Memorize a Full Deck of Cards

Astonishment comes in many forms. I’ve been astonished at the clever comedic wit of Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie on Who’s Line Is It Anyway? I’ve literally been moved to tears by the astonishing talent of Wayne Brady from the same show as creates, writes and sings a song on the spot with no prep work whatsoever. That is truly astonishing to me.

Harry Lorayne told a story in an interview on Reel Magic Magazine about how astonishing it was to lay people when he did effects that were just purely demonstrations of his legitimate ability to memorize a deck of cards right there on the spot.

If you’re reading this book, you are trying to “move” your audience. Move them to tears, move them to laughter, move them to surprise, move them to astonishment. All roads lead to astonishment if you have the right trail guide. That’s your job. A well timed line or joke or call back or comment can move people along the path.

It lets people in. What follows is an idea that probably was invented by Moses, but it makes for a fun moment. It can either be looked at as a throw away joke (which is totally a legitimate view) or it can be seen as a fun bonding moment with your audience, or it can be used as an inline to something much more powerful which is one of the ways I prefer.

The idea is a simple joke:

Magi: I can memorize a deck of cards in 5 seconds.

[Have someone shuffle. Then quickly glance through the cards]

Magi: Done. I’ve memorized every card in the deck.

Then simply start naming every card in the deck ( “ace of clubs, 2 of clubs, 3 of clubs, etc.).

Keep going until you get a laugh.

You can end there. Or . . .

You can use the quick glance through the deck to spot a particular card and/or its position for an upcoming effect.

You could also follow up with a “real” memory demonstration either by using one of the many pseudo-memory effects in print or by really doing it (if you’re that good).

It can be used to glimpse a key card and a million other things.

However, my favorite is to go right from this into my effect Spectral Chill. In that effect, you need to know the ninth card from the bottom of the deck, and the premise of the effect is that the cards keep track of themselves and they always know the location of other cards.

Right after doing the gag of naming a bunch of cards, stop and say, “Ok. I can’t really memorize the order, but the cards themselves can. Let me show you what I mean.” Then go right into Spectral Chill.

If ever there was an effect that meets the standard of the title of this book, of everything I’ve created, Spectral Chill has to be in the top 5 maybe even number one. It’s a moment of pure chilling astonishment. This silly little mock memory demo is an excellent lead in to such a chilly effect.