POSITION IMPOSSIBLE 52 Possibilities 1 Outcome Created by Brent Braun
Written by Matthew Bennett
The deck of cards:
The deck of cards included with this effect is a Svengali deck: every other card is a force card; the force cards are cut short and the indifferent cards are cut normally. Each of the force cards is also mis-indexed on one corner. This deck was designed so that every mis-indexed corner is a different card, so that your spectators won’t see any duplicates when you spread the deck with the mis-indexed corners towards the audience.
In the deck you receive, the indifferent cards (long cards) will either be all odd cards or all even cards. Knowing this, you can spread the deck and show the full face of a card with confidence that you won’t reveal a mis-indexed card – e.g. if all of your indifferent cards are even, then as you spread through the deck you can show a six of clubs without any fear of revealing secrets.
This deck can be shuffled and cut in the same manner as a Svengali deck. (more on that later)
Marking the deck:
On the back of the force cards, you will be making a mark on the same corner as the mis-index on the card. This way you will know which end of the deck is mis-indexed, and you will always be aware of the position of these cards during the course of the effect. You should always have the marked end of the deck closest to you, except for the very last spread in this effect.
You will need to mark all of the force cards on the corner with the mis-indexed pips. Use a red permanent marker to mark the cards on the white rectangle, at the corner (Figure 1). Brent uses and recommends a red fine point Sharpie.
The performance:
You will need two volunteers - place Volunteer 1 (V1) on your right and Volunteer 2 (V2) on your left.
VOLUNTEER 1 CHOOSES A CARD
Say to V1: I’m going to ask you to choose a card. As I drop through these cards, if you would say stop for me at any time, and we’ll have you randomly select a card from the deck. It’s
Position Impossible by Brent Braun Written by Matthew Bennett important that you remember what the card is because you’re the only person who’s going to get to see what it is.
V1 says to stop, and you show her the card she stopped at. As you drop the cards, a force card will always land on top. Before showing her the card, give her a chance to change her mind. Verify that she is happy with where she stopped and if not replace the cards and allow her to try again. Push over the top card with your left thumb and show her the face. (Notice that the mispipped corner remains hidden by the deck.
V1 has now chosen a card.
Brent likes to give her another chance to change her mind even after she has seen the force card. He simply asks “Is that one good?” The force card is a low spot card, so she rarely says she wants a different one. If she does, he just places the packet back onto the deck, gives the cards a couple of cuts and then has her repeat the process. As he shows her the same force card he just smiles at her and she understands that he is playing with her a bit. He has only had one spectator say “that’s the same card,” to which he replied, “it seems fate has spoken.” This got a laugh and did not detract from the effect in any significant way. Brent feels it’s important to give them this choice because it really adds to the free feel of the force.
VOLUNTEER 2 PICKS A NUMBER
Say to V2: You don’t know the card but you know where she stopped, so you might know or be able to guess if her card is 21 or 22 cards down.
Mix the cards shuffle, and cut them with a traditional Svengali shuffle: A riffle shuffle from the ends, and every time a card drops, two are actually dropping due to the long/short nature of Svengali cards. Every other card will still be the force card (Figure 2). This Svengali riffle shuffle does take some practice and some confidence to get right, if you aren't comfortable with the shuffle you can always just give the cards multiple straight cuts or a series of false cuts.
Spread the Cards facedown on the table from your left to your right. You can now look down at a spread deck of cards, and you can see the mark dots, you can see that there are 26 marked cards, with the marks towards you. If the spread is not in this position just collect the cards, saying something like, “ oh, here, let me get a better spread ” and rotate the deck so that the mark dots are towards you.
Say to V2: It’s important for you to know, before I do anything here, that the cards are now on the table and out of my control. This is important because when you recall this later you may think I touched a card or moved it. So the cards are now on the table and out of my control . ( Be sure to emphasize this - the idea of the cards being out of your control is essential to the power of the magic in this effect. The clearer you are on this issue, the more impact the effect will have.)
Position Impossible by Brent Braun Written by Matthew Bennett
The cards are now spread. A marked force card is the top card, and the second from the last card is also a marked force card. (Number one from the top, and number two from the bottom),
Say V2: In a moment I’m going to have you choose a number between 1-52. If this works the V1’s card will be at that exact number. Not one before, not one after, not 3 cards away but at that exact number.
Depending on whether his number is odd or even, you count from the top or the bottom, respectively. If he names an odd number, start at the top of the deck and count to the odd number he named, and you will end up with a force card. If he names an even number, count from the bottom of the deck and you will end up with a force card.
If you are counting from the bottom, say to V2 “We’re going to count to your number, keep me honest.” (V2, being on your left, is in a natural “counting left to right” position, and he is the one who named the number, so there will be no issue with counting from the bottom up, especially since the cards are spread at this time)
If an odd number is named, turn to V1 and say “We’re going to count down to V2’s number, keep me honest.” Again this is counting from top down so its completly logical.
If V2 names a card over 46 , you will have to count down from the opposite side. Since there are only 50 cards in your deck, use the following script:
Say to your volunteers, “Since there are 52 cards in a deck, we will count down from 52. Keep me honest.” The direction of your count for an odd or an even card does not change , card #1 stays in the same place, you just have to move to the opposite end and count back from there. “52. 51, 50, 49, 48 you said 48 correct” – try it a few times during practice so that you are confident of your counting direction.
Once you get to the card that was counted to, push it forward out of the spread (Figure 3).
It is now time to turn over some cards. Let’s assume that the number named was 17. You have counted to the 17th card and jogged it forward. Now you can say “If you had named 18 (Pick up the 18th card and turn it over), you would have gotten the 3D - not your card? If you had said 16 (Pick up the 16th card and turn it over), you would have gotten the 9C. Again, not your card?” Do this with three or four more cards to show indifferent cards. as you ask V1 “Not the JS or the AS or the 5D?”
Position Impossible by Brent Braun Written by Matthew Bennett This moment is designed to show full faces of cards but more importantly, it gives us a huge build-up for the final reveal. V2 is seeing all of these choices and options he had and V1 never sees her card at any of these other places. This creates the What If moment. V1 starts to wonder, “what if I had stopped at one of those cards?” and V2 starts thinking, “what if I had said any other number?” This is a very strong moment in the routine.
Note: RED DOT MEANS NO!!! In order to prevent flipping over a mis-indexed force card, which would require a hefty explanation, don’t turn over any of the marked cards. If you see a dot, don’t turn over that card. This should keep you from being nervous at the prospect of turning over random cards during this part of the routine)
Note: You also can’t take the bottom indifferent card. because it’s working as a cover card when you do the face up spread later.
Collect all of the face up cards on the table and put in a stack that is left face up on the table. Leave the face down force card. Now close the spread deck, and turn it over end for end (Figure 4), which will put the mis-indexed pips away from the performer and ready for a spread that will not show a force card. Spread the cards face up and ask V1 if she sees her card. The spectators will see every card except the force card. Take care in not spreading the deck too wide in this moment. A wide spread could reveal more of the face of a force card than you want to be seen.
Say to V1: Quickly do you see your card anywhere in the spread? What was your card?
After she names it, pick up the face down force card putting your thumb on the marked corner let the two fingers extend in front of the mis-index as you raise the card to show your spectators. Even if the card gets spun around accidentally, you will be able to see the mark and be able to turn it around before a disaster strikes. Just remember that as long as your thumb on the back is covering the RED DOT then your fingers will be in the position to be covering the Mis-index (Figure 5).
Position Impossible by Brent Braun Written by Matthew Bennett
After showing the card to the audience and the volunteers, sweep up the face up indifferent cards with the force card (Figure 6) and re-spread them face up (Figure 7), and this will hide the mis-index.
Copyright The Magic Firm 2016 Special Thanks to: Nick Lacapo and the whole P3 Production team http://p3magictheater.com/ Jeremy Hanrahan at the Hanrahan Gaff Company Jeremy makes the best gaffed playing cards in the world. Find out more at http://www.gaffedcard.com/ Chris Kenworthey and his Mastermind Deck http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/S12983 The Magic Firm The best team in magic, without them my thoughts would never become a reality. http://themagicfirm.com/ And most importantly, you. Without your support and input, I wouldn’t be able to do what I love for a living. Thank you for being awesome. Other Products you may be interested in: Torched & Restored http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/5079 Incinerate http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/5831 Decks and Deceptions http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/5491 Bullseye http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/5103
Position Impossible by Brent Braun Written by Matthew Bennett
The Miller Table Spread Pass http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/5159 Brent Braun Penguin Live Lecture http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/3283 Hellophane http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/3904
