Conjuring Credits

The Origins of Wonder

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Card Divination by Spectator, Using Fake Index in Reverse Fan

Michael Shields and Bascom Jones published “Mephisto's Monocle” in Genii, Vol. 14 No. 8, Apr. 1950, p. 266. They would draw a card index on the blank corners of a Joker, then force the real card matching the drawn index. When the deck was reverse fanned in front of a spectator, the only index visible was the drawn one (the card on the face of the fan was covered with the hand).

Al Mann reinvented the idea in 1976. In his version, the advantage of possible impromptu preparation is sacrificed to get a realistic pip. See “The Isomeric Card” in The Third Ecstasy, 1976, p. 22. In certain circumstances, this could be a desirable feature.

See also Reverse Fan Applications.