In classic “Out of This World” (OOTW), a spectator is given a deck of cards and a black card and a red card are laid out on the table face-up to form the start of black and red piles. The spectator deals cards face down from the deck and uses his or her “intuition” to deal black and red cards onto the appropriate pile. At the end, the piles are turned over to reveal that the spectator did indeed separate the cards into black and red ones without looking at them.
The original version of the trick uses an ordinary deck. If you’ve never discovered the joys of OOTW, it’s a great effect that is not difficult to learn and perform - there are no complicated moves in the original version - and at the end, you’re completely clean.
Sometime back, I reviewed a strong version of the trick by Dean Dill and Michael Weber that was called "A New World." This one relied on a gimmicked deck that makes for a cleaner effect. I was also impressed with a version by Eugene Burger that he taught on his Exploring Magical Presentations DVD.
Personally, I like the Harry Lorayne approach published in his “My Favorite Card Tricks.” It’s an impromptu version that I perform now and then and it’s the first version that I learned. I can thoroughly attest to the strength of the effect.
Best of All Worlds
A new book, Brent Geris’ “Best of All Worlds” offers the most comprehensive treatment of the effect that I have seen. If you were to bring together the greatest minds in magic and have them discuss OOTW, you would end up with this book. The various versions have been gathered and published in this book from their original manuscripts, book entries and lecture notes. Some have even been transposed from instructions originally provided on video.
While Curry’s vaunted effect is strong, just about every magician that contributes to the book sees a potential weakness and a possible solution. Many of the approaches deal with the mid-way transformation in the dealing and the mixing of the packets near the routine’s end.
There are impromptu methods that can be performed with an ungimmicked and shuffled deck. Some deal with portions of the deck and not the entire deck. There are predictions as well as separation into suits. A few, in particular, the routine by Juan Tamariz, introduce some heavy duty sleight-of-hand.
In addition to the routines there are fun extras. Mathematicians, most noteworthy is Art Benjamin, provide statistical analysis on the probability of actually dealing cards into reds and blacks. There are also fun stories provided by many of the magicians on their first encounters with the effect.
This is not a book to try and take in during a single reading. But if you read and enjoy a few routines a day and think about them, you can put everything in perspective. While the book can help you identify the best version of “Out of This World” that will work for you, the book is enjoyable and well written. Best of all, it provides insight on some significant magical thinking from some of the brightest in our midst.
