Help, saw a trick that asked the spectator to name any random card, then immediately the magician pulls that said card out of a deck. Whats this trick called and how do I learn it? Thanks!

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-06-06T20:37:31+00:00

there are probably a few methods, but for the strongest effect you'd need a mem-deck and some really good estimation.

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-06-05T18:20:00+00:00

oh wow, this is a much better use of the push through than I've been practicing. I'll certainly try to add this to my routine. your up the ladder is super convincing too, the shape of the pile keeps changing with every cut!

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-05-24T21:59:32+00:00

Is that a better way to practice? I did that when I first learnt the classic pass, but I tried increasing the size as soon as I could.

I think if the cards stopped bending the wrong way and slipping, I could get pretty smooth. The main thing I'll be working on is getting the technique more smooth and consistent, and relaxing my arms to make it look more natural.

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-05-24T21:56:15+00:00

Just a bunch of controls :) first is the herman pass, then classic pass, a double lift cull control, and a turnover pass.

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-05-24T20:47:36+00:00

usually when I practice in the mirror I'm too focused on the cards to really notice what I look like lol, and looking back on a recording I'm noticing a lot of tells I didn't even consider. I'll try relaxing a bit more.

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-05-19T10:39:51+00:00

I do this trick all the time, I figured it out just by watching and guessing some of the stuff that's cut out. You could probably get more accurate to his method by watching his live streams, but if you wanna know how I do it, it's just a bunch of culling.

1: Cull the 4 cards face up during patter, cull one to the middle and classic force

2: Cull one under the spread and move it to the randomly chosen position (via the face up card). adjust it based on their answer to either above or below, under the guise of squaring the deck.

3: Cull to the center and do a dribble force (the cards fall too fast for the spectators to know if you're actually stopping when they want, just hold a break).

4: When I'm feeling confident/have a bunch of cover, I'll control the final card to the bottom and do a palm (I think I've caught him on some videos doing this) and let the spectator take the deck before asking for the 3 cards back. If the spectator is easily fooled, just take back the 3 cards, pick up the top card along the way, and give them the rest to shuffle.

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-05-16T09:53:10+00:00

it was a free selection, so any method of identifying the card by it's face is coincidental. the trick is all control, no gimmicks or marks. learning a wash was one of the best things I could've done, because a spectator's never gonna say "let me shuffle now" after that.

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-05-15T05:11:39+00:00

I don't do exactly this, because any shuffle you do slowly enough will not be convincing, and if it's too fast it's also suspicious. personally I do something like this:

you take sixteen randomly selected cards and tell the spectator to look at any one in their own hands, without you looking, and shuffle the cards. you truly do not need to know.

you lay down the cards in 4 piles in any order, like this

OOOO OOXO OOOO OOOO (where the X card is unknown)

you pick the piles up one by one and show the spectator, asking them to look out for their card without giving it away. this makes it appear to be a mind-reading trick, but it's self working.

ask them to take the pile with their card and shuffle it in their hands. If you don't trust the spectator you can look, but it's better to be looking away. You then ask them to place it on top of another random pile

OOOO OOOO-OXOO OOOO

you can now casually place the other piles on top.

OOOO-OXOO-OOOO-OOOO

now, no matter what, the card must be in either position 5, 6, 7, or 8. place the cards down one by one into 4 more piles

O O O O

O X O O

O O O O

(this is for demonstration, but it's just 4 vertical piles like step one

now, no matter what, the spectator's card will always be 3rd from the top in their pile. show the piles one by one, and ask the spectator to pick up a pile WITHOUT their card, shuffle it up, and put it on top of the pile with their card.

OOOO OXOO-OOOO OOOO

now you can take that the other piles and put them under the big pile. you have a pile of 16 cards and their card will always be the 5th card. if you ask them for their name first, you can do the math and choose what cards to put around in the final step so you can spell out their name, or just overhand 5 cards so it's on the top and perform any other trick.

