Triple Whammy by Mike Powers

Effect

The Triple Whammy is a hands-off, three-selection card routine that appears completely fair to the audience. Three spectators each freely select a card, and the magician loses them back into the deck with no apparent control. Despite this, the magician locates all three cards in surprising ways—one appears magnetically from the deck, another is revealed through a clever reversal, and the third is found in an impossible location. The routine is structured to build strong audience engagement while maintaining a high level of deception.

Full Details

The Triple Whammy relies on several key techniques:

• Breather Crimp: A subtle crimp that allows the magician to control a card’s position in the deck with minimal handling. Mike Powers teaches a quick, in-the-moment method for creating this crimp in front of spectators.
• Willis Kenny Deceptive Control: A deceptive shuffle technique that maintains the illusion of fairness while secretly controlling the selected cards.
• Magician’s Choice (Equivocation): The routine uses psychological forces to guide selections without the audience realizing they’re being influenced.
• Tilt Move: A sleight that creates the illusion of a card being inserted into the center of the deck when it’s actually placed near the top.

The routine is structured so that the magician never appears to manipulate the deck, making the final revelations seem impossible.

Who Should Consider the Trick

The Triple Whammy is ideal for:

• Intermediate to advanced card magicians who are comfortable with sleight of hand and psychological forces.
• Performers who value audience interaction, as the routine involves multiple spectators in the selection process.
• Magicians looking for a strong, multi-phase routine that builds to a powerful climax.

Difficulty

The Triple Whammy is not a beginner-friendly trick. It requires:

• Familiarity with card controls (especially the breather crimp and deceptive shuffles).
• Confidence in performing magician’s choice without hesitation.
• Practice with the tilt move to ensure clean execution.

Mike Powers emphasizes the importance of rehearsing the routine in real-world settings to refine timing and delivery.

What Magicians Say

• MurphysMagicSupplies highlights the routine’s fairness, calling it "super fair" and praising its deceptive structure.
• Mike Powers himself describes it as a "great foundation for learning equivocation" and encourages magicians to practice it extensively.
• Reviewers note that the breather crimp is a crucial element, with Powers teaching a simple, in-the-moment method that can be done in front of spectators.

The Triple Whammy is widely regarded as a strong, deceptive routine that rewards practice and performance experience.