Ok, my prototype idea was ridiculous since the card was signed. I think there's a slit in the "sealed" box. That's why when he showed Penn there "wasn't a slit on either side", he did so very quickly. He probably had a method of sliding the card in the right spot with just one hand (I know a gimmick that allows me to do that), then removed the gimmick and covered the slit in one way or another. He then does the deck switch, and voila.
Saurabh, what was your idea?
I agree with you here Nathan. My theory follows your essential idea that he had a slit. Although a gimmick would not be feasible since the pack including the box was handed to P&T for inspection after the trick.
My theory is based completely on observation and behavioral patterns in the course of the effect. I could be very far off, but what the heck, I'll post what I think.
There are three moments in particular which I noticed.
1.) When Shawn is showing the sealed box to Penn to stress that it is sealed, there is a slight glitch in Penn's response. He looks at the top and vehemently proclaims '
There is not'
Next he looks at the bottom in the same pace but misses a beat. His confidence, although there is slightly down. and he goes for a meek 'Not that I can see'. And uses the
same phrase for the other sides.
Now there is an anomaly here.
It is natural for a human to use the same tone and sometimes the same phrasing to convey the same emotion if it is to be said again and again. Penn has a sharp change of tone and phrase b/w the top and bottom of the box and uses the same phrase for all the other sides except the last one (a simple no is acceptable).
This means there was something different which changed his tone.
What I conclude from this is that there was something different that caused a change of mood. There was perhaps a slit on the bottom or the cello looked 'stuck'. But Penn didn't really point it out because he thought it was a slight aberration, nothing to make a molehill of.
2.) The second (or chronologically first) moment is when Shawn inserts the 7 into the deck right before he says '...that's the pen.'
Any normal card handler let alone someone as seasoned and learned as Shawn Farquhar does not look at the pack would not really look at the pack in a normal insertion but he looks down for a beat. Then rapidly looks up to gain attention. Now, any card magician looks at the deck only if he wants the spec to look at the deck. So, this makes me feel he didn't do a tilt. It would've been caught and Penn would've seen the steal as a consequence.
He put the card in fairly.
3.) The moment when Penn opens his hands. Notice that the pack is back up, i.e. the Bicycle logo is facing Penn's palm. When he's taking the cards out, the backs of the deck were on the same side as the Bicycle logo.
Ergo, when he inserted the card, he was inserting a face down card into a face up pack.
Conclusion: In conclusion, here's what I think he did.
He forced the card. Had it signed while he switched the pack. The pack was obviously in the box, but had a small slit in the cello at the bottom and the flap somehow held a break at the right position. He covered the box up with a joker to make it look like a real deck.
Then, he inserts the signed card into the break (at the right position), then under the pretext of squaring up, he pressed onto the flap which caused it to dislodge from the break and at the same time, stuck the cello which has some light glue on it. That done, he put the entire apparatus into Penn's hand. Stole the joker as a cleanup. And then, the rest was clockwork.
Tell me what you guys think.
