Imaginary Cards Gambit
You first introduce this by disqualifying yourself by saying something like “Now, I’m not too big on stuff with cards but work with me here for a sec.” This is when you pretend to pull out a deck of cards and start to shuffle. You also usually want something like “work with me here” or “play along with me here” to let your target understand that she is to play the role of assistant to the trick and that she must play along.
Once you are finished “shuffling”, fan the “cards” in your hand and ask your target to pick a card. “Ok darlin’, pick a card, any card.” She will then pretend to pick one out of the deck.
SIDENOTE: If she does not play along at first, this is an IOD so you should send an IOD her way, cut the thread and move onto something else. Although neither of us have actually had this happen to us with this gambit yet, a good line to use when she refuses to buy into your frame is the classic “Oh my god, you can dress her up but you cant take her anywhere!”
Just like a magician would do with a real deck of cards, let her take the card and tell her not to show you the card and to memorize it. You can also let her know that she can show her friends the card if she wants. “Ok now keep it hidden and memorize your card. Create a mental image of it in your mind. You can show it your friends if you want to.” If the girl is accepting your frame she will just play along, even pretending to show her friends or even your wingman the imaginary card while whispering what it is into their ears. If this happens you can also say something to the friends like “Now if she cheats, you guys are going to tell me, right?” as a means of bringing the friends further into the conspiracy as well. Then say “Ok, now put the card back in the deck.” and let her pretend to put the card back.
After you tell her to remember what her card is get her to put it on the top of the deck, shuffle for a minute. Tell her to picture the card in her mind and pretend to concentrate yourself, as if you are trying to read her mind. During this time you can even do another routine to really stack or maybe even qualify her a little. When you have finished shuffling simply throw the imaginary cards over your shoulder nonchalantly and say something like “okay, enough of those” or “aaaaaand there they go”. When your target looks confused, reach into a front pocket and pretend to pull out a card and ask her if it was her card with a playful smirk. At this point things could go a couple of different ways:
1. The girls might just figure you were messing with them the whole time and laugh, call you an asshole, and smack you (all of which are IOIs). Tease them for being so hands-on and then stack forward or qualify.
2. The girl might still play along and say yes it was her card, you can say “Ah, well it’s a gift! I didn’t even have to pay much for it either, I just had to talk to this guy named beazelbub…” and go off into Mystery’s line about printing a contract off of the internet, then stack into something else, qualify, etc.
3. The girl might shit-test you, or just want to be playful and tell her it wasn’t her card. If this happens, look at the card, then look at her, and then pretend to toss the card away in an animated “drama queen” kind of way, saying in a playful tone “Fine, fuck it. I’m not here to impress you anyway.” and then do a hardcore roll-off. Be careful however: If you miscalibrate this and it sounds like you are upset or reacting to the fact that she wasn’t playing along, you will loose value. But if you do this in a really over-the-top way, you will get big laughs and a serious buying temperature spike from the roll-off.
Alternatively, if you want to do something really explosive, you can pull a real card out of the air, causing everyone to loose their fucking minds! In order to do this, you will need to learn how to make a card appear in your hand. A quick search on youtube will give you ton of instructional videos. It’s actually very simple, but it’s dangerous because if anyone sees the card before you make it appear, they can ruin the entire gambit. If you’re going to do this, be sure to practice like crazy until you can do this fluidly and without even having to think about it.
When the girl tells you it wasn’t her card, pretend to toss the card away with one hand as described above while you prepare to unvanish the real card with the other. Say something like “Hmmm…well then I wonder if it’s this one?” and as you finish the sentence, pull the card out from behind her ear and show it to her. Speed is key here. If you do it quickly and naturally, the set will blow up. The shock of going from imagining that they are watching you play with cards to actually seeing you pull a real card seemingly out of thin air will cause them to shriek and laugh and go nuts. If you are worried about someone seeing the card, do it to whoever is on the most outside circle of the group so that nobody can see the backside of your hand, this is also a good way to get others involved in the set. Say something such as “well perhaps it’s still in your head” or (looking at somebody else) “I think YOU have it” and pull it from behind her ear with the card well out of view from anyone else in the set until you pull it.
To add the icing to the cake, make sure the card you pull is a joker. Look at it with shock and say something like “What the – ? A Joker? You’re not even playing right!” or “that’s cheating!” and then roll off by saying something along the lines of “You know what, if you’re not going to play fair, I’m just gonna go home.” Again, if you do this really over-the-top way, you will get big laughs and a serious buying temperature spike from the roll-off.
The best part of this gambit is that even if you aren’t good at magic tricks you can still do this because you really aren’t doing anything. Hell, you don’t even have to guess what her card was because the card really doesn’t matter at all (although if you have to guess in a pinch, the Ace of Spades is usually the most picked imaginary card). It’s not the trick that’s important here, it’s the fact that you are leading the group, controlling the frame, and bringing everyone involved into a shared reality that you’ve created. It’s basically just a really in-depth roleplay with the added option of a real magic trick tagged onto the end. In fact, you’ll know you’re doing the gambit right when your target buys right into the frame and tells you that the imaginary card you showed her was, in fact, her card!
– Wild Card and Prophet
G-String Opener Mystery’s Google Earth Opener