Entourage by Gordon Bean

A Perfect Packet Trick from Gordon Bean.

This really is an amazing packet trick! The handling is very easy, the reset is almost automatic, and the effect can be repeated to the same audience.

It looks so clean and all the cards are shown, with no strange counting. There are lots and lots of effects where you successfully predict 1 out of 4, but I am not sure if there are any cleaner than this beautiful effect. The patter fits the situation perfectly too. For 30 years I have been performing an effect using the same gaffs called Any Queen Called For, that I purchased from Ron MacMillan. Any Queen is a great packet trick too, however there have been times when I really wanted to show the faces of all the cards, and Entourage delivers and adds a wonderful kicker at the end.

In Paul Hallas’ excellent book “Still Small, Still Deadly” (page 83) he goes into great detail of the history of “Packet Trick Brainwaves” effects which is fascinating reading. The book is still available as an e-book from Lybrary.com.

Effect: After a decade in development, Gordon Bean is finally ready for the general release of Entourage, his most eagerly awaited effect ever. For the past year, visitors — and some notable performers — at the Magic Castle in Los Angeles have served as test audiences, and all have reacted with the sort of enthusiasm reserved for only the very strongest walk-around items.

The effect couldn’t be any more straightforward. With a legitimately free choice, a spectator names any one of the four queens. Then — also with a legitimately free choice — the spectator picks any one of four cards trapped between two face-up jokers. It’s the named queen!
Read that again. There is no restriction whatsoever on either the choice of the queen or the face-down card. The effect will work with any queen and any face-down card — and you can repeat it for the same audience with a different choice every time.

The effect doesn’t stop with the revelation of the selection, however. As a devastating kicker, the three cards not selected are turned over — if desired, by the spectator himself — and they’re all jokers! The named queen is the only one present!

After being field-tested at the Magic Castle for months, Entourage is a real rarity: an effect that is entirely practical and ready to go into the front rank of your repertoire. It’s easy to do, and once you’re done, it resets instantly, in full view of your audience. And since no table is required, the entire routine can be performed surrounded, with the finale occurring right on the spectator’s hand.

Perform it at an upcoming strolling gig, and pretty soon you’ll have an Entourage of your own!

Found something wrong? Help us improve things by clicking here!