Word Tell by Devin Knight

Description

EFFECT:
The performer invites two spectators to come forward chosen by a lady in the audience. They are not stooges, but random people from the audience. He tells the audiences, that before the show, he gave a dictionary and a box of crayons to a woman. He had her take the dictionary, remove a crayon from the box and secretly circle a three-letter word on any page, then note the page number of the word she circled. She was then instructed to seal the book in a manila envelope, and keep it in her possession. She was further instructed to not tell anyone, including the performer, which word she circled.

The performer then calls for the sealed package. The package is then placed on a table in full view of the audience. The table also contains a deck of alphabet cards and the box of crayons. It is important to note that the sealed package containing the dictionary is in full view before anything else is done.

The performer tells the audience, that according to the Scrabble website, there are over 1200 words that can be formed with three letters. If a person sees three letters, she can easily see most any three-letter word that can be formed. A four or five-letter word could be more difficult to spot and missed. So to keep things simple, he would like the participant to see if she can form a three-letter word from the top three cards she removes off the deck. He points out that it is possible for three letters to form three different words. For example, if the three letters were POT, she could form the words, POT, TOP or OPT. The performer shuffles the cards and shows them to be well mixed. He places the deck on the table and invites the participant to cut the deck as many times as she likes.

She is then told to remove the top three cards from the deck and turn them face up and see if she can form a word. It has to be a word and not a three-letter name such as JAN or SAM. Also initials that stand for something such as VIP (Very Important Person) are not allowed. It has to be a simple word that most people know and will be found in most dictionaries. The three cards can be moved around in any order needed to form a three-letter word. If she can form more than one word, then she selects the one she wants as her word. The performer points out had she cut one card more or one card fewer she would have a different batch of cards. (A true statement.)

If she cannot form a word, then these three cards are discarded and she removes the next three cards and sees if they will form a word. This is continued until she can form a word. Usually, within two or three layouts of three letters, she can form a word. However, in rare cases, it may take her four layouts of three letters to form a word.

The performer asks if she is happy with the word she formed, IF NOT, she is invited to discard that word, and remove three more cards until she can form a new word. This is a very strong point in the effect; the woman can change her mind! Assume she settles on the word: MAN.

The performer now asks the lady holding the envelope with the dictionary in it to remove the dictionary from the envelope. The performer doesn’t touch the dictionary. The performer says there should be a note in the envelope, he has the lady reach in and remove it. The note is opened and read by either the performer or the lady. NOTE YOU COULD HAVE A POST-IT NOTE STUCK TO THE DICTIONARY WITH THE PAGE NUMBER.

It reads: I did as you said; I chose a red crayon and circled a three-letter word. The circled word is on page 111.

Tell the lady to turn to page 111 and see if there is a circled word on that page. She looks up the page and opens it. Ask her to insert her finger to save her place and the flip through the pages BEFORE and AFTER the break to verify there are no other marks in the book She will find no other marks in the dictionary. Have her turn the book toward the audience so they can see there is red circle around one word. Ask her what word is circled. She will say in this case: MAN. The circled word will always be the freely formed three-letter word by the first spectator. An amazing and unbelievable coincidence! Baffling beyond words. Almost Self-Working and NO SKILL REQUIRED.

Comes with special dictionary, alphabet deck, box of crayons, envelope and all needed props.