The Mulitple Selection

My friend Tom has recently been mentioning his discussion with magicians surrounding the multiple selection routine.

Tom said: "We started out with a hearty discussion about the multiple card selection comparing Doc Eason, Ricky Jay, Paul Cummins, Malini, Eddie Fechter & Brian Gillis. We all threw in our two cents as to what we like and don’t like about the various methods of controls and of course the revelations. It’s a routine in all of our working repertoires."

I think that it's an absolutely fabulous trick.

Today after work, I saw six or seven guys and girls playing cards on a corner in Downtown Seattle. I decided that I would show them the multiple selection trick.

I have realized that the best techniques, audience management, presentations, bits, and lines, often come from the very people we perform for; our audiences.

So back to the story. I said "instead of just having one card picked this time, I'm in the mood for a special challenge. I will have six or seven cards selected and try my best to find each and every one of them! Sound good?"

They were already very excited which is nice. It's always nice to hype up a routine even before it begins. No you might say "doesn't that break one of the rules of magic?" That is, not to say what you're going to do before you do it. My take on it is that for this specific trick, it's nice to say what you will do before you do it. It sets the tone for the trick's apparent "difficulty." That's just my opinion.

So I proceeded to have 6 cards selected and memorized. Just as I started to request the selection be returned one at a time to the deck, someone piped up "I'll collect them for you". Caught off guard I said ok and they collected the cards. Once collected they cut the packet. I had them return the pile of selections to one spot in the deck. I didn't know how I was going to find the cards in order... Leave it to good luck, I managed to find the cards in order and return them to their rightful owners. That was close. I got a better reaction to the trick with each card becoming more and more challenging. Whew!

On the way home I was thinking about what had happened and realized why the routine was substantially more powerful than any other time I had performed it. The impression as I see it on my helpers was not only that I was able to have 6 cards selected and managed to find them all, but that I manged to return the specific card to whomever had taken it.

I thought about how I would be able to re-enact the same trick and I figured it out. When the cards are ready to be returned I designate one person to collect them and give the cards as many (as you know) straight cuts as they'd like. How can I do that? The answer is as simple as a key card. I nor anyone I've heard of has ever used a key card within this framework. I force the first spectator a card I've noted. This way when I have that "key" person collect the cards theirs will be the very bottom. I know now that the five cards to the left of my key card are the selections. It's also possible to have a key card in the deck aside from the selections. I like the key card to be amongst the selections though, because it allows total freedom as to where the selections go back. It also is a fun challenge for me and whenever I can get a classic force in, I jump on the opportunity.

The interesting thing about forcing the key card is that with a break being held over the key card to be forced I can spread out the cards and have everyone reach in and take a card. This way I don't have to close up and re-spread. Inevitably someone will take the force card. Ta da! They've just become the "collector." If for some God forsaken reason I don't manage to have one of them take the key card, I can always resort to keeping as my key card in the deck and go on from there.

I love this routine! What I've learned from the multiple selection trick, more so than any other card trick is that tricks are never solidified. They are in a constant developing process. It's always good to tweak, alter, and revise.

I love this Magic thing.

What are some of your thoughts regarding the construction, management, presentation and script of the incomparable Multiple Card Selection?

Sol