History Main / PickACard

* Two game show examples:
** The Card Game on ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' has the contestant starting off by pulling any card out of a special deck to determine the range he/she must be within to the price of a car without going over. A second deck of cards is used for the contestant to make bids on the car, drawing any card one at a time.
** In the Money Cards round of the CBS ''Series/CardSharks'', the contestant may select any one of three pre-drawn cards to replace one on the board. (Originally on the NBC edition, the replacement card was drawn from the deck.)

-->-- Creator/WSomersetMaugham, "Mr. Know-All"

* ComicBook/TheJoker once used this line while explaining his [[MultipleChoicePast origins]], while holding up three specially styled Jacks, each featuring an image based on one of his famous backstories (from ''Comicbook/TheKillingJoke'', the movie ''Film/{{Batman}}'', and [[Comicbook/{{Batman}} the comics]], respectively).

* When Rachel first goes to the Shelter Mountain Inn in ''TheRing'' the manager does this routine with her. The first couple of times she tells him it isn't her card. The last time she tells him that it is her card just to get him to leave her alone.

* Selfdemonstrating/TheJoker once used this line while explaining his [[MultipleChoicePast origins]], while holding up three specially styled Jacks, each featuring an image based on one of his famous backstories (from ''Comicbook/TheKillingJoke'', the movie ''Film/{{Batman}}'', and [[Comicbook/{{Batman}} the comics]], respectively).

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. In a flashback, young ComicBooks/{{Zatanna}} invites a young Bruce Wayne to pick a card from a deck and attempts to not only identify it without looking at it, but describe what it foretells about his future. She thinks Bruce got "two of hearts" (it's implied that she set that up as an excuse to flirt with him), but he's got [[CallForward a Joker card]].
-->'''Zatanna:''' (''throws the cards in anger'') It's a dumb trick anyway!

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. In a flashback, young ComicBooks/{{Zatanna}} does a card trick with young Bruce Wayne to predict his future. She thinks Bruce got "two of hearts" (it's implied that she set that up as an excuse to flirt with him), but he's got [[CallForward a Joker card]].
--->'''Zatanna:''' (''throws the cards in anger'') It's a dumb trick anyway!

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The Doctor does this to amuse the People of the Worldsphere when he wants to take a break from the heavy plot of ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresTheAlsoPeople The Also People]]''. The People may be SufficientlyAdvancedAliens, but they're always intrigued by novel forms of entertainment.

* The Doctor does this to amuse the People of the Worldsphere when he wants to take a break from the heavy plot of ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresTheAlsoPeople The Also People]]''. The People may be SufficientlyAdvancedAliens, but they're always intrigued by novel forms of entertainment.

Steve Martin had a schtick where he would spread out a deck of cards in his hands then show out the Queen of Hearts, saying he will make the card dance. He gets an audience member to call out "Queen of Hearts, come down and dance!" Steve plucks the card and bounces it around the platform, humming "doo-de-doo doop, doo doop de doo..." as he does.

* In the ''MidsomerMurders'' episode "Ghosts of Christmas Past", a boy who wants to be a magician when he grows up does an actually-quite-clever version of the trick while being interviewed by the police about the murder, and his explanation of how he did it (including the fact that he arranged matters to have his own choice of card come up at the end) inspires a EurekaMoment later.

* The Doctor does this to amuse the People of the Worldsphere when he wants to take a break from the heavy plot of the ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' novel ''The Also People''. The People may be SufficientlyAdvancedAliens, but they're always intrigued by novel forms of entertainment.
-->"Now for my first trick I need a volunteer from the audience. Yes you, sir, float right up. Have I ever worked with you before? Of course I haven't. What's your name? Ki'Xikati? All right, ki'Xikati, in a moment I want you to pick a card, any card and show it to the audience but not to me. But first I want you to scan this deck of cards. Are they marked, tagged, smell-identified, or in any way anything other than a series of sequential designs printed on rectangular pasteboard? Would you tell the audience that? Thank you so much.
-->"Now," said the Doctor, "pick a card."

* ''PunkyBrewster'': At the start of "Accidents Happen" (the Space Shuttle tragedy episode), Punky gets her dog Brandon to take a card face down out of a deck, which he does with his mouth. Punky takes it and puts it back in the deck, shuffles, then successfully pulls out the card Brandon chose. How? It was the only card with dog slobber on it.

* The non-serious 34th issue of MarvelComics' ''ComicBook/WhatIf'' series proposes an alternate reality where Comicbook/DoctorStrange and associates were this kind of magicians instead of arcane sorcerers. The Dread Dormammu's great master plan comes down to Strange having to pick a card, any card.

-->-- W. Somerset Maugham, "Mr. Know-All"

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** Another episode featured Joey having Chandler select a card and, with chandler still holding the card, pulling another one from the deck and saying "Is this your card?" Rather than point out that he's still holding his card Chandler just says "...yes"

* There has been ''at least'' one instance of [[Series/TheMentalist Patrick Jane]] pulling this trick by somehow slipping the card into the victim of the week's pocket.

* There has been ''at least'' one instance of [[TheMentalist Patrick Jane]] pulling this trick by somehow slipping the card into the victim of the week's pocket.

As with SawAWomanInHalf, real trick to this trick is well enough known that fictional depictions may feel free to discuss it. The clever part is not where it appears to be: it's not that the magician has a secret way of detecting which card the mark has selected, it's that the magician has a way (a technique called the Magician's Force) of making sure the mark picks the card he wants them to pick.