Counter Chaos (3rd build) by Clifton Mitchell

Clifton Mitchell can’t help being a perfectionist. He doesn’t produce many props, but I try to grab one of each because his build quality is superb and his mechanical solutions are always clever. With Clift, you almost always want one of the later runs — he never stops refining and improving his work. This piece is based on the old effect Just Married, originally manufactured by Jupiter Magic in Hungary and distributed throughout Europe by dealers like Domenico Dante in Italy, and by Hank Lee in the USA. Naturally, Clift wasn’t content to stick with the standard method or routine. These are just a few of his upgrades: Revamped method — a completely rethought approach Animal cards instead of playing cards for broader audience appeal Surprise ending — something the original badly needed Improved materials throughout In short, he’s given it the full Clifton Mitchell polish, and it’s about as close to perfect as I can imagine. (Notice: it did not come with the stands but I found them on Amazon: Large, Small, and they are perfect.) _EF The magician displays 4 jumbo cards each with a different animal picture on them: A Horse, Dog, Cat, and a Frog. Each of these cards has a red back. The magician also displays another set of cards in white sleeves with the same animal pictures on them. However, these cards are shown to have blue backs. Further, each sleeve has a large square cut out of the middle so that the blue-backs can readily be seen in the middle of the sleeves. The blue-backed cards in the sleeves are mixed and turned around such that the audience and the magician do not know which card is where. Three audience members are selected to place a red-backed card in a sleeve with a blue-backed card with the request to not put the red-backed cards in the same slot that the audience member thinks has a matching animal. This is obviously a guess and is done in an effort to mix the cards. There is no choice for the fourth and final card which must go in the last remaining slot. Each set of cards is then removed from the sleeves and the sleeves are clearly shown empty. Against the odds, upon removing the sets of cards from the sleeves, all of the animals on the cards have mysterious paired! For the kicker and additional surprise, the last set of cards revealed is the Frog and both Frog cards have completely changed revealing a note and picture from the Frog stating it has returned to the pond to eat bugs! All cards are openly shown front and back as are the sleeves. A clever piece of magic which is off the beaten path that stuns the audience twice with the outcome. Virtually automatic so the magician is free to focus on the presentation. No rough and smooth. No flap cards.