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the WIZARD on STEROIDS

by JIM CANADAY

THE EFFECT

You are at a party and someone wants to see a trick.

Unfortunately, you forgot to bring anything with you. Your host

has a deck of cards, but it is one of the “magician’s nightmare”

decks, grubby, stained, and with puppies on the back.

Fortunately, you learned The Wizard on Steroids before you

went to the party!

Have someone shuffle the deck, name any card of his or

her choice, and remove it from the deck. It is put back into the

middle of the deck (no breaks) and the deck is cut several times.

You give the spectator a phone number. You never touch the

phone. They call the number, starts naming the cards from the

top down and stops wherever they wish. Your assistant on the

phone then reveals the selection!

 BACKGROUND and METHOD

I recently purchased the wonderful book “Magic by

Phone” by Deej Johnson and it really got me to thinking about

the subject. We all remember learning the telephone trick “The

Wizard” back in our formative years. Then I ran across a

telephone trick in the July 1947 issue of the Pentagram called

“Western 1248” by Victor Peacock. He was coding the selected

card to his confederate using what he referred to at the 1-2-4-8

principle, which, of course, is now known as the binary system.

His system seemed needlessly complicated and I thought it

could be simplified as follows:

CODING: Actually the system is opposite the binary

system. You code the cards left to right, while the binary codes

from right to left. The card in the first position equals one, the

second equals two, the third equals four, and the fourth equals

eight.

Left to right simplifies the process as we are trained to

read left to right. Using this system, any value from 1-13 can be

coded using four cards. Since the system is only zeros and ones,
I will use a black card as a "1" and a red card as a "0." I will code

the suit in the second card with A-3 = Clubs, 4-6 = Hearts, 7-9 =

Spades and 10-K = Diamonds. Since this is the ChaSeD system

and each grouping (except for the last) is exactly three cards, it

makes the system easy to remember!

The second card is the only position for which you need

a specific number. The other cards only need to be the right

color. This not only eliminates a lot of searching for the value

you need (it can be any of six cards, red or black as needed), it

will speed up the process, thus removing the suspicion of

coding.

EXAMPLES

If you need to code the "Nine of Clubs," nine in the binary system

would consist of an "8" and a "1" and is written out "1001." Since

black is "1" and red "0," this would translate to black, red, red,

black. Since the suit is Clubs, the second card would have to be a

red A-3. So, here is a possible setup: KC, 2H, 9H, 5S. Get these

cards in the proper order to the top of the deck, do a Jog Shuffle
to retain the top four cards in the proper order, and maybe throw

in a few false cuts.

"Seven of Hearts" consists of a black card in the first,

second, and third positions (1+2+4=7) and a red card in the

fourth position. The first and third positions could be any black

card. Since the second card is the indicator and the suit is

hearts, the black card could be any 4, 5 or 6. A possible setup for

this would be 7C, 4S, KC, AD.

ROUTINE MECHANICS

The most efficient way to perform The Wizard on

Steroids is to ask your spectator to name a card. Ribbon spread

the cards and ask them to remove the card they just named.

While they look for their card, it should give you

sufficient time to locate a group of three cards with the proper

color setup to match the first, third, and fourth card. Then look

for the card that would go into the suit indicator spot (second

card) pull it out, show it to your spectator and say “You could

have picked any card. For instance, you could have picked
(name the indicator card you just took out), but you named (their

card).”

Slide the indicator card into the proper position, cut the

spread one card lower down (right where your fourth card

sequence begins). Turn the lower portion face down, then the

right hand portion on top to bring your four-card sequence to the

top of the deck.

Let the spectator replace his card anywhere in the deck

they wish (with the exception of the top four cards). Shuffle and

cut to your heart’s content using whatever technique you wish,

but keep the top four cards in place. If you have good spectator

control, you might hand them the deck and walk them through

an Ose Cut, thus supposedly giving him more control.

After your spectator has chosen a card, give them your

confederate’s phone number. After they answer, have the

spectator start naming the cards from the top of the deck down.

After a few cards, tell them they can stop whenever they're

comfortable. Obviously, your confederate only writes down the

first four and will know the name of the card at that point. By

letting the spectator choose when to stop, it makes them feel

that they have more control over the outcome. Your assistant

reveals the chosen card however they like!

PRACTICE TIPS

1) Think of any card. Ribbon spread and look for a block

of cards that matches the pattern of the three cards that you

need. Then look for the indicator card. Practice putting it into

position, cutting the cards and turning them over to leave your

grouping on top.

2) Shuffle the deck and pull out four cards at random.

Turn them face up in a spread. Figure out which card they

represent. The faster you can do these, the faster you will be

able to perform the effect. When practicing, just make sure your

calculations are accurate.

Although this is a math based effect, the method is well hidden

and your spectator should never suspect the method!

 PHONE[LESS] VERSION

If you don't feel like using a phone (or one is not available), have

your assistant go into another room. Do the setup per standard

procedure. Put the deck into the box and have someone

volunteer to take the deck into your assistant. (You don't see

them or talk to them). They can do a ribbon spread in front of

witnesses and pull out one card. The selection!

ABOUT the AUTHOR

Jim Canaday lives in New England and has run The Magic Portal

web site since 2001. He also periodically releases a newsletter

that has featured a number of tricks, including "The Wizard - On

Steroids." You can reach Jim at themagicportal@gmail.com or

visit The Magic Portal at http://mysite.verizon.net/jhcanaday/

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