A lot of us magicians end up performing in restaurants and bars quite often, and we also perform a lot for friends at dinner/cocktail parties. So magic tricks with a "drinks" theme always have an immediate tie in for many of our spectators. (Okay, I didn't sday you should do this for your kidshows!) Because the effects of alcohol often include lack of memory, it makes a drink theme trick the perfect tie in for the classic Lie Detector plot.
Here is how this looks: Magi shows ten cards, each depicting a popular libation. (There are a couple of soft drinks for the tee totallers in the crowd). A spectator mixes the cards and then chooses one of the drinks as her favorite. (It is not forced). The selected drink is buried in the packet and now the lie detection begins. Magi asks the spectator to name her drink -- she can lie or tell the truth. The named drink is "spelled" dealing a card to the table for each letter. The spectator is now asked if she lied -- she answers yes or no -- (again, she can lie or tell the truth). Her answer is spelled, dealing cards for each letter. Finally her own name is spelled, and when the final card of the deal is truned up, it is her selected drink. Proving she lied (or told the truth, as the case may be).
The handling is simple and easy. Because I wanted to have a more baffling version of the routine, I worked out a different method that requires a bit of mental gymnastics and a couple of contingent handlings based on what the spectator answers. I will include it along with the standard routine. The more involved routine has some great humor in it: the questions asked are have you ever been drunk? have you ever been so drunk you did something you regret? and have you ever been so drunk that you can't remember you did something that your regret? After these Yes/No questions, the spectator names her chosen drink (again lying or telling the truth), and it is found at the end of the spell. A stringer routine, but not self-working. You can do the standard routine while you learn the deluxe version.
The cards are bridge size and handle nicely. The deluxe routine is only included with this trick if you buy it from The Magic Gadget Site.
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