AL KORAN'S LEGACY

aoor, continuing to face the audience as he does so. The card is turned around and stuck
in the breast pocket of the performer's jacket, protruding from the pocket so that the
number remains visible. As the man from the audience reaches the performer, he is
asked to stand to one side; the performer withdraws a leather covered jewel box, of the
kind expensive brooches are sold in, from the inside pocket of his jacket. He shows the
box to his temporary assistant. "Nice box, isn't it? I keep my gold medallion in it." He
opens the lid and withdraws an enamelled gold medallion, closes the box and slips it into
his pocket. "This medallion is very old," the performer goes on. "It's an Italian piece ...
in fact, it's the only Italian piece I knowl Look ... " he indicates the design on the edge.
"Beautifully inscribed, and the band near the centre, that's inscribed too, all by hand.
Look at the centre, that gorgeously inscribed lettering." He pauses and looks at the
spectator. "Sir, what was the number selected by the ladies a few moments ago?"

performer's

The spectator can see the number quite

breast pocket. "Five seven three," he says.

clearly,

sticking

out of the

"That's right, five seven three. I said that was remarkable, Sir, and it is.
Here, take the medallion." The assistant takes the medallion and, on the performer's
instruction, he turns it over.
"Sir, will you read aloud, so we can all hear, just what is inscribed
back of the medallion."
The
applause and cries
merit ten times the
having some of the

on the

assistant looks at the medallion and calls out, "Five seven three!" The
of genuine astonishment this effect produces from an audience would
work involved in accomplishing the feat. It is classically direct magic,
best elements of the Koran techniques built into its subtle structure.

The medallion used by Al was in fact an old brooch, gold-plated and

bearing the signs of the zodiac. Any medal or large, unusual coin would serve equally
well. The essentials are weight and visibility. The audience must be able to see the
medallion, so nothing less than an inch and a half in diameter should be considered. The
more ornate the design the better, but one surface at least should be reasonably flat. Do
not use aluminium or light alloy tokens, as their lack of heft can imperil the working of
the trick.
To one side of the medallion, attach a circular, white self-adhesive sticker.
That is all the preparation needed as far as the medallion itself is concerned. At this
point, the set-up diverges quite markedly from that originally described in Professional

Presentations.

lightweight

You will require a flattened tube of plastic, cardboard or any other

material you can lay hands on. The tube must be wide enough to

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