EFFECT : A card is selected and remembered by the spectator . The magician explains that he will be demonstrating a classic trick of magic called ' The 21 Card Trick '. The magician deals 20 cards on the table and the selection is lost into the 20 cards pile . The magician hands the deck to the spectator and he then deals the 21 cards into 3 piles . The magician then tries to decipher which pile the selection is in by eliminating two out of three piles . This action is repeated until there are only 3 cards left on the table . The magician then asks the spectator to choose one card among the 3 cards . The card that the spectator chose amongst the 3 cards is the selection . The magician then turns the other 20 cards over to show that the faces are all blank ! Not only that , the deck is turned over to reveal that every single card is blank except for the selection .

BACKGROUND : There are many great versions of the 21 Card Trick but one of my favourites is still the classic version whereby it is mathematically based . I decided to create this version whereby it incorporates a blank deck and it is presented as though the magician has special powers and is able to decipher where the selection is in a mixed up pile .

Now , explain to the spectator that you will now demonstrate a classic of magic called ' The 21 card Trick ’. Deal 20 cards face down from the top of the deck and table the rest of the deck . Take the selection back from the spectator and lose it into the 20 cards pile . However , in reality , you controlled the selection to the bottom of the pile . Now , execute an Overhand Shuffle and shuffle off the top 10 cards to the bottom of the pile . This will put the selection on the 11th position . As a convincer , you can do some false cuts to retain the order of this pile .

Once that is done , hand the deck to the spectator to deal the cards into 3 piles ( Fig . 2 ). The selection will now be at the center pile . Explain to the spectator that you will try to decipher which pile the selection is in . Place your hand over the 3 piles and hover across them as though you are trying to feel where the selection is . Pick up the center pile and hand it to the spectator while you push the other 2 piles to the side as you explain that you feel the selection is in the middle pile ( Fig . 3 ).

SETUP : You will need a blank face deck as well as any random card . The random card will be the card that will be forced on the spectator . Place the force card face down on top of the blank face deck and that will be your setup ( Fig . 1 ).

Fig . 2

Fig . 1 Begin by taking the deck out from the card case face down and give it a shuffle while controlling the force card on the top of the deck . This should be relatively easy because you just need to keep track of only one card as the rest of the cards are blank . After you are done shuffling , you can use your favourite Card Force to force the top card to the spectator . I would usually use the Riffle Force but any force will do just fine as long as it does not show the faces of the blank deck . Have the spectator remember the selection . He can also sign the selection if he wants .

Fig . 3

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