el gran pescador(bigger fish), por peter turner(pdf)
DESCRIPTION
I dedicate this book to my son Zachary Dennis Turner.I love you more than life itself little man.I love the way you can make rainy days seem sunny and the way your cheeky little smile always manages to cheer me up even in the worst of times.You are growing up so quickly; I want you to know you make me so proud and I would like to thank you for giving my life the direction it needed.I owe everything to you,Daddy Turner xTRANSCRIPT
Bigger Fish
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Bigger Fish
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Bigger Fish
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Bigger Fish
Bigger Fish
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Bigger Fish
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I dedicate this book to my son
Zachary Dennis Turner.
I love you more than life itself little
man.
I love the way you can make rainy
days seem sunny and the way your
cheeky little smile always manages
to cheer me up even in the worst of
times.
You are growing up so quickly; I
want you to know you make me so
proud and I would like to thank
you for giving my life the direction
it needed.
I owe everything to you,
Daddy Turner x
Bigger Fish
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Bigger Fish
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Forward
In my book ‘A Journey Through the 4th
Dimension’ I discussed what I often refer to as the
three eras of modern mentalism.
The first era began with the rising popularity of
spiritualism in the mid 19th Century. The second
followed the popularization of ESP research in the
1920's through the writings and research of Dr. J.B.
Rhine. And the third began in the 1970s when Uri
Geller brought mentalism into the "New Age," much
as Doug Henning did with magic.
In ‘Bigger Fish’ as in his previous works, ‘Devious
Realities’ and ‘Dare to be Bold’, Peter Turner
exemplifies what may well be another major change in
the direction of our art.
Focusing on bold methods, modern dual reality
techniques and very clever audience management and
psychology, he has created some very powerful,
modern and organic mentalism routines that take the
meaning of the word "bold" to an entirely new level.
It is very important to read this work very carefully.
There is a lot of subtlety and nuance in the scripts
Peter provides with each effect.
My suggestion is to try the routines exactly as written
before you attempt to modify them lest you omit a
word or phrase that is critical to the psychology of the
effect.
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I am confident that you will be very pleased with the
results. But, more important, so will your audiences.
Less than a year ago I had never heard of Peter
Turner. When I started to correspond with him I was
very impressed with his creative and innovative
approach to our art. He is at the forefront of a new
generation of mentalists to whom, in a very real sense,
the torch has been passed.
When you've read and tried the materials in this book,
I'm sure you'll agree that the torch is in the right
hands.
Bob Cassidy
Seattle, Washington
April 2012
Bigger Fish
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A few words from the
author
Firstly I would like to start by thanking you from the
bottom of my heart; not for purchasing this book, but
for taking the time to read, accept and hopefully use
the effects contained within. For those who know me
already, you will know I am a fan of writing about
unusual rouses. For those who don’t know me, I hope
you enjoy what I have to offer.
‘Bigger Fish’ for me is a large mile marker in my
work and is the bigger brother if you will to ‘Devious
Realities’ and ‘Dare to be Bold’. The material in
this book is of a more mature standard, while
retaining the cheeky/ playful edge my previous works
had to offer.
When you read this book don’t view it as a list of
effects with instructions. The effects are not the
valuable factors in this book, the value lies in every
one of the many subtleties.
Each miracle in this book has been carefully chosen
for its perform-ability, numerous possibilities of use,
outside the box thinking and practicality. The material
has been tried/ tested extensively in real world
environments and it is my pleasure to present them to
you.
You will notice upon reading, each effect has been
described extensively; there is good reason for this. If
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you cannot figure out how an effect is achieved while
reading the description, you will realise just how
fooled a lay audience will be. It is in that moment that
you will realise the value of the material you have in
your hands.
I really hope you will pay close attention to the verbal
subtleties; the subtleties are where 90% of the real
value lies. Please, please, please read the performance
sections.
Reading the method alone will not suffice; reading the
performance of each piece will give you a better idea
of the application of verbal/ physical subtleties and
the overall delivery and pace.
I hope you appreciate the detail I go into and don’t
skim these pages like a pebble skimming the surface
of a desolate lake.
Before we get into the material, I would like to answer
a question that you may have.
Why have I called this book ‘Bigger Fish’?
The answer to this question should be obvious to
anyone who has seen Tim Burton’s ‘Big Fish’. It’s a
wonderful film.
The film opened up my eyes to how miraculous my
own world could be, if I created a myth using the gift
of story. The film moved me severely. It created
moments of breathtaking wonder that I had not
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experienced since early childhood and then I was too
young to appreciate what I had.
I have no doubt I will carry the feelings the film
evoked within me for the rest of my life, it changed my
whole outlook on the way I perform and as a result I
hope you notice it in this book. If you haven’t seen
‘Big Fish’, run out and buy it.
I will conclude this section with a couple of quotes.
“Freedom lies in being bold” - Robert Frost.
“God gave rock and roll to you”- Argent
“Any genuine philosophy leads to action and
from action back again to wonder, to the
enduring fact of mystery” – Henry Miller
“On paper a moment cannot theoretically last
a life time, in practice I defy that theory every
chance I get”- Peter Turner
Enjoy,
Peter Turner
Bradford, West Yorkshire
April 2012
Bigger Fish
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Tattle tale
Effect
The performer invites a couple to join him at a table.
The couple become acquainted with the performer
(for the sake of argument we will call the couple
Romeo and Juliette).
The performer hands five Zener cards to Romeo and
five to Juliette.
The performer addresses the couple,
Performer: “In your hands you have five
cards, each of these cards have a different
symbol printed on the face. You will see that
there is a Square, a Cross, a Star, Wavy lines
and a Circle.
Can you please hold them up and just show
the audience”.
The cards are displayed to the audience.
Performer: “These cards, at this time, hold
no specific relevance. It is essential you listen
to me very carefully and all shall become
clear very soon. I would like you to mix the
cards into any order you desire”.
The couple mix their cards.
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The performer addresses Romeo,
Performer: “Romeo, can you look at each
card individually, select one that appeals to
you and lay that card facedown on the table
for me”.
He selects a card and places it facedown.
Performer: “Juliette, can you look at the
cards in your hand and place the card that
you believe Romeo selected facedown on the
table”.
The cards are turned over to reveal that they do not
match.
The performer smiles as though he knows something
the couple doesn’t.
The performer addresses the pair,
Performer: “It is a common misconception
that conscious decisions or efforts are the
deciding factor when it comes to a
relationship lasting. That couldn’t be further
from the truth.
Humour me for a few seconds. Please pick up
the card you placed down, place all your
cards the under the table and mix them until
you forget the order. I would like you to do
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this while thinking of a fond memory you
have of your partner.
When you have done that, keep the cards
under the table”.
The performer addresses the audience,
Performer: “Can we have a few seconds of
silence please while the couple perform this
task”.
A few seconds pass and both confirm it is complete.
Performer: “I would like you to select any
card you would like, without looking, turn
that card over and place it in the middle of
the rest of the cards.
In essence, you will now have four cards face
down and one card face up. When you have
done this, square them up and bring them out
from under the table facedown”.
After a few seconds the couple both bring the cards
out.
The performer produces an envelope, tips it upside
down, blows in it and asks Romeo to slide his cards
inside. The performer then hands the envelope to
Romeo to seal and then sit upon it.
Bigger Fish
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The same procedure occurs again for Juliette and she
is asked to sit upon the envelope containing her cards.
The mood of the room is taken down.
Performer: “I am now going to share with
you a story, a local legend in North Carolina,
set in a town called Durham.
It involves a couple named John and Joanne.
The couple were just your average teenage
couple, both studying at the Duke University.
One evening the couple were lying in bed
after several months of dating, when the rain
started to tap on the window.
The couple were hidden under the duvet
protected by its warmth, when Joanne
snuggled up to John and whispered in his
ear. I love you. John reciprocated by holding
Joanne tightly in his arms and telling her he
loved her more than life itself.
