I unearthed a couple of these among a large lot of "new-old" dealer inventory, so even though these are probably about 20 years old, they are new and unused.
I think when I learned this effect (way back in the final years of the 20th century), it was my first encounter with the magic of Alain Nu. he has, of course, gone on to make quite a name for himself in the world of magic and mentalism. This early example of his creative and commercial approach is one reason why.
Nu has taken a few very old principles and ideas, and updated them into a logical context for the necessary process, hence the name (I guess) of Animalogic.
You show a packet of eight cards, each printed with eight different animal names, all lists of names are completely different, so you have a compact packet of 64 different animals. You lay the eight lists on the table and ask the spectator to think of just one animal -- one that they have an affinity with and that they know well. (All the animals are reasonably recognizable and well-known -- so they are not limited to only a few of the animals; they can really think of any of the 64 animals.) You tell them to pick up the card and show it to the others, as you turn away from them so as not to see. Still turned away, you ask them to collect up the eight cards, and shuffle them, then hand them to you. (You are still turned away, not seeing any of this.) You explain that our mind processes both words and images, and so you have the spectator hand you the shuffled cards -- (you are still turned away) -- and you show the back of each card to the spectator. She sees pictures of animals on the back of the card. You ask if she sees the IMAGE of her animal. If not, you place that card in her hands. You repeat with each card, until she says "Yes, I see my animal" -- have her concentrate on it, then give her that card and all the others, have her shuffle them. Only now do you turn back to face her, look into her eyes and you announce her thought-of animal.
I have tried to describe this exactly as it occurs. It is very clean and very baffling. You may be familiar with other versions of this trick, where someone thinks of a listed item, but by using both "words" and "images" as separate aspects of human thought, Alain Nu gives a reasonable context for the repeated showing of the cards.
The cards are printed on stock that is similar to business card stock -- sturdy, but not as sturdy as playing card stock. The cards are about the size of poker-sized playing cards, and fit nicely into a vinyl card wallet (provided). I would recommend laminating these cards after you get them, as that will allow them to best stand up to the rigors of repeat performance.
It's a good table hopping effect as it requires no reset. There is one simple Mnemonic to remember the starting order of the cards for the initial layout -- (don't worry! the mnemonic is just three words). But you could always print the order reminder on a crib on the vinyl wallet if you wanted to avoid all memory work. The effect itself requires no memorization, no set-up -- always ready to go
Very hard to find tis one now. Magi-mentalist who have it do not part with it. And here is your chance to join that lucky group
Again, this is "new-old" dealer inventory, unused and complete as issued by A-1 MultiMedia over 20 years ago.
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