Project 365 (151/365): The Ultimate Transpo

.:151/365:The Ultimate Transpo:.

Here’s a routine that I absolutely love and use every chance I get, because there are a million and one ways to establish your magician persona with it, depending on what you want to project that day.

The premise is very simple: they get a card, like, say, the Queen of Hearts. Then, they select a card at random, like, say, the Five of Clubs. Then, while they’re holding the Queen tightly in both hands, you switch the Queen in their hands for the Five in yours.

The result is: the card they’re holding very tightly is the Five Of Clubs. The card in your hands is the Queen Of Hearts. Very baffling, very impressive, and can be done as quickly or as slowly as your persona dictates, which is what makes this routine very useful and flexible at the same time.

I’ve used the routine as a mentalist, emphasizing hypnosis as the method by which I perpetrated the exchange.

I’ve used the routine as a fast-talking hustler, emphasizing the speed by which I do things, that the naked eye can’t catch me swipe their card and trade places with them.

I’ve used the routine as a mystic time traveller, using my abilities to travel in time to go back and swith the cards from the beginning despite what their eyes may tell them.

Doesn’t really matter how you posit the performance, actually. What matters is that the options are all there, and the routine lends itself naturally to any which way you wish to pursue it.