Joanne fell asleep; John rolled over reached
into his bed side dresser and scribbled
something onto a piece of paper. He took that
piece of paper and sealed it inside an
envelope.
Bigger Fish
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Several months passed and the couple did
everything they could do to consciously make
each others life easy. After a night at a
driving movie, during the journey home John
sensed uneasiness. He asked Joanne if she
was feeling alright and she asked him to pull
over.
She took John’s hand, looked at him teary
eyed and told him that she did not love him
anymore. She told him she thought it best
they parted ways.
John reached into his pocket as a small tear
rolled down his face and removed the
envelope he had sealed several months ago.
At the very moment John handed the
envelope to Joanne, a drunk driver swerved
off of the road and crashed into John’s side of
the car killing John and Injuring Joanne.
Joanne awoke in the hospital the next
morning, still clutching the envelope.
She opened the envelope and inside there was
a note that read,
When I lose your love, I lose my life.
Bigger Fish
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The story of the couple quickly spread around
campus like wildfire and fell upon the ears of
a professor named Joseph Rhine.
Joseph Rhine was well known for his
research on the subconscious mind and
quickly deduced that relationships did not
work based on conscious efforts but a
subconscious connection shared between two
people.
Unbeknown to most, Joseph was fairly
unlucky in love himself and this discovery
ensured he would be able to find his perfect
partner. He put a lot of time and effort into
creating a test. It is even documented that his
work in other areas suffered as a result of his
research in the connection of couples.
He came up with a set of cards that he called
Zener cards. These cards had five different
symbols printed upon them, a Star, Wavy
lines, a Square, Circle and a Cross.
Joseph Rhine’s test consisted of separating a
couple into separate rooms and seating them
at a table.
Bigger Fish
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Each member of the couple were handed a set
of five cards each, asked to place the cards
under the table, mix them up, reverse one
card then seal the cards into an envelope”.
The performer pauses, drawing a slight smirk onto his
face and looks at Romeo, then Juliette.
Performer: “I had you unknowingly take
the famous test that Joseph Rhine had his
subjects sit. I tried to conform to Rhine’s test
conditions. The only difference in this test is
you were not in different rooms, as that
would be impractical.
Romeo, take out the envelope you have been
sat on”.
The envelope is cut and Romeo carefully removes the
five cards.
Performer: “Juliette, please remove your
envelope”.
The envelope is cut and Juliette carefully removes her
five cards.
Performer: “On the count of three I would
like each of you to carefully spread the cards
to reveal the face up card.
One...two...three”.
Bigger Fish
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The couples spread their cards and the face up card in
each couples hand matches!
The audience applaud wildly; the performer cuts the
round of applause.
Performer: “The face up, matching cards
was only a small part of Joseph Rhine’s test.
Can you both please turn over the top card of
the stack?”
The cards match!
Each card in turn is turned over and they also match!
Under seemingly impossible circumstances the couple
have not only managed to turn the same card face up
but managed to subconsciously mix the cards into the
exact same order.
The couple are given the cards and envelopes as
souvenirs.
Note* you will notice that there is a miss with the
conscious selection. I realise a miss might not suit
everyone’s character, so I have been delightful enough
to include five psi forces as a bonus!
Breakdown
Firstly let me point out that the value of this piece is
not in the method, but the rather dark but beautiful
story.
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The method is a simple card switch.
We do this by employing the use of two, two out
envelopes described on page 128.
Prepare by placing two stacks of Zener cards into the
same order (with the same card face up in the
middle).
I.E. Star, Waves, (face down Square), Circle and
Cross. Place them in the hidden partition facedown
and mark the force side with an x.
Place these envelopes into your breast pocket;
There is not much in the way of explaining this
routine as it is fairly simple.
Let’s have a look at the routine from where the couple
have both placed one card face down and our
intention is that they do not match.
{The reason I prefer the chosen cards do not match, is
that it ties in with the story. The story depicts that no
matter how many conscious decisions a couple make,
it is the subconscious connection that decides how
perfect a couple are.}
If the couple happen to choose the same card, great!
You can still carry on with the routine as normal, but
at the end you can always say something along these
lines.
Performer: “You are not only perfect on a
conscious level, but a subconscious level also”.
Bigger Fish
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After the couple have mixed the cards and turned one
over, make sure you emphasise the fact that they are
to sandwich one card into the middle of the five.
{Ensure you emphasise that they place the card face
up in the third position.}
When they have done that, ask them to square the
cards up and bring them out facedown.
This will ensure that the face up card doesn’t flash
(that would ruin things).
Once they have done this, remove one of the prepared
envelopes. Pinch it, blow into it and turn it upside
down.
Do not make a point of the fact the envelope is empty,
let them make that assumption for themselves. Ask
Romeo to place his cards into the envelope facedown
the same orientation as the prepared cards in the
envelope.
This is a bold moment.
Hand the envelope to Romeo, ask him to seal it.
Direct him not to look at his cards as you do not want
even him to know which card he has turned around.
Ask him to sit on his envelope; just to ensure no one
can get anywhere near it.
Repeat the process with Juliette.
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I know the above bold moment seems ludicrous, but
trust me if you do not make a deal out of it neither will
they. They will not feel anything they shouldn’t and
best off all it makes everything seem totally hands off.
The routine will play out just as nicely if you seal the
envelopes and just lay them on the table in front of
each subject.
{Just a quick thought about bold moments. Moments
like the above are often avoided like the plague, in all
honesty bold moments are over very fast and are not
noticed if you do not pay attention to them yourself.
In the above moment, you will be creating hands off
misdirection. Firstly by asking the subjects to lick the
envelope and ensure they do not look at what card
they have turned over and then by asking them to
place it underneath them.
In the first moment of misdirection the subject will be
holding the envelope at the top to seal it; seriously
how many times have you sealed an envelope and felt
for its contents? (If you already know what’s in it).
Asking them to sit on the envelope (while they are still
sealing it) they have to move. This ensures their
attention is on making sure they don’t trip and
moving the chair out from under the table, the last
thing they will be thinking of is the envelope.
The story proceeds.
Bigger Fish
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It comes to the moment of asking each subject to
remove their envelopes. Ask them to remove them one
at a time, in reverse order to what they were placed
under (Juliette first and then Romeo).
When Juliette has removed hers, ask her to hand you
it.
Cut the envelope open with scissors (where the x is),
make a very open handed gesture of sliding the cards
so they hang half out, do not remove them.
Ask Juliette to take them out keeping them facedown
This is where you will perform either ending A, B or C
(Depicted in a moment).
Repeat the same for Romeo.
The reveal
The reveal of this routine is the where your attention
needs applying.
Each subject has got hold of five cards all facedown.
You need to explain to the couple that they are to
carefully spread the cards without dropping any to see
which card they turned face up.
{Make sure you specify you do not want them to drop
them, this is essential.}
When the audiences’ applaud dies out explain that the
face up card matching is only a small part of the test.
Ask the subjects to turn the top card face up, then the
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second, place the face up card down on the table and
hold the last two cards one in each hand.
Address the audience,
Performer: “If these last two cards match,
give this couple a huge round of applause for
passing the test with flying colours”.
Ask the couple to turn over the two cards
simultaneously.
Of course they match.
Execute one of the following endings.
Ending A
This ending is better suited for one off performances,
or filming.
After the cards are removed from the envelope screw
the envelope up and throw it in the nearest bin like it
means nothing. This will paint a picture of
unimportance and subtly suggests that the envelope is
done with.
When the routine has ended and each card matches,
give the cards to the subject as a souvenir.
{In this routine, you are giving away ten cards, ruining
ten cards and as you can see it can be expensive doing
this every performance.}
Bigger Fish
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Ending B
Ending B is my preferred ending, you are giving away
the cards as a souvenir (not destroying any) and more
importantly you get to give them the envelopes to put
them in.
