McCaffrey's Variation of the Telephone Mystery

“Shuffle the cards thoroughly. Look at the 'bottom' card. Do not tell me what it is, but remember it.

Concentrate on the number of spots on the card. Now transfer the same number of cards from the 'top' of the deck to “bottom' as there are spots on your card.

For instance, if you looked at a three spot, transfer three cards, if a Jack, eleven cards, etc.

Friend transfers the cards. Let us say he saw the Eight of Hearts 8 and he transferred eight cards.

“These cards have been transferred from the “top' to the “bottom' thereby losing your card in the deck. I do not know how far down in the deck your card is, as I do not know the number of cards you brought beneath your card.

Turn the cards over so that the faces are upward.

Now call off the cards to me one at a time.”

Let us say the first card called is the Four of Spades 4. Pay no attention to it.

But when the second card is called place it down on your paper after number one. Suppose this card is the Two of Hearts 2.

Just write down Two of Hearts 2 after the 1. Place the third card called at number 2. Do this until your friend has called at least fourteen cards. He may call even more cards for misdirection.

His selected card, the Eight of Hearts 8, will fall on the number 8.

Should any other cards have the same number of spots as a number on your paper, you must use the elimination process to determine which is the proper card, as already described.

“Concentrate on your card. It is the Eight of Hearts 8!”

McCAFFREY'S variation of the telephone mystery This is an excellent presentation and variation of the Baker-Walsh Telephone Mystery. Bill McCaffrey called me on the 'phone while I was in Los Angeles and performed it for me. It was so effective that I asked for his permission to publish his routine with his own patter in this Course.