Steve Shufton’s Inexplicable is one of the few tricks I carry with me, in my wallet, always. Shufton claims it is “Devious. Simple. Stunning.” He is spot on.
With Inexplicable, the performer places a card-sized black envelope on the table that is held closed by a rubber band. It is in view the entire time. The spectator takes a deck of cards and deals one card down onto a table, one at a time, and stops whenever she want. After the spectator stops dealing the card is then turned over. Then, the performer picks up the envelope, takes off the top and reveals that the card inside is the card that the spectator arrived at.
When I first got this, many years ago, I opened the package which comes with the envelope, the reveal card and a small paper pamphlet of instructions. As soon as I saw what was provided, I knew exactly how I wanted to use this devious, simple and stunning trick. I never even read the instructions, I just took it on the road. Turns out, I was using Inexplicable in a way completely different than the suggested routine. It didn’t matter, it still slayed the spectators. In my version, I would let the spectator deal cards face down, make several piles, let them pick a few cards and then choose one from the selected few. Both versions use a normal deck. Recently however, I read the instructions and the routine taught in the booklet is phenomenal, although it requires a bit of set up. You can easily learn and do this trick and will absolutely kill your spectators. That is a guarantee.
The provided black envelope is not one you will see in real life, but that is ok. Its function is to hold a single card. It is very cleverly designed and is not gimmicked in any way. This is a trick that you can repeat to the same audience if you alter the method for the second performance. You cannot hand out the reveal card, but no one really will ever ask to see it. There is truly only one card in the envelope too.
There are multiple outs and if you have a wise guy spectator they could sabotage the routine, so stay away from jerks; a good general rule of thumb when performing magic. You can do this trick surrounded and the reset is instantaneous. The ad copy is accurate.
This trick is a bargain at $20 and I highly recommend this for anyone from beginners to working pros. It is so easy to perform and the reactions are unmatched.