate, but I'm stubborn and want the cards to be signed

. Any thoughts?

Josh Burch · Aug 22, 2015

It's completely possible, Eric Ross has a version of this same plot. No signatures are used but the magician doesn't have to even touch the decks. It's available on his At the Table Lecture, it is the 2 deck effect he performed on Ellen here.

The trick is at 3:50

leighelkins · Aug 22, 2015

This may be the medication talking but at a very basic level you're asking for the Penn & Teller bullet catch but with cards, figure that out and you may well have one of many possible ways to achieve your goal.

RealityOne · Aug 22, 2015

Josh is right about Eric Ross's Election -- its a great effect and doesn't require two magicians.

To do what you want to do with a signed card, you would have to structure the routine so that each magician did what the other does and exchanges decks twice in the process so that they end up with their original deck - essentially a Do as I Do plot for two magicians. There are lots of methods to force an odd backed card. After that it is a control and a gambler's cop.

matthewmikell · Aug 27, 2015

Thanks for all the advice, and I think that I've come up with a better idea. Still working out the kinks, but once I do I'm submitting it to the wire.

Rev · Sep 1, 2015

This got my mind cogs whirring this morning. I came up with a very rough method that would be great for stage.

The two magicians would be at opposite ends of the theatre. The signed cards would be shown to have transported from one side of the room to the other without the magicians ever coming near each other.

At least, that's the way it would appear

Would work with two different coloured decks, though i think this might tip the 'twist' so I would probably just use two the same colour. Would also make the trick ever so slightly easier.

Rev

Justin.Morris · Sep 3, 2015

You should check out the book Random Acts of Magic by David Acer. His trick Twice Removed is this effect. Tyler Wilson has a version where he uses a spectator as the other magician in his book Reinventing the Real. Check those books out so that you are not reinventing the wheel. (see what I did there?)

Rev · Sep 3, 2015

Justin.Morris said:
You should check out the book Random Acts of Magic by David Acer. His trick Twice Removed is this effect.

Funnily enough, this is also the first thing I thought of. Don't think the cards are signed in David's effect though.

Rev

Justin.Morris · Sep 3, 2015

No, there is no need, but there could easily be a pass off after using a Himber ring principle with the signed cards if you really felt it was necessary

IsaacHaber · Sep 3, 2015

Derek DelGaudio and Helder Guimaraes did exactly that in their off broadway run, Nothing to Hide. They performed ACR simultaneously with a red deck and a blue deck. Then for the final phase, they found a card of the other's color, and it was each other's signed cards. Just to clarify, these card were signed by random audience members, there were no duplicates.

Rumplestiltsken · Sep 3, 2015

It's hard to say that an idea for a magic trick is impossible, because the entire point of magic is to make someone think what the magician does is impossible. Your idea has stumped me, because signed materials are always hard to work around, but then again, David Blaine has stumped me as well. Think about it, and you'll get it.

Rumplestiltsken · Sep 3, 2015

Josh Burch said:
It's completely possible, Eric Ross has a version of this same plot. No signatures are used but the magician doesn't have to even touch the decks. It's available on his At the Table Lecture, it is the 2 deck effect he performed on Ellen here.

The trick is at 3:50

This is similar to BLIND by Daniel Madison, available on the Magic Tricks page.

Josh Burch · Sep 4, 2015

Rumplestiltsken said:
This is similar to BLIND by Daniel Madison, available on the Magic Tricks page.

Yeah, they are aware of each others creations. Election actually got a lot of flack when it first came out because it was so similar to a few different effects on the market.

Rev · Sep 4, 2015

Justin.Morris said:
No, there is no need, but there could easily be a pass off after using a Himber ring principle with the signed cards if you really felt it was necessary

Assuming I get what you're saying, and I think I do, this is the kind of thing I meant in my first post above. The key is the distance between the two spectators and their respective magicians.

Rev

Justin.Morris · Sep 5, 2015

Rev said:
Assuming I get what you're saying, and I think I do, this is the kind of thing I meant in my first post above. The key is the distance between the two spectators and their respective magicians.

Rev

Ah yes missed that