Permanent Prediction by Matt Daniel Baker

I’ve been performing PERMANENT PREDICTION for almost a year now and can’t imagine ever performing without it.

It’s simple, effective and direct. It takes no extra pocket space and is a natural revelation or prediction of a playing card.

What I love about it most is that the pen is in play from the very beginning of the effect. Even if you’re not intending to perform the trick at that moment the possibility of it being useful is always there.

I like to perform PERMANENT PREDICTION as an ‘add on’ effect to my ambitious card routine. I will end my AC routine with an omni deck, or card in phone, and wait for the reactions to settle down before handing the Sharpie to someone next to the spectator I have just performed to. With little fuss I will ask them to tap the back of a playing card as I utilise a classic force (7S). At this point I like to break the trick up by talking about the previous ambitious card routine and allow the impossibilities of what happened to sink into their minds. I then tell everyone I will explain how some of it works. “It’s just about believing that you’ll see some magic happen! If you hold the WRONG card but BELIEVE it will become YOUR card, then you’ve got a better chance of SEEING the magic happen!” As I say this I transform a playing card into the 2nd spectators newly selected card. “Here, you try it!, Tap the back of the card with the pen!” Another transformation occurs. You can do this as many times as necessary to build the excitement up.

Once you have them where you want them it’s time to slap their chops with the Sharpie that THEY HAVE BEEN HOLDING FROM THE VERY BEGINNING!!!

The one major point I would like to add with PERMANENT PREDICTION is that this is very much a ‘workers’ trick. While the hobbyist will still enjoy this as a stand alone trick, for me, it is a secret weapon that will cause gasps when least expected. Many times a spectator will fairly select a playing card of their choice and it will happen to be the 7 of Spades or the 8 of Hearts. Or they will call out “I want the 8 of Hearts!!” From this moment you have a whopper of an effect in your hands.