In Dots Impossible, the magician spreads six cards face-down and explains that one of them is a different color from the other five. Some intuitive people can sense which card is different, even without looking at the cards’ faces. Maybe the spectator is one of those intuitive people.

The spectator then freely chooses one of the face-down six cards. Immediately the cards are turned face-up. Five are the same color but the sixth -- the card selected by the spectator -- is a completely different color. The spectator is apparently one of those special people with excellent intuition!

Dots Impossible is a classic trick invented by the legendary magic store proprietor Al Cohen. It gets good reactions from spectators, is very inexpensive, and can be learned with just a little practice. It’s ideal for a beginning magician, but impressive enough so that an experienced magician might consider presenting it as a quickie.

I recommend Dots Impossible with enthusiasm but want to mention two considerations. First, it requires a table or other surface for performance and so isn’t well-suited for some walk-around settings. Second, the six cards cannot be inspected by the spectator. For this reason, the magician will probably want to follow up Dots Impossible by immediately going on to another trick.

Very nice mental trick that works every time. When you buy this very low-priced effect, you learn a move that can be used with regular playing cards instead of the colored dots you get with dots impossilbe.

Once learned, which is easy to do, it will serve a lifetime.