Theodore Annemann. One of the true geniuses of magic and mentalism. Here is one of his more stunning pieces of mindreading. If done correctly, this can be one of the strongest effects in all of magic.

EFFECT: Your back is turned. The spectator shuffles the deck. The
spectator cuts the deck, peeks at the card s/he cut to and replaces it anywhere in the deck. You turn around and name the card.

No gimmicked or marked cards. It's almost as if you pluck the thought right from the spectator's head.

How's that for simple and direct? That's the genius of Ted Annemann.

Here's the demonstration video again:





SECRET: This effect uses a stacked deck. It seems impossible to have the spectator shuffle a stacked deck and still make the trick work, but I'm going to tell you how.

It doesn't matter which stack you use (I like the 8 Kings stack) just as long as you know the order of the entire deck.

METHOD: This trick must be done when someone asks you to do a trick. It cannot appear set-up in any way...it MUST appear impromptu.

First, hand the spectator the stacked deck. Appear to be thinking of a trick that you can do, "Um, okay let's try something....something with a deck of cards....okay, I have an idea. I don't know if it will work, but let's give it a try."

"When people are tested for psychic ability, scientists use 'test conditions' to make SURE that the person is really psychic. In other words, they eliminate all other explanations except genuine paranormal activity."

"Let's try a test like that right now. We'll use the deck of cards, so take them out of the box. Now in a minute I'm going to ask you to shuffle the cards and cut them." (IMPORTANT: As you say "shuffle the cards" mime with your hands as if you were doing an OVERHAND shuffle. This will suggest to the spectator that is how you want him/her to shuffle the cards. If they riffle shuffle, then the trick won't work. So plant the seed and subtly encourage them to do an overhand shuffle.)

Now you turn your back and continue, "I don't want to see anything. Now after you shuffle, I'll ask you to cut the cards, complete the cut, look at the top card, memorize it and re-insert it back anywhere in the deck." (Pause here for a beat.)

"Have you shuffled yet?"

Of course, you haven't asked the spectator to start yet! This will make the spectator feel hurried so that they don't spend too much time shuffling the deck. That's what you want. You just manipulated the spectator's actions. You sneaky devil.

When they say no, you say, "Well once it's shuffled, set it on the table and give it a cut into two piles. When gamblers play cards, they always have someone cut the deck to make sure everything is fair and square. Since this is 'test conditions' we need to make sure everything is fair too."

"Now look at the top card, which is the card that you cut to. Memorize it and slide it back into the deck. Make sure the deck is perfectly square and that your card isn't poking out anywhere."

You will now turn back around to face the spectator and you will begin your "wind-up". A wind up is the dramatic setup before the climax of the trick. A good wind up will make ordinary tricks much more impressive.

"Now think about what we've done. YOU took this deck of cards, YOU shuffled it, YOU cut it, YOU picked a card, and YOU replaced it back in the deck. All while my back was turned! Is it pretty fair to say that there is no way I could possibly know the card that you're thinking of?" (As you say 'this deck of cards', pick up the cards and gesture with the pack in your hands. Casually Glimpse the bottom card.

Your spectator's card is the NEXT card in whatever stack you're using. For example, in the 8 Kings stack, if you glimpse the 3 of diamonds, that means your spectator's card is the ten of clubs.)

An overhand shuffle is basically a series of small cuts. All it does is move around groups of cards. Sure sometimes the trick won't work, but more often than not it will. This principle should be applied to every trick that you do with a stacked deck.

All that's left is to reveal the selection however you'd like.

If you don't think this trick sounds too amazing, try it out on someone. Check out their reaction and then come back and talk to me. If you do this trick right, and with the proper wind-up, it KILLS.