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InstruMental by David Jonathan and Nikolas Mavresis
This karaoke-themed deck of cards allows you to predict a freely chosen song and much more.
The main effect is that you pull up Spotify on your phone, turn down the volume, and place the phone face down on the table. You then introduce the pack of karaoke cards that feature popular songs from all genres. The spectator can look through the cards one at a time before deciding on one. They take their selected song from the deck and hold on to it. The performer turns up the volume on the phone, and the spectator hears their selected song playing.
This exploits a feature of the Spotify app that I never knew existed, and I use Spotify daily. The method is cleverly hidden within the cards, and it’s self-working. You can even use the spectator’s phone (Android or iOS) if they have the Spotify app because this doesn’t use any special apps, shortcuts, or NFCs.
The one caveat is that you can only play the song if they have Spotify Premium. If they only have the free version, you won't be able to play the song as the reveal, but instead, they’ll turn the phone over to see the album art. David teaches you how to instantly tell whether they are Premium or not so that you’ll know how you will be revealing the song. The other caveat is that you must ensure their screen doesn’t auto-lock. David also teaches a couple of ways to handle that.
I already have a very specific use for this that is so specific it may not even be worth sharing here, but I’ll describe it anyway. For my idea, you have to know that if you have two devices that are each logged into the same Spotify account and on the same WiFi network, you can pick the song on one device and have it play on a different device. I’m a high school teacher, and in my classroom I have an iPad plugged into my sound system at all times. We use Spotify often to play music. To perform this, I’ll turn the volume down on the sound system and “choose the song” on the iPad before leaving the iPad where it sits in the corner of the room. Now I can come to the middle of the room, have my phone sitting casually at my desk, and perform the trick. For the reveal, I’ll have a student walk over and slowly turn up the volume on the sound system, and they’ll hear and see the chosen song playing on the iPad that I haven’t been anywhere near. This feels about as perfect as it could possibly be.
You may be able to find another use for this “long distance” idea that fits your scenario; I think it makes it that much more deceptive. I shared the idea with David Jonathan and he seemed to really like it. I think they even plan on adding it into the tutorial on Penguin.
David and Nikolas do a great job of covering all of the details in the tutorial including a few different options for the dirty work to fit your comfort level. The “dirty work” happens incredibly quickly and accurately, so I think anyone should feel comfortable using this.
In addition to the main routine, you also get some “Enhanced” versions which can only be done on your phone as it uses a shortcut to take you out of Spotify and into another app like Youtube or Vimeo to play the music video for the selected song. This helps provide some distance from the true method, but it takes a little longer for it to work since the shortcut has to run its course.
They also teach several bonus tricks that you can do with the deck: a simple mind reading trick using the stack and a crib on the box to know the selected song, a couple of unique takes on Out of This World utilizing the “Like” feature on the cards (half of the “like” hearts are pink and half are white,) an effect where your iPhone wallpaper changes to the selected song thanks to a shortcut, and some others.
The standout in the bonus section is the “Playlist” trick. The spectator cuts the deck anywhere and deals off the top ten cards to make a “random playlist.” They name any number 1-10 and remember the song at their chosen number. They can then thoroughly shuffle the packet of cards. Yet, the performer can spread the cards and remove their chosen song. This is a really clever method that I’ve never seen before. Apparently, this method was going to be its own release in another form, and
David decided to implement it in this deck.
Overall, I think this is spectacular. As mentioned earlier, I know exactly how I’m going to use it, and I can’t wait to perform it.
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