Conjuring Credits

The Origins of Wonder

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Peerless Card Divinations (The Spot Location)

This effect involves a card being selected and returned to the deck. The spectator names a number between five and ten. A card of that value is produced on the top or bottom of the deck, then that number counted from the top to locate the selection. It is described as “Spot Location” in Henry Hay's Amateur Magician's Handbook, 1950, p. 223, where he traces the trick to David Lustig's Vaudeville Magic, 1920, p. 6. There it appears under the title “Peerless Card Divinations.” Dai Vernon told friends that this trick was Alfred Benzon's, the spiritualist medium (see Michael A. Perovich's The Vernon Companion, 2014, p. 257). It is possible that Lustig learned of the trick through Benzon or channels connected with him.