There is a magic card trick called "Vanished & Gone". I think it was
made popular by a man named Peter Duffie. It involves a gimmicked deck
of cards that is suitable only for this one trick. The effect: A
spectator thinks of any card, and finds that the card he thought of is
the ONLY card missing from a deck (there are 51 cards in the deck). My
question is: how is this trick done? What is the secret?

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Request for Question Clarification by ozguru-ga on 19 Aug 2002 22:49 PDT

Dear dirkw,

I am sorry I couldn't find the explanation. However, you may consider
purchasing the trick (including instructions) is only $14.95.

The trick you described is known as Vanished and Gone:

A review from the Magicians Enquirer, Peter Duffie “Vanished and Gone”
http://www.chazpro.com/MagiciansEnquirer/Reviews.html

Elmwood Magic have it for $14.95
http://www.elmwoodmagic.com/best/best1.htm
_____

Other Links
Other places list Vanished and Gone for $19.95 or $20
Eg Tannen’s Magic
http://www.tannenmagic.com/cart/cat53.html

Peter Duffie’s site:
http://www.peterduffie.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/harbin.htm

Card trick central
http://ps.superb.net/cardtric/tricks/othertbl.htm

Search strategy:
"card trick" missing card
"card trick" duffie disappearing OR missing OR disappears
duffie vanish gone
"card trick" explanations -book

Regards,

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Clarification of Question by dirkvw-ga on 19 Aug 2002 23:11 PDT

I was already aware that the trick was for sale. I learned of it
because of another card magic trick I was interested in, called
"Oscar". I think the secret to "Vanished & Gone" has something to do
with multiple copies of the same card in a deck - for example, a deck
of cards with only 13 different cards x 4 = 52. That way, there is a
75% chance that the person will think of a card that is not in the
deck (and when he is searching for the card he thought of, he will not
notice the multiple copies of the same card). However, this is only a
guess. It seems to me there would have to be an alternate explanation,
because this trick (with my guessed solution) will not work 25% of the
time.

Alas, thanks anyway :-)

dirkvw-ga wrote:

> my guessed solution ... will not work 25% of the time.

Your guessed solution is consistent with a review at Magician's Enquirer
http://www.chazpro.com/MagiciansEnquirer/Reviews.html
which states that "the ending changes depending on the card picked".

This isn't how that one is done, but it might get a chuckle if you use
a "Reverse Color Deck".  You might need to prompt them to think more
in colors before searching for their card.

http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Musee/7685/cards19.htm
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22reverse+color+deck%22