Giving the subjects the envelope will suggest that they
were un-gimmicked and stop anyone back tracking
the routine.
Before the routine starts, place two envelopes cut in
the same manner as you will cut the gimmicked ones
later into your breast pocket.
Create a divider, like the ‘two pocket out’ (described
in the seven bald keys routine).
When each subject takes out the cards place the
gimmicked envelope (still containing the cards) into
the breast pocket in the other side of the divider.
When both envelopes are in the pocket ignore them.
After the reveal and the round off applause, tell each
subject that they can keep the cards as a souvenir.
While the applause is taking place, reach in and pull
out the two un-gimmicked envelopes and hand the
subjects them one each.
In my opinion this ending is the strongest of the three,
giving the subjects the cards to keep as souvenirs is
again something I highly recommend. It helps them
remember the moment forever.
Bigger Fish
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Ending C
Ending three is the simplest, after a subject has
removed the cards place the envelope straight into the
breast pocket. After the routine has finished take the
cards back off of the subject’s and thank them for
their participation.
Additional idea
After revising the book, I had a final thought about the
Zener cards. I know it can be a problem giving away
ten Zener cards at a time; a nice alternative is to use
your business cards and draw the symbols on. Then
when you give the cards away they are not only a lot
cheaper than packs of Zener cards, but great as a
promotional aid also.
Performance
The performer addresses the audience,
Performer: “By show of hands, have we any
couples that are engaged to be married?”
(Wait for response and select one of the couples, if
there are not any ask for any couples in the audience).
Performer: “Can you please make your way
down to the stage; the moment you start to
set off the audience will give you a massive
round of applause”.
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(The audience will applaud)
Seat the couple (female to the right, male to the left).
Address the couple,
Performer: “Are you happy to participate in
something I have been waiting to try out for
some time now, I promise I will not
embarrass you in any way”.
Couple: “Yeah sure”.
Performer: “what is your name sir?”
Subject: “Romeo”.
Performer: “and yours madam?”
Subject #2: “Juliette”.
Hand each member five Zener cards.
Performer: “You will notice that the five
cards I have given you are different. There is
a Star, Square, Wavy lines, Circle and a
cross.
These cards, at this time, hold no specific
relevance. It is essential you listen to me very
carefully and all shall become clear very
soon. I would like you to mix the cards into
any order you desire”.
Bigger Fish
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The couple mix their cards.
The performer addresses Romeo,
Performer: “Romeo, can you look at each
card individually, select one that appeals to
you and lay that card facedown for me”.
He selects a card and places it facedown.
Performer: “Juliette, can you look at the
cards in your hand and place the one card
that you believe Romeo has selected
facedown on the table”.
She lays a card down; the cards are turned over to
reveal that they do not match.
If the cards match, proceed with the routine (either
way it doesn’t matter). Smirk as thought you know
something the couple don’t.
The performer addresses the pair,
Performer: “It is a common misconception
that conscious decisions or efforts are the
deciding factor when it comes to a
relationship lasting. That couldn’t be further
from the truth.
Humour me for a few seconds. Please take
your cards back, place them under the table
and mix them until you forget the order. I
Bigger Fish
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would like you to do this while thinking of a
fond memory you have of your partner.
When you have done that, keep the cards
under the table”.
The performer addresses the audience,
Performer: “Can we have a few seconds of
silence please while the couple perform this
task”.
Pause and let them do what they have to do. It is quite
difficult to perform this task without looking and we
do not want to confuse matters.
Performer: “I would like you to select any
card you would like, without looking, turn
that card over and place it in the middle, of
the rest of the cards, so it is in the third
position.
In essence, you will now have four cards face
down and one card face up. When you have
done this, square the cards up and bring
them out from under the table face down”.
When they bring the cards out, reach into your breast
pocket and produce an envelope. Tip the envelope
upside down, blow in it and asks Romeo to slide his
cards inside. Hand Romeo the envelope and ask him
to slide his cards in, seal it and sit upon the envelope.
Bigger Fish
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Repeat the same procedure with Juliette.
Performer: “I am now going to share with
you a story, a local legend in North Carolina,
set in a town called Durham.
It involves a couple named John and Joanne.
The couple were just your average teenage
couple, both studying at the Duke University.
One evening the couple were lying in bed
after several months of dating, when the rain
started to tap on the window.
The couple were hidden under the duvet when
Joanne snuggled up to John and whispered
in his ear. I love you. John reciprocated by
holding Joanne tightly in his arms and telling
her he loved her more than life it self.
Joanne fell asleep; John rolled over reached
into his bed side drawer and scribbled
something onto a piece of paper. He took that
piece of paper and sealed it inside an
envelope.
Several months passed and the couple did
everything they could do to consciously make
each others life easy. After a night at a
driving movie, on the way home John sensed
Bigger Fish
Page 31
uneasiness. He asked Joanne if she was ok
and she asked him to pull over.
She took John’s hand, looked at him teary
eyed and told him she did not love him any
more. She told him she thought it best they
parted ways.
John reached into his pocket as a small tear
rolled down his face and removed the
envelope he had sealed several months ago.
At the very moment John handed the
envelope to Joanne, a drunk driver swerved
off of the road and crashed into John’s side of
the car killing John and Injuring Joanne.
Joanne awoke in the hospital the next
morning, still clutching the envelope.
She opened the envelope and inside there was
a note that read,
When I lose your love, I will lose my life.
The story of the couple quickly spread around
campus like wildfire and fell upon the ears of
a professor there named Joseph Rhine.
Joseph Rhine was well known for his
research on the subconscious mind and
Bigger Fish
Page 32
quickly deduced that perfect relationships did
not work based on conscious effort but a
subconscious connection shared between two
people.
Unbeknown to most, Joseph was fairly
unlucky in love himself and this discovery
ensured he would be able to find his perfect
partner. He thought about this long and hard
and it is even documented that his work in
other areas suffered as a result of his
research in the connection of couples.
He came up with a set of cards that he called
Zener cards. These cards had five different
symbols printed upon them, a star, wavy
lines, a square, circle and a cross.
Joseph Rhine’s test consisted of separating a
couple into separate rooms and seating them
at a table.
Each member of the couple were handed a set
of five cards each, asked to place the cards
under the table, mix them up, reverse one
card then seal the cards into an envelope”.
This is where you will want to smirk mysteriously.
Bigger Fish
Page 33
Performer: “I had you unknowingly take
the famous test that Joseph Rhine had his
subjects sit. I tried to conform to Rhine’s test
conditions. The only difference in this test is
you were not in different rooms, as that
would be impractical in this case.
Romeo, take out the envelope you have been
sat on”.
Cut the envelope (the side with the x) slide the cards
half out and ask Romeo to remove them.
Performer: “Juliette, please remove your
envelope”.
The envelope is cut and Juliette carefully
removes the five cards. The envelope is tipped
upside down, blown in and also placed into
the performer’s pocket.
Performer: “On the count of three I would
like each of you to carefully spread the cards
ensuring you do not drop any to reveal the
one face up card.
One...two...three”.
The couples spread their cards and the face up card in
each couples hand matches!
Bigger Fish
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The audience applaud wildly, let the applause die
down and address the couple.
Performer: “The face up card matching was
only a small part of Joseph Rhine’s test. Can
you both please turn over the top card of the
stack and place it face up on the table”
Finish reveal as described in the breakdown.
While the audience are applauding, reach into the
pocket and remove the two un-gimmicked envelopes.
Throw them upon the table and address the couple,
Performer: “Please take the cards place
them in the envelopes and take them as
souvenirs!”
Send the couple back to their seats.
