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Chicago Opener

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Chicago Opener, also known as Red Hot Mama, is a card routine in which the back of a freely selected card changes color (e.g. from blue to red) and is set aside. A second card is selected and the red-backed card is seen to have transformed into the second selection.

The first published version was the Hot Card Trick No. 1 by Al Leech, marketed in 1950 by The Ireland Magic Company, and then made popular by Frank Everhart as Chicago Opener when published by Frank Garcia in Million Dollar Card Secrets (1972).

Michael Ammar notes that this routine meets Dai Vernon's criterion for clarity of effect in the two simple transformations. Whit Haydn notes that the blending of two methods to achieve the same effect (in this case the transformation of a card) increases the mystery and impossibility.

History

References