Dani is excellent: Likable and his personality perfectly fits the seemingly random mechanics he's
using. But, given Dani's accent, it is extremely difficult to follow what he is trying to teach.
The effect is outstanding but never something that I could sell. Just as Slydini's accent was
crucial to his performance so too is Dani's. This is an excellent trick, but never one I could
perform successfully.
Hello
Don't self defeat yourself !:) When the spectators are having a good time it's amazing what will fly by. And I would bet even if you perform this with the process explained it will still shock most. I can assure you most spectators later will not clearly remember the way the card was chosen and may lead to the conclusion "it's a thought of card!" or someone randomly saw a card in the caos and so we'll use that card. This idea of creating a thought of card or apparent randomness adds a lot too card magic tricks. And Daortiz has really stressed these ideas throughout the course.
Dani performs basically exactly the same in Spanish. Meaning he often asks questions as a form of misdirection. So in English it might be "How do you say Big Ass ? " and in Spanish (translated) it might be ... "Is your wife a good lover ? :) "
Just writing to say at times I thought some things the same as you expressed, but then I performed some of Dani's pieces and people liked them a lot.
I started modifying things to my style. And for sure his theories are sound.
It's true you can't be Dani, but use the trick as a challenge. I always learn something along the journey.