Think of a Card

Think of a Card is a mentalism effect in which a spectator merely thinks of a card and the performer locates it.

The magician allows the spectator to think of a card by:

• Displaying the faces of a small packet of cards
• Dispalying all the cards in the deck or apparently all the cards
• Allowing the spectator to just think of the value and suit of any card in the deck.

The magician reveals the thought of card in one of two ways:

• A card is identified (i.e. placed down on the table or sticking up out of a fan) and then displayed after the spectator announces the thought of card.
• The spectator announces the card and then the card is revealed in a unique way. For example, it's the only red backed card in the blue deck.

See also Any Card At Any Number.

Early publications

Early examples of this plot are:

• "To tell one without confederacie what card he thinketh" in The Discoverie of Witchcraft by Reginald Scot (1584) which was most likely contributed by John Cautares.
• "The Card Thought on per Force" from Volume 4 of Rational Recreations by W. Hooper (1774)
• "The Card Thought Of" in The Secrets of Conjuring and Magic by Robert-Houdin (1877). Translated by Professor Hoffmann from the French edition (1868)

Notable Routines

• Bob Hummer's "Mind Reader's Dream" (1952)
• Out of Sight - Out of Mind by Dai Vernon in Dai Vernon's More Inner Secrets of Card Magic (1960)
• Ed Marlo's "Mental Topper" in New Tops, Vol. 6, no. 4, April 1966.
• Think of a Card by Paul Harris in The Magic of Paul Harris (1976) and Book 1 of Art of Astonishment (1996).
• Invisible Rising Card by Paul Harris in Las Vegas Close Up (1978) and Book 1 of Art of Astonishment
• Derek Dingle has some work on it in The Complete Works of Derek Dingle (1982).
• Bob Farmer's "Tsunami" (1987)
• "Topping Mental Topper" in Jon Racherbaumer's Cardfixes (1990)
• Ray Kosby's Deep Thought also in Book 1 of Art of Astonishment (1996)
• Milt Kort's All-Outs Think-of-a-Card (Milt Kort, No. 19 in the Ron Bauer Private Studies Series (2005). First published as "Sure-Fire Think of a Card" in The Linking Ring, Vol. 77, No. 10, October 1997, pp. 113-115.
• Think A Card by Roger Crosthwaite in Arcadia (1999) (Anthony Brahams' Cairn Press.)
• Kolossal Killer by Kenton Knepper (2004)
• "Double Duty" in MonkeyShines, Vol. One by Doc Dixon (2009).
• Armando Lucero's "Empanada" routine (2009)

Gimmicked Decks

• Invisible Deck
• Brainwave Deck
• Force of thought
• Mind Power Deck
• Blizzard
• Mind's Eye Deck by David Harkey

Books

• Roger Crosthwaite's book Roger's Thesaurus has an entire chapter on think a card.
• "A Card Merely Thought of" ebook by Tom Baxter.

References

• From Witchcraft to Warlock: The Evolution of Think-a-Card (A lecture given by Fr. Roger Crosthwaite at the Magic Circle Collector's Day (May 25, 1996) [Reprinted in Arcadia by Crosthwaite (1999) ]
• The Collected Wisdom of Magictalk - Think of a Card