This is Dr. Jeffrey Pearson's Private Estate item in Like New Condition.
Copyright 2009
"The Gift" by Steve Beam is a card trick that combines a humorous and heartwarming story with a powerful magical effect. The routine involves a magician explaining how his daughter marked some cards as a gift, leading to a series of surprises and reveals that delight the audience.
The magician introduces a “marked” deck of cards his daughter gave to him as a gift – a deck she marked herself. The good news was that she used a blue marker. The bad news was that she used a red-backed deck, and wrote really big. Really big. The worse news was that the marks on the backs of the cards were not the same as the cards on the front. “I guess I should have explained the concept a little better.”
Charging forward, the magician says he will attempt a card trick with the cards he was given, but for obvious reasons, he will keep the cards face up. He has any card called out by an audience member to be used as a back-up prediction. This card is removed and tabled. Another person chooses a random number which is counted down to in the deck to arrive at another random card which bears no resemblance to the card previously chosen. “I guess it doesn’t matter now, but I was hoping they would match.”
The magician remembers the back-up prediction previously removed. “And what do you do with a back-up prediction? You turn it back up.” The magician turns the card over and shows the markings on the back match the second card that was selected. “I understand how he predicted the card you would choose. What I don’t understand is how you predicted the card he would randomly call out at the beginning.” He turns over the second selection and the markings on the back match the first selected card.
For the finish, the magician briefly recaps the story. “I told you my daughter gave me a deck of cards she marked herself. The good news was she used a blue marker. The bad news was she used a red-backed deck and wrote really big. Really big. The worse news was that the marks on the backs of the cards were not the same as the cards on the front. What I didn’t mention was that when she marked the cards, she didn’t use a permanent marker… and I was able to make the markings disappear.” The magician passes his hand over the deck of cards and all the markings on the backs of the cards vanish. “Now this is a gift I can use.”
Complete instructions and presentation included. Supply your own deck and marker.
