Copperfield's Card Trick

December 15, 2003 2:36 PM

Copperfield's Card Trick
Pick a card without clicking it or selecting it and the image of David Copperfield will remove that card from the six cards.

How does this work? I've tried it four or five times and it gets it right everytime.
posted by fenriq (32 comments total)

Here's a hint: pick two cards next time you try it. See what happens.
posted by ook at 2:38 PM on December 15, 2003

All the cards that are shown on the 2nd display are different. therefore, he will have removed your card with certainty. (watch the suits closely)
posted by wuakeen at 2:40 PM on December 15, 2003

guh.
posted by jennyjenny at 2:40 PM on December 15, 2003

Alternately, jot down the six cards it shows you, and then compare that list to the five it reveals after the elimination. It makes for sort of a forehead-slapping moment.
posted by pineapple at 2:41 PM on December 15, 2003

Oldest trick in the book (in terms of online pick a card tricks.)
posted by me3dia at 2:43 PM on December 15, 2003

this is old and at least a double post.
posted by quonsar at 2:44 PM on December 15, 2003

I'm sorry, but that is soooo weak. Is Copperfield down to riping of secondhand tricks from children's magazines? I swear I saw this in the third grade or something. Look deeply into my badly pixelated eyes, David, it's time to retire.
posted by elwoodwiles at 2:44 PM on December 15, 2003

you're going to want to forget that login and password and reregister on mefi after this post...
posted by Nauip at 2:45 PM on December 15, 2003

Wuakeen, damn! Thanks for pointing it out, that was making me nuts!
posted by fenriq at 2:46 PM on December 15, 2003

And yes, my forehead hurts from slapping it so hard. Should have picked this up but come on, its only Monday.
posted by fenriq at 2:51 PM on December 15, 2003

For more "fun" along these lines, try this site.
posted by Swifty at 2:52 PM on December 15, 2003

i liked it better when it was an animated goldfish, but your choices are legion.
posted by badstone at 3:20 PM on December 15, 2003

I was sure this would be similar to Where's Waldo?
posted by skryche at 4:04 PM on December 15, 2003

david copperhead freaks me out. he's so swarmy and he was engaged to claudia schiffler for like 10 years.
posted by lsd4all at 4:39 PM on December 15, 2003

Somebody looking for me?
posted by waldo at 4:52 PM on December 15, 2003

David Coppefield?
posted by sudama at 5:35 PM on December 15, 2003

I think I posted one similar to this last year or something, and was promptly humiliated by the crowd, then pelted with rocks and garbage.

Still, an oldie and a goody.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:46 PM on December 15, 2003

stavros - we forget so quickly, then you can just keep pulling the same trick on us over and over again.....

Bwahaha
posted by troutfishing at 6:44 PM on December 15, 2003

reminds me of an old dos-based card trick on the apple IIc we had, where you held the card up to the screen and it pretended to "scan" it and then guess it. my friends used to buy that every time. the trick was when you were supposedly typing in "yes" [continue], you were actually typing in what card it was.
posted by gottabefunky at 7:54 PM on December 15, 2003

Uninstall powerpoint immediately!
posted by nthdegx at 9:48 PM on December 15, 2003

Soon you will enter a magic world.
Look deep into my eyes.
You will experience something extraordinary.
I do not know you.
I cannot see you.

God, this whole magic trick is awfully hot and romantic, until the part where he says in 100 pt, "LOOK! I TOOK YOUR CARD!" Don't you think?
posted by jennanemone at 12:18 AM on December 16, 2003

Well, I hadn't seen it before. The first time I was impressed. The second time I was even more impressed. The third time he got it wrong and the fourth time also. I then realized what was happening - I think. But maybe one of you know-it-alls would be kind enough to explain in order to confirm my theory which I will wait to explain.
posted by donfactor at 2:47 AM on December 16, 2003

donfactor, wuakeen already explained it above.
posted by litlnemo at 3:05 AM on December 16, 2003

there's waldo! what do I win?
posted by dabitch at 3:07 AM on December 16, 2003

I checked the book and, sure enough, this trick is the oldest one in it.
posted by spazzm at 3:21 AM on December 16, 2003

Google is more magical than this.
posted by Frasermoo at 5:42 AM on December 16, 2003

Preach on, brother frasermoo...
posted by triv at 6:33 AM on December 16, 2003

The real trick is seeing Copperfield's ugly mug for so long and not getting queesy.
posted by Outlawyr at 9:14 AM on December 16, 2003

Real magic.

this is old and at least a double post.

Please to go easy with such nasty CopperfieldHateFilter words. This is the kind of timely, pertinent and provocative front page post that both "Seth" and I are fighting for here on Metafilter.
posted by fold_and_mutilate at 10:16 AM on December 16, 2003

...you're back in the room.
posted by boneybaloney at 11:56 AM on December 16, 2003

I've tried it four or five times and it gets it right everytime.

But at that point, don't you say "OK - how could this possibly work given that David Copperfield isn't really there in the screen reading my mind? Hmmmmm. It would have to insure that no matter what card I picked, it wouldn't be there. How could it accomplish that?" And then all that remains is to test the theory by remembering more than one card.

At least that's how it was back when I first saw this. Then again, I didn't have dreamy David Copperfield there, distracting me from thinking clearly. No, back when I saw this it was Robert-Houdin.
posted by soyjoy at 12:01 PM on December 16, 2003

I think more disturbing than the "LOOK! I TOOK YOUR CARD!" is the complete lack of post-card-trick pillowtalk. I imagine David sounds like the AOL announcer: "goodbye".
posted by hoborg at 2:36 PM on December 16, 2003