It’s a card trick that’s not about the cards. It’s about the person—your spectator. It’s about her personality, her desires. So maybe it’s more than a card trick…

You can perform Self-Guided Tour with postcards, tarot cards, photographs, or playing cards. Whatever fits your personality and style. I use postcards from the Louvre, and my presentation goes like this:

“I believe that if you were to go to a museum and walk around, from room to room, randomly, you’d end up at the painting you’re SUPPOSED to see. As if by fate. And I’m going to prove it to you right now.”

I show the eight paintings one at a time, and then I mix them up. I hand the stack to the spectator and ask her this:

“When I showed you those eight paintings, did you click with any of them?”

The spectator names one and I ask her to remove seven of the postcards using the down/under shuffle described at the start of the trick. She does this…and she ends up with one postcard (and one postcard alone). She turns it over. It’s the painting she wanted. As if by fate.

Self-Guided Tour is a piece of strong magic. It’s not easy, but it’s worth the work. Because once you’ve got the trick mastered, you won’t just fool people, you’ll connect with them.

TIP: Self-Guided Tour uses sleight-of-hand and memory work. As I perform it, it’s not an easy trick. Though, easier versions are taught on the download.

Thanks to David Copperfield, Chris Kenner, Jon Armstrong, Max Maven, and Bizzaro. Credits to Futagawa and Lorayne.