Description
Presentation
Chris Philpott’s French Postcards is a wildly entertaining version of Paul Curry’s Out of this World.
“A brilliant Out of this World experience! When Chris did this for me I had one of those “*^%$@ why didn’t I think of that?” moments. Presentational gold!” -Steve Valentine
Effect
A study out of Cornell University recently made headlines: subjects could predict if a picture was going to appear on the left or right side of a computer screen but only when they used erotic pictures!
To test the theory, you show 12 postcards from various destinations and 12 French postcards (these are vintage nudes — elegant, sepia-toned, upper-body nudity). The cards are mixed; then, without looking, a spectator sorts them by sensing if a card has sexual energy or not. The results are perfect!
The effect includes 24 custom-made postcards, written instructions and links to video instructions, updates, extra effects and a bonus comedy script by professional comic and magician, Bruce Gold. Also includes Jon Armstrong’s “Out of this Blah Blah Blah,” the cleanest OOTW handling ever!
“Finally, a reason to do Out of this World, that holds attention from start to finish. With French Postcards, they’ll never forget you!”
-Steve Valentine
Videos:
French Postcards Key Selling Points:
Paul Curry’s Out of this World (released in 1942) is justly revered as one of the greatest of all card tricks. The plot is clear and seems utterly impossible: a spectator uses intuition to separate the red cards from the black cards. It’s powerful, empowering and easy-to-do…
And yet, it is far from a perfect trick. What exactly does the audience see in performance? They see someone sort 52 pieces of paper into two piles. That’s not magic, it’s filing!
While there have been hundreds of methodological variations on OOTW, most don’t address the core problem of making it entertaining: how do you add emotional stakes to someone dealing out cards, trying to separate red from black?
By moving from playing cards, French Postcards accomplishes several important things:
– More entertaining. In “French Postcards”, the volunteer is not sensing if the card is red or black – he or she is sensing if it feels sexy or not. Instantly, this becomes more interesting, engaging and funnier. You don’t have to tell a single joke – the situation itself is funny (but if you want to tell jokes, the script by Bruce Gold is excellent).
– More real. Because the premise is based on a real study, it makes the effect more believable and relevant – this is an effect that can make spectator’s cry as well as laugh (you can see both in the trailer).
– Better visibility: the postcards are larger and can be seen better by your audience. The two types of cards are oriented two different ways (vertically and horizontally) and veer toward two different color-palettes (reddish versus blue-ish) to further increase visibility. The cards are visually more interesting than playing cards.
– More fooling. The size of the postcards seems to preclude sleight of hand, cutting off one possible explanation for how the trick is done.
And yet with all these advantages, French Postcards is no more difficult than the original effect.
What pros says
“Love these! What a fun, creative spin on a classic!”
– Charlie Frye
“Chris Philpott’s French Postcards is the best presentation of Out of this World I have ever seen, and the most “magic for the buck” I have ever purchased!”
– Bob Meigs
(Five Stars) “This is a wonderful update to the classic Paul Curry plot, Out of This World. I very highly recommend this product!”
– Dr. J. M. Ayala de Cedoz, My Lovely Assistant
“Great, great, great reimagining of Out of This World! I love this routine!”
– Andy Hofer
“With French Postcards, Chris tells a compelling story in just a few sentences. Once interest has been generated, he then puts the participant INTO the tale. This is a brilliant combination and, along with being a retelling of a classic, is why the effect garners such strong reactions.”
– Bill Cushman
“French Postcards has a great hook, a justification, a clever prop, and an intriguing involvement of the spectator.”
– Simon Aronson
“It looked to me just how the real thing it might look and that’s not something I see that often.”
– Sean Giles
“I’ve just used French Postcards at a gig tonight during that: “show us something different moment”. WOW what great reactions! Can’t thank you enough!”
– Graham Lowery
“They’re friggin fantastic! It takes an amazing effect with a boring premise, flips it, makes it interesting and can engage a lot more people. An incredible effect!”
– Mystery Arts Inc.
“What a practical and brilliant idea to elevate a great effect even higher.”
– Tom Jorgenson
“The best version of the best card effect ever!”
– Rob Maron
Reviews
“Take a well known and baffling card trick and apply a semi-erotic theme, and you have French Postcards…Chris Philpott has taken a killer card trick and added a compelling and fun theme. If you’ve got the right venue and audience, this one can play strong.”
Wayne Kawamoto, Magic.About.com 8/26/2015
“I had a hard time believing that the postcards were custom printed because they look so normal and genuine. In fact, for the most part, they are. In fact if you really wanted to, you could use them for exactly that because on the backs of all 24 postcards there is a place for a stamp, lines for the address and the blank space to write your message in. As I said earlier, there is a useful feature on the backs of all the cards that looks absolutely inconspicuous – nobody will ever see it”
Dr. J. M. Ayala de Cedoz, MyLovelyAssistant 8/6/2015
“Chris Philpott’s French Postcards is the best presentation of ‘Out of this World’ I have ever seen, and the most “magic for the buck” I have ever purchased. ‘Out of this World’ has always been a favorite of mine, but it’s too sophisticated, too lengthy, and lacks enough humor for my venues. And, it’s a card trick, which I try to avoid on stage. French Postcards has removed all of these reservations. A BRILLIANT routine.”
Bob Meigs , Reviewer 7/24/2015
“I already use The 100th Monkey and The Tossed Out Book Test on a regular basis. I’ve just used French Postcards at a gig tonight during that “show us something different” moment. WOW what great reactions. Thank you for sharing your innovative approach to mentalism with mere mortals like myself. Truly refreshing.”
Graham Lowery , Reviewer 7/24/2015
“Love these! What a fun, creative spin on a classic. I look forward to seeing what other effects I can dress up with these beauties.”
Charlie Frye, Reviewer 8/14/2015
“…the presentational hook for this version is intriguing, and the use of the postcards takes it out of the card trick category. ”
David Regal, Genii Magazine 8/27/2015
“This will be of more use to those who already perform an ungaffed version of the effect and are looking to spice the routine up a little.”
John Wilson, Magic Magazine 9/17/2015
