Drop Card

The Complete Work

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 Other Works Include:

• Mind Experiments

• Roulette

• REVEAL

• Lecture Notes (Various)

• Roulette (French Edition)

• Penguin LIVE Lecture

• Drawing Thoughts

• Leading Thoughts

• I.D.D

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Drop Card, The Complete Work.

Copyright © 2016 by Chris Rawlins

First Printing.

Raw-Press.
Manchester, U.K.
 Acknowledgements
Luke, George, Ash, Tara.
You all help me everyday.
Thank you.

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Patience
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REWARD
 Contents
Introduction - 7

The effect - 9

The method - 13

The script (with direction) - 21

The script (with method breakdown) - 27

The ‘outs’ (stacking and knowing the odds) - 43

Extra notes and thoughts - 49

Billet elimination justification - 53

Alternative approaches - 57

Bonus Approaches - 71

Sum up - 81

Credits - 83

Appendix - 85

Middle Ground - 95

Closing Thoughts - 99

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 Introduction
I’d like to begin by thanking you for purchasing
this book.

What you hold in your hands is my complete

work (to date) on my effect ‘Drop Card’. This
effect has developed over the years and has
become a staple piece in my hour long stand
up Mentalism show. Even before publishing it
in its original form (see appendix) in my man-
uscript ‘Mind Experiments’, Drop Card has long
stood as a favourite piece of mine. However,
after its publication in 2010, I decided that I
would re-work the concepts involved and re-
examine my approach to the effect. I wanted
an effect that was more fitting with where my
thinking was and one which fitted more logical-
ly into my formal performances.

The content of this manuscript is my full work

on this effect and the only part that I am inten-
tionally not including is my exact personal
script. This is because if I were to include it,
you would receive little reward or gain from
using it. I have included a basic script that you
can learn and put to adequate effect, although
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I do advise that you spend some time thinking
about how you wish to frame this effect and
how you want to deliver it to your audience.

Something to keep in mind is that this effect,

although layered in method and delivery, is not
something I expect to fool magicians.

Rather, it is a piece that has always received

fantastic audience reactions from people in the
real world. What I love about this updated ver-
sion is that it uses only one spectator (as op-
posed to two in the original effect), it has dis-
tinct logic behind it and a familiar theme that
draws in the whole audience. At all points of
performance, both the audience and the partic-
ipant will be equally amazed. What's more, this
effect is technically easy, direct and well lay-
ered.

I hope that you enjoy performing this as much

as I do.

Chris Rawlins

2016.
 The Effect
A spectator is requested by the performer to
join him at a table on stage. The performer
states that he will take the spectator back to
school, not literally but instead, in their mind.
He brings out a boxed deck of alphabet flash
cards.

The performer proceeds to ask the participant

to imagine being back at school and also to
think of the name of someone they knew from
when they were younger. They write this name
down, tear off the paper, fold it into quarters
and place it in their pocket whilst the performer
faces away. The performer now asks them to
imagine that person’s name written upon a
chalkboard, twenty feet wide and fifty feet tall.

The deck of flash cards is now shown with the

individual cards each bearing one letter of the
alphabet. The performer displays the cards and
spreads them over the surface of the table,
face down. The participant is then invited to
mix the cards via the trusted method of a
‘wash’. Once accomplished, the cards are

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gathered face down into a neat pile and then
spread across the table.

The participant is now asked to keep mentally

picturing the name that they are merely think-
ing of whilst closing their eyes. The performer
holds their wrist and guides them as to where
the spread of face down cards starts and finish-
es before stating that the spectator is to imag-
ine being guided by their friend and to focus
only on the first letter of their name whilst mov-
ing their hand from left to right very slowly until
they wish to stop. On stopping, they are asked
to lower their extended finger until they touch
only one face down card. They then open their
eyes.

The performer openly clears all the cards to

one side leaving the selection isolated.

The participant is asked to name only the letter

they were thinking of.

The performer states, “Wouldn’t it be odd if,

somehow, you had connected with your friend
through me and you found the one letter you
were thinking of? Even though you mixed the
cards and you were only thinking of the letter.”

The spectator agrees and the flash card is

turned over to reveal a perfect match.

The performer proceeds to cut the applause

short, grabs the participant by the shoulder
and looks into their eyes. After a moment of
concentration, he reveals the full name the par-
ticipant was thinking of.

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 The Method
As previously mentioned, this method is lay-
ered and the routine is very well structured. At
the same time, the routine remains easily
adaptable which will be important when tailor-
ing it to your own specifications.

In the extra notes and thoughts section I will

cover other angles and approaches, one par-
ticular angle being approaching a television or
filmed performance. However, for now, I will
explain the method that I use 99% of the time.

Stripped to its bare bones and in its purest

form, the method relies on a billet peek or im-
pression device, a marked deck of alphabet
cards and various realities.

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 The Peek
In performance and as a preference, I currently
use (and have for some time) John Riggs’
‘Beautiful Butterfly’ impression pad. This is
merely my preference but it's also a matter of
consistency as I use the pad as part of another
routine in my performance. I have, in the past,
used a simple billet peek, although for this rou-
tine I love the hands off approach that comes
with using an impression device with a real
time peek. I highly recommend John Riggs’
products and for this particular routine; his
‘Beautiful Butterfly’ pad works excellently.

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 The Deck
The deck I use is the Phoenix ‘Alpha Deck’ that
was created in collaboration with Luke Jermay.
They are marked in multiple ways and are ‘par-
lour size’ which helps to distance them from
playing cards in the audience’s mind. As sug-
gested in the manuscript that comes with the
deck, I refer to them as ‘flash cards’ as op-
posed to playing cards. Not only are these
cards worth their weight in gold, but the man-
uscript that comes with them is filled with fan-
tastic and workable ideas from Luke. I highly
recommend that you pick them up, if not for
this effect, then for the booklet that accompa-
nies them. These are available from Cardshark
although you could of course make and mark
your own deck using blank card stock or blank
faced Bicycle cards and a few sharpie markers
or an X-Acto knife.

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 Multiple Realities
Exist within this version of Drop Card. I will
cover this properly in the scripting section and
with what follows throughout this manuscript
but those familiar with my original effect ‘Drop
Card’ will be well ahead of me here.

What I love about the multiple reality in this

version is that the theme creates extra cover for
all realities in a more clear and organic way.

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 The Script (with direction)
[The performer has someone selected by any
means he wishes and has them join him on
stage. On stage there is a table large enough
to have the cards spread across].

The performer continues: “Thank you for help-

ing. I want to help you remember a friend from
when you were younger. Someone who guided
you. Don’t worry though, I won’t do anything to
embarrass you. In order for me to do this, we
are going to use these. “

[The performer removes a deck of alphabet

cards and places them on the table].

“We are only going to work with the first name,

however, you can, if you like, think of their full
name.”

[The performer removes a pad of paper and a

pen. He opens the pad and casually tosses it
down onto the table and hands the pen to the
participant].

