FREE MAGIC TRICK - Angela's Premonition Card Trick

Another in my series of free tricks designed to get your feet wet. They are simple but effective tricks such as the kind you might find in a magic book in your local library.

If you are not a magician but want to learn, please read my blog entitled So you want to be a magician - START HERE. There is some important information that you must agree to before walking the path of the conjuring ways.

I don't know who to credit this trick to other than a colleague of mine, Angela. I'm calling it Angela's Premonition. If you know, please let me know so I can credit the creator of this trick. I've got a feeling the creator has been lost in the annals of time.

First, I'll quickly relate to you how Angela presented this trick to me and then I'll teach it to you. My boss Eric threw a little party at his house. Eric has been reading my blog and knew that I was into magic. So he ambushed me into doing a few tricks. Angela jumped at the chance to show us a trick she knew. I hate to say it, but Angela's trick fooled me badly.

This trick requires no sleights and uses the "one ahead" principle.

The Effect

Angela grabbed a packet of 10-14 cards from the top of the deck and dealt the cards face down onto a table in a random pattern. She asked the spectator to tap the 7 of Diamonds. She picked up the card that was tapped being sure NOT to show or flash it to the spectator. She then asked the spectator to tap the Queen of Clubs and then picked up that card. Angela then announced that she was picking up the 2 of Hearts and picked a card from the table. She then laid down the three cards, one at a time, onto the table showing that she now held the 7 of Diamonds, Queen of Clubs and the 2 of Hearts.

Angela then repeated the trick with the same pile of cards only this time they were different cards. She seemed to have a premonition of what card the spectators would tap!

The Secret

This trick requires no sleights, no trick cards, no duplicates and no stacked deck. It simply uses a "one ahead" principle that is used throughout magic. You may have guessed it already. I watched Angela do it four times before I figured the secret out. Of course, Angela should have followed the cardinal rule of magic; never repeat a trick!

After picking up the packet of 10-14 cards, Angela takes a peek at the bottom card. In the above example, Angela saw that the bottom card was the 7 of Diamonds. She dealt the cards in a random pattern on the table BUT she dealt the last card, the 7 of Diamonds, farthest away from the spectator. Angela remember exactly where she placed the 7.

Then she asked the spectator to tap the 7 of Diamonds. Angela later explained that she has never had anyone tap the last card dealt and to place it furthest away. Sure enough the spectator would always tap a card from the middle.

When you pick up the tapped card, be sure not to show it. This card will not be the 7 of Diamonds - if it is, the trick is ruined - time to bail out! Simply look at the card. and ask the spectator to tap whatever card you just picked up. Repeat the procedure again for the second card. Lastly you announce, "Now I'm going to pick up the 2 of Hearts" or whatever the last card you picked up was. You pick up the 7 of Diamonds from it's known location.

TIP: You may want to review them first and rearrange them in your hand so that the spectator doesn't see you reveal them in a different order than they were picked up. Perhaps say something like, "Let's see what you tapped." Perhaps moving the top card to the bottom a couple times and then lay them back down in the order they were picked up. I'm sure with a little practice you'll come up with a clever way to reveal the cards that obfuscates the secret.

Hopefully I explained that clearly enough. You've simply got a peek at one of the cards so you are "one ahead." That's why you have to pick up the last card. The spectator is fooled into thinking that they actually tapped the correct card as you requested them but you were just telling them to pick a card that you already held in your hand. This trick will perplex you friends so I say give Angela's Premonition a try at your next gathering of friends.