Profile by Nikolas Mavresis and David Jonathan is the hobbyist magician’s wet dream, the perfect magic trick for friends and family.
The effect is engaging right from the outset as you hand your participant a regular deck of cards, place a prediction on the table and state you will ask your participant four and only four questions. Your participant deals cards face up, spelling their answers until a completely random card is reached.
You read the prediction “You are a genius if you pick a red card”, however they have stopped at a black card, a guaranteed laugh. You show the back of the card is red, which gets a second laugh along the magician in trouble lines. However, in a shocking twist you reveal every other card has a blue back. It is a climax no one sees coming and is completely amazing.
The whole thing is so hands off you can just relax and have fun with your audience, and really interact with them. The method is self-working, your only job is ask the questions and exaggerate the conditions, the more you emphasise the freedom of the answers and dealing the better the reactions will be. And boy will they be big!
The prediction can be anything you want along the idea of the colour being incorrect. If you are doing it with friends down the pub, feel free to be rude and personal and may be tone it down for the mother-in-law.
As Profile uses no gimmicks, the selected can be changed freely so it bears repeat viewings, the questions can also be changed as long as they meet the criteria so depending upon the occasion you can personalise them for added fun.
Your participant has genuinely arrived at the only red backed card in the deck! All the cards can be just left on the table to be examined; you are clean! You have just performed a true miracle.
If you wish you can use the deck for another effect, but you will struggle to find a more powerful one to top it.
In a nutshell, Profile is easy to do with no sleights, repeatable with a different card, can be easily personalised, uses a regular deck, and is incredibly strong magic. Add in the laughs and you get something close to perfect.
I have no doubt it will be going into many professionals close up cases and if I had to recommend one trick to the hobbyist, I’d say Profile every time.
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