I am guessing that Penn and Teller were in on it, because the mechanic he used for this trick is not too hard to figure out.
Also, note the use of the "force". He reduced the number of possibilities for the card from 52 (53, if you count the joker) to 48. (Pay very close attention to the wording of the questions to the audience members.)
> I did some research on this trick. > > I am guessing that Penn and Teller were in on it, because the mechanic he used for > this trick is not too hard to figure out.
Nah, rules said they only got one one guess, and there were a few possibilities.
> > Also, note the use of the "force". He reduced the number of possibilities for the > card from 52 (53, if you count the joker) to 48. (Pay very close attention to the > wording of the questions to the audience members.)
Oh, less than 48. By a lot. The ball provided psychological cues, and having multiple people make the choice kept any one from picking up on them. Then, of course, the three printed cards broke the deck into four groups of cards.
> > Also, note the use of the "force". He reduced the number of possibilities for the > > card from 52 (53, if you count the joker) to 48. (Pay very close attention to the > > wording of the questions to the audience members.) > > Oh, less than 48. By a lot. The ball provided psychological cues, and having multiple > people make the choice kept any one from picking up on them. Then, of course, the > three printed cards broke the deck into four groups of cards.
> > > Also, note the use of the "force". He reduced the number of possibilities for the > > > card from 52 (53, if you count the joker) to 48. (Pay very close attention to the > > > wording of the questions to the audience members.) > > > > Oh, less than 48. By a lot. The ball provided psychological cues, and having > multiple > > people make the choice kept any one from picking up on them. Then, of course, the > > three printed cards broke the deck into four groups of cards. > > What cues did the ball provide?
I'm no expert. I've seen it done on science programs. Red over black, leaping orca, numbers and types of small images/panels (I see it was a normal 6 sided beach ball, but with half the sides split in two). Note even the "water" on it wasn't blue, enhancing redness.
> > > > Also, note the use of the "force". He reduced the number of possibilities for > the > > > > card from 52 (53, if you count the joker) to 48. (Pay very close attention to > the > > > > wording of the questions to the audience members.) > > > > > > Oh, less than 48. By a lot. The ball provided psychological cues, and having > > multiple > > > people make the choice kept any one from picking up on them. Then, of course, the > > > three printed cards broke the deck into four groups of cards. > > > > What cues did the ball provide? > > I'm no expert. I've seen it done on science programs. Red over black, leaping orca, > numbers and types of small images/panels (I see it was a normal 6 sided beach ball, > but with half the sides split in two). Note even the "water" on it wasn't blue, > enhancing redness
That's fine and dandy, but the trick does not require any knowledge of the card chosen. The trick deck is capable of displaying anything chosen.
Start out with a standard deck. Eliminate 50% of the cards by picking a color. Eliminate half of what's left by picking a suit. Then again picking the upper or lower half of the deck. There is probably some study/phsych thing that says 20 out of 25 times a person will pick 9.
> Start out with a standard deck. Eliminate 50% of the cards by picking a color. > Eliminate half of what's left by picking a suit. Then again picking the upper or > lower half of the deck. There is probably some study/phsych thing that says 20 out of > 25 times a person will pick 9. > > Just saying...
You don't even need that much info. The deck is capable of 16 different words. You have "of, hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades" already taken and you'd only need to eliminate one face or number card to make the trick work. I think he did that while tossing the ball.
> You don't even need that much info. The deck is capable of 16 different words. You > have "of, hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades" already taken and you'd only need to > eliminate one face or number card to make the trick work. I think he did that while > tossing the ball.
"High card or low card?"
If you pick "high card", the next question will be "which card: 8, 9, 10, J, Q, or K ?" If you pick "low card", the next question will be "which card: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 ?" See anything missing?
NB: The Japanese version of the trick has nothing missing.