A Thought Well Stolen - By Ben Harris - Book
A Thought Well Stolen by Ben Harris combines two of magic’s great card effects — Any Card At Any Number, and Paul Curry’s Out Of This World
A Thought Well Stolen is a beautifully structured routine that is as impossible as it gets. A freely thought of card is revealed in a manner that is so fair, no one could argue with it! Not only do you reveal the thought of card but you also are able to predict ahead of time the position of that card in the deck!
This is not just a card trick, this is a theatrical display of card magic, a VERY different thing. The subtleties applied in A Thought Well Stolen elevate this routine to the status of card magic effects like Out of This World. It could close a show it is THAT STRONG!
With a foreword by the renowned classic card magician Michael Vincent you know that this is going to be a special piece of magic.
The simplicity of the method is pure genius and the process to divine the spectator’s freely thought of card is so deceptive as it is completely fair!
“As someone who has built a reputation on hard core sleight of hand, I am always ready to welcome an effect into my program at the opposite end of the technical spectrum. A Thought Well Stolen is that sort of effect, it fits perfectly into my modus operandi of mixing up my methods — an effect like this can steal your show.”
Michael Vincent
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Here is a detailed account of what the spectator will see when viewing A Thought Well Stolen.
- Two decks of playing cards are displayed and the spectator has a free selection of which deck they wish to use.
- The spectator thinks of their favourite card and tells no one. They cut the face down deck multiple times moving their freely thought of card around to different positions only stopping when they wish to.
- The cards are dealt one at a time face up onto the table and the spectator secretly notes at which position their freely thought of card is at. Something ONLY the spectator will know. Remember, nothing is said and nothing is written down.
- The cards are squared on the table and left for a moment.
- The performer then removes the deck that was not chosen from its box and gives it a quick shuffle and a few cuts. He then asks the spectator to think of their favourite card again and stares deeply into their eyes.
- The performer runs through the deck and removes one card, placing it face down on the table so no one can see its value, why waste the surprise at this moment?!!?
- Asking the spectator to think of the number in the deck that relates to the position of their favourite card the performer places the face down card on the table onto the deck and cuts it inside.
- Now is the time for the reveal.
- The spectator is asked to deal down through their deck, one by one, stopping at the position before their favourite card, lets say it is the 21st card in this instance.
- The performer also deals down through their deck one by one in unison with the spectator, also stopping on the 21st card, to build suspense.
- Before the spectator's card (the 22nd card) is turned over the performer spreads the dealt cards out face up and asks the spectator to verify that their favourite card is not in this pile. It of course is not!
- The performer looks the spectator intently in the eyes one more time and names their favourite card!
- The 22nd card of both decks are turned over to show they do indeed match!
- The remaining cards in the performer's hand are given a couple of more shuffles and cuts and the performer now states that he has organised the rest of the deck to indeed match the spectator's order.
- The remaining cards are dealt one by one face up to show that they match perfectly building the applause into a riotous standing ovation! |
— Jon Racherbaumer
“As someone who reads and enjoys everything that Ben Harris releases, all I can say is Wow! A simple and beautiful idea that once again has me grinning from ear to ear!”
— Bro Gilbert
“Ben, you’ve got a real winner here. It has the three main ingredients that make for a magnificent routine: It has an entertaining plot, it is easy to perform, and it has a stupefying punch at the end. I think I’ll use it as a closer – it really is hard to beat the strength of this routine. Congratulations, Benny! You’ve hit it out of the park!”
— Steve Shufton
— Luca Volpe
— Rus Andrews
— Paul Romhany
— Jason Messina