Copy These Secret Methods

Magic principles are not easy to package and sell commercially. They're not toys you can perform on yourself in your bedroom. The best-kept secrets demand to be performed, and as such, few know of and use them.

One Ahead has written about dual reality in the past, but now is the time to share some incredibly actionable use cases for everyday magicians.

In simple terms, dual reality refers to a method in which two sections of the audience experience different versions of the same trick.

Usually, the majority of the audience experiences the better and more fooling version of the trick. The minority of the audience is none the wiser that everyone else has a different experience.

There are variations of dual reality, such as a dual force, in which a force upon a spectator involves more information than is understood by the wider audience.

A use case for a dual force is a good starting point. Still, by the end of this article, you'll learn three different actionable use cases, including a drawing duplication and a card match that takes place over the phone.

Trick One: Knowing which playing card a spectator chooses is simple. So the magician tells the group that one spectator is going to choose a playing card and think of a random animal. The magician shows everyone the entire deck of cards and asks the spectator to select one.

The magician then perfectly names the card they chose – plucking it from the deck and showing it to the spectator and the group.

Now it's time for the animal. The magician reads their minds and already knows they're actually thinking of two different animals. The magician asks them to ignore the first one that came to mind and focus on the second one. The magician correctly reads their minds to tell them they're thinking of a wombat. Amazing.

The Method: Before the trick, the magician writes two different animals on fifteen of the playing cards with a marker pen. The magician then uses a simple playing card force to guarantee the hero spectator selects the correct one—the four of hearts with "Lama" and "Wombat" written on it (one word on top of the other).

Fifteen cards have animals written on them, so you can spread through the deck and show all of the options to the hero spectator when you say that you're going to ask them to choose a playing card and an animal – this makes the process feel natural to them.

When you fan the cards to show the audience at large, a simple cut moves the cards with animals to the back of the pack—and you only show them cards without markings on them.

One final subtlety to enhance the effect is to include an additional four of hearts with no marking at the top of your pack of cards. When you retrieve the chosen card from the deck, show it to the hero spectator, then top change it when you show it to the audience, switching it for the card with no animals written on it.

Trick Two: The magician performs a drawing prediction in which the spectator and the magician miraculously draw the same animal (perhaps a Wombat). Not only did the magician draw the same animal, but when the two drawings are held alongside one another, we see that they match perfectly in every way – they're the same shape and scale. Incredible!

The Method: It's essential to write the name of the animal below your sketch. In this instance, it's the word "Wombat." Writing this word in your handwriting is key to the method when you consider what happens next.

The secret relies on you knowing what the hero spectator will draw, but they are free to sketch it any way they wish. Then, there's a specific rhythm to the way the drawing duplication is revealed.

In short, you show the audience your drawing and then show it to the spectator; when they react to it being the same animal, you switch their drawing for one that perfectly matches yours in every way.

The easiest tool for this is a set of spirit slates, a classic magician's prop. On the inside of your slate, draw the wombat with the word alongside it. Draw an identical wombat on the inner side of the loose piece of slate with no word. Finally, either pre-draw another identical wombat and word on the outside of the slate or draw a light outline for you to draw over during the routine.

In the performance, first, show the audience what you drew. Then, show it to the hero spectator on stage with you – they will react well because you drew a wombat, too. Take their slate and shake their hand, thanking them for taking part. At this moment, use the spirit slates to carry out the seamless switch – adding the loose piece from your slate on top of theirs. This allows you to show the two drawings to the audience then, and they're a near-perfect match.

The handwritten word helps disguise the switch, creating a differentiator between their drawing and yours and providing consistency with what is on your slate before and after the switch.

Trick Three: The magician is with a spectator and makes a phone call to a mutual friend. The magician tells them over the phone that the spectator has just chosen a card at random; it's face down, and no one knows what it is. The friend on the phone is asked to name a card freely – when the spectator turns over the card, it's a perfect match.

The Method: Like many tricks that rely on dual reality, this one comes down to perfect wording. What actually happened was that your spectator took a deck under a table, chose one card at random, turned it face down, and replaced it in the middle of the pack before placing the entire deck into the card box.

By the time the card is named by the friend on the phone, the pack has been switched for an Invisible Deck. Everything you say to the friend on the phone is true, but the description allows them to imagine a more fooling reality.

An effortless switch for this use case is to have them hand you back the deck of cards under the table and have the invisible deck ready to switch in on your knee. Asking the spectator to take out their phone to call the friend also presents an excellent opportunity for misdirection and apple time for a switch.

The critical thing to keep in mind is anchoring—do not heavily anchor the expectations at the top of the trick as a prediction effect. Please keep it simple; it's more of a random experiment and chance trick, so there's not as much scrutiny on the deck before the switch.

If you would like to ditch the deck switch altogether, perform a standard invisible deck routine over the phone. Tell them that you're here with their friend and you've made a prediction by turning one card face down.

Sure, the invisible deck is fooling enough, but performing it with a phone-a-friend presentation is compelling, and you might as well make it sound more impossible to the friend if they can't be there to experience it in person anyway.