Jelly Beans by Kyle Purnell

Do you remember that game where you have to guess how many jelly beans are in a jar? This takes that premise and turns it into a trick that fits in your pocket. Here’s what happens: You introduce your participant to a familiar game: guessing how many jelly beans are in a jar. Instead of a jar, you use a shuffled deck of cards. A single face-up Joker is openly placed somewhere in the middle of the deck, representing the bottom of the “jar.” The cards are mixed, and the participant is asked to guess how many cards are above the Joker. The cards are dealt, and impossibly, the participant's number is exactly correct. You then explain that experienced jelly bean guessers know a secret: the answer is always written on the bottom of the jar. The Joker is turned over to reveal the correct number, which was written before the participant made their guess. You then reverse the roles and ask the participant to freely cut any number of cards into your hand, and by feel alone, you name the number of cards cut. You count down and are exactly correct. You then turn over the Joker to reveal that the number has changed from the number they named earlier to the number of cards they just cut to. A simple and playful premise that is clean, fair, and hits hard.