Issue 20 - May 08
Chinese Choice
John Archer
Available from www.alakazam.co.uk
Price: £19.99
In 1992 Larry Becker published a a clever mathematical force in his book ‘Stunners’. John Archer has taken this and turned it into a great mentalism effect of his own - Chinese Choice.
Based on the premise that numerology dates back to the ancient Chinese, a small packet of nine cards is given to one of three spectators to shuffle. They then elect one person who will be in charge of a Chinese takeaway menu from a restaurant which they will be visiting.
Three cards are given to each spectator and two of them take turns to generate three two-digit numbers from their cards. These two numbers are then added together creating a total price they can spend on their meal at the restaurant. The third spectator adds together the cards he is left with to create a number from the menu. When the number is looked at on the menu the price matches exactly to the price they can spend.
What’s nice about this is you actually receive two different sized menus - one for stage, one for close-up - which I think is a great idea, as the effect works equally as well in both places. Both menus are also laminated so if looked after properly they should last a long time and the cards supplied are made from rigid plastic so it doesn’t just look like a card trick.
The handling of the effect, once you understand the maths, is relatively easy giving you the chance to give everything to the presentation. The principle itself can easily be applied to many other routines with just a little thought. There are also lots of opportunities to get some laughs with this routine, as John’s video demo on Alakazam’s website proves. So, if you are looking for something a little different that has lots of scope then this effect could be just what you are looking for. PS
What's Hot: Great routining for what could be potentially a boring maths
trick!
What's Not: The outcome is always the same so be careful repeating this in table
hopping situations
Star rating: ****
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