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Telepathy
'Telepathy' is a card effect that can actually be done over the
telephone. Here is a case where the performer never views or handles the
cards and yet he is able to identify with certainly a card that the
person on the other end of the line selects from the deck in a more or
less random manner.
Presentation
The performer states that his science of mental telepathy has
recently made striking advances and that with audience assistance he
would like to repeat an experiment reported in the latest issue of the
Journal of Telepathic Science. With this preamble, the performer asks a
spectator to mentally select and concentrate on a number between ten and
thirty. The spectator may consult secretly with other members of the
audience relative to this number selection but the performer is to be
kept uninformed.
To further impress the mentally selected number on his mind, the
spectator is also asked to focus attention on the two digits of his
number and when they are clearly set in mind, he is instructed to
discard cards from his counted-off packet that are equal in number
selected to these two digits respectively. Thus if the number selected
were (17), he would discard one and seven cards in turn, from his
17-cards packet leaving a residue of nine cards in his retained packet
(17-1-7=9).
Following this the spectator is requested to split his retained packet
of cards into two uneven piles. After completing this division he is
instructed to count the number of cards in the smaller pile will be his
key number and to make sure that this key number is not lost, the
spectator is asked to put this smaller pile of cards in his pocket for
future reference as necessary.
At this point the performer explains that he will now attempt a direct
telepathic communication with the spectator in the following manner. The
spectator is to pick up the larger pile of cards on the table, and from
this he is to count off cards one by one in numerical order. In making
this count he is to announce both the count and also the value of each
card in turn. For example, the countdown might run: first card, QD;
second card, 3C; third card, 2H; fourth card, 8S; fifth card JC.
Whenever the spectator reaches a count corresponding to his key number,
he is to mentally memorise this card but otherwise gives no indication
that this is his card. Presently he discloses both the card that
appeared at the spectator's key number and the key number itself. At no
time during this card effect is it necessary for the performer to touch
or see the cards.
Method
The performer uses paper and pencil to write down the numbers 1 to 17
in a column in numerical order. As the spectator later announces his
cards in turn, the performer notes down the value of each card opposite
its corresponding count-down number. Thus in the example given under the
presentation the list would have run as follows:
1 QD 6 11
16
2 3C 7 12
17
3 2H 8 13
4 8S 9 14
5 JC 10 15
When the last card has been called out, the performer notes the
number alongside this final card. This number is his clue to the number
of cards in the spectator's pocket, for when subtracted from 9, the
result is the spectator's key number.
Explanation
This card trick is based on the peculiar
fact that subtracting the digits of a number from the number itself
results in a multiple of nine. In the case of numbers falling between
ten and thirty, only two multiplies of 9 are involved. Hence, at the
point where the spectator splits his retained packet into two uneven
piles, the performer already knows that this packet must contain either
9 or 18 cards. Following this the spectator calls out all the cards in
numerical order and since the performer lists these cards, he also knows
the number of cards in the larger pile. A subtraction of this number
from 9 then automatically gives the performer his clue to the number of
cards in the spectator's pocket and also the clue of the spectator's
card at this number in the performer's listings of cards.
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