Hobsons Choice By Michel W. Potts
A spectator mentally thinks of a card. The performer places a card face down on the table. The spectator names out loud his card. The performer turns over the card to show it is the named card. No fishing, no questions of any kind. Four versions are described.
DOUDECUPLE
After the spectator has made sure his selected card is lost in the deck, he deals the cards into a number of packets that he restacks in a random order. The performer is then given the cards and, without ever looking at their faces, he miraculously finds the spectator’s card. For the revelation, two versions are described.
COMPLIANCE
Two spectators each freely chose a card that is visibly buried in the middle of the deck. The performer turns over the deck to the spectators who each go on to find their own selected cards in a fair but astonishing manner.
CURRIED DICE
A spectator rolls three dice to arrive at a random number, which determines how many cards are used. The cards are mixed up, the spectator thinks of one and mixes up the cards again. Only after the spectator returns the cards to the deck and returns the deck to the box does the performer reveal the spectator’s card.
ESPial
Two spectators are given a packet of ESP cards, which they shuffle. Each spectator is fairly shown all the ESP cards and told to think of an ESP symbol. When the spectators later remove their mentally chosen symbol the packet, they will be amazed to find they both thought of the same symbol. Regular ESP cards are used.
FIN DE CHARLIER
A visual, deceptive finish for the Charlier False Shuffle. With the exception of ESPial, all the effects can be performed with a regular deck of cards.