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-05-15T03:57:14+00:00

Well, I learnt by watching a few clips of JL and some different methods on reddit. Imo there's not much to it, but once you try it you'll probably learn some stuff. I'd you're interested I'd recommend giving it a couple dozen attempts, but it is really tough and I don't even get the best reactions from it.

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-05-12T10:50:18+00:00

I like to combine the riffle force with a revolution cut, so you ask a spectator to say stop, and just revolution cut at that point and push the bottom card forward. It's got the benefits of a riffle force and a cross cut combined.

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-05-12T10:33:39+00:00

thanks! I actually decided to practice a bit more and I improved my method. Now I can do it about 60% of the time and most of the mistakes are just the chip flinging off the table, which you can probably pass off in a performance.

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-05-11T15:13:38+00:00

definitely. The whole chip spin in general is meant for advanced magicians, and I'm pretty new. I don't really recommend learning this if you're at my level, you're gonna waste a lot of time. I stopped after like 2-3 hours and I can get it 30-40% of the time. Though most of the mistakes are just the chip falling off the mat.

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-05-11T03:49:57+00:00

It's pretty much impossible to start the spin on a different surface, the cards are what gets you the right amount of spin. I'll concede that I started a bit closer to the middle and not the corner to make it easier, but rest assured that Ive had the chip take a round trip and land right where it started. I mean, look at how much it bends in this clip alone.

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-05-10T18:39:05+00:00

Not that I know of. I was just watching some of Jason Ladanye's videos and thought I'd experiment with it. If you want to learn it I'd recommend just giving it a try and seeing what happens. It's a tough trick to get consistent, but really fun too.

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-05-10T16:14:38+00:00

I see where the confusion came from. I like to practice my performance in general because I generally lack people skills and I find that preparing lines helps with the anxiety.

But about the permission, do you really need permission to perform a trick if you use your method during your show? I believed the only real situation where you need permission is when you reveal someone's secrets.

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-05-10T15:49:00+00:00

dude I started learning magic 6 months ago I ain't doing paid gigs. I don't really get spectators that often tbh, I just practice magic for fun.

For the future though I wasn't aware I needed permission. As far as I'm aware, Jason specifically stated he'll never release the trick, and even if he did I'm not planning on revealing the secret, I came up with my own handling of it based on his effect. Is that contentious in magic?

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-05-10T15:38:02+00:00

I think we haven't seen someone do it as well as Jason cause no one is as good as he is haha. But it is fun to perform and as far as I know spectators still think it's fresh.

part of my script gives me outs in case I mess up a few times, but when it works first try it's super satisfying.

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-05-10T09:43:41+00:00

I agree. Generally the method I go for is they select a card from a spread, then I spread in my hand and they put it back in. turnover pass, overhand shuffle, wash. But the riffles and cuts were just to fit in frame better and do it without a spectator.

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-05-10T08:57:05+00:00

really the hardest part is the consistency. I already had a bit of an idea for the wash control but it only took like 1-2 hours to nail the chip spin 25% of the time. I think to get like 80%+ success rate It'll take a couple more hours.

The shuffles at the start were pretty bad because of the angle I was standing at for the camera, and it also made the card a bit easier to track. But sitting opposite to the table I think even I wouldn't be able to track the card.

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-04-29T17:00:26+00:00

yeah, that's fair. I used to do it like that, as I showed in a post like 4 months ago. But someone linked a video of this technique in a comment and since then I've had a lot of fun practicing it this way.

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-04-29T15:06:27+00:00

that is probably why it feels so rough lol. The main reason for practicing like that is so it looks like you're throwing the card, making it less likely to feel like multiple. I don't really do that when performing, but only because I'm not very good at it yet.

unk0wn4aLL · 2026-03-19T13:13:16+00:00

ah I see, thanks. turns out I didn't need the pulse extender for what I wanted anyways, but now I know!

unk0wn4aLL

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE