Emergency Prediction
by Raphaël Czaja

The magician can't find the spectator's card but his prediction can.

In short:

The spectator cuts to a card, removes it from the deck and remembers it. Then, the magician shuffles the deck and divides it into two halves. The spectator shuffles both parts, loses his selection between them, and shuffles even more. At the end, the magician runs through the deck and removes a card, but it is not the spectator's. Fortunately, the magician has an "emergency out", a message on a piece of paper inside a red envelope, in full view from the start. The spectator reads it out loud:

He counts twelve cards and, indeed, finds his selection!

Everything is examinable. Easy to do. No sleights. No marking system. No Si Stebbins stack. No gimmick. The deck, the envelope and the piece of paper are completely normal. A red envelope and piece of paper are used to fit the "emergency" theme but any color will do.

In detail:

The magician shuffles a deck of cards. He explains that what he is about to perform is so difficult that he needs an "emergency out" in case of failure. He points at a red envelope that will remain in full view. The spectator cuts the deck as much as he wants and makes three equal piles. He removes the top card of the middle section and gathers the deck. As he takes a look at his selection (let's say, the 8C), the magician shuffles the deck - the spectators clearly see a genuine Overhand Shuffle - and divides it into two halves.

Using his favorite shuffle, the spectator mixes up any pile as the magician takes care of the other pile. Then, the spectator takes the other pile and shuffles it too, before having both piles aligned next to each other on the table. The spectator drops his selection onto any pile and covers it with the other pile. Finally, he shuffles the whole deck. The magician reminds the spectator that, in those conditions, it will be very difficult for him to find his card. He grabs the deck and runs through it, looking at every face. He removes one card and tables the deck. The spectator reveals the name of his selection out loud: The 8C. The card is turned face up: It is not the 8C.

Fortunately, the magician has an "emergency out", actually a prediction. He removes a red piece of paper from the envelope and lets the spectator read it out loud:

The spectator counts twelve cards. The 12th card is indeed the 8C.

1st edition 2024, PDF 5 pages.
word count: 1257 which is equivalent to 5 standard pages of text