A spectator is invited to get involved. The rest of the audience is shown a large prediction (approximately 10"x12"), the ace of diamonds, which is put into an open-front frame for safekeeping. An oversized set of playing cards is introduced. What the participating spectator doesn’t see (but the others do, much to their amusement) is that the cards are all aces of diamonds—so the magician can’t miss!
The assisting spectator is invited to select a card, and to the surprise of everyone else, the chosen card turns out to be the queen of diamonds. The trick has gone wrong!
Not to worry; the magician is able to solve the problem: As he extracts the prediction card from its holder, it visibly changes from the ace into a queen, ending the routine as a surprising success.
Almost 40 years ago, Billy McComb released his „McComb-ical Deck,“ a terrific routine of comedy mental magic that has spawned a host of variations. About 20 years back, John Breeds devised a method for causing an image to appear on a blank card. Geoff Maltby arranged to market this, and advanced the effect to cause a black-and-white picture to transform into a full-color rendering. Dubbed „Visible Painting,“ this has also proved to be a highly commercial item. Now, Ton Onosaka has used his design skills to create a pleasing hybrid routine.