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“You have one? Good. Can I ask you to write
that name down, nice, big and clear. Don’t let
anyone see it. The reason I get you to write this
down is to begin to help you to remember your
friend and everything you knew about them.
Also, this way, we all have proof of who you are
thinking of. I’m sure you wouldn’t change your
mind but I have to make sure.”

[The spectator writes the name down as the

performer is facing away].

“Done? Good. Whilst I’m still facing away,

please tear the sheet off, fold it up, place it out
of sight and let me know when you are done.
We probably won’t need the paper again,
however, I want you to keep that as a reminder
of the friendship that you two once had, so
when you get home later and have forgotten
about the paper, you will find it in your pocket,
open it up and it will bring a smile to your face.

Now, all I want you to do is imagine writing

that name, the name that you are just thinking
of, on a chalk board twenty feet wide and fifty
feet tall. You can all [To the audience] imagine
this as I think you all probably have a name in
your minds; someone personal to you. Now,
imagine being back at school. See this person.
Imagine talking to them. Hear them saying that
name over and over again. Good. Now, you
will have all seen these before at some stage
I’m sure.”

[The performer removes the alphabet cards

from the box and displays them].

“Flash cards. One representing each letter of

the alphabet. You can confirm that yes?”

[The on-stage spectator confirms].

“I want you to thoroughly mix these and the

best way to do that is a method used in casinos
around the world called ‘the wash’. Essentially
it’s the same way you would have mixed the
cards when you were a kid.”

[The performer spreads the cards on the table

and demonstrates how to complete such a
shuffle. The spectator then proceeds to exe-
cute the shuffling procedure. On completion,
the cards are gathered up and spread face
down across the table].

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“All I want you to do is keep hearing that
name. Begin to remember your friend and now,
as if all the other letters fall away from the
board, focus upon just the first letter of the
name you are thinking of. Whilst you are doing
that I want you to just relax and close your eyes
for me.”

[The participant closes their eyes while the per-

former stands to their right and takes hold of
their left wrist].

“As you keep thinking of that letter, I want you

to extend and point your finger downwards.
Please give nothing away here. To stop you
doing that I just want you to respond with ei-
ther ‘yes’ or ‘no’ from now on. As you focus on
that letter you will begin to move your hand
from left to right. The cards start here [per-
former touches the participant’s finger to the
start of the spread] and end here [the per-
former touches the participant’s finger to the
end of the spread]. I want you to move your
hand very slowly from left to right, as if you are
being guided by your friend, and when you
feel that guidance go, just stop.”
“So you move slowly from left to right, and
when you feel the guidance go, you just stop.
Does that make sense, yes or no?”

[The spectator confirms that they understand

and the performer lets go of their wrist. The
spectator is told to begin. They move their arm
slowly and eventually stop over one card].

“Perfect. Please can you slowly lower your fin-

ger downwards. And...you can open your
eyes.”

[The performer clears the table of all other

cards, leaving the one card the spectator
stopped upon under their finger].

“Now, wouldn’t it be weird if, somehow, you

had connected with your friend through me,
and you found the one letter you were thinking
of? Even though you mixed the cards and you
were only thinking of the letter.”

[The spectator agrees].

“For the first time, what was the letter, just the
letter you were thinking of?”

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[The spectator respond with’S’, for example.
The card they stopped on is turned around and
displayed as a match to their thought. The au-
dience applaud and the performer continues
with a sudden increase in pace].

“Look at me. It was ... Sadie yes?!”

[The spectator confirms, is thanked and asked
to return to their seat].

Note:
The above is very close to my exact script that I still
currently use, although it does exclude my opening
monologue that I feel frames the whole effect perfect-
ly. For that reason I ask you to at least slightly alter
your presentation to fit yourself and your perfor-
mance style. What follows is the script again but this
time with methodology notes and explanations in
bold.

1
 The Script (with breakdown)
[The performer has one spectator selected by
any means he wishes and has them join him on
stage. On stage there is a table large enough
to have the cards spread across].

The table needs to be covered if you are

performing this effect on stage. The reason
for this will become clear soon.

The performer continues: “Thank you for help-

ing. I want to help you to remember a friend
from when you were younger. Someone who
guided you. Don’t worry though. I won’t do
anything to embarrass you. In order for me to
do this, we are going to use these.”

[The performer removes a deck of alphabet

cards and places them on the table].

This part of the scripting is something I be-

lieve to be fundamentally important. You are
reassuring the participant that you will not
embarrass them. They need to be on your
side and have complete confidence in you.

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“We are only going to work with the first the
name, however, you can, if you like, think of
their full name.”

[The performer then removes a pad of paper

and a pen. He opens the pad and casually
tosses it down onto the table and hands the
pen to the participant].

“You have one? Good. Can I ask you to write

that name down, nice, big and clear. Don’t let
anyone see it. The reason I get you to write this
down is to begin to help you remember your
friend and everything you knew about them.
Also, this way, we all have proof of who you are
thinking of. I’m sure you wouldn’t change your
mind but I have to make sure.”

The attitude you have with your impression

pad is important; if you are casual, which is
what tossing the pad aside implies, then it
will be forgotten. To help have the pad for-
gotten, we have plenty of time misdirection
at play alongside some minor suggestions
covered later in the script.
Here, you also justify the action of writing.
Don’t go on about this; be casual. Addition-
ally, I always have a pre-written ‘Please write
the name clearly *___________’ indication on
the pad, near the centre. This guides the
spectator to write in an area that will give
you a clear impression.

[The spectator writes the name down as the

performer is facing away].

“Done? Good. Whilst I’m still facing away

could you tear the sheet off, fold it up, place it
out of sight and let me know when you are
done.”

Make sure that you are facing away. In the

eyes of the audience, this adds another layer
of fairness to the proceedings. Once com-
plete, I turn around, pick up the pad, and in
the action of closing it, I peek the impression
and remember the name. The pad then goes
away, out of sight. This is all done while the
spectator is putting the piece of paper away
and takes five seconds or so to execute. Ob-
viously if you are using an alternative

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method here you will need to experiment to
work out your appropriate timings.

“We probably won’t need the paper again,

however, I want you to keep that as a reminder
of the friendship that you two once had. When
you get home later and have forgotten about
the paper, you will find it in your pocket, open
it up and it will bring a smile to your face.”

This is a more subtle ploy and as well as hav-

ing genuine intent, acts as a further justifica-
tion for having the name written down.

“Now, all I want you to do is imagine writing

that name, the name that you are just thinking
of, on a chalk board twenty feet wide and fifty
feet tall. You can all imagine this as I think you
all probably have a name in your minds; some-
one personal to you. Now, imagine being back
at school. See this person. Imagine talking to
them. Hear them saying that name over and
over again. Good.”