Credits/ Inspirations
Annemann
Joseph Rhine
David Britland - Zennerism
Peter Nardi - E.S.Perfect
Henry Fetsch - In the mind
Bigger Fish
Page 35
Tattle tale (Couple-less)
This is essentially the same effect as ‘Tattle tale’, the
only difference is, it is designed for the performer to
predict the subject’s unconscious behaviour as appose
to two subjects sharing a subconscious connection.
The great thing about this routine is that the envelope
can be examined before and after!
You could perform this routine using the two out
envelope as depicted earlier but this just offers
another option for you.
You are sat with the subject and it comes to the
conscious thought.
I believe in this variation it is essential to have the
conscious thought hit, as apposed to earlier where we
aimed for a fail.
The reason for the hit in this circumstance is so the
subject gains trust in your ability. If you can predict a
participant’s conscious thoughts (before they have
even made a decision) why would you have any
trouble with their subconscious thoughts?
So how do we get the conscious thought to hit?
There are two ways to achieve this, you can mark the
subject’s cards, let him place one down and then read
the marking and place down the matching card from
your hand.
Bigger Fish
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Or
Place your card down first and employ a psychological
force, you can use any of the psychological forces
depicted on page 35.
The latter is my preferred option as you have made a
decision long before they even make a choice; the only
problem is that it is not sure fire.
The first option is sure fire, (which option you choose
comes down to your decisions as a performer).
This phrase of the routine has passed, the subject has
now shuffled his cards under the table and
sandwiched one face up.
This is where the routine changes.
He is asked to seal his cards inside an envelope (it can
be completely examined); the only difference we want
him to sign the envelope to ensure it cannot be
swapped.
(Here we will employ a swap before he signs it)
After he has sealed the envelope, tell him that he is the
eyes of the audience and you want him to verify that
he cannot see through the envelope.
Take the envelope off of him and hold it up to the
light. Ask him to verify that the envelope is opaque.
Address the subject,
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Performer: “Now you have verified the
envelope is opaque we will just have you sign
it, to ensure it is swapped at no point”.
The switch
Prepare by placing the pre-arranged envelope under
your left armpit (inside your jacket), and place a
marker pen on the outside of the left pocket as shown
in the photograph.
The clip on the pen lid is inside the pocket (holding
the pen onto the outside of the pocket. Ensure the flap
side of envelope is towards your body.
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You are now set to perform the switch! Close the
jacket so no one is aware the envelope is there.
Bring your right hand (holding the subjects
envelopes) up to your right lapel and reach (with your
left hand) into the right jacket pocket as though you
are looking for a pen (we obviously know its not
there).
Take your time while searching in this pocket and
over emphasise your movements. This will suggest it
takes a bit of time and effort to search your pocket.
This is the cheeky part, grab your left lapel (with you
left hand) open the lapel slightly and with your right
hand (still holding the envelope) reach straight into
left breast pocket, deposit the envelope, on the way
out grab the pen and the pre-arranged envelope from
under the armpit in one smooth motion.
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By taking our time in the first pocket, we have bought
ourselves extra time when actually applying the switch
in the second.
Now the switch has been applied, hand the pen and
envelope to the subject and ask him to sign the
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envelope and when that is completed place the
envelope upon the table.
This is where you will tell a variation upon the story
depicted earlier or any other general story related to
Rhine. Proceed to the reveal as depicted in the last
effect.
Credits/ Inspirations
The switch is a rework of Tony Corinda’s
Pocket switch
Annemann
Joseph Rhine
David Britland - Zennerism
Peter Nardi - E.S.Perfect
Henry Fetsch - In the mind
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Psi-Symbol
Having read ‘Tattle tale’ you may not want to miss the
first conscious force. Here I offer five psychological
forces, each of these five forces do work. Each force is
very simple, like any psychological force nothing is
100%.
I have added another little nuance that will greatly
improve your chances of getting both subjects cards to
match.
We will imagine you are performing the
aforementioned routine. You will need to mark the
two sets of five Zener cards so you can determine
which symbol has been placed facedown at anytime.
Now when you ask Romeo (subject one) to choose a
card and place it facedown we now know which
psychological force to apply on Juliette in order to get
the cards to match. This will enhance our chances of
the cards matching greatly.
Circle force
Performer: “Juliette, I would like you to
ignore any suggestions you may think I am
throwing at you and just follow my
instructions.
I would like you to imagine a screen (draw a
square screen in the air) and on that screen
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(draw the screen again) I would like you to
simply see a shape forming. When you see
that shape, take it out of your cards and place
it facedown on the table”.
{The subject will see you drawing a square a couple of
times, she will remember what you said about
ignoring any suggestions you give her and will
instantly write off picking the square from her cards.
She will hear the word simply and in her mind the
only thing she will think of is simple and shape. The
only shape in her stack of cards is a circle.
You may think that this is a very obvious force, trust
me it will fly by and go totally unnoticed. As far as
Juliette is concerned she has a completely free
choice.}
Square force
Performer: “I would like you to simply
imagine an image in your mind, something
you could draw like a Flower, Stickman or
the Sun. When you have that image in your
mind, I want you to look down and choose
the card in your hand that closest relates to
shape of the image you are thinking of. Place
that card facedown”.
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{Here we are using a 3rd party force. If people choose
a House it resembles a square, a Car it is blocky and
also resembles a Square. Most drawings that are
simple based on probability alone will come back to
the Square and I have found it hits very frequently.}
Star force
Performer: “I would like you to look at all
the cards in your hand, I would now like you
to make a decision and take out the design
that you recognise as you’re favourite
placing it face down”.
{This is one of the easier designs to force, most
females will favour the star anyway and the square is a
shape not a design as is the circle.
The subject having not seen Zener symbols before will
not be accustomed with the Waves, therefore they will
not recognise it as their favourite.}
Wavy lines
Performer: “Juliette, I would like you to
look at the cards you have in your hand and
you will notice one that seems out of place to
you, it does fit in like the rest. Take that card
and place it facedown next to Romeos”.
Being a lay person, she will not have seen the Waves
before and therefore it will be the obvious choice.
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Cross force
Performer: “Juliette, I would like you to
look across the cards you have in your hand
and you will notice you have a Square, a
Circle, a Star, a Cross plus some Wavy lines.
One of these cards will seem to stand out in
your mind take it out and place it across from
Romeos”.
{This force will is the hardest to get to get to hit,
luckily it is rarely chosen by the first subject.}
When I say the word across, the dynamics in my voice
are gentle like I am not trying to emphasis the word.
The reason for softening the voice is so it indirectly
stands out.
Additional thoughts
If the force does not hit you still have a chance to
remedy things! By marking both sets of cards, you will
notice if Juliette has placed a card down that does not
match Romeos.
All you have to do is get Juliette to change her mind.
Ask her,
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Performer: “Was that card chosen
instinctively or did you just go with the one
that felt right?”
{Look at the question, they practically mean the same
thing but it gives you the chance to back them into a
corner.}
If they say instinctively, tell them to pick the card up,
place it back in their stack and then repeat the force
ending with “Go with the one that feels right this
time”.
This time implies that they are to change their mind,
thus giving you a greater chance.
If they say that they selected the card that felt right,
ask them to pick the card back up, place it back in
their stack and repeat the force ending with “Go with
the one your instincts tell you go with this time”.
Again this implies change and again increasing the
probability of getting a match.
Delivery is everything!
This is something I cannot help you with, movement
and delivery is something that will need to be tried
and tested to suit your own character.
I think emphasis on certain words make all the
difference between a force hitting and missing. There
are two ways to go about emphasising words; one is
indirect emphasis and the other direct.
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Indirect emphasis is the process of softening words so
that one word is different to the rest and will subtly
stand out.
Direct emphasis, is hardening certain words to make
them stand out in a very direct manner.
Another subtlety is to tap a finger on the table when
saying words you would like to emphasise. I do not
know if there is any scientific proof that this makes
any difference, but it gives you a sense of actually
doing something and creates a belief in what you are
doing.
