New Patter for Out of this World

Paul Curry's Out of this World is a classic of card magic. The effect is that a spectator correctly divines the colors of cards without looking at them. The version I do is Harry Lorraine's impromptu version. I use a subtlety Phil Goldstein (Max Maven) showed me as a teenager which (except for one false overhand shuffle) completely eliminates the need for sleight of hand. My contribution to the trick is to present it as "an experiment": after the first part of the trick, in which the magician pulls cards out of the shuffled pack and asks the spectator to figure out if each card is red or black, he admits that, since he (or she) saw the cards, he may have subtly transmitted a message by nonverbal communication. Thus, in the second half of the trick, he lets the spectator himself divide the cards into two piles, red and black. This second part of the trick is presented as the "double blind" part of the trick: since the magician doesn't see the cards, he can't convey his knowledge of their color, even nonverbally. What's nice about this patter, apart from being scientifically authentic, is that it provides a rationale for the switching of the colors of the card piles in the middle of the pack.

Newbie note: "patter" refers to the schtick or talk of a magician while he does his tricks.

Magical reality check: it has long been known that the best way to protect a magic secret, short of taking it to the grave, is to publish it. So this one won't be going to anyone's grave.