Zener Floaters

The next pair I had established as “floaters” (could be inserted anywhere) just in case Silent Running didn’t work.  Again, good idea!

The only effects so far that use a full Zener deck, the first is a simple PATEO game with a prediction left in the box.  I don’t know why, but it didn’t occur to me until show-time that with this particular handling the final choice doesn’t really matter.

The top five cards are my forces.  Split (don’t deal) into five piles and run the game.  I start; the game goes quickly, and with no obvious forethought.  The fourth selection (by the spectator) allows a bit of humor, because I’ve been saying “I’ll pick two”, “You pick two”, etc.  On this round there ARE only two, so when I say “You pick two”, well the obviousness just gets a small laugh.

This last pile now gets split up into five cards (all known!), but I continue the ruse (“I’ll pick two”, “You pick two”, etc.)  Finally on the last card, I “give in” (“Pick whichever card you like”)

At this point, for the first time, I reveal the small card left behind in the box.  I ask them to remove it and read it.  Once this prediction has been read, THEN I ask them to turn over the one remaining card, a match.

It’s interesting, because at this point someone has always asked to see the cards, thinking they’re all the same.  Of course they’re not, and by this time I have them well mixed as well, but it seems to clear the deck (so to speak) for some other effects later on which DO in fact use “special” cards.

While the Zeners are being examined, I locate the appropriate cards for step two, my version of the old red dot/blue dot packet trick from the 1970’s.  I remind them that there are five each of five different symbols, and here I have SIX cards (very important phrasing, here.)

I lay these six cards out in a row and have them select only one.  The first time, I had the spec just use a finger and slide the card toward himself.  The second time, I used a gold coin and had the spec place the coin on top of a card.  I think the second method is more effective for a number of reasons: it’s more tactile, the coin “holds down” the card in a more psychologically effective manner (makes it immovable), and the idea of a gold coin “hooks” into something visceral in the mind of everybody I’ve ever encountered.  The coin stays!

Of course, now I just pick up the remaining cards from whichever end is appropriate.  A Hamman count shows all five cards just alike.  Then the spec turns over his card to see that it’s the only one that’s different (hopefully the same one that got predicted in step one.)

This is more powerful than one would expect, possibly because they work together.  As a “butt saver”, it completely gets the attention away from the failed S.R. effect.  In fact from the first show, that was the lead-in; “Most people can’t fool me like that.  I think you might be special.  Can we try something to test that?”  Or course nobody’s going to refuse THAT!