Pages from the power of thought

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PAUL CURRY PRESENTS

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THE POWER OF THOUGHT A SPECTATOR HAS MEREL\ THOUGHT

OF A CARD-DEALS

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TWO DECKS OF CARDS FACE UP SIMULTANEOUSLY AND DISCOVERS THAT THE CARD HE IS THINKING O F - A N D ONLY THAT CARPOCCUPIES THE EXACT SAME POSITION IN BOTH DE-CKS//

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ANY TWO DECKS MAY BE USED- NO SKILL 16 REQUIRED AND THE TRICK 15

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CERTAIN!.

"THE POWER OF THOUGHT" Copyright, 1947, by Paul Curry EFFECT: The performer introduces two decks of cards. One deck has a red back, the other, blue. j& spectator chooses either of the decks, fans it with the faces towards him and mentally decides upon any card he sees ss he fans thru. The performer Stresses the fact that the spectator has had a free choice of any card, that since the card has been selected mentally, it is impossible for anyone, other than the spectator, to know the identity of this card.

When this has been done the spectator closes the fan and returns the deck to its original face down position on the table.

The spectator is instructed to rest one of his hands on each of the decks and to concentrate, for about ten seconds, on his card.

The performer points out that each card in the red deck has a duplicate somewhere in the blue deck. "For instance," he explains, "somewhere in this red deck is the card you are thinking of — while somewhere in the blue deck is the duplicate of that card. Just where, in each deck, these cards lie, no one of course knows."

The performer says that he is going to have the spectator deal the cards from each deck face up simultaneously. Before the spectator starts to deal, however, the performer remarks that it might be of interest to see just where, in the red deck, the "thought of* card lies. He fans the red deck with the faces towards the spectator who, at the performer's instruction pulls his card part .way out of the deck. The fan is cloced end this card is twisted so that it projects sideways from the deck which is placed back on the table in its original face down position.

The spectator now begins to deal by turning face up the top card of each deck simultaneously.

The performer remarks on the fact that it would be a truly amazing coincidence if these two cards had proved to be duplicates of each other. The two cards are placed face up in front of their respective decks and the spectator continues to deal the cards in this manner. As each set is dealt the performer points out that it consists of two unrelated cards.

This is continusd until the projecting card is reached. The performer stops the spectator at this point. "We know,* he remarks, "that the card now on top of the redfleckis the card that was thought of. We know also that the card on top of the blue deck occupies the same position in its deck ac the thought of card doe.s in the red deck. Further, we know that up to now no two cards dealt have been duplicates. Before we turn up these two cards", the performer continues, "I should like to make it clear that I offer no explanation of what is about to happen. If you wish to look upon it as a trick, yours will be the problem of determining where and how the trickery occured. If you believe it to be a coincidence I will not argue the point, but I merely wish to call your attention to the fact that the odds against what is about to happen would run into the millions. \I do not even ask you to believe that there is another possible explanation of what you are about to see: that the human mind has powers as yet unexplained. I prefer to let you figure it out!'

Saying this the performer steps back from the table and asks that the two cards be turned face up. w page 1