Think of a Card
Think of a Card is a mentalism effect in which a spectator merely thinks of a card and the performer locates it.
The magician allows the spectator to think of a card by:
- Displaying the faces of a small packet of cards
- Dispalying all the cards in the deck or apparently all the cards
- Allowing the spectator to just think of the value and suit of any card in the deck.
The magician reveals the thought of card in one of two ways:
- A card is identified (i.e. placed down on the table or sticking up out of a fan) and then displayed after the spectator announces the thought of card.
- The spectator announces the card and then the card is revealed in a unique way. For example, it's the only red backed card in the blue deck.
See also Any Card At Any Number.
Early examples of this plot are:
- "To tell one without confederacie what card he thinketh" in The Discoverie of Witchcraft by Reginald Scot (1584) which was most likely contributed by John Cautares.
- "The Card Thought on per Force" from Volume 4 of Rational Recreations by W. Hooper (1774)
- "The Card Thought Of" in The Secrets of Conjuring and Magic by Robert-Houdin (1877). Translated by Professor Hoffmann from the French edition (1868)
- Bob Hummer's "Mind Reader's Dream" (1952)
- Out of Sight - Out of Mind by Dai Vernon in Dai Vernon's More Inner Secrets of Card Magic (1960)
- Ed Marlo's "Mental Topper" in New Tops, Vol. 6, no. 4, April 1966.
- Think of a Card by Paul Harris in The Magic of Paul Harris (1976) and Book 1 of Art of Astonishment (1996).
- Invisible Rising Card by Paul Harris in Las Vegas Close Up (1978) and Book 1 of Art of Astonishment
- Derek Dingle has some work on it in The Complete Works of Derek Dingle (1982).
- Bob Farmer's "Tsunami" (1987)
- "Topping Mental Topper" in Jon Racherbaumer's Cardfixes (1990)
- Ray Kosby's Deep Thought also in Book 1 of Art of Astonishment (1996)
- Milt Kort's All-Outs Think-of-a-Card (Milt Kort, No. 19 in the Ron Bauer Private Studies Series (2005). First published as "Sure-Fire Think of a Card" in The Linking Ring, Vol. 77, No. 10, October 1997, pp. 113-115.
- Think A Card by Roger Crosthwaite in Arcadia (1999) (Anthony Brahams' Cairn Press.)
- Kolossal Killer by Kenton Knepper (2004)
- "Double Duty" in MonkeyShines, Vol. One by Doc Dixon (2009).
- Armando Lucero's "Empanada" routine (2009)
- Invisible Deck
- Brainwave Deck
- Force of thought
- Mind Power Deck
- Mind's Eye Deck by David Harkey
- Roger Crosthwaite's book Roger's Thesaurus has an entire chapter on think a card.
- "A Card Merely Thought of" ebook by Tom Baxter.
- From Witchcraft to Warlock: The Evolution of Think-a-Card (A lecture given by Fr. Roger Crosthwaite at the Magic Circle Collector's Day (May 25, 1996) [Reprinted in Arcadia by Crosthwaite (1999) ]
- The Collected Wisdom of Magictalk - Think of a Card