Ricky Jay

Cardgrrl sent me a link to an old (1993) New Yorker magazine article about Ricky Jay, of whom I am a big fan. To whet your appetite, here's a sample:

After twenty minutes of disbelief-suspending manipulations, Jay spread the deck face up on the bar counter and asked Nogulich to concentrate on a specific
card but not to reveal it. Jay then assembled the deck face down, shuffled, cut
it into two piles, and asked Nogulich to point to one of the piles and name his
card.

“Three of clubs,” Nogulich said, and he was then instructed to turn over
the top card.

He turned over the three of clubs.

Mosher, in what could be interpreted as a passive-aggressive act, quietly announced, “Ricky, you know, I also concentrated on a card.”

After an interval of silence, Jay said, “That’s interesting, Gregory, but I only do this for one person at a time.”

Mosher persisted: “Well, Ricky, I really was thinking of a card.”

Jay paused, frowned, stared at Mosher, and said, “This is a distinct change of procedure.” A longer pause. “All right—what was the card?”

“Two of spades.”

Jay nodded, and gestured toward the other pile, and Mosher turned over its top card.

The deuce of spades.

A small riot ensued.

See the full piece here:

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1993/04/05/1993_04_05_054_TNY_CARDS_000362341?currentPage=all