Color-A-Rama (Junior) by Louis Gaynor, Al Wheatley

Colorama was invented by  Al Wheatley (Chop-Chop) c. 1957.

Effect: Three colored balls, sit on a numbered stand. A spectator mentally chooses one ball and, while the performer’s back is turned, silently changes the places of the other two balls. Now the performer asks the spectator to exchange any two balls, and to call out their numbers. This is repeated any number of times.

When finished, the performer turns around and immediately discloses the color of the ball mentally selected by the spectator! IMPOSSIBLE, yet true!

• No sleights!
• No confederates!
• No gimmicks! No electronics!
• No Magnets!

An old principle dressed up in a most colorful way. An effect that you will so enjoy performing! 1-inch red, yellow and black balls on 5″ long by 1.5″ wide hardwood stand. Limited quantities. Made exclusive for us by Louis Gaynor.

From Tony Griffith:  I have used the following presentation for the puzzle. It is based upon the story that Al Koran told when presenting JACKPOT COINS at the Savoy Hotel in London. There is some doubt as to whether the story is true and that Al made it up.

First of all I talk about Al Koran, what his real name was (Eddie Doe) and that his trade was that of a Barber working in the top hotels in London. By night he played the cabaret circuit with his magic and mind reading act. He got a break when given a five minute slot on the Billy Cotton Band Show at peak viewing time on BBC. This was followed up by his own show on BBC at peak viewing time on a Saturday evening.

Then the story continues.

He was presenting his act at the Savoy Hotel in London and one of the items he presented was an item with three colored balls. I then do Color-A-Rama as detailed in the instructions.  Then the story continues. After he had finished his act, he was given a note inviting him to visit a certain table. When he did he found the person at the table was the famous mathematician Albert Einstein who complimented him upon his act. Then he said he was intrigued by the item with the “snooker balls.” He was certain that the balls had to be in a certain order for it to work. To this Koran replied “No they can be in any order.”

He then presented the effect for Einstein for a second time.  This I then do, and at the end turn to the audience and say “That ladies and gentlemen if the item that intrigued the famous mathematician Albert Einstein. I will leave you to work it out. When you have, answers on a post card please. I have found that by building a story around the puzzle makes it interesting for those watching.

Text Source: stevensmagic.com – click for details

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