If you belief in what you are doing so will your
subjects.
Equivoque
If you are nervous about failing at a psychological
force, you could always rely on this clever equivoque.
This relies on taking advantage of words.
For example a Star can be described as a design or a
shape therefore if Romeo puts down a Square or
Circle (they can only be described as a shape) you
want to make out as though the Star is a design.
That way when you use an equivoque and eliminate
designs you are left with just two shapes (a simple
50/50 equivoque).
In the case of Romeo choosing a design, (Waves or
Cross) you want to describe the star as a shape. When
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you apply an equivoque and eliminate that shapes
again it comes down to a 50/50 equivoque.
If Romeo chooses a Star,
You can cheekily try to get away with classing the
cross as a shape. By saying in your hands you have
three shapes, a Circle, Square and a Cross and two
designs a Star and Wavy lines.
Again when the equivoque is performed and you
eliminate shapes, it brings you down to a 50/50.
In this example we will say that Romeo placed down
the wavy lines.
Performer: “Juliette in your hands you have
five cards, three shapes and two designs. I
am telling you this early; this is going to be a
process of elimination.
If you were to select shapes or designs which
would it be?”
If she selects shapes respond,
Performer: “Ok so you are left with the
cross and the wavy lines”.
{Never say “Ok we will eliminate the shapes then”,
this gives the subject the chance to say “No I want
shapes”. (This happens very infrequently, but every
little helps).
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If you just let her make the assumption she has
eliminated them from the game, it will seem natural
and flow.
If she selects designs,
Performer: “Ok, you selected designs, the
Cross and the wavy lines”.
As both lines lead you to two cards in the fairest sense
proceed.
Ask her to place the other cards to the side of her in a
pile, leaving the Cross and the waves in her hand.
Here there are a couple of options; you are left with
two cards (Waves and Cross) therefore you will need
to perform a clean equivoque.
Option 1
This option makes use of the markings.
(I will outline a way to mark bicycle backed E.s.p
cards. This is not original, but I have been marking
cards this way for a long time.
I have always referred to this as clock markings.
Arrange the cards into Circle, Cross, Waves, Square
and Star. We arrange them in this order as it is really
easy to remember.
One line = Circle, Two lines make up the cross, Three
lines equal the waves, four lines the square and five
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lines in the star. Take an exactor knife, place the
Circle card facedown and scratch as depicted in the
place depicted below.
This is scratched at 12 o’clock (circle).
The Cross scratch at nine o’clock.
The Waves, scratch six o’clock, the Square three
o’clock and finally the star don’t mark at all.)
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Cont*** (Down to two cards, 50/50 equivoque)
Ask her to hold the two cards in separate hands look
at the backs and note which hand the wavy lines card
is in.
Address Juliette,
Performer: “I would like you to hand one
card to me”.
Lean back so Juliette has to make an over accentuated
movement. Here is where you need to think fast, if
you see she is giving you the Wavy lines reach forward
take the card and without looking place it next to
Romeo’s card.
Address her,
Performer: “You happy that was a free
choice?”
She can only respond yes, the clever thing here is you
never looked at the card and as you didn’t hesitate to
put the card next to Romeos in her mind any card she
selected would have naturally been placed there.
If on the other hand she starts to move the hand
holding the cross toward you, take the card (not
looking) and place the card straight on top of the
discarded pile (the shapes). This will again create a
sense that whatever card she was handing you was
always intended to go on the discarded pile.
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Again never mention eliminating cards, it’s over doing
things and we want subtlety. She is now holding the
Wavy lines, address her.
Performer: “Now only you know what card
you have left in your hand, are you happy
every choice you made was your own?”
{Everything has been very fair, so of course she will
declare how fair things have been. she has only made
two choices after all.}
Performer: “Place the card you have in your
hand next to Romeos”.
Option 2
This is a little bolder but is over very quickly and hits
nine times out of ten.
This also takes advantage of the markings, look to see
which hand the Wavy Lines are in.
If it is in her right hand great, if it is not, ask her to
swap the cards around and then close her eyes.
Address Juliette,
Performer: “I don’t want you to think, I just
want you to place the card that feels right to
you facedown on the table now”.
Snap your fingers to emphasise the word now.
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Most of the time people will go with their right hand
and of course will be laying down the wavy lines.
I know this is rather bold but it looks so clean and fair.
Additional thoughts
With equivoque, I always love asking someone if they
would like to change their mind. It is very rare people
will change their mind but it really sells just much
choice the subject has.
If you portray as though you would like the subject to
change their mind, it makes most people want to stick
with their choice even more (as they believe you have
done something wrong).
{Do not try this with a gentle lady, chances are she
will think you have done something wrong and change
her mind to accommodate you.}
Credits/ Inspirations
Luke Jermay - Judgement day
Banachek - Psi series 1
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Sweet force of mine
This effect I was going to keep for myself. It is a
simple but effective experiment. You may read this
and think it is a little bold, I promise if you perform it
exactly as described it can look marvellous and rarely
fails.
This is a series of psi forces but strategically executed
to ensure the highest possible hit rate.
You will have fun tinkering with this and I hope you
can take this seedling and make it into something
amazing!
Effect
The performer is seated with a female subject, he
hands her five Zenger cards and explains their
relevance. After the female is accustomed with the
symbols she is told she is going to participate in
receiving a series of thoughts from the performer.
The performer places a card facedown, he then
telepathically attempts to send the card to the female
and she is asked to place a card facedown.
The cards are turned over they match!
This process is repeated for the rest of the cards and
the female is asked to think of an image. The cards are
flipped over one at a time to show that they match!
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After the round of applause the performer directs the
female’s attention to his breast pocket and asks her to
remove an envelope from it.
She is asked to read the contents aloud and much to
everyone’s surprise, it not only proves he has correctly
predicted the order she would lay the cards down in
but it also reveals the image she thought of as well!
Breakdown
Firstly arrange a stack of Zenger cards into this order,
Circle, Square, Star, Wavy lines and Cross.
These are going to be handed to the female subject
(We will again call her Juliette for point of reference).
You can have your five in any order.
To prepare your prediction, writ on a business card:
‘Thank you for participating in this experiment, the
perfect candidate will be a female that will lay the
cards down in this order”.
Star, wavy lines, square, circle and cross
She should also find comfort in the image of her
house.
Slip the business card into an envelope and place in
your breast pocket.
We are going to force the cards in this order:
Star, wavy lines, square, circle and cross
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{The reason I point this out is you can rehearse the
forces individually and tie them all together later.}
(You and Juliette are seated)
Begin by rearranging your cards (this is purely
theatrical). Take out the star and place it facedown on
the table in-between you and Juliette.
Address her,
Performer: “I want you to forget that I have
placed a card on the table, it is irrelevant.
What is relevant are the choices you are
about to make.
I want you to listen to me very carefully. I
would like you to look at all the cards in your
hand, I would like you to make a decision and
take out the design that you recognise as
you’re favourite placing it facedown next to
mine”.
This will almost certainly force the star.
Ask the subject to turn over the two cards to reveal
they match.
Now for the second card.
Pull out any random card, look confused, change your
mind, put it back in your cards and place the wavy
lines facedown on the table.
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Your aim is to now to force the wavy lines,
Address Juliette again.
Performer: “I am going to transmit one
card to you and I want to see if you can pick
up on it. I want you to look at the cards in
your hand again and you will notice one that
seems out of place, it doesn’t fit in like the
rest, pull it out place it facedown across from
mine”.
Reach down to turn the two over and just as
you are about to reveal say “In fact we will
do the rest of them first”.
Place down the square.
Performer: “I would like you to simply
imagine an image in your mind, something
you could draw like a Flower, Ball or the Sun.
When you have that image in your mind, I
want you to look down and choose the card
you believe closest relates to the shape of the
image you are thinking of, then place it
facedown”.