The above acts as positive reinforcement,

telling the spectator that they are doing
well. This is also the beginning of distancing
the action of the spectator writing down the
name as part of the method. It can also be a
moment to involve everyone which I feel is
something we should embrace when the op-
portunity to do so presents itself. I often say
something along the lines of: “in fact, you
can all do this. You all must have someone in
mind”. Any effect that allows you the poten-
tial to physically involve your audience can
be wondrous. When I do this, it always plays
well.

“Now, you will have all seen these before at

some stage I’m sure.”

[The performer removes the alphabet flash

cards from the box and displays them].

Referring to the deck as flash cards ties in

nicely with the theme of the effect and si-
multaneously justifies the deck. It also sug-
gests that they are normal, which is, of
course, what you want your audience to be-
lieve.

“Flash cards, one representing each letter of

the alphabet. You can confirm that, yes?”

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[The on stage spectator confirms].

“I want you to thoroughly mix these and the

best way to do that is a method used in casinos
around the world called ‘the wash’. Essentially
it’s the same way you would have mixed the
cards when you were a kid.”

[The performer spreads the cards on the table

and demonstrates how to complete such a
shuffle. The participant then proceeds to exe-
cute the shuffling procedure. On completion,
the cards are gathered up and spread face
down across the table].

This element to the effect is important. It

really is a fair way to mix the deck. It also has
the nice line of: “the same way you would
have mixed the cards as a kid” which links to
the theme. Under the cover of spreading the
cards you make note of where the relevant
letter lies in the spread. You do this by look-
ing at the markings on the back of the cards.
Remember the position roughly but do not
worry about doing so exactly, just yet.
“All I want you to do is keep hearing that
name. Begin to remember your friend and now,
as if all the other letters fall away from the
board, focus upon just the first letter of the
name you are thinking of. Whilst you are doing
that I want you to just relax and close your eyes
for me.”

[The spectator closes their eyes while the per-

former stands to their right and takes hold of
their left wrist].

Here you refer to the name they wrote down

as the name they are thinking of. This further
cements the idea of a thought of person
which serves to heighten the effect. As you
have already reassured the spectator, they
should have no objection to closing their
eyes.

“As you keep thinking of that letter, I want you

to extend and point your finger downwards.
Please give nothing away here. To stop you
doing that, I just want you to respond with ei-
ther ‘yes’ or ‘no’ from now on.”

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Here, I am setting up the notion that from
now on they can only respond with a yes or
no answer. This will help to conceal the sec-
ond reality that we are about to create.

“As you focus on that letter you will begin to

move your hand from left to right. The cards
start here [performer touches participant’s fin-
ger to the start of the spread] and end here
[the performer touches the participant’s finger
to the end of the spread].”

This is clearly letting the participant know

where the cards are which is fundamental.
Too many performers do not make things
clear enough for their spectators and the
subsequent result is too often confusion.

“I want you to move your hand very slowly

from left to right, as if you are being guided...”

Here I press my foot upon the participant’s

foot - firmly but not too hard!

“...by your friend and when you feel that guid-

ance go, just stop.”
[The performer is holding the participant’s wrist
and demonstrating what they are to do].

Here, I lift my foot off theirs whilst simulta-

neously stopping their arm when I say ‘...just
stop’. This really anchors the idea of them
stopping when you remove the pressure
from their foot. I do this a couple of times
and then follow by asking if they understand.
They respond with a shake or a nod or a
‘yes’ or a ‘no’.

“So you move slowly from left to right, and

when you feel it go, you just stop. Does that
make sense, yes or no?”

[The spectator confirms that they understand

and the performer lets go of their wrist. The
spectator is told to begin].

Now that the spectator knows what they are

to do, all you need do is let go of their wrist.
They will move it from left to right with an
extended finger. As they are moving - very
slowly as you instructed - you simply lift off
your foot from theirs when they are over the
card that matches the first letter of their

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thought of name. At this stage, as you are
apparently just watching, you have all the
time you need to spot the correct card and
focus on it, double check it is the right one
then just wait and stop the spectator in the
correct position. You can even pace the par-
ticipant by asking them to go ‘nice and slow-
ly’ thus making your job even easier. I now
nearly always announce that we will elimi-
nate the cards to the right of where the par-
ticipant stops. This allows me to gauge their
response and eliminate half of the 26 cards. I
then spread the remaining cards wider and
ask the participant to repeat the same ac-
tions stating that now they are going for the
exact letter. If you utilise this, be sure to be
clear with what you are doing each time oth-
erwise people may suspect deception and
believe you are using a suspicious procedure.

[They move their arm slowly and eventually

stop over one card].

“Perfect. Please can you slowly lower your fin-

ger downwards. And...you can open your
eyes.”
[The performer clears the table of all other
cards, leaving the one card the participant
stopped upon, under their finger].

Here, I just clear the table of the other cards

to add clarity to the reveal. The last thing
you want is confusion as to which card they
stopped on.

“Now, wouldn’t it be weird if, somehow, you

had connected with your friend through me,
and you found the one letter you were thinking
of? Even though you mixed the cards and you
were only thinking of the letter.”

[The participant agrees].

At this stage, the participant will agree. The

effect to them is that they were thinking of a
name and letter that you could not know,
they mixed the flash cards and they stopped
where you told them to because you guided
them. There are two layers of smoke here
that stop them ever discovering anything.
They still have a substantial effect. The effect
to the audience is that they thought of a
name you couldn’t possibly know, they

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mixed the cards and from a face down
spread, stopped on one card at random.
Both effects are very strong.

“For the first time, what was the letter, just the
letter, you were thinking of?”

[The participant responds with ‘S’, for exam-

ple.The card they stopped upon is turned
around and displayed as a match their
thought].

This is a strong visual applause cue for the

audience.

[The audience applaud and the performer con-

tinues with a sudden increase in pace].

“Look at me. It was ... Sadie, yes?”

This I love. You dramatically and quite in-

tensely turn to the spectator and hold them
by the shoulders to reveal the name (which is
of course just the name you peeked and re-
membered previously). By this point, the pa-
per and action of writing down is forgotten
as you suggest throughout the routine that it
is just being thought of. You end here and
send the participant back to their seat.

[The spectator confirms, is thanked and asked

to return to their seat].

18

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 Personal Comments
As you have now read what the effect is and
even how to do it, ask yourself this question:
What is ‘Drop Card’?

It is the reveal of a name. It seems so simple

but this is why I think this effect is so great. We
have taken a simple but strong idea, made it
different, unique and personal to everyone in-
volved. As a result, we are left with an even
stronger, even more direct and even more
powerful effect which should resonate with
both your participant and your audience.

Over the following pages, I want to cover some

other aspects to the effect, one in particular
that most audiences will never see, although, if
they do, they will never be aware that they
have witnessed an ‘out’.

19

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 The Outs (Stacking and Knowing the Odds)
From experience, I can assure you that you are
unlikely to use this often but it is included here
for the sake of completeness. If something can
go wrong, it eventually will, so the main pur-
pose of this inclusion is to put you at ease with
the method.

