Mr. Wizard: Another Telepathy Card Trick

Mr. Wizard

I almost hate to reveal this trick, it is so simple, so elegant, and so convincing. It has worked for me and my college roommate for over 35 years. It has failed only once to convince our audience that I knew a real telepath with amazing long distance powers to read minds: Mr Wizard!

It was taught to me by Rich Laiderman, my roommate at MIT. I hope he will forgive me for revealing our secret after so many years. 

In what follows I teach you this bit of magic in the three steps made famous by the movie "The Prestige": The Pledge, The Turn, and The  Prestige.

The Pledge (The Setup)

The Pledge is when you set your audience's expectations. You will first need to have a Mark, someone you want to play the trick on.  SInce there are no illusions or physical tricks, you can do it with one person or many. But it is best in a social setting, because the longer and more casual the setup the more amazing the magic will seem

You will need a phone, a smart, quicky partner, and the knowledge that your partner on the other end is available at a certain number. With cellphones, this is now considerably easier than when Rich and I started doing the trick in 1971.

Choose your mark(s).  Start maneuvering the conversation casually to the subject of telepathy. Swap stories of experiences you had with telepathy, and whether you believe it or not. When the time is ripe,  tell the Mark that you were always a skeptic, until you met Mr. Wizard. You got to know him personally, but he made you promise never to reveal his identity in exchange for being willing to demonstrate his strange powers any time of day or night. 

Tell the Mark that Mr. Wizard is really good at reading minds from a distance. He can, for instance, to make it simple, have the Mark pick a card out of a deck and when you hold it in your hands and concentrate on it, declare what it is.  

When the Mark says "Wow, I'd like to see that!"  or "Show me, you're full of it!" You're ready for the turn. 

The Turn 

1. Make sure "Mr. Wizard" is going to answer the phone. Otherwise, you'll hear lots of jokes like, 'If he's so telepathic, how come he didn't know you were going to call? har-har"

2. Have the Mark pick a card from the deck. If no deck is available, have the Mark declare a card. For the purpose of this instruction, let's say the six of spades."

3. Call Mr. Wizard.

4. As soon as he answers, say, "Hello! This is [your name]! Is Mr. Wizard there?

5. Mr. Wizard is going to do all the heavy lifting. He has to be quick. He is immediately going to take the cue and say, slowly:"Hearts. ... Clubs... Diamonds ... Spades." 

6. As soon as he says the correct suit, you interrupt and say "OK. I'll hold on." 

7. Mr. Wizard now says, again slowly: "Ace, deuce, three four, five, six, ...."

8. When he says the right card, interrupt him swiftly. Say "Hi, Mr. Wizard. I have someone who doubts your ability."

9. Hand the phone to the Mark.

The Prestige (The illusion is produced)

It's OK if the Wizard embellishes a little, chats up the Mark, creates mystery, asks for his or name. Pauses. Thinks about it, and says, "You are thinking of a card, yes?  Wait, don't tell me. It's the Five of Spades!  Now please don't bother me again."