Spectator
by on Feb.04, 2010, under Card Tricks
The method, in case you do not know, and many people do know — is simply a process of reasoning from a known factor (the marked cup at a known position at the start). We started with the marked cup at "A". When we turn round we glimpse down the nose until we see the position of the marked cup again. We can tell from that position which one hides the note.
Remember the spectator was told to move the other two, so if the marked cup remains at "A" it is obvious that it has not been moved, which means that the other two were moved, which means that "A" hides the note — it was unmoved. Suppose the marked cup now appears at position "B". We can reason that if it appears at B" then what was at "B" has been moved to the vacant space at "A". Since both "A and B" have therefore been moved — the unmoved cup must be "C". Lastly, the marked cup turns up at position C". Again we reason that "A" must have been vacant when the first cup was moved, and since it is now at "C" that cup must have gone in its place. Therefore "B" was not moved and must hide the note. Fogel suggests you end by telling the number of the note!
If does not matter at what position you start with the marked cup as long as you know where it was before you turned your back. A few minutes work IXill teach you the system which is very simple and yet good enough to fool nfany an intelligent audience. You may even care to progress further, and have the cups moved several times before you turn round. This can still be done as long as you remember the relative positions and after the first move the spectator calls out the number of exchanges and what they are by position "A, B or C". It is sufficient to show that by prior observation, a simple matter of noting a mark on a cup, the means to perform something which greatly entertains and baffles is made possible.
Another aspect of Prior Observation worth mention is that you cannot always identify a person by their faces when you are blindfolded — but very often you can — by their boots or shoes. Watch the spectators shoes when you are blindfolded, you can tell which way he’s facing. Watch an assistant’s shoes and you have as good a code system as you will ever need for fake Muscle reading. Blindfold walks, and when he stands next to another person, identifying a member of the audience. Last but not least, 1 have no doubt that you know Patent leather shoes make a reasonable reflector. Or did you! ?
