Effect:
The magician shuffles an ordinary pack of flash cards. With the magician’s head turned away, the cards are dealt onto the table and the spectator freely stops the deal at any point (no forces!) The spectator then looks and remembers at their stopped-at card, before shuffling the pack of flash cards, losing their card in the process. Only after the cards have been shuffled does the magician turn their head back to the front.
The magician then proceeds to try and locate their selected card - however, it looks like the magician has horribly failed as none of the cards placed on the table are correct. Just when all hope is seemingly lost, the magician suddenly reveals that they have been in control the entire time, because the “incorrect” cards on the table can be re-interpreted as English characters, and actually spell out their chosen card’s symbol!
Credits:
Jumping to Conclusions is based on Max Maven’s “Drawing Conclusions” effect, published in Richard’s Almanac (Apr 1984, Vol. 2 No. 20). This routine is being published with Max’s kind permission.