The No-Math, Card Math Trick

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The No-Math, Card Math Trick

What you'll need... a deck of cards, a note pad and pen, and two spectators.



Shuffle a deck of cards. Have the spectators shuffle the deck as well. Tell the spectators that you are going to perform a math miracle and you'll need to first remove all the two's from the deck. Look through the deck and remove the four 2's. While looking for the 2's, look at and remember the second and third cards from the bottom.

Divide the deck into two unequal halves. Give a half to each spectator and ask them to count the total number of cards in their stack by dealing them face down onto the table. After they are finished, pick up the former bottom half and casually place it on top of the former top half. You now know the identity of the second and third cards from the top. Remember, the spectators reversed the order of the halves, and you put the bottom half on top of the top half.

Feel free to tell the spectators beforehand that this effect requires you to make frequent calculations. While the spectators are counting their cards you can quietly jot down the value of the two cards second and third from bottom.

Ask the spectators how many cards they had in their stacks and write these numbers on your pad.

Ask one of the spectators to pick up the deck and put the top and bottom cards into the middle of the deck to add additional randomess to the pack.

Ask the spectators their favorite month and day of the year. Write it down in numerical form - or at least pretend to..

Now, have the spectator give the other spectator the top card of the deck and keep the next card on top for themselves. Remember that their order will be reversed from the order they were in when you glimpsed them on the bottom.

Do some imaginary math on your pad, the more writing the better... and then tell each spectator that the math reveals that their selected cards are the ____ of _____ .

If you don't totally trust your memory, simply say " My calculations reveal that one of you has a three of hearts and one a seven of diamonds. Is this correct? "

The more complex you can make it sound, the better. The spectators will not understand how their birthdays can calculate into their chosen cards. Make up something about how Einstein used this effect to fool his friends. This is a nice effect when combined with the proper patter.

   

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