Jack Elmsley’s L.A. Wowee Zowee Card Prediction Miracle

Based on “Four-Card Technicolor Thought (#1)”
by Ed Marlo (Kabbala Three, 1975-76)

Effect

The faces of a packet of four Jacks are shown and the spectator is instructed to name their favorite Jack (hearts, diamonds, etc.). The magician says that he knew they would choose that particular Jack. He then flips the packet FD and the backs are shown one at a time. There is one odd-colored back. When it is turned over, it is seen to be the spectator’s selection. It is repeated with them choosing an entirely different card! The routine follows with a pseudo explanation and a very startling ending.

Only four Jacks are used, no gaffed cards, simple to do.

Method

Get two red-backed Jacks (say, clubs and spades) and two bluebacked Jacks (hearts and diamonds). Show the faces of the Jacks, mixing them around as you patter. When the spectator has selected their favorite Jack, put it on top of the FU packet with its mate (of the same color) immediately below it. Example: if they choose hearts, put the Jack of Hearts on top, put the Jack of Diamonds under it and then put the other two Jacks (in any order) under these. Turn the packet FD onto the left palm, as if you were closing a book.

An Elmsley Count (a.k.a. Ghost Count) is employed at this point. If you don’t know the Elmsley Count, it is easy to do: Hold the cards FD in a pinch grip (The thumb and first two fingers of the right hand hold the right side of the packet. The thumb and first two fingers of the left hand hold the left side of the packet). Take the top card in the right pinch grip and pull it off of the packet. Count “One.”

Slide it under the packet held by the left hand (between the left fingers and the packet), leave it there and take the next two cards into the right pinch grip. The left thumb helps scoot them off of the bottom card and to the right. Done correctly, it should look as if you merely took a single card on top of the one your right hand was already holding. Count “Two.”

Out jog the next single for roughly half of its length as it is placed on top of the right hand group. It will be a different colored back. Count “Three.” Place the last card flush with the bulk of the right hand packet. Count “Four.” Because of the Elmsley procedure, this last card is actually the first card dealt off of the packet at the beginning. No one knows this but us. Another tip: try and execute the Elmsley Count using a mechanics grip. The pinch grip is fine for beginners but you should try to adopt a more natural grip as soon as possible. Most laymen don’t mind but, to magicians, the pinch grip reeks of a false count. Okay, back to the trick at hand.

At this point you should have a packet of cards with their backs alternating in color and with the second card from the top outjogged. The spectator thinks they have seen four cards of which the third card has an oddcolored back.

Slowly pull out the outjogged card and turn it FU to show it is the spectator’s choice. Flip the other three cards FU, book fashion, and put the chosen card on the top. You are reset and ready to repeat the effect. As a general rule, you should avoid repeating almost any trick but the strength of this effect lies in the fact that it should be repeated without any hesitation. I like to patter “Now, if you hadn’t chosen the Jack of [chosen suit], what would have been your next favorite choice?” I try to steer them into choosing a suit of the opposite color. Then I show what I would have done had they chosen that particular suit (by repeating the Elmsley procedure above).

I usually finish with this kicker:
“Would you like to learn the secret?”
They almost always reply “yes.”
“These are magic store cards and, by rubbing them together, they change color.”
Rub the named cards back-to-back with their mates and show that they have changed the color to match. Hand a red card and a blue card to the spectator and let them try. As the spectator is trying this (and failing miserably), steal a 9v battery from your pocket (or, as I sometimes do, I drop one down my sleeve at the very beginning and have it ready to go). Take back the cards, lay them on top of the battery in your slightly-cupped hand, study them briefly, flex one and let the 9v battery fall to the table (or, if no table is available, ask the spectator to cup their hands together).

This is a very shocking moment so let it simmer a bit before continuing:
“Oh, great, the batteries are low in these cards.”

History

Bruce Spell introduced me to this little wonder while we were on our way to an “A Day Of Magic” seminar in Los Angeles. The “Wowee Zowee” part was because I was so impressed by its “impact-to-effort” ratio. So there you have it. By the way, you can use any set of four cards; you don’t have to use Jacks.

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