Mr. Wizard’s Telephone

This is a spin on a very old but amazing classic.

The Effect: You bring out a deck of cards and have someone pick one. Then, you call a “wizard” on your phone, and without revealing anything he is able to tell the person who picked the card what it is.

The Secret: You’ve worked out a way for your friend to determine the card by waiting to say anything. The moment you call, he answers. But you pretend that it’s still ringing.

Mr. Wizard then runs through the cards saying, “Ace, two, three, four, five… “ etc. When he hits the card’s value, you say, “Hello Mr. ________.”

Don’t call him “Mr. Wizard” because this trick has been around long enough for variations of it under that name to appear online. You don’t want to identify the effect, so come up with a name he will know is specifically for this effect to be on the safe side.

He now knows the value and immediately says to you, “Diamonds, Clubs, Hearts, Spades.” When he hits the suit, you say, “Hold on.” And hand the phone over to the person.

Alternative Method: You force a card on someone; they don’t actually freely pick one. Then, you have the person dial your friend’s number and when they ask for “Mr. Wizard”, he tells them the card instantly.

The Performance: While talking to some new people you offer to demonstrate ESP. Break out a deck of cards and show both sides, mix them, and allow someone to choose a card. You can force it if you like, control it, use a Stripper Deck, or a marked deck as you like.

Say, “Normally, most people who pull out a deck of cards and offer to show you something, it’s some boring magic trick and they fish through the deck as you wait. That’s not what I’m going to do. I have a friend who’s able to determine the card, I’m going to call him.”

Pull your phone out and dial your buddy, and let him figure out the card. Once he has Say, “Just a second. I’m going to give the phone to so and so.” Or whatever you’ve worked out in advance. It’s really up to you two. All you have to do is hand over the phone to the person who chose it for the reveal.

All the hard work’s been done, so when you hand the phone over your friend will say something like, “I understand you’re thinking of a card, is that correct?” She will reply to the affirmative. He then plays it up however he likes, finally naming the card to her.

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