Here, I am talking about the situation present-

ed if your impression device were to fail. I do
believe that the ‘Beautiful Butterfly’ pad is fan-
tastic but on occasion you can, and I have,
come across a spectator that writes so gently
that the impression can be invisible or written
so small that it is near impossible to read. This
has only happened to me twice to date but I
am about to arm you with a powerful ‘out’ that,
should you ever need, exists without extra ef-
fort or cost.

I must thank Luke Jermay for this suggestion

which he shared after watching a performance I
gave of this effect quite some time ago when
the gentleman participant somehow managed
to make virtually no impression for me to see. I
peeked it, to see nothing but the first letter,
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and carried on. In this situation, just complete
the effect as usual but without the end reveal
of the name as it is still very strong! If you wish,
you could then simply ask them the name un-
der the applause and then regurgitate it to
them when the applause has died down. This is
not ideal but is an option should you need it.

Back to Luke’s brilliant suggestion though. ‘The

‘flash cards’ are marked, so use the
markings!’ (Luke’s exact words to me after that
particular performance). After the paper has
been placed away and you have had the partic-
ipant imagine a chalkboard (or whatever other
focus point you wish, to fit your story or style),
have the cards mixed as usual and then have
them go through and remove the letters of the
friends name, placing them from right to left on
the table in front of you. Instruct them to skip
over any repeated letters and let you know
when they have finished. This can all be framed
under the guise of helping them to remember. I
say something along the lines of, “As you place
each letter down remember a new thing, a
characteristic about your friend. Perhaps a joke
that the two of you shared, so that with each
letter you place down, you can begin recall
more and more about them.”

It is now a matter revealing the name. Here,

you completely abandon the section where a
spectator finds a thought of letter and the ef-
fect becomes a name reveal. In such a sce-
nario, I always use Luke’s ‘Real Mind Reading’
techniques to reveal the name. It gets far more
than just the name and allows me to demon-
strate mind reading in such a pure form.

- If you haven’t bought these notes from

Luke, I highly recommend doing so.

With the preceding in mind, I hope that any

potential worries you may have had are begin-
ning to dissipate.

There are a couple of extra ploys that I use to

eliminate selecting an ‘awkward’ participant,
and even a tip as to what to do should you be
without a table cloth or if you choose a female
with inappropriate (or expensive looking)
footwear. I call these thoughts ‘stacking and
knowing the odds’.

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A long time ago, I eliminated the use of ob-
jects, specifically thrown out paper balls, to
select participants. Consequently, I am able to
select the spectators who I judge to be most
suitable for what I intend to try.

By consciously choosing a spectator rather than

letting fate chose for you, you are in control of
your audience and are always more likely to get
better results on stage. I believe this to be a
worthwhile approach to use throughout a
whole show.

Of course, intuition should only act in part and

considering other factors such as general de-
meanour, past responses and attitude would
also be wise.

In the case of the ‘expensive shoe scenario’,

you can simply cue the spectator and guide
them using your hand on their shoulder. With
your thumb facing the audience, your fingers
become hidden behind their body. Use these
to achieve the same ‘guidance’ and you are
home free. This ‘out’ also covers you for if you
have no table cloth in performance. I would
add that this is undeniably less favourable but
exists as a solution for reasons of practicality.

21

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 Extra Notes and Thoughts
• I sometimes add educated guesses
regarding the description of the person
that the participant is thinking of. It can
add some nice moments to the per-
formance. I recommend that you try
trusting your own instincts. The results
may well surprise you.

• A note on spreading the cards: Make

sure you spread them evenly and so
that every card can be seen. Take your
time in doing this so that you can spot
the markings. Remember not to rush.
Silence can often be your ally.

• The recap question line of “Now,

wouldn’t it be odd if, somehow, you
had connected with your friend
through me and found the one letter
you were thinking of even though you
mixed the cards and you were only
thinking of the letter?” can be expand-
ed. After the participant agrees I will
sometimes add, “...And you could
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 have stopped anywhere. What letter
were you thinking of?”. This is a bit
bolder but it does add to the decep-
tion. You will also notice that I do not
give the participant time to challenge
what I say as it is followed by an imme-
diate question. By asking if they are
happy with where they have stopped, it
implies to that the decision was their
own. If they are not happy then I will
simply pick up the cards, cut them to
change the order and go through the
stopping process again.

• An interesting idea I have played around

with before returning to this version was
using this routine alongside Steve Shaw’s
‘Brain Game’ for the selection of a letter
from the name you peek. This, when it hits,
is great but there is a chance you could
miss. This can be covered by saying
“Ok...But there is the letter x in the name
isn’t there?” Of course this will receive a
positive response.
The reason that these suggestions are in this
section is because they are not for everyone,
nor are they for every performance. Use them if
you like. I use all of them frequently with the
exception of the Brain Game addition which,
although I have played with and enjoyed, is not
as certain as using the first letter and personal-
ly, I like knowing that the reveal for the first let-
ter is certain.

- For more on the ‘Brain Game’ please see Banachek’s

‘Psychological Subtleties’ book and Luke Jer-
may’s ‘Real Mind Reading’ which includes his
take on the effect and so much more. You will
gain a lot from studying both of these resources.

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 Billet Elimination Justification
Whether you use the pad I do, or another im-
pression device or peek, what I’m about to
share is something that you will find useful. I
use this quite a lot and I am very happy with it.

I am very much a believer in Bob Cassidy’s ap-

proach to ‘why do we have people write some-
thing down if we are a real mind reader?’. Bob’s
fantastic answer, to be found in ‘The Artful
Mentalism of Bob Cassidy’, is that it is what real
mind readers do. This notion is excellent and
for that reason I tend not to make a big fuss of
people writing down information, in fact, I wel-
come it. In ‘Drop Card’ I take the approach of
the participant writing the name to begin to
help them to remember. I feel this is a powerful
approach that justifies the writing and also
gives my demonstrations a little more depth.

What I have created is a justification for why

the billet is never seen again, and this, in the
process, subtly justifies why I have a spectator
write the name in the first place. My language
is as follows:

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“I want to help you to remember a friend from
when you were younger, someone who guided
you.” I use this all the time! Do not over look its
simplicity, I feel this is much better than: “I
want you to write down the name of an old
friend” or some other alternative. What I say is
intended to have a deeper purpose and mean-
ing which is something that is so important to
what I do.

For ‘Drop Card’, the small but significant

phrase of ‘someone who guided you’, acts as a
call back for your onstage spectator, and the
audience, when you begin again to talk about
guidance and the participant imagining that
their friend is guiding them (whilst in actuality
of course, you are). I use the line of “I want to
help you to remember a friend from when you
were younger”, all the time as a quick but in-
teresting lead into my billet work.

