Lights Out

A fun close-up routine that can be performed as magic or mentalism!

Effect:

The magician explains how as a kid his Dad always yelled at he and his siblings to turn off the lights when they left a room. As that appears to be a common failing among people growing up, let’s see if our helper has outgrown that bit of kid stuff.

Showing a packet of 10 cards the mentalist asks the helper for a number from 1 to 10 and deals those cards onto the table. The card for the helper is pushed forward and the rest of the cards are flipped over to show pictures of dark lightbulbs.

Finally, the card chosen by the helper is turned over to show the only lit bulb, proving that no matter how old the helper is, he still hasn’t learned to hit the light switch!

Details:

Important Point #1: This is what’s known in the magic world as a “packet trick” which means it just uses a small packet of cards. But unlike some card tricks, this one has two big things going for it:

• It doesn’t use playing cards.
• It doesn’t rely on hard-to-learn sleight of hand.

What that means is that it won’t look like “just another card trick” to your audience, and without tough moves you’ll be performing this sooner than you’d think!

Because doing tricks all by yourself is better than watching paint dry, but it’s doing it for a real person that gets your blood pumping!

Important Point #2: Lights Out is a set of cards that will be shipped to you, but it's also a downloadable product. You get an 8-page PDF file that contains the method, the presentation/script, and a “Print Your Own Props” (PYOP) section.

PYOP means you can use your own printer to print the things needed for the routine. That means you get a trick ready to go without waiting for the cards to arrive!

You can learn the routine with the props you print and then amaze your friends and family as soon as the professional cards arrive.

(Actually, as soon as you can do the effect well, feel free to show someone even with the props you print -- it's not the props that make the trick, it's the story and the fun mystery!)

Lights Out is a fun routine that you're going to love performing!

PS - For magic nerds, the working feels like a variant of Nick Trost's 8-Card Brainwave, and even uses the Olram Subtlety to display the cards at the end, but there's a big difference between the workings of 8CB and Lights Out.