Decepto

Jake Stafford of Boston was, I believe, the originator of this effect, but I have changed the method entirely to make a nice divination stunt for sandwiching between other tricks.

The deck is spread face down from left to right. The spectator pulls out any card and turns it face up on the top card of the deck. Now another card is selected in the same manner, but not looked at, it being dropped face down on top of the face up card. The spectator then squares the deck and one complete cut is made to bury the face to face pair. The performer holds the deck behind his back for a moment so, he says, that the face up card may talk to the one face down and meet him. Holding deck to ear for a second, the face up card then apparently whispers the name of the other card to the performer, for he immediately names it correctly and lets the spectator find it so.

Almost every card worker uses an advantage or key card of some sort to allow of out of the ordinary effects impossible otherwise, so I have no qualms about using a short card for this. It is brought to the top of the deck after mixing and the deck is spread on the table. You, of course, know its identity. Any card is withdrawn and placed face up on top (short) card. Any other card is drawn and placed face down on the face up card without noting. The deck is squared and cut. Behind your back you merely riffle the end of the deck to the short card break and exchange the top card of the lower portion with the bottom card of the upper portion. Now you hold the deck to your ear and name the short card. It is above and facing the original face up card when the spectator examines all.

Note by Annemann: I think a repeat of this would be in order and effective as there is nothing to catch. Instead of the usual short card, have two key cards in your deck by using the corner short principle which has been sadly neglected by magi, and which does not require any tapping or squaring the deck on the table.

Just slightly trim off the upper left and lower right corners of one key card, and the upper right and lower left corners of the other. By riffling at the left upper corner you always get the one, and by doing the same at the right upper corner you can get the other. For this effect get them both on top, knowing their order. Follow the same working for the first one.

Then spread the deck after naming and have the spectator remove the face down card above the face up one. Cut the deck at this spot bringing the face up card again to the top, and repeat exactly as before, this time getting the second short card and naming it.