EFFECT: The performer hands an envelope to a spectator to hold. The performer then removes a deck of cards from its case. The cards are not playing cards, however. In this deck, each card bears the name of a state in the United States. The performer thumbs through the deck allowing the spectators to see that all of the cards are different (when I do this, I even tell them that in order to have a full, 52-card deck, I have added Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico). The deck is then divided into 4 approximately equal piles. A spectator now selects one of those piles to use in the experiment, and the other three piles are discarded. The selected pile is then dealt into three new piles. Again, the spectator selects one of the piles to be used, and the other two are discarded. It is seen that the selected pile consists of only four cards. These cards are laid into a face down row, and the spectator eliminates all but one of those cards. The spectator who has been holding the envelope the entire time is now asked to remove the card that is in the envelope. On the card is the name of a State. The selected card is now shown to match the prediction.
1st edition 2013, 4 pages.
word count: 1297 which is equivalent to 5 standard pages of text