85% of the time people think of a House, when she
has laid the card down pause for a few seconds and
look at her.
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Performer: “Out of interest what image did
you think of?”
If she says House great, if not, it doesn’t matter you
don’t have to get the envelope out!
This is where the forces become a little more difficult.
Up until now everything should have been plain
sailing.
You only have the Circle and the Cross left, place the
Circle facedown.
Address Juliette,
Performer: “Ignore any suggestions you
may think I am throwing at you and try to
pick up on this thought.
I would like you to imagine a screen (draw a
square screen in the air) and on that screen
(draw the screen again) I would like you to
simply see a shape forming. When you see
that shape, take it out of your cards and place
it facedown”.
Emphasise shape, if you get her to choose Circle, she
is only left with the cross and that is by far the hardest
thing to get a hit on.
Place your final card down and ask her to place hers
down.
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Turn the cards over and they match!
If the image hits, wait a few seconds and ask the
subject to reach into your breast pocket and remove
the envelope.
(If the image doesn’t hit they don’t have to ever see
the envelope).
{The forces may seem very obvious in reading, but
they most certainly will not be to a subject or anyone
in the audience (trust me).
If you are worried, you can always use this experiment
as a way to gauge the subject, a test of character that
will be important later on. Have a prediction in your
pocket, instead of laying cards down. That way if it
doesn’t hit, they will never know.}
This may seem bold but this works over the telephone
too! All you have to do is ask the subject to draw the
designs on business cards and follow your
instructions carefully.
I perform this piece very frequently and after a while
things become very natural.
The hit rate of this piece comes down to your
application of emphasis and correct pacing.
Credits/ Inspirations
Luke Jermay - Judgement day
Banachek - Psi series 1
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The book of the fallen
Effect
The performer introduces himself and proposes that
he tries a simple experiment. He Points to a table
upon which sits an old dusty book. (This could be
borrowed)
Without saying a word the performer reaches for a
paper ball and throws it into the audience.
The person who catches it is asked to stand and come
up onto the stage.
Performer: “Hi how are you?”
Subject: “Great yourself?”
Performer: “I am fine thanks for asking,
what’s your name sir?”
Subject: “Zach”
Performer: “Zach, you will notice upon the
table is a book; there is also a pad and pen on
the table. I would like you to approach the
book for me.
You will notice when you reach the table, the
pad has two post-it notes stuck onto it. One
on the top half of the page and the other post-
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it on the bottom. Can you just raise each one
and confirm they have nothing written
underneath them”.
Zach: “They are clean”.
Performer: “Your job is very simple; you
are going to turn to any page in the book,
when you arrive at the page mentally select a
word. When you have that word in mind, I
would like you pick up the pen, write the
word underneath the top post-it and then fold
the post-it note back down so the word is not
visible”.
The subject chooses any page; they then choose any
word and then write the word down, folding the post
it down so it cannot be seen by the performer.
Performer: “I would now like you to
randomly select a member of the audience”.
The subject points to someone.
Performer: “Please pass the book, the pad
and the pen to that member of the audience”.
The random member receives the book, is instructed
to select any page, any word and write it under the
bottom post-it note. When he has done this the pad is
closed.
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Performer: “I would now like you to point
to a member of the audience to be the judge
and final decision maker”.
He points to a female at the other side of the room,
she is handed the pad.
(Neither the performer or subjects know this audience
member).
Performer: “Please open the pad, decide
upon one of the two chosen words and give
me a nod when you have got one in your
mind”.
After a few seconds she nods.
The performer picks up a drawing pad, waits a few
seconds and starts to write. He gives the pad to the
Judge facedown and asks her to state the word she
has chosen aloud.
Judge: “Ambidextrous”.
The performer looks stunned.
Performer: “You weren’t thinking of
liquid?”
Judge: “NO?!”
Performer: “Turn the pad around”.
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The pad is turned to reveal the word Ambidextrous!
The performer has correctly divined the word.
Notes* this works 100% of the time, the subjects are
never prompted, no pre-show, no stooges, no
gimmicked books (it can be borrowed with no prep
needed) and they have free choice of any page and any
word.
No peeks, no impressions and they don’t have to
choose the word from the same book!
Additional effects
Purely mental
Effect
Instead of choosing a word from a book, two subjects
are asked to think of a letter of the alphabet and write
it under the post-its.
The judge is then asked to choose one of the letters,
using that letter decide upon a country, a continent or
a place and then in that place choose a landmark or
monument.
They confirm they have got somewhere (this could be
anywhere in the world).
The country or landmark is never written down and is
all purely done in the mind of the judge.
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The performer is quickly able to divine the place and
the landmark!
This can be repeated.
Purely theoretical
Effect
Two subjects are invited to the stage, asked to think of
a completely random word. They are told to ensure it’s
a word that would not easily be able to be guessed.
One of the two words is selected by a judge (test
conditions) and you can instantly determine what the
word is!
Breakdown
This is the only routine in the book that I am not
going to offer a presentation for. It is straight forward,
simple and very powerful. This routine came about
after toying with an older routine of mine ‘Simon says’
from my previous book “Dare to be bold”.
The reason I have not offered a presentation, is that
this principle can be used for so many things. Drawing
duplications, name reveals, bookless book tests, you
really are only limited by your own imagination.
Because of this, I think its best you choose your own
angle.
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To prepare take two notepads; remove the front cover
off of one and the back cover off of the other,
Take the back cover and apply it the pad that still has
the back cover on (in essence you now have a pad with
identical covers).
Repeat with the front cover.
Notepads with identical covers can be purchased to
save you time having to make your own.
As you will notice in the picture there is a type of
elastic band around the pad. This keeps the pad closed
and over emphasises the fact I never open it.
After both subjects write a word, ask the second
subject to place the elastic around the pad.
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Ensure the Pad is Spiral bound at the top (not on the
side).
Take a post-it note, cut it in half. Stick half of it upon
the top half of the page and the other half of the post-
it on the bottom half of the page.
I use two different coloured post-its. This just serves
as an extra convincer.
I would also recommend marking the force side of the
pad, just to ensure you hand the Judge the pad the
right way up.
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Note that I have put a kink in each post-it, this
ensures that they stay down and hide the words
written underneath,
Close the pad, flip it over and apply a post-it to the top
and the bottom of this page (so it looks identical to the
page you prepared a moment ago).
Write two random words (in different handwriting).
One under the top post-it note and the other under
the bottom.
Write under the top post-it a boring standard word
(like ‘the’) and under the bottom a longer more
obscure word (like ‘ambidextrous’).
That way when asked to pick the more interesting of
the two, they will always go for the longer word!
Notes* If the post-its are thin, apply two. This ensures
the pen will not show through the post-it.
This is the side of pad you want to mark.
It’s always better to be over prepared!
Close the pad; open it so the unprepared side is face
up.
In performance, the post-its are not there to hide the
words from us (which seems logical), but to hide each
subject’s word from one another.
Leave the pad open.
Let each subject write a word and then close the pad.
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Ask the subject to place the elastic around the pad.
When you ask the second subject to point to a judge,
take the closed pad off of the second subject and
under the misdirection of the audience looking to see
who they have pointed at, turn the pad over (so our
words are face up).
Walk over the selected judge hand them the pad (our
prepared side up).
Ask them to open the pad, peek at the words and
mentally decide upon one.
They are looking at our words, unbeknown to
everyone else!
All you have to do is fish for which out of the two
words they are thinking of, the easiest way is to use a
closed question.
“You are not thinking of a large word are
you?”
If they say they are, say “fantastic, concentrate on
the word for me”, if they say no say “fantastic,
concentrate on the word for me”.
You give the exact same response, the purpose of the
question is that it identifies instantly which word was
chosen.
You write the word down (in our case either ‘the’ or
‘ambidextrous’).
