Inflexion by David Loosley

There is a visual effect where a fan of 5 indifferent cards is shown.  By simply brushing the index corners of the 5 cards, the 5 cards instantly change into a royal flush.

There are 2 methods of performing this effect.  One makes use of a single loose gimmick that comprises the 4 corners of the playing cards.  The other method uses 4 specially gimmicked cards in which each of their index corners changes identity instantly.  The latter method is cleaner in the handling and very visual in the change, but the cards cannot be examined.

Dave Loosley likes the second method very much because of the direct and visual change, and devises a clever method of secretly discarding the gimmick and handing the card out for examination.  His adaptation of this gimmick leads him to an interesting visual 3-phase card transposition routine.

You receive 2 specially gimmicked pieces of cards, and a special “holder” card.  The cards are specially manufactured by Rob Bromley.  You are also supplied with a 46 minutes DVD of instructions.

Here is a description of the 3-phase transposition routine.  2 cards are selected by a spectator.  One is a picture card and the other is a spot card.  They are both turned face downwards.  One is held by the spectator and the other is in the performer’s hand.  Magically, they change places.  In the second phase, one of the cards, say, the spot card, is folded in half.  Yet, the cards transpose – the picture card is now the folded card while the spot card is the non-folded one.  For the final phase, both cards are folded in half.  One is held by the spectator while the other by the performer.  The performer folds one corner of his card backwards, exposing the index of his folded, say, spot card.  Visually, the index changes into the picture card.  The performer unfolds his card to show that it is indeed the picture card.  The spectator unfolds her card to discover that she has the spot card.  Both the 2 cards can be examined.

Dave, together with Peter Nardi of Alakazam Magic discuss 2 more applications of this interesting gimmick.

In “Open Prediction”, the performer shows a prediction in the form of a folded playing card.  He bends one corner of the card backwards to show that the predicted folded card is the six of hearts.  He places the folded prediction under an empty glass.  A card is selected, but it turns out to be the Queen of Spades, not the six of hearts.  The audience thinks the performer has it wrong.  When they look at the folded card, it shows the index of the Queen of Spades.  The prediction card is unfolded and shown to be the Queen of Spades.  There is no trace of the six of hearts.

“Blank” is another prediction card effect that is suitable for performing on stage.  2 spectators are invited to help the performer.  Each stands on either side of the performer.  Each is given an envelope with a prediction card inside.  The performer also shows that a deck of cards is mixed up.  The 2 spectators are asked to look away from each other.  In the meantime, the performer quietly gestures to the audience not to tell the 2 spectators and he secretly replaces the regular deck of cards with a deck of cards that are completely blanks on their faces.  He selects a card at random, shows this blank card to the audience and folds it in half.  He then folds back a corner and shows to one of the spectators the identity of this card.  He turns to the other spectator and shows her the identity of this card.  He faces the audience and opens his card to show them that it is a blank.  Yet, one of the spectators on stage actually sees the Queen of Spades and the other sees the six of hearts.  When they take out the prediction card inside their individual envelope, it matches the card each of them “sees”!

The effects are strong, and the card change is instant and visual.  The only down side, if it can be called that, is when the corner of the card is bent backwards, not the full index of the card can be seen.  The value part of the index is clearly shown, but a large portion of the suit part of the index is hidden.  This may not be a big problem because the gimmick always transposes a spot card of one suit, to a picture card of the opposite colour suit, and the contrast between the 2 cards is quite great.  The 2 gimmick cards you receive will each transpose a picture card of one colour to a spot card of the opposite colour.