CAPTCHA By Pradip Rao

C A P T C H A

By

Pradip Rao

I usually perform this as an opener in my close-up set. I think it sets the tone for the kind of magic the spectators are about to see.

The Bare Bones:

The participant thinks of an object. The performer correctly divines the object.

The Premise:

Unsure of the identity of the spectator and to determine what / who exactly the audience is, the participant is put through a Captcha Test to confirm that he/she is not a robot.

The Performance:

One of the spectators is called upon to participate. Let’s say her name is Veronica.

Before I begin, says the performer, I need to establish that the person I am performing for is indeed, a human being. So if you don’t mind, I’d like you Veronica, to go through this small Captcha test.

The performer brings out a bunch of ‘Captcha Cards’ (this is a packet of 8 specially printed cards). The cards are held in the performer’s hand vertically facing Veronica, and she is asked to read aloud what is written on the first / face card:

With his other hand, the performer now slides out the first card and moves it to the rear of the packet, thus bringing the second card to Veronica’s view:

The second cards lists out a set of 15 objects / things.

Veronica, I want you to look at this list of random objects and think of any one of them. Don’t tell us what object you chose, keep it a secret for now.

Let’s say Veronica secretly chooses ‘Elephant’, but we don’t know that yet.

And now, let’s begin the Captcha Test…

The performer moves the face card to the rear of the packet, bringing into view a card with a bunch of pictures on it:

Veronica,  just say YES or NO; do you see your secret object amongst these pictures.

Veronica says YES.

The face card is once again moved to the rear of the packet, bringing a fresh set of pictures into view. Veronica, do you see your secret object now?

Veronica says NO.

This continues three more times. With each card, Veronica indicates if she can see her chosen picture with a YES or a NO.

Remember, this is Veronica looking for and confirming if she can see a picture of her secret object on each of the displayed cards. The exact object / picture in Veronica’s mind (she chose Elephant) is still a secret, and neither the performer nor the rest of the audience know what it is she is thinking of. The performer now moves the last face card to the rear of the packet.

Veronica reads the next card aloud:

Thank you Veronica. You have passed the Captcha Test and confirmed that you are in fact, not a robot at all. You are a true blue human being.

The performer appears upbeat and certain about the positive outcome of the test, but Veronica and the rest of the audience seem puzzled. What exactly did this prove, and how, they wonder. Have they been conned into taking an obviously fake test?

The performer decides to clarify their doubts.

For those who didn’t quite understand what that was all about, here is the test result card. Peter (a random spectator), please read aloud what it says…

And Peter reads:

Veronica, what object were you secretly thinking of?

Veronica can’t hide her surprise. Elephant, she says.

The Captcha Test is never wrong. I rest my case.

Comes with high quality custom-made cards (7x12 cm) and crystal clear easy to understand pdf instructions. No sleight of hands, no memory involved.