Effect: Two cards are either chosen by the same person or 1 card each by two people. The magician then drops the deck and only those two cards remain.
The Performance:
1. Shuffle the cards, noting the bottom card.
2. Fan out the cards and tell someone to pick any card.
3. Once he (or she) has picked a card, close up the deck and tell him to memorize it.
4. Tell him to place it on the top of the deck.
5. Have him cut the cards and place the bottom half on the top, apparently losing the card in the deck.
6. Look through the cards and find the bottom card you noted. The card to its right will be the spectator’s card. Remember it and keep going through the deck until you reach the end. Say something like “I am now giving your card a positive charge.” Note the new bottom card.
7. Ask someone to pick another card. She will be amused and think you couldn’t find his card.
8. Repeat steps 3-6, but this time say, “I am now giving your card a negative charge”.
9. Now, knowing the two cards, shuffle the deck in such a way that one of the their cards is on the top and the other on the bottom.
10. Make sure that they don’t see the bottom card, because if they do, one of them will figure out the trick.
11. Firmly grip the cards and hold them lengthwise so that the back of the top card is facing them.
12. Quickly lift the deck up and slightly release pressure on the cards and let them slide so that the top and bottom cards remain in your hand and the rest fall to the table. Show the audience that the two cards left in your hand are their cards.