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When you ask them to reveal out loud the word they
are thinking of, each subject that wrote a word down
will just believes that the word being said aloud is the
other person’s word!
There is nothing to question, for that reason you can
see how brilliantly this routine plays off! As you can
see this is no bolder than ‘The tossed out deck’ in
some of the tossed out deck routines five people are
thinking of the same thing simultaneously.
Force the Destination
Before the show prepare letters (under the post-its)
place the letter ‘I’ (under the top post-it) and the letter
‘Z’ (under the bottom post-it). When you put the
subject under pressure on stage, the subject will
struggle to think of a country that begins with ‘Z’.
Even if they do, thinking of a landmark will be
impossible, so they will naturally have to choose ‘I’.
Choosing the letter ‘I’ will force them Italy and the
landmark will be the Leaning tower of Pisa.
This is very simple, but so effective! There is no way
you could know the letter and because of that reason
you could not possibly know the Country (or
landmark).
Credits/ Inspirations
David Hoy - Hoy’s principle
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Trust you instincts 2.0
Effect
The performer invites a female subject up onto the
stage and asks her if she is a stooge or a confederate,
to which she replies she is most certainly not and that
she has never had the pleasure of being acquainted
with the performer before now.
The Performer asks her to pick any random male
member of the audience to join her on the stage; the
new participant confirms that he also is not a stooge
and is asked to take a seat.
The female is now asked to make a few decisions
based on her feelings.
The performer asks her to imagine a colour and then
use the colour she is thinking off to create a place in
her mind.
After a bit of thinking she states she is thinking of a
Beach.
(It’s a completely free choice).
Based on that decision, the performer believes the
female will be the perfect sender and the male the
receiver. She is asked not to state anything out loud
and just to think of her choices (keeping them to
herself).
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She is asked to imagine a deck of cards and then think
of what colour card she would like. Once she has made
that decision she gets told to think of the suit and
finally the value.
A deck of cards is then produced and handed to the
seated male; the female is to imagine she is screaming
the card that is in her mind at the male, but say
nothing out loud.
He is asked to go through the entire deck face down
one at a time until he gets the feeling to stop, when he
feels he has to stop, he is to place that card face down
on the table away from the rest of the cards.
The performer then asks the female to state out loud
the card she selected mentally, the card that is in her
mind alone, she responds
“The Jack of Hearts”
The male is then asked to show everyone what card he
has set aside from the rest of the deck, it matches the
card the female subject had in her mind!
Just as the round of applause dies down, the
performer asks the female to reach underneath her
chair and she should find an envelope.
She opens the envelope and inside there is a postcard,
on the face of the card is a beach and on the back it
reads:
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“I think the perfect sender will be a female, I
would like to thank her in advance for
thinking of a beach....and successfully
transmitting the jack of hearts!”
Breakdown
Although the effect mentioned sounds complicated to
perform, it is one of the simpler in this book; this
effect is based on an aggregate of simple nuances.
We need to force a colour and a playing card in this
routine.
I applied Theodore Annemann's slate principle but
put a fascinating spin on it, hold the subjects arm at
the back of her muscle (in the place security leads
someone out of a buiding back of muscle) and all you
have to do is give it a little squeeze when you want her
to select something.
This sounds obvious but because you are stood close
to her your bodies will hide you holding her arm.
Confused? If so, I promise you will know a more when
you read the performance section (there is also a
lovely misdirection).
Note* If you are seated next to the subject, stand on
her foot. (In performance replace squeeze arm with
press on foot.)
Now we need to ensure the male subject (the receiver)
selects the card you want him to select, whatever card
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you are going to force the female (I use the Jack of
Hearts) purchase a one way forcing deck that matches
the force card.
The second subject is going to be asked to go through
the cards one at a time placing them face down on the
table, whenever he gets the urge to stop, he is to place
the card he stopped at away from the rest (ensuring it
is kept face down).
The great thing about this is no one can question the
deck, as it appears she thought of the card, there is no
way anyone could know what that card is, how can
anyone suspect the deck being fifty two of her card?
Here are some red herrings to kill the fact you are
using a one way force deck. I started applying these
(since the release of Trust your instincts v1) and they
have fried several performers who knew the original!
Place a random card on the bottom of the deck; then
another random card eight cards down from the top.
Make sure the two random cards are dramatically
different and preferably a colour that contrasts the
card you are about to force.
When you pull out the deck, tap the cards on the table
to square them (don’t make any deal out of showing
the bottom card) just tap it should get their attention.
Riffle shuffle the cards, retain the bottom card and top
say ten (I prefer to Zarrow and burn the top card each
time).
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When you have shuffled the deck once hold your
hands palm up (again showing the same bottom card)
Performer: “You have seen a shuffle like this
before?”
The obvious response will be yes, but it sets you up for
this line
Performer: “Great so you know how fair it
is then”.
The psychology in the above line implies that the
subject already knows the fairness of events and
because he knows that particular shuffle this will
logically tell him the last statement was true.
The main purpose of the above lines is to create a
psychological misdirection. You are not employing
any funny moves while the misdirection takes place
but in that moment of questioning the subject is likely
to forget the face card they saw a moment ago (when
you pulled the cards out).
There attention is not on the cards, it is on answering
the question they were asked and more often than not
they will subconsciously register the card they are
seeing now as a new card (even though we know it’s
the same).
The questioning and shuffling only takes a moment.
This is where we really lay down the fact the cards are
all different.
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We do this by simply demonstrating what the receiver
is going to do. Start placing the cards face down one at
a time while saying
“You are going to deal them one at a time
until you get the urge to STOP!”
When you say “stop!” keep the card you stop at in
your hand. I have timed this so that I always end with
the eighth card in my hand, (the second random card
you placed in the deck).
The colour and destination force is explained
in performance.
The great thing about this routine is that both
participants will freak out. She believes she is
mentally sending a card to him and he finds it, he
believes, (like the audience) that she thought of a
random card and he has found it using his instincts!
Performance
The performer addresses the audience.
Performer: “We are now going to try
something based on feelings, gut feelings to
be precise. It is a well known fact that gut
feelings are often proved right and many
people base their lives and the way they make
decisions based on these gut feelings.
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How many people in the audience believe in
trusting their gut feelings?”
Wait for a response and select a female from the
audience with her hand up;
Performer: “I would just like you to confirm
we have never met and you are not a stooge
or a confederate?”
To which the female responds,
Subject: “No we have never met before
now”.
Take the subjects name we will call her Sarah.
The performer then asks her based on gut feeling to
choose a male member of the audience, when he has
approached the stage ask him the same question you
asked the female.
(The stooge question)
After he confirms he is not a stooge, you ask him his
name (we will call him Bob), ask him to take a seat at
the table several feet away and relax for a few
moments.
Address the female,
Performer: “I would like you to face the
audience, place your right hand up and point
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your index finger towards the ceiling and just
relax”.
Grip the subject as depicted earlier, (If you are seated
stand on the foot). Ask her to step forward (this gives
you a reason for grabbing her here, you lightly hold
her and escort her forwards a step, not letting go of
the arm.)
Performer: “In a moment’s time Sarah we
are going to try something based on feelings,
I would like you to close your eyes for now
and just listen carefully.
In a moment you will get this feeling (squeeze
her arm whilst simultaneously waving your free hand
past the subject’s extended hand that points toward
the ceiling) and the feeling (squeeze arm) will tell
you what choices to make, use that feeling as
a guide to aid you select”.
{Let’s see what we have accomplished, the subject is
being prompted via the squeeze of the arm or stomp
on the foot. She thinks she is following that feeling,
the audience believe the feeling is going to happen
around the extended finger facing the ceiling.
You are forcing the subject using an invisible force, I
have performed this live many times and have not
ever been questioned on it, and it really is invisible.}
Proceed,
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Performer: “I want you to try picking up on
the colour I am sending you, it could be Red,
Yellow, Pink, Green, Orange, Purple or Blue
(squeeze on Blue) which is it?”
