Business Card Prediction

A spectator is handed a business card and is asked to insert the card anywhere of their choosing into a book which the magician is holding out in front of them. Another member of the audience is then handed the book and asked to open it at the page that the business card was inserted. This person is asked to read and concentrate on the first sentence of the opened pages. After some intense concentration, the magician then calls out the first sentence on the pages.

How It’s Done: You will need two identical business cards and a plain covered book. Open the book near the center and write down the first sentence on the page that you have opened it at. Now place one of the business cards in between the pages and close the book, the business card should be just sticking out approximately one centimeter from the pages at the top of the book. Make sure that you have memorized the first sentence on the page that you previously wrote down.

Now to begin the trick, hand another of the same business cards to your spectator and hold the book out in front of them with both your hands. the book should be facing them lengthwise and making sure that the end with the sticking out business card is facing you. The spectator is asked to insert their business card quickly in between the book pages at any position of their choice. Now take the book and hand it to another member of the audience. It is at this point that you secretly turn the book around so that the end of the book with the secretly pre-inserted card is facing this audience member. At the same time secretly remove the spectators inserted card and discretely steal it away and place it in your pocket or anywhere out of site.

The audience member should assume that the card facing them in the book was the one inserted by the spectator. They are then asked to open the book at the pages where the card is inserted and to concentrate on the first sentence. You now use all your acting skills to be seen to be concentrating hard and then announce the first sentence on the opened page. This mind reading trick can look really impressive because as far as the audience is concerned, they had a completely free choice where to place the card and at no time did you see the page that was opened at the point where the business card was inserted.

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