Bruce Bernstein – Separation Anxiety
“Elegant. The trick of the year.” -Barrie Richardson
"This is about as clean and fast an "Out of this World" effect as you can get. It's 16 pages of unmitigated sneakiness and I highly recommend it to one and all." -Bob Farmer
"This is a lean, direct, powerful, and easy-to-do version of the classic Paul Curry effect. And, besides, if you've read his landmark book, UNREAL, you know that anything with Bruce Bernstein's name on it is, sight unseen, well-worth getting!
Of course, the plot, which you probably know already, involves the participant amazingly separating red and black cards. This version, which only uses twenty cards, is based on ideas from Brad Henderson and Jon Armstrong, who, in turn, based their work on ideas from Martin Gardner and Paul Curry (though not all of Gardner's and Curry's ideas are in SEPARATION ANXIETY). It starts and ends clean and most definitely can be done with a borrowed deck of cards and in impromptu situations. In fact, it's probably best for that. Using twenty cards certainly solves the controversial issue of the effect being too long. The entire stack is handed to the participant to separate which makes this a very nice hands-off presentation. And the clean-up is much cleaner and far less awkward than the usual manner in which it is done. For those familiar with Jon Armstrong's "Out of This Blah Blah Blah," know that this was certainly Bernstein's inspiration and starting point, but he has added some touches that take this effect into an entirely new and different level.
I'll also note that Bernstein includes a second variation which allows for the effect to be repeated. It is rather amazing as it features a powerful prediction that's quite a shocker to the layman. This is highly recommended." -Jheff
“I never thought I needed another card effect in my repertoire until I saw Separation Anxiety. Now I know better. It’s definitely going into my repertoire.” -Christopher Carter
"Bruce Bernstein is in creative mode and has traveled to a new solar system. On the heels of the ground breaking "TABOO" comes a refined take on the always intriguing "Out of this World". Only the mind of Bernstein can both simplify method and expand impact at the same time. This is a routine not to be overlooked by any worker who presents miracles of only the highest quality." -Ross Johnson
"With "Separation Anxiety", Bruce has taken a well-loved plot ("OOTW"), added a dollop of ideas from others, and then worked his well-known magic, streamlining the action, removing the dead time and false actions, clarifying the display, simplifying the mechanics, and topping the whole thing with a killer ending. A tiny, elegant masterpiece and one of the few "card tricks" I perform." -Doug Dyment
"In Bernstein's "Separation Anxiety," you will find about the cleanest answer to Paul Curry's "Out of This World" to date." -Alain Nu
Over the years I have worked on and developed many versions of the classic effect, OUT OF THIS WORLD. In fact, the first effect I ever released was called COUPLES — a version of OOTW that, at the time, Paul Curry stated was the best variation of his original that he had seen, and offered to market it for me! It was a most encouraging start to what has become a most interesting field of endeavor.
Now, these many years later, I’ve finally developed an extremely straightforward, handsoff, two-phase routine that utilizes deeply layered methods, befitting this classic effect of Mentalism. Watching the impact it has on both laymen and Magicians/Mentalists alike has convinced me it’s one of the most powerfully direct and clean presentations available.
Now you can also learn this most amazing of effects that slayed them when premiered at the prestigious MEETING OF THE MINDS and has fooled some of the best minds in the business.
What follows is the exact description of the routine that I use in the instructions. This is not a cleaned up, edited, version of what actually happens. This is not just one out of several ways of presenting the effect. There are no multiple outs or double realities.
This is exactly what happens!
PHASE 1: You propose an experiment in which your ability to affect an audience member’s choices will be put to the test.
She is handed a small pack of playing cards and asked to deal them into two fairly equal piles. But not just at random — she is to “follow her intuition” as she does so, and deal cards to either pile as her feelings dictate.
After the cards are dealt, you state that you handed her exactly twenty cards — ten Red and ten Black.
“Let’s see how you’ve done.”
You pick up one of the piles and count out loud the number of cards in it, one at a time, as you deal them onto the table.
There are precisely ten cards!
“That’s a good sign — a very promising beginning.”
Then you simultaneously turn over the top card of each pile, showing that there was a Red Card on top of one pile and a Black Card on top of the other pile.
This is repeated a few more times, and again it is seen that one of the piles contains only Red Cards, and the other only Black Cards.
Commenting that, “I think you see where this is going,” you “cut to the chase” by picking up the remaining cards and turning them over en masse, showing that all of the cards were sorted correctly by the spectator!
(It’s truly that clean and direct. If you wish, you can literally perform this in under a minute and its impact is beyond belief. Also, consider that at no time do you touch the cards during the spectator’s sorting process or give any instructions as she deals the cards. I sincerely feel this is as direct and clean as OOTW can be. But wait — there’s more.)
PHASE 2: “O.K. — that’s pretty cool, isn’t it? You are a remarkably intuitive person — you’re great to work with.” As this is said, you gather and square up the cards.
