EFFECT: From a shuffled deck, four cards are randomly dealt to four spectators. They each select one
- purely in their mind - and shuffle them before returning them to the magician. After a quick mix
of the entire stack, the magician deals them out into four piles. One at a time, each spectator says
which pile contains their card, and the magician is able to figure out what card they were merely
thinking of!
BACKGROUND: This trick was first released as part of The HaLo Project Volume
2, featuring hidden gems from Harry Lorayne and released by Rudy Tinoco of The Magician's Forum; it
has since been released separately as part of Bro Gilbert's The Vault series. It's arguably one of
the best tricks included in Volume 2 anyway, and quickly became one of Rudy's personal favourites
after learning it from Johnny New York. Johnny teaches it in this video, and uses his own handling
of Lorayne's original. It's actually just the second phase of a much longer routine from Harry
Lorayne in his book The Classic Collection Vol 2. Rudy gives a performance to a group of
spectators, as well as some afterthoughts and commentary at the end. Rudy even says "personally this
is the best card trick, arguably, that I have ever learned" - and I think that's a real reflection
of the fun he's had performing it, and the amazement he's produced, even when performing it multiple
times to the same spectators.
IMPRESSIONS: As Rudy points out, the need to memorize four
cards probably scares a lot of people away from this trick, but Johnny New York's handling involves
a very easy way to do this. While this revised handling is harder to do impromptu, simplifying
Harry's original method with help of a small stack cleverly eliminates the need for memorizing, and
makes it much easier to learn and perform. When I first saw this routine, I thought it was
basically a self-working trick, and pretty much was right about the main method. It is essentially a
self-worker, but there is some work you'll have to do in order to make it more convincing. Johnny
New York also teaches both the Charlier Shuffle and Lorayne's Utility Mixer (from Jaw Droppers! Two)
for false shuffling the packet, which helps sell the effect. Much can be learned from Rudy's
presentation, because his approach goes a long way to making this trick powerful. For the reveal, he
uses patter along the lines that he's trying to determine from the cards in the pile which card he
thinks that particular person would pick, and with a bit of acting, this can really sell the effect
as a mind-reading or mentalism type routine. Emphasizing that the selected card was merely thought
of also helps. Repetition can make a trick boring, but in this case it strengthens the illusion that
you're really able to get inside your spectator's heads and know what choices they would make, and
that really makes Four By Four a hidden gem.
4 of 4 magicians found this helpful.
I didn't get it here but picked it up on Rudy's web site. What can you say about Harry Lorayne?
One of our last living legends! This trick went right into my routine, a great effect for four
people. There will be no way someone can figure it out, its that good! Harry has so many hidden gems
in his books. Hope you guys can put more up and thanks Rudy! Great job.
4 of 4 magicians found this helpful.
This is a wonderful effect. You never actually see the card they have chosen until you reveal the
selections. This is an easy trick to perform. You can build a strong story about the presentation.
To quote Penn and Teller its a Fooler in the strongest sense of the word. My recommendation
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1 of 1 magicians found this helpful.
A solid effect that is a real fooler It can be learned in a short time and there are not any
difficult slights involved. It also involves more than 1 spectator so it's good for getting several
people involved.
1 of 1 magicians found this helpful.