The forcing card trick

This trick very easy, yet it amuses even clever people. It can be used for all kinds of prediction tricks involving cards, depending on the magician's innovation.

The Effect:

The magician writes down a card on a piece of paper. The paper is then folded and handed over to a spectator. The magician then takes a pack of cards and shows that it is only a normal pack. He then shuffles the pack and asks the spectator to make a cut. The cut pack of cards is turned over the rest of the cards.

The magician then calls upon another spectator and tells him to make another cut in the deck. Again the cards are turned over. The cards which are facing up are removed and then the first card facing down is given to the spectator as it was randomly chosen by the selections of the two spectators.

This card is found to be the one that was predicted earlier by the magician on the paper.

What You Need:

All you need is an ordinary pack of cards. If you want to do the trick as above then you will need a piece of paper and a pen.

The Secret:

Before performing place any card on the top of the pack of cards. This is the card which you will be predicting. Then make your prediction on a paper. Say that you will be forcing two of the spectators to choose the card you predicted. You can carry on with the trick and finally the first card facing down would be the card kept on top.

Caution:

• While shuffling the pack, cut the pack into two and merge them in such a way that the top card is undisturbed.
• When the second cut is made, make sure the spectator cuts below the face up cards. If possible fan the cards with the thumb and ask the user to say "Stop". Make the second fanning below the face down cards. This way, you can be safe and stylish.

Ideas:

The above trick can be utilised in many ways. One idea is that you can use two packs: In one pack you can keep a card face up in the middle of the pack. You can force the user to select that card in second pack and then show the face up card in the other pack.

More innovative ideas are welcome.