The subject would have to be an idiot to not pick up
on a hint that size.
Sarah: “Blue”.
This is the psi force of destination using the colour.
Performer: “Ok Sarah, using the colour
selected, I want you to create a landscape in
your mind. For example if you had picked
pink it might see a field of pink flowers.
Green might have been a field. Build the
details in your mind and then tell us where
you are and what you can see”.
Pressure her slightly.
She has had free choice of destination and 9/10 times
it will always be a beach.
If she says she is on the sea ask her what she can see,
usually this will come back to a beach also.
If it misses don’t worry.
{Notice in the last piece of script I never mentioned
that she selected the colour. Again this is verbal
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forking to play on the audience’s assumption, they
here selected and will assume she selected it.}
Either way hit or miss proceed.
Performer: “I think you will be perfect as
the sender in this experiment.
I would like you to imagine in your mind a
deck of playing cards, it is essential you say
nothing out loud during any of this as we
don’t want to give any clues away.
I would like you think Red (squeeze) or Black,
so that’s Red (squeeze) or Black.
Now for the suit (say this slowly) it could be
Club, Heart (squeeze), Spade or Diamond just
build the card as we go along.
It could be a Picture (squeeze) or a Number, if
it is a picture it could be a Jack (squeeze),
Queen or King or if it’s a number you have
from Ace right through to Ten.
Now Sarah, you have the image of a playing
card in your mind, no one else knows that in
this room, please don’t change your mind and
your job is to just try mentally sending that
playing card to Bob”.
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Approach Bob and remove the deck.
Perform the Red herrings to make the deck look
completely normal.
Ask Bob,
Performer: “There is no way on earth that
you can know what card Sarah is thinking
correct?”
He will obviously respond he doesn‘t, hand him the
cards.
{This psychologically seals the fact that no one does
know the card identity and ensures the Sarah will
respond the way we want when he finds her card.}
Address Bob,
Performer: “I would like you in a moment’s
time, to deal the cards face down one at a
time and when you get the feeling to stop, just
stop at that card”.
Walk back to Sarah and address her,
Performer: “You must not say anything out
loud; just imagine telling Bob what your card
is in his ear”.
Address Bob,
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Performer: “I would like you to close your
eyes and when you are comfortable begin,
imagine you can see every card and stop
when you get the urge to stop”.
Let him stop where he likes and ask him to open his
eyes,
Performer: “Keep that card face down for
the moment”.
Collect the rest of the cards put them in the case (or
your pocket) then state,
Performer: “Sarah, can you say nice and
clear what card you had in your mind?”
Sarah: “The Jack of Hearts”
Performer: “Bob, you really had no idea
what card Sarah was thinking of or the card
you stopped at?”
Bob: “No”
Performer: “Can you please turn the card
over, which you stopped at and show the
audience”.
Both participants will be amazed at this point, wait till
the round of applause dies (if the psi force has hit) ask
him to reach under his chair and remove the envelope.
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Let him read the prediction aloud for another
rapturous round of applause and return the
volunteers to their seats. If the psi force does not hit,
both subjects still get an effect. The psi force of the
landscape just adds another layer of impressiveness
and is essentially tailored for the sender.
Credits/ Inspirations
Phil Goldstein- Blue force
Annemann - Slate #1 principle
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Wish you were here
The place force can be used as a stand alone effect I
will outline the performance as the method is
described in the previous effect (Trust your instinct
2.0).
This routine is not 100% (none the less 9/10 it will
hit!)
Please read the additional ideas where there is a
stronger but bolder effect for the subject.
Select a participant at random (we will call her Nicky).
Performer: “Hi Nicky, I would like to see
how you how you pick up on things based on
your intuition. I would like you to sit with
your eyes closed, would you mind if we
blindfolded you briefly.
Nicky: “No its fine”.
Performer: “Point your finger towards the
ceiling and just concentrate. In a moment you
are going to get a feeling around here
(perform misdirection move) I want you to
use this feeling as a guide to try pick up on
what I am sending you.
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We will start simple, I will name out the
colours of the rainbow, as described in the
Rainbow rhyme.
Red, Yellow, Pink, Green, Orange, Purple or
Blue.
What colour do you think I am trying to
transmit to you?”
Nicky: “Blue”.
Performer: “Great, I want you to take the
colour you selected and use that as the main
colour in your pallet and in your mind paint
a landscape. So for example if you had
chosen Pink, you might imagine yourself in a
field full of flowers, Green might have been a
pasture.
If I had asked you to imagine a real place you
might think of somewhere you went when
you were young and therefore you would
have emotional ties attached to that place.
If you have emotional ties attached to a place,
you might be more inclined to give signs
away and therefore you creating your own
little landscape in your mind makes this a
little more impossible to guess!”
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Nicky: “Ok, I have done that”.
Stare at Nicky for a few seconds.
Performer: “Peoples creations are often
reflections based upon their own
characteristics and preferences.
I am going to base my drawing on what I see
when I look at you”.
Pick up your pad and draw a Beach; label the Sea and
label Sand. I usually draw a little Boat and a couple of
Seagulls.
Hand the pad to Nicky face down.
Performer: “I want you to listen to me very
carefully Nicky; please do not say anything
till I ask you to.
What I see when I look at you, is a kind,
caring person that is warm hearted.
I think you are the sort of person that has had
some sort of past despair and as a result of
that, you keep people at arms reach.
When you let someone in to your private
circle, you really treasure them and are very
loyal person.
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I think the place you are thinking of will be a
reflection of a recent mood you have had,
maybe wanting to escape from something a
particular scenario.
Based on that, the place you chose will be
relaxing; in your mind there will be no people
in this image...Although the landscape you
have designed would usually be seen as quite
a public place.
What landscape did you design in your
mind?”
Nicky: “A Beach”.
Performer: “Thank you for your
participation Nicky, You can turn the image
over now”.
She turns it over and freaks out!
The great thing about this is that the reading is very
ambiguous and will almost fit anyone. Even if the
reading misses (from the perspective of the subject)
you have restricted her from talking and from the
entire audiences’ perspective when she confirms the
landscape, she also confirms the entire reading.
(Confirmation principle)
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Additional Ideas
If I am performing this routine, I usually will not
employ the stomp move (on the foot). I am a little
bolder; I will just say the colours of the rainbow and
let them naturally select a colour.
Chances are, out of:
Red, Yellow, Pink, Green, Orange, Purple or Blue. A
subject will often go for either, Yellow, Orange or
Blue. All of these colours will 9/10 times bring you
back to a Beach or sand.
You have eliminated Green and Pink, there is no
landscape you can paint with Red or purple so they
are literally forced to choose on of the colours we
want.
Even though this is bold it can also be used over the
telephone and when it hits long distance the effect is
even more startling!
Credits/ Inspirations
Phil Goldstein- Blue force
Annemann - Slate #1 principle
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A.W.A.A.P (Any word at any page)
Effect
The performer throws a paper ball into the audience;
the person who catches it is instructed to throw it
again, just to exemplify how random the selection
process is.
The member of the audience who catches the ball (on
the second throw) is asked to join the performer on
stage (we will call him David).
Performer: “Hi David,
I would like to attempt an experiment based
on subliminal influence. It is a little known
fact that words evoke emotions. Sentences
can steer people into saying and sometimes
even doing things they believe are their own
choices when in fact they are not.
I can see you are happy to participate
knowing that, (audience chuckle) don’t worry
I am not going to influence you but rather
you are going to influence a complete
stranger...over the telephone.
I would like you to look around the audience,
choose someone at random; it’s completely
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your choice and the person you choose will
provide us with a telephone number”.
David chooses a random audience member.
The two people confirm they have never met.
The audience’s attention is turned to an easel with a
red cloth draped over it on the stage. The performer
claims that the easel will become relