THE DEVIL’S COLORING BOOK MATT MELLO
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Effect: A spectator is able to sense the colors of the cards in a deck that they mix.
Introduction: For those who are unaware, a deck of playing cards is sometimes referred to as ‘the devil’s picture-book’ or ‘the devil’s bible’. I named this The Devil’s Coloring Book because the effect is that you or your spectators are able to sense the colors of cards with devil-like accuracy! There’s also a surprise ending that will leave them with absolutely no logical explanation for how they did what they did. In the book, The Mental Mysteries of Hector Chadwick, a marvelous effect called Reds and Blacks can be found. Like many menalists, this was my go-to, impromptu color sensing routine. A spectator mixes the cards, deals them out, and the performer is able to sense the colors the spectator holds under the table, along with more from the deck. It’s exceedingly clever, but there is a fair amount of quick memory work needed throughout; and after not performing it for a few weeks, I found that I often needed to re-learn it. I created this effect as a way to do a color sensing routine with no memorization, and give the spectator the ability to sense the cards, which I feel is far more powerful. I love giving the spectator the ability to do something that they can’t do. I always felt uncomfortable pretending to showcase abilities that I didn’t actually have. But giving someone the experience to do something that they don’t think their capable of doing is very gratifying; much more so than trying to convince someone that I can read their mind when I truly can’t. And even though the spectator can’t actually sense colors now either, the fact that they believe they did something so impossible is empowering. I’ve been trying more and more to create mentalism that fits this model. I hope you find it to your liking.
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Presentation and Method: “Do you think you have good luck in card games?” The person will now tell you their personal belief in themselves; often negative. “If I was to hand you this deck of cards and tell you that you could guess the color of every card in the deck, what would you say?” Logical people will rightfully be doubtful of their abilities. So after some more back and forth conversation, you allow the spectator to shuffle the cards. “Perfect, and now I’m going to have you mix the cards in a more unique and meticulous way. You are going to freely deal two facedown piles. One pile I want you think ‘yes’ on every card you deal, and the other pile I want you to think ‘no’. You will do this one card at a time, so that each and every card is exactly where you want it to be. I’ll turn away as you start dealing now...” You should get the spectator to take the above absolutely seriously before you begin. The more serious they take the process, the more amazed they will be at the end; especially since in the back of their head they’re still likely thinking, ‘there’s no friggin’ way that this will work’. When they finish dealing their piles, have them pick up the ‘yes’ pile, the ‘positive’ pile, and put it into their pocket. They are then to hand you the ‘no’ pile behind your back or under the table. I will typically say something like, “I think it’s fair to say that I can’t have any idea what colored cards are where, and that you certainly have no idea. But even though this is your
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‘no’ pile, and there’s nothing special about it, I want you to switch to thinking ‘yes’ now, only positive and happy thoughts. Quick, what do you think is the color of the top card?” They can now name any color and will find that they are correct. After maybe five or six cards, you try to get a bit more specific, and can have them guess if they think it’s a higher or lower card, or a heart or a diamond, etc. When you have maybe nine or ten cards left under the table, you stop the spectator, and bring the remaining cards above to show that they are randomly mixed. “Let me ask you again now, do you think had I kept going, that you would have been able to sense the rest of the colors?” You’ll find that people will actually feel more positive about themselves and their abilities after this procedure, or will typically laugh and not be so sure of things anymore. That’s when you take it further. “Can you take out the ‘yes’ pile from your pocket? Now look at the effect of positive thinking.” The cards are spread face-up on the table to reveal that the spectator somehow arranged their ‘yes’ pile, from left to right, all reds and then all blacks, perfectly separated. This ending may seem oddly similar to Out of this World, and that’s because it is. Everything prior to the spectator guessing the colors aloud is the Out of this World principal. I’m sure you are all familiar with too many different variations of this effect, all in which the performer does some secret maneuver under misdirection in order to switch the packets and make the colors right themselves. With my version, you’re doing something interesting with one of the packets, and the other packet in their pocket—that you’ve never touched—is automatically ready for a mini-out of this world! 4
I’ll assume that not everyone is familiar with Paul Curry’s work, and may not know the mechanics of the effect. Put simply, you already have the deck separated into reds and blacks, twenty-six red cards on top of twenty-six black cards. If you take this deck and now deal it into two fairly even piles, no matter the order you deal, going back and forth, you will always end with both piles having a stack of black cards followed by a stack of reds cards. In order to guess the colors, or have the spectator guess the colors, you just have to pull the needed card off the top or the bottom of your pile. Both packets will be perfectly separated into their respective halves, so if you need a red card, you simply take it off the bottom, or a black card off the top. Of course, these colors can switch. To know the color, just look at what the bottom color is on the deck that they are dealing. You do this after the shuffling procedure. Again, I will assume that you aren’t familiar with the properties of shuffling a deck in Out of this World order. The basic concept is that a person can overhand-jog shuffle a deck once or twice without disturbing the color separation very much. This is because they are mostly shuffling a bunch of reds into other reds and blacks into other blacks. This shuffle sequence isn’t fool-proof though. You will likely have to go through and do a quick preliminary color test, removing the couple of colored cards that might be in the wrong spot, and having the spectator genuinely guess. With these couple of cards moved, you can note the bottom color. Whatever the bottom color is will be the top color after the dealing sequence. This is the only memorization that needs to take place. You can now give them the deck and turn away as they deal, knowing what the color order will be. Everything else is then performed as I described. If you saw red on the bottom, then you know the top section of your packet will be red. So you have the spectator name red or black, and if they name red, you take a card off the top and bring it up onto the table
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for them to flip. If they say black, you grab the bottom card and bring it up. Two reds in a row would mean two reds off the top, and I don’t think I need to patronize you by going any further. After they’ve done four or five colors correctly in a row, reacting accordingly, I will then start to take some chances. Once they say red and I bring it forward, I openly look at what the card is. I then ask them to guess if they think it is a heart or a diamond, trying to voice force the correct one by raising my tone slightly. I always name the force item first. You would be amazed by how reliable these techniques are if you’ve never attempted to use them. You could also have them guess if it’s high or low, trying again to guide them to it. If they get it wrong, they at least get the color correct. You can then go through another slew of simply having them guess the color, then again try to get them to guess something more specific. As they name them, I lay them out in a straight line across the table. When you have maybe eight to ten cards left in your hands, you are going to stop them. Under the table, you will give the cards a quick and easy mix. Split the cards in half, fan them gently in each hand, and push them together. Now you can bring the pack above the table and spread them along the rest of the pile, showing a random pattern instead of separated colors. I do this spreading of the negative pile so that when they spread the ‘yes’ pile they can see a side-by-side, making it that much more pronounced. I can’t explain how powerful the Out of this World reveal is after they’ve just guessed more than half of your pile. I just love how fair everything is, and love that the spectator gets all of the credit and attention that they deserve for partaking.
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Additional Thoughts and Ideas: -I didn’t want to clutter the explanation with a bunch of different shuffles, but the spectator can also do a riffle shuffle if you set up the cards right. A brand new deck will be setup with thirteen black cards, then thirteen red cards, then thirteen more black and thirteen more red. By cutting the deck perfectly in half, you will be riffle shuffling red cards into red cards and blacks into blacks. You can then have them do the overhand shuffle after this. Look at the cards and remove any that are out of place by having them guess, taking them through the ‘unique’ mix after, as they deal the cards exactly where they want. -You could very easily switch roles and guess a bunch of colors in your own pile, following it by having them guess some before revealing the pile in the pocket. But as I’ve explained, I would rather have the spectator get the praise. It’s completely up to you as the performer. I just feel the way it is setup and structured now creates a nice build for the ending reveal. -You may choose to not let them get every color correct. You can say that perhaps their confidence waivered on that card, or that it doesn’t really matter and we aren’t perfect. -If you don’t want to memorize the bottom color, you can just have them deal the cards, and then have them genuinely try and guess the first color. If they get it right, that’s great. If they get it wrong, just have them focus and really try to believe that they can do it. In either scenario, you get to see what the top color is, and can easily deduce what the bottom color is. -Going further with the bottom card, you could choose to memorize not just the color, but the value and the suit. There is a fifty-fifty chance that the bottom card will end up on top of either pile. So when you take the top card off of your pile under the table, if it isn’t the bottom card you 7
memorized, then you can now cleanly reveal the top card in their pocket, and have them take it out before the Out of this World ending. -Although I prefer having my spectators merely think ‘yes’ and ‘no’, you could also have them say it aloud each time. You can then secretly count how many times they say ‘yes’, and can reveal the number of cards they hold in their pocket. But it’s possible for the spectator to guess several methods. They might even think you just counted the cards in your pile behind your back and subtracted to get their pile. Better to just leave it as is, in my opinion. -With no table present, you can have the person deal the cards into another person’s outstretched palms. -If you are completely surrounded, and don’t have a table to go under, you can still perform this effect behind your back. The only modification will be that rather than holding the pack squared together, you spread the cards out in a one-hand fan, resting them against the small of your back. This way anyone behind you can’t see the faces, but you still know the colors. You can then ask, “What is the next color?” reach behind and grab a card ‘at random’, just taking it from the right or left side depending on the color you need. So don’t freak if you’ve got a crowd around you. And you may choose to put their ‘no’ pile into your pocket and remove the red or black one by one. I just think that the spectator will assume that I am doing some sort of switching in my pocket. You could always have someone check, if you and they are comfortable. -My absolute favorite way to perform this, when someone is wearing a jacket, is doing it inside their jacket pocket. You have them put the ‘no’ pile in their outside pocket, and have them sandwich the ‘yes’ pile in their hands. Because their hands are full, this gives you justification to go into their jacket pocket to remove the colors that they merely name. Having it in their pocket
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before you turn back around makes it seem impossible to manipulate or know the cards. Be sure to show your hand completely empty as you go into their pocket each time. Unless they have a large coat pocket, you won’t be able to mix the last ten or so cards together. I would just take the pile out and ask if I mixed the cards, would they think they could still guess the colors. Then just openly give them a quick mix, and after they answer, spread them along the rest of the ‘no’ cards. Tell them that you’re positive they would have done great, having them spread the ‘yes’ cards that they’ve had entirely in their possession.
Credits: Paul Curry’s Out of this World routine is the cornerstone of this piece. I have simply taken it down a different route, one that I find to be amazingly powerful for how simple a change it is. Luke Jermay’s Colorsense is a decent method to the color sensing plot, but is quite involved for such a simple color guessing effect. Still, it’s a unique idea that you may find interesting. As I mentioned in the introduction, Hector Chadwick’s Reds and Blacks was my favorite impromptu color sensing routine. If I hadn’t had the eureka moment with my effect, I would most likely still be performing his version. That eureka moment wouldn’t have occurred had I not been reading and thinking about Reds and Blacks while watching Derren Brown’s version of Out of this World on his video, The Devil’s Picture-book. This was the main reason I chose The Devil’s Coloring Book as the title of this piece. It was also in his routine that I learned the
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overhand shuffle method, which he credits to Jerry Sadowitz in The Crimp. It works so well in this routine, and I hope that you love employing it as much as I do.
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