Magic Stories

The Precog Deck — My New Favorite
Chris Kenworthey’s Precog Deck.

I purchased a Viking Any Card to Wallet andChis Kenworthey’s The Precognition Deck becauseI wanted to do what seemed to be impossible. I wanted a spectator to name think of a card, have that card vanish from the deck they were holding and appear in my wallet.

The Viking Any Card to Wallet is great. It is well-made and I’ll review it later. But, for my money, The Precognition Deck is the deal of the century. It has the impact of the impossible and is actually cleaner in presentation than the Viking effect.

But wait, I don’t want to give away the whole review on the front page.

Here’s the description that intrigued me: “The magician tosses a deck of cards to any volunteer in the audience and relates that earlier in the day he had a premonition.

“He asks the volunteer to simply name any card in the deck-he has a completely free choice. The magician continues to explain that after his premonition he removed one card from the pack and placed it in his pocket.”

So far so good, eh?

“The spectator himself then removes the cards from the case and counts them out, looking at each card’s face. He gets all the way through the deck and finds there are only 51 cards, none of which were his named selection! The performer reaches into his pocket and removes one card…the spectator’s selection!

“No pocket indexes, roughing fluid, adhesives, short cards, deck switches or sleight-of-hand, the ingenious deck does it all for you.

“The deck is in the spectator’s hands before the effect begins and the magician never touches the cards. Any of the 52 cards may be named.”

I’ve been doing the effect over and over since I received it. So I read the very brief instructions, and practiced and practiced. While the ad claims there is no sleight of hand, that’s not entirely true. You will need to do a top palm but the routine gives you plenty of cover for the actual palming moment.

(In fact, the phrase “palming moment” is a trade mark of thespecial massage therapy school started by an old girl friend of mine. She is currently in prison and won’t have access to the Internet for five to seven years so I have no fear using her phrase in this review).

It is well-known in the magic community, that palming moment aside, I have no guts. None. I am a complete wuss.

My assumption is that if the trick could go wrong, it will not only go wrong but somehow catch me on fire and ruin my credit history. I was thinking of writing a book on the subject, Four Hundred Outs for the Ball and Vase.

So, while you can perform the effect as described, and allow the spectator to take the cards out of the pack and do the counting, I don’t. This eliminates the only risk in the routine.

If you have more guts than me, I say go for it. But in all the times I have done it, the routine does not seem to be diminished in any way by me counting the cardsfrom the face-updeck on to the table. I invite them to count along.

When you show the the volunteer that there is only one card missing and that the card…

Chris Kenworthey’s Precog Deck.

I purchased a Viking Any Card to Wallet andChis Kenworthey’s The Precognition Deck becauseI wanted to do what seemed to be impossible. I wanted a spectator to name think of a card, have that card vanish from the deck they were holding and appear in my wallet.

The Viking Any Card to Wallet is great. It is well-made and I’ll review it later. But, for my money, The Precognition Deck is the deal of the century. It has the impact of the impossible and is actually cleaner in presentation than the Viking effect.

But wait, I don’t want to give away the whole review on the front page.

Here’s the description that intrigued me: “The magician tosses a deck of cards to any volunteer in the audience and relates that earlier in the day he had a premonition.

“He asks the volunteer to simply name any card in the deck-he has a completely free choice. The magician continues to explain that after his premonition he removed one card from the pack and placed it in his pocket.”

So far so good, eh?

“The spectator himself then removes the cards from the case and counts them out, looking at each card’s face. He gets all the way through the deck and finds there are only 51 cards, none of which were his named selection! The performer reaches into his pocket and removes one card…the spectator’s selection!

“No pocket indexes, roughing fluid, adhesives, short cards, deck switches or sleight-of-hand, the ingenious deck does it all for you.

“The deck is in the spectator’s hands before the effect begins and the magician never touches the cards. Any of the 52 cards may be named.”

I’ve been doing the effect over and over since I received it. So I read the very brief instructions, and practiced and practiced. While the ad claims there is no sleight of hand, that’s not entirely true. You will need to do a top palm but the routine gives you plenty of cover for the actual palming moment.

(In fact, the phrase “palming moment” is a trade mark of thespecial massage therapy school started by an old girl friend of mine. She is currently in prison and won’t have access to the Internet for five to seven years so I have no fear using her phrase in this review).

It is well-known in the magic community, that palming moment aside, I have no guts. None. I am a complete wuss.

My assumption is that if the trick could go wrong, it will not only go wrong but somehow catch me on fire and ruin my credit history. I was thinking of writing a book on the subject, Four Hundred Outs for the Ball and Vase.

So, while you can perform the effect as described, and allow the spectator to take the cards out of the pack and do the counting, I don’t. This eliminates the only risk in the routine.

If you have more guts than me, I say go for it. But in all the times I have done it, the routine does not seem to be diminished in any way by me counting the cardsfrom the face-updeck on to the table. I invite them to count along.

When you show the the volunteer that there is only one card missing and that the card count amounts to 51 rather than 52, the audience is convinced the trick is over. I don’t know why they think that, but they do.

It is as if they accept on faith that the card in the envelope is their card and you’re a miracle worker.

The brilliance of the routine is evident at this moment, this “palming moment.”

For even someone as gutless as your humble reviewer, you can accomplish what you need without fear.

When you get the effect, and I hope you will, switch the card box out for one the type of cards you use in your routine. I haven’t had anyone notice that the face card designs appear different than the Bicycle deck I’ve been using.

The routine includes some suggested endings other than the one I’ve described which eliminates the need for the “palming moment.”

Bottom Line: Buy this and use it. You’ll need to practice the deck handling and you should not perform the effect until you are sure you understand exactly how to handle the deck for any card named.

RATING: FOUR OUT FOUR.

It is commercial, practical and looks like real magic. That’s quite a lot for $25.00.

(c) 2004, Insidemagic.com (except for the phrase “palming moment”).

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