This is based on the classic card-through-handkerchief. It is a very visual effect and apart from cards and a cloth, it is completely impromptu.
The originator of the effect is unknown to me but has been included in many books, among them in Robert Giobbi's Card College Series.
This is my version, complete with patter and detailed instructions missing in all the printed versions I have seen.
The magician explains that there are, contrary to popular belief, actually 4 'states' an object can be in. Gas, liquid, and solid are the known three, but there is also 'semi-solid' state. A cloth or handkerchief is displayed and wrapped around the magicians upright hand as he explains it is in an example of an object in a 'semi-solid' state. He rotates his hand so fingers face down and 'pulls' his hand out of the cloth asking if the spectator had seen his hand go through the cloth. He hands the cloth out for inspection.
The audience will not be fooled so the magician then says he'll show another example and asks a spectator to choose and sign a card. It is returned to the deck, which is then shuffled by the magician and then by the spectator. The magician wraps the deck up in the handkerchief or cloth, holds the bundle up and gives it a shake. As he explains how the cloth molecules speed up while being shaken leading to a semi-solid state the chosen card visibly penetrates the cloth proving the cloth really is semi-solid.
