What is the point of someone picking a card again? I took it for granted probably like every other magician, but lately I have been thinking what is the reason. I mean it is a great effect when a spectator selects a card and returns it to be shuffled and to find it again, but I think that we as magicians might be taking it too far…
An example. Triumph. what is the trick? It is making a shuffled mixed up face up/face down deck magically right itself into a normal state. Now where the fuck does having a card selected come into that equation? Do we dilute the trick because of the selection? Isn’t it clearer if triumph is done without a card being selected?
Imagine handing a spectator the deck and having them throw it on the table and shuffle face up/face down. you have them square the deck on the table. You then do your magical move and then spread the deck. The deck magically rights itself into all face down. that is impressive, clear, direct. Now add a selection into that trick…. it makes me wonder why. Its like we want magic to happen “around” the selection. The selection really takes a back seat.
“Look, I turned all the cards face down!… and found your card.”
Think about it this way. If you did a set of card tricks but never had a card selected, do you think it would stronger or weaker than a set of card tricks where every time it had to have a selection?
Do you just cut to the fucking meat of an effect because you don’t have a card selected? How many times had you have a layman say “like it really matters where I put the card… you know where it is anyways.”
Here is some homework. How many effects do you know that doesn’t involve a selection?
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