Introducing Ultra-Mental Plus by Mark Strivings, with a tip of the hat to the brilliant Joe Berg!
At long last, an 'Invisible Deck' effect that genuinely resembles a normal deck of cards!
With Ultra-Mental Plus, you can do everything you love about the classic 'Invisible Deck'—and with just as much ease. If you're already wowing audiences with the Invisible Deck, now you can make it look like a regular shuffled deck. Fancy that!
But wait, there’s more! I’ve tossed in a killer effect in this manuscript.
I call it "Ultra Ultra Mental"
Let me break it down for you, but don’t overlook the underlined points as you read on...
A deck of cards is introduced, plucked from its box, and laid face up on the table. The deck is fully visible (NOT hiding in the box) and on display the whole time. We’ll also introduce a standard die.
"We’re going to play a game of choice and chance," says our charming performer, who then asks a volunteer to name any card from the deck. This is a completely free choice, and yes, they can even pick the card that’s staring them down face up on the table.
"That’s your choice. Now, here’s the chance." The performer hands the die to the volunteer for a roll or two to prove it’s just a regular die. Finally, they roll it one last time. Let's say the volunteer picks the Eight of Clubs, and they roll a three on the die. Both the card and the number can be ANY card and ANY number.
"You’ve chosen the Eight of Clubs, and rolled a three. Now, here’s where the chance kicks in. You can either go UP three values to the Jack of Clubs, or DOWN three to the Five of Clubs."
Let’s assume they decide to go down to the Five.
"Is there ANY way you could possibly have known you’d land on the Five of Clubs? Any way I could have known? Would you agree this was a genuinely random selection?"
Of course, everyone would nod in agreement—because it’s true.
Without so much as a flick of the wrist to change the deck’s orientation—meaning the card that was on the top stays on top throughout—the deck is spread, and one card is turned around in the middle. Lo and behold, it’s the Five of Clubs. The deck looks like a standard, shuffled deck.
This effect is a showstopper and leaves no breadcrumbs behind. Plus, it’s as easy as pie.
Just like the classic Invisible Deck, Ultra-Mental Plus has—
ZERO sleight of hand
ZERO complicated maths. Honestly, it’s even simpler than the original Ultra-Mental Deck in many ways.
Anything you can do with the classic Invisible Deck, you can do with Ultra-Mental Plus, and it’s just as straightforward.
Oh, and these decks have a special roughing configuration, making both spreading the deck in pairs and finding the right pair a doddle.
These decks are prepped using a roughing stick, so if your deck starts to show signs of age, just grab a roughing stick (easily found at your favourite shop) and give it a refresh!
