Okay. But what do you do when you are handed a pack of cards and told to do a trick? Well, I recommend the following course of action: "Plan C." Understand that all three of these tricks are only slight variants of each other, and thus, not as difficult to remember as it may seem.
Take the pack. Shuffle. Have a card selected. (While the card is being shown, avert your eyes, simultaneously catching a glimpse of the bottom card. Remember that card.) Cut about half of the pack onto the table. Instruct the spectator to return the selected card to the top of that pack. Place the remaining cards on top of those. The selection now appears lost in the pack. But you know the identity of the card on top of the selection. This is known as a "key card."
The deck may now be cut as many times as desired to "really lose the card in the pack." Square the pack and take a glimpse at the new bottom card. Only two outcomes can occur. Either you will see the key card on the bottom (that will happen about once in every fifty-two tries) or you will see a random card.
If the bottom card is the key card, it's your lucky day. Place the deck on the table. Ask the spectator to name the chosen card and instruct them to turn over the top card. It will be the chosen card. They will be impressed. That would be a very good trick.
If, on the other hand, an indifferent card is on the bottom of the deck, you will move swiftly to phase two. Turn the pack face up. (Think about this for a second. This means that now your key card is underneath the selected card.) Pretend to memorize the pack as in "Plan B." Ascertain the identity of the selected card as you go. (Hint: it is the card located on top of the key card. Clear?) Now, continue the trick just as described in "Plan B."
You now have a solid repertoire of card tricks. Unless you are a professional magician, there is no reason why you should ever perform more than two cards tricks in a row. Always leave 'em wanting more, as they say. Now go mix yourself another drink.
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