The performer talks about a secret wartime society set up in London in the 1940ʼs to investigate psychic phenomena. Alleged to have carried out thousands of experiments during this time, the performer claims to have got his hands on the original instructions for one such experiment issued by the ʻInstitute Of Psychical Phenomenaʼ that uses nothing more than a pack of playing cards and a few volunteers.

The performer produces the document in question and invites someone to read out the twenty step-by-step instructions for the experiment. The performer promises to follow the instructions as closely as possible for the entire procedure.

At the commencement of the experiment a pack of cards is shown to be mixed throughly yet is mixed again through a series of shuffles leaving the audience in no doubt that the cards are randomised and the performer has seen none of the card faces.

Two spectators choose a card each under strict test conditions, including further shuffles by themselves before and after their choice, yet later on in the experiment each is able to pick out their counterpartʼs card with their eyes closed by touch / feel / ʻempathyʼ alone.

Some points to consider:

• The performer never once sees the faces of the cards
• Each spectator has a totally free choice of card
• Each assistant truly has no idea how they managed to pick each otherʼs cards with their eyes closed
• The cards can be handed over to the audience at the end
• All this, yet the ʻinstructionsʼ are followed to the letter!

This is a fun performance piece with a lot of scope for humour and ad-libbing depending on the individual mentalist or magician. It can be done straight faced and ʻscientificallyʼ or can be done light-heartedly with lots of room for gags and by-play.

ʻEmpirical Empathyʼ Includes the ʻdocumentʼ that you need that prints out on to one sheet of paper and has been created to look like it was typed on an old typewriter from the war years - youʼll have to provide seventy years of wear and tear yourself!

Includes two methods - one with your own deck and one with a ʻborrowedʼ deck. Although both versions do require some setup, the ʻborrowedʼ version comes with a variety of bold and covert methods to make the setup quick and painless (and even sneaky!)

ʻEmpirical Empathyʼ gives an old method a brand new twist, and an older method no twist at all!