It is what comes next, after the name is written

and the spectator has placed the paper away
and you know the information, that I feel is im-
portant, lovely and powerful.
I say something along the lines of, “Now, we
probably won’t need the paper again, however,
I do want you to keep it as a reminder of the
friendship you two once had so that later
tonight when you have forgotten about it and
you find the paper, you will open it, see the
name and it will bring a smile to your face.”

This does a couple of things. Firstly, it openly

states that you won’t need the paper again.
Secondly, it implies that it is unimportant to the
effect but important to the participant and their
positive emotions. Both o the above help the
audience to forget that a name was ever writ-
ten down but it also gives reason to the partic-
ipant who does write something and finds it
later. When they do, they will remember what
you said and consequently, their friend. The
memory of their friend will override thoughts of
you having covertly ascertained the name.

On another level, by using this connection, you

open up the potential to bring a smile to a
someone’s face when they are miles away from
you. They become reminded of their friend and
consequently reminded of the amazing effect
you performed on them, for them, but more

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importantly, with them. I believe this to be very
powerful.

I hope you use this, see how strong it really is

and put it to good use.

25
 Alternative Approaches
Since originally creating this effect in 2008, I
have developed various alternative approach-
es, mostly regarding the method. For the sake
of completeness I have included some of the
alternative approaches here.

These are methods I have tested and worked

but the version I use ninety nine percent of the
time is the one previously explained in this
manuscript.

I do hope that if nothing else, these alterna-

tives generate thought and may perhaps lead
you to create your very own version of ‘Drop
Card’.

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 Full Name Option
Here, the difference in effect is subtle though,
at the right moment, it can add quite the kick
with very little extra effort. Upon my Butterfly
Pad, I pre-write a sentence, that the audience
never sees, that guides the spectator to where
they should write. However, instead of just writ-
ing ‘Please write the name clearly
*___________’ I write ‘Please write the FULL
name clearly *___________’.

This then allows me in performance to proceed

as known; by only using the first name, but at
the end of the effect when I grab the specta-
tor's shoulders, I am now able to reveal the full
name of the person being thought of.

With this, remember that the audience do not

know that the spectator has written the full
name down as all your verbal focus has been
upon the first name and the letters within the
name.

This little extra work; which is only one extra

word written on a pad, when handled well,

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adds an extra punch to the name reveal at the
end of the effect.

- This approach was arrived at after I had seen Luke Jer-

may perform his effect ‘Crossing Over’ from his
book ‘Faith Healer’. I saw Luke perform this many
times during some time in Europe with him in
2013.
 Pre-Show Name + Full Name Pre-Show

Here is an approach that I have used sparingly

for the very odd occasion when I have filmed
this effect. I will chose a suitable spectator, and
have them commit to the name of someone
that they knew from when they were younger
before the performance. I will use the ‘Beautiful
Butterfly’ and my ‘Billet Elimination Justifica-
tion’ to have the paper removed from play but
to also anchor the idea with the spectator that
later, when I ask them to remember someone
from when they were younger, that they are to
think of the name that they have written down.

I tend not to use this method for live shows as I

have no problem with the audience writing in-
formation down in real time. Furthermore, do-
ing this in a live show setting would create an-
other job to be done before the show. This is
something which I prefer to avoid where possi-
ble. I very much feel that the use of an impres-
sion pad in real time is extremely strong, and
therefore don't see the need to use this alter-
native approach very often at all. However, a
filmed performance definitely deserves this
method.

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 Pre-Show Name and Letter
It is worth noting that by using pre-show work
to gain the name from the spectator before the
performance, it is possible to have the specta-
tor circle a single letter within the name to fo-
cus on later in the show.

You can then, during the performance, use the

circled letter as the letter you guide the specta-
tor to. This can be done by simply asking them
to imagine circling one of the letters within the
name they are thinking of on the chalk board,
then focussing on that letter.

This frees you from asking the spectator during

performance to focus on the first letter. Instead,
they seemingly think of any letter. This is cer-
tainly deceptive although I use it infrequently.

- This stemmed from when I was reworking an effect of

mine from ‘Mind Experiments’. Kenton Knepper
and myself spent some time talking about the idea
of having someone imagine circling a word dur-
ing a newspaper tear routine.

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 Letter Forcing + Distance.
The final alternative that I have for you is a
catch 22 for me. While making the perfor-
mance unbelievably fair and hands-off, it places
a restriction upon the participant’s thought.

It is something that I am still playing with and

something that I don’t use often at all because
I can’t decide if it a step forward or five steps
backwards, but is included here for the sake of
completeness and because I hope it to be of
some use to someone, somewhere.

This version involves pre show, but (and here is

where the extra process comes in) there are
two main actions the spectator must perform
under your instruction.

This all came from returning to the original ver-

sion of this effect that uses normal, unmarked
playing cards (see appendix) and by also com-
ing across the ‘Creative Magic’ alphabet decks.
The one that I paid particular attention to was
the Svengali deck they produced. Upon receiv-
ing the deck, I was very impressed with their
aesthetic innocence. They really do look like

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children's flash cards. However, the cards are
not marked. Instead, they are long and short,
allowing you to cleanly show the cards all dif-
ferent but then allowing you to execute an ex-
tremely fair force of a particular letter of the
alphabet.

Using these cards, before the performance, I

approach a spectator and explain that later in
the show I would like them to help me onstage.
I then explain that I would like to help them to
remember someone that they knew when they
were younger, but not just anyone. I explain
(and reveal) that I have a set of alphabet flash
cards and introduce these as something we use
as a child. I also explain that they will be used
again later in the show. I show all the cards to
be different in a casual spread and then have
the spectator cut the cards and look at the let-
ter which they have cut to. I then ask the spec-
tator to think about that letter and to remem-
ber someone that they knew when they were
younger that begins with that letter. Once they
have this, I shuffle the letter back into the pack
and place the cards away. I then remove my
Butterfly pad and have them commit to the
name they are thinking of on paper. The billet
elimination justification is again used here to
eliminate the billet from play and also to justify
some of the process. I thank them for their help
and let them go about their business.

Now, as I am sure you have followed, we

forced the letter ‘A’ (for example) using the
Svengali alphabet deck. Using that ‘random’
letter the spectator remembers a friend from
when they are younger and they then commit
to this name on paper, which they keep. The
result: we now know the name they have in
mind.

So why go to all this fuss? As all the above is

done pre-show, when the participant is on
stage, there is no need for anything to be writ-
ten.

After inviting the pre-showed participant to the

stage and asking them to think of the name of
someone they knew when they were younger,
you hold the deck on its side and bevel the
short ends.

This allows the short cards (force cards) to fall in

a side jogged position. You now turn the deck

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face up in your hands, keeping the force cards
side jogged and continue talking. Be sure that
the jogged cards (force cards) protrude in the
direction which you will spread.

You can now spread the cards face up on the

table to show them to be different as the force
cards will be concealed. You can then gather
the deck and shuffle if you do wish (a riffle shuf-
fle will maintain the alternate stacking of a
Svengali deck). Once complete, bevel the deck
to once more side jog the force cards. Howev-
er, this time, they must be jogged on the op-
posite side to before. When you now spread
the cards face down, only the backs of the
force cards will be exposed.

Students of Juan Tamariz could use his method

for keeping the cards side jogged (Tamariz uses
this to position the deck for a false Faro
Shuffle), to store the cards before a perfor-
mance. Also it is worth noting that if you
spread the cards as mentioned above (to dis-
play all the different faces) and then gather
them carefully, you don’t necessarily have to
bevel and side jog the cards again, as the jog
often stays in place. This would mean the shuf-
fles would need to be done prior to the
spreading,of course but eliminates the need to
bevel the deck twice.

This now means that, without guidance, the

spectator can stop their finger at any point and
touch the back of any card. This will, of course,
match the first letter of the name they are
thinking about.

This has taken much longer to explain than it

would to execute in performance. It requires a
more process heavy pre-show but it allows you
to make it seem as if the spectator never writes
anything down. Furthermore, they have com-
plete freedom over where they stop so you can
physically be away from them onstage.

Make your own mind up as to whether you pre-

fer this. In all honesty, I prefer the real time
method with the marked deck and ‘guidance.’

- As previously mentioned, this alternative was arrived at when

I stumbled upon the Creative Magic cards and by then
applying what I already knew about Drop Card.

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 Bonus Approaches
I am very lucky. Magic seems to have brought
me to meet lots of interesting people, all of
whom I am glad to have met. A small number I
am now able to know and consider as good
friends. These good friends know me, my work
and my show extremely well. One of these
friends is someone that has taught me a lot,
and someone that is always generous with his
ideas, tips and approaches to my ideas and
performances.

Luke Jermay has seen me perform ‘Drop Card’

many times in quite a few different environ-
ments. At the time of starting to write this
booklet up (sometime in 2014), Luke and I were
talking about ‘Drop Card’ and its various ap-
proaches. Out of nowhere, Luke suggested
what I think to be a perfect new direction for
‘Drop Card’.

Luke observed that it would be more than pos-

sible to achieve this effect without the alphabet
cards and in such a way that felt more organic
and natural. He suggested an approach that
allows you to reveal the name and have the
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! of !103
spectator find the letter they are thinking of
without any guidance and without any alphabet
cards at all.

I’ll start with the first golden nugget: Luke

pointed out that if you were without alphabet
cards or just wanted to not use the cards at all,
you could write the alphabet out on a piece of
paper and tear out each letter. If you were then
to mark the underside of the piece of paper in
a known location, peek the name and then
write out the letters of the alphabet, you could
be sure to write the appropriate letter on top of
the mark. This means that when you tear out
the letters you will have created a situational
marked ‘card’. You can then perform the effect
as normal with the necessary guidance for the
spectator to find the letter and then reveal the
thought of name.

Just think about how practical and powerful

this is, especially if the paper that is torn comes
from the same pad you are using to gain the
thought of name. I really love this approach,
and I am so glad that Luke opened my eyes to
it.
But wait, there’s more.

The next suggestion Luke made approached

the effect from a different direction; the specta-
tor being in control. You have the spectator
think of the name of someone they knew when
they were younger and then write this name
down. The spectator places the paper away
and you tear out a piece of paper from the
same pad and place the pad away. You then
write out the alphabet all over the page and
tear out the letters.

You now hand all the pieces to the spectator

and have them close their hands around the
pieces and shake. The spectator is asked to
focus on the first letter of the name they are
thinking of and to throw the pieces to the ta-
ble. Before they do you explain that whatever
letters land face down will be eliminated. The
spectator continues to flutter the pieces till only
one remains face up, this is the spectator's
thought of letter! You are then able to reveal
the name.

This mixture of method and presentation is

something that I am truly inspired by.

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Here, you gain the name from the Riggs Butter-
fly pad, or another similar device. You could
then have 26 pages of the pad, nearest the
front of the pad with one letter of the alphabet
written on the underside of each sheet. So you
have an index of all 26 letters. Once you gain
the thought of name, and whilst the spectator
places the paper away, you find the sheet that
has the first letter of name on the underside
and tear it out being careful not to expose the
pre-written letter. Write out the alphabet across
the paper, ensuring that the ‘force’ letter is writ-
ten on top of the ‘index’ letter. You now have
25 single sided torn out letters and 1 double
sided torn out letter. The double sided piece
has the first letter of the thought of name on
both sides.

After experimenting with the above, I realised

that it was much easier and much more practi-
cal to have the spectator write the name, peek
it, then to write the first letter of the peeked
name on a blank page as you pretend that the
pen doesn’t write. Andy Nyman is the inspira-
tion behind this devious miscall. You now tear
out the page, flip it and write the alphabet out,
making sure that the first letter of the peeked
name lands directly over the duplicate on the
underside of the paper. You have now created
a double sided letter paper. Now by having the
spectator think of the first letter and eliminate
any facing down, you will always be left with
the thought of letter, allowing you to then re-
veal the name.

After working this effect many times, I realised

the effect was more streamlined if you don’t
write out the full alphabet. (It’s not necessary;
as long as you create the double sided force
letter the rest does not matter and will never
be missed. Obviously be sure to write enough
so that you are not called out).

Then both you and the spectator can tear out

the letters together.

The spectator can now flutter the pieces until

only one is left face up, and this will of course
be the thought of first letter! You can then pro-
ceed to reveal the thought of name.

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Another fantastic idea using the Alpha Deck
comes from my friend Marco Fida. Marco is a
sensational Italian performer and after reading
this book early, added the following:

For a more casual presentation and one that

doesn’t use an impression pad or billet peek,
you could have the spectator think of a name,
and remove the letters from the deck, placing
them in a row on the table from left to right.

Similarly to one of the available outs for Drop

Card, you explain that if the name contains re-
peated letters the spectator is just to skip over
that letter.

Here you could ask the spectator to remember

a new characteristic of their friend for each let-
ter they place face down.

The name is gathered face down and placed

on the remainder of the deck. The deck is cut
and shuffled and spread face down on the ta-
ble. You are now able to reveal the thought of
name.
You achieve this by using two of the Alpha
Deck’s or your own homemade deck’s mark-
ings; the one way design and also the letter
marking.

Start with the deck properly orientated so that

each card’s back faces one way. Have the spec-
tator remove the name and place the cards
face down. You now rotate the deck, gather the
name and place the cards on top of the deck.
Now only the removed letters should be the
opposite orientation to the rest of the deck
with regards to the one way marking.

Now execute your preferred false cut. Then

perform one true riffle shuffle. This can be in
the hands or on the table. Be sure to retain the
top card during the shuffle.

This keeps the removed letters in the top quar-

ter of the deck, and retains their order yet also
places X cards between each removed letter.

By spreading the deck face down you can now

look at the top cards marking - this acts as your
starting point. Now visually locate the removed

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! of !103
cards via the one way mark and then reveal
each letter due to the letter markings.

This reads as a process that takes much longer

than it actually does.

Thank you Marco for your brilliant addition

here.

Marc Paul really enjoyed an earlier draft of this

book and also generously contributed the fol-
lowing approach to the ‘full name option.’

Marc preferred this approach to Drop Card and

explained to me that he would create two re-
veals rather than one.

To do this, perform Drop Card’s ‘full name op-

tion’ as previously explained. End by revealing
the thought of letter and first name of the
spectators friend. Now have the spectator re-
turn to their seat but stop them halfway.

As you have secretly obtained the friends sur-

name, you can now say “Actually wait a mo-
ment, do you remember X’s surname (Yes)…
don’t tell me what it is but think of it.”
You can now write down the thought of sur-
name and, before revealing, have the spectator
say it out loud. You now have connected with
the spectator through the memory of a friend,
they have found the thought of letter and you
have revealed the first name. Then at a dis-
tance you have read their mind for the sur-
name.

When Marc shared this approach with me, I

had a real “Why didn’t I think of that!” mo-
ment. Thank you Marc.

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 To Sum Up
You now have all the knowledge you need to
perform this effect, its variations and under-
stand its inner workings. I hope that you have
found material, ideas and approaches here that
you have enjoyed and ones which you will con-
tinue to enjoy.

This effect will take time for you to mould to fit

your own performance style but any investment
that you put in to it will be well worth it. That
effort begins with the necessary props and
goes through to a solid and contextualised
script which you will have to conceive, practice
and perform. I hope that this prospect excites
and stimulates you and I would love to hear
about where you end up with this performance
piece.

Drop Card has been part of my live perfor-

mances for some time now in one form or an-
other. It is something that I feel is of real value;
which is why I am sharing it. If you are consider-
ing performing this, please treat it well. There
are so many directions in which you can take
this. Create a relevant and interesting theme
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! of !103
for the effect, write a script, make it mean
something and I truly hope you enjoy it as
much as I do.

For the sake of completeness I have included

my original version of the effect in the ap-
pendix section. This was first put out by Kenton
Knepper and myself in my ebook ‘Mind Exper-
iments’, I hope you enjoy it.
 Credits
Finally, there are some people who I would like
to credit and thank:

John Riggs - for the wonderful ‘Beautiful But-

terfly’ pad. Additional credit goes to John’s
‘Open Prediction’ - which I was told has close
similarities to parts of this method.

Luke Jermay - for his amazing contributions to

this premise, his continued support, guidance
and friendship.

Marco Fida - for his fantastic contribution and

friendship.

Marc Paul - for his brilliant contribution.

Banachek - as his work on PK Touches certainly

led me down this path and his Psychological
Subtleties Series.

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! of !103
Theodore Annemann - specifically for his
‘Slate Test’ and ‘Another Slate Test’ from the
Dover edition of ‘Practical Mental Magic’.

Christian Schenk & Luke Jermay - for the Al-

pha Deck and the fantastic manuscript that ac-
companies the cards.

Juan Tamariz - Mnemonica.

Marcello Truzzi - Head’s Up (Magick #184, July

22, 1977.)

Andy Nyman - for his miscall of ink flow.

George Luck - for his friendship, guidance and

all his help with everything I do! (including the
design of this booklet).

Tara - For editing my terrible grammar.

 Appendix
What follows is the original form of ‘Drop Card’
as it appeared in my manuscript ‘Mind Experi-
ments’ which was published back in 2010.

Two participants sit opposite each other at a

table. The performer explains that the specta-
tors are going to try and send a thought. One
is given a fair selection of a playing card before
shuffling the card back into the deck them-
selves. While this is happening, the performer
rapidly ‘induces’ the other participant and asks
them to relax and close their eyes while they
await further instruction. The cards are spread
in front of the induced participant who has their
eyes closed. The performer helps the induced
person feel where the spread starts and ends.
They are then asked to move their hand back
and forth over the cards until they wish to stop.

While this is happening the performer asks the

other participant to guide them with their
mind. The induced participant eventually stops
over a general area. The performer removes
the eliminated cards and sets out the remaining
cards. The process is then repeated over the
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remaining cards. This time, however, they stop
right over the selected card even though their
eyes were closed throughout and they never
see, nor could have known, the card.
 Method
I love this effect because it is simple, strong
and direct.

You can force the card on a spectator, which

allows you to know the card, so you can find it
easily later. If you do it this way, you can gen-
uinely let them shuffle the pack.

I prefer to initially shuffle. Then, I hold the cards

up one by one and let the participant stop me
on a card. I can peek the card as I gather the
deck up and hand it to them to shuffle. Either
way, you will secretly know what the selected
card is and have it honestly lost in the deck.

While the cards are being shuffled, you induce

the other participant with the handshake induc-
tion and tell them to relax. You don’t do a real
induction; just make it look and sound like you
do. Here, confidence is key. Ask the person to
close their eyes and relax. (See Kenton Knep-
per’s ‘Ultimately Under’ book for more along
these lines).

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! of !103
Explain that this is a psychological test to see
how sensitive the induced participant has now
become.

Spread the shuffled deck face up and make a

mental note of the position of the selected
card in the deck. Then, take hold of the in-
duced spectator’s wrist and show them where
the spread starts and ends.

“You are aware of that pressure now aren’t

you?”

Say this while you secretly press their foot with

your own under the bar or table.

“When you feel it, just stop your hand right

where it is. Just move your hand slowly back
and forth until then. Something in your mind
will tell you to stop. Just go with it.”

People will remember you saying that some-

thing will tell them to stop as this is the last
thing you state and they will skim over the
mention of pressure.
As the participant begins to move their hand
over the cards, turn to the other person and
say:

“Your task is to guide them to your card with

your mind but say nothing out loud. Believe, or
at least imagine, that you can do it and we
might find the result surprising.”

With your peripheral vision, look to see when

the induced participant moves their hand in the
general area of the selected card. Tap their foot
secretly with yours; applying pressure gently
but surely so as to ensure that they feel it. They
should stop in the vicinity of the selection. If
not, wait until they move near it again and
press a little more firmly. Once they’ve done
so, say:

“Good. You’re doing great. Keep doing what

you’re doing!”

This makes the participant feel important and

reassures them that they are doing the right
thing. Eliminate the cards not near their hand.
Spread out the remaining cards in a wide but
connected spread. Be sure to leave plenty of

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each card's surface showing so that when the
participant next stops, it is clearly more over
one card than another. Instruct them to hold
out a single finger to see if they can get ‘pin-
point accuracy’.

Repeat the process, stopping the person with

the secret tap right over the selected card.

Everyone will be amazed that somehow the

participant with their eyes closed was able to
intuit where the other person’s card was locat-
ed.

Kenton says that if the supposedly induced

person begins to open their eyes, to see what
the rest of the audience reaction is about, snap
your fingers as if snapping the person out of
their supposed ‘trance-like’ state.

Whether the person keeps their eyes closed or

not, say something strange to this person at
the end, such as the following. This should help
give a shrouding layer.

“It’s fine for you not to completely understand

what happened or not remember clearly what
took place but please do remember that you
have done a fine thing and are an excellent
example of positive awareness, properly ap-
plied. Everyone senses this differently, some in
their head, some in their gut, others more
grounded, some in their emotional nature.
However you managed it, you did an excellent
job, both of you! Now, look at me. Wide awake
now! Wide awake and better than ever! Excel-
lent.”

While this may create a small bit of actual

memory confusion about the effect, it will not
hurt any other part of their recollection if you
say it in this way. While most people will re-
member what happened; they will doubt their
specific experience and it will become confus-
ing in their mind. Kenton says things such as:
“...people feel it in their head, emotions, more
grounded or in their gut”, which slyly suggests
to the person that if they do recall the foot tap
specifically it is simply one of countless ways a
person might have such an intuitive sensation.
With this in place, should your participant ever
say, “I felt you tap my foot”, you may counter
this with a remark such as, “Wow! Well every-
one experiences it differently and that’s a new
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one to me! You probably are very grounded,
and practical so you experienced a surge or tap
of energy in your feet.”

Here is a variation that elevates the effect ten-

fold in my opinion:

Spread the cards in front of the participant you

are about to induct but spread them face down
to begin with. Turn the cards face upwards after
you induct the spectator who will by this point
have their eyes closed.

As the spectator eliminates cards, you turn

these face down into a pile. Once you get to
the point where the person has their finger on
one card, ask them to lift their finger for a mo-
ment so you can turn that card over. This
achieves a perfect dual reality. When the in-
ducted spectator opens their eyes they will as-
sume the cards were always face down and that
as the other spectator freely chose a card and
shuffled the pack, you could not have kept
track of the selection. To the rest of the audi-
ence, the spectator finds a selection impossibly
because they are being guided with the other
spectator’s mind.
If you do this variation you will need to put
your finger to your lips to indicate silence from
the audience when the induced spectator
places their finger on the exact card.

“Don’t give them any help. This must be com-

plete intuition”, would suffice as a perfect way
of accomplishing this.

Be clear with your instructions so that everyone

knows in advance when and how you will be
eliminating cards. You don’t want the audience
questioning what you are doing after you have
begun. You need to be clear that your actions
are based entirely on what the induced person
does (not some sort of equivoque or other ad-
justment).

I try to get to the finale in one or two attempts

by spreading the cards widely at first, creating
a greater opportunity of hitting the exact card.
Some people may prefer stretching it out to
three, possibly four, attempts but I like to work
to get it spot on the very first time, safe in the
knowledge that I still have a time or two to
help the person if they don’t hit the card exact-
ly right away.

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 Middle Ground
As an extra thought, whilst playing around with
all the aforementioned alternative approaches,
I have also thought about, and created, a good
middle ground effect that uses ordinary, un-
marked playing cards, two spectators and little
else.

As in the version just explained, you have two

spectators join you and sit either side of you.
The spectator to your left selects a card and
the spectator to your right finds that card whilst
the first spectator attempts to mentally guide
the second.

However, using this ‘middle ground’ method,

you then have the spectator that found the
card return to where they came from and you
ask the spectator who chose the card to wash
the deck face down all around the table, and to
keep his selection that was just found in mind.
You (from the other side of the stage/room) ask
the spectator to (or you can do this) gather the
cards and spread the deck face down.

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You then have him close his eyes and com-
pletely by himself, in one attempt, the specta-
tor stops on one card. He again names his se-
lection and shows the room the card he
stopped on, eyes closed. It is his selection. The
end.

Here, the first part is just drop card as know

and as previously explained in this appendix
with one slight alteration; you force the playing
card. The way I prefer to do this is to breather
crimp the force card. The spectator can then
shuffle the deck, I see where the selection is,
break at the selection and begin to drop
groups of cards to the table in a messy fashion.
The spectator calls stop and I time my moves
to allow the spectator to arrive at the force
card. I then perform the first phase as known,
whilst guiding the spectator using the foot cue.

Once the spectator has found the other specta-

tor's selection, I invite the second spectator to
return to their seat and I execute a deck switch.
There are many great options available here;
‘The Cooler’ being one as you are using a table
and the ‘box’ can be on the table from the
start. Use whatever you are comfortable with
for this.

What are you switching in? A one way deck

that matches the card you have already forced
on the spectator, with one indifferent card on
the face of the deck. (This allows for a subtle
flash to the room of the bottom card before the
deck is washed on the table). The rest of the
effect happens with you across the room as the
spectator can select any card from the deck.

If you are worried about the one indifferent

card and the slight possibility that the spectator
might select it (I don’t worry about this) you can
perform the Gambler's Cop before spreading
the deck face down on the table, this leaves
only matching force cards for the spectator to
touch.

If you use this ‘middle ground’ I suggest show-

ing the cards to the room or making a real
point of having the two spectators confirm the
deck to all be different at the top of the effect,
that way the final phase is as strong as possi-
ble.

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 Closing Thoughts…
All of this said, you now have multiple versions
of ‘Drop card’, from the original, and now years
old version with playing cards that I still love to
perform, a solid ‘middle ground’ version that
allows for an extra phase, and you have multi-
ple versions and approaches that use a person-
al thought of the spectators and an amazing
location of a thought of letter.

Why so many versions? - because I wanted to

really include everything that I have tried,
thought about and used with regards to ‘Drop
Card’ over the years. I also believe it to be ex-
tremely worthwhile to know all the versions
talked about within this manuscript, let me tell
you why…

I was, sometime around 2010, performing this

effect in York at the York University Magic Soci-
ety when, after sitting down next to a spectator
who looked very nervous, began to perform
the effect. After the spectator was thinking of a
card, I asked the second spectator to relax and
close his eyes. I began to apply the necessary
guidance, whilst giving the instruction to him. I
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could see he looked extremely nervous now, so
I had him open his eyes and I asked him if he
was okay. To which he leant to me and said “I
have a false leg.”

This is not a joke; it happened, George and a

few other friends were in the room when it did.
My point being; if you know all the versions of
this effect, the outs and alternative methods,
you can think on your feet in real time to be
sure that you reach a solid climax. There was a
time when the outs and alternatives didn’t ex-
ist, but it is through performance that we really
learn and adapt and I have done all of that
work for you.

To help you locate which version is most practi-

cal for you at a later date, should you want to
revisit this manuscript, I have included a flow
chart that, if you follow in accordance with your
most frequent performance environment, will
lead you to what I feel will be the most useful
version for you.

I really enjoy Drop Card and although my fo-

cus is now in an almost completely different
area of magical performance, I know that I will
still perform this effect and continue to expand
upon the ideas mentioned in this book.

And of course, I would like to end by thanking

you for supporting my work.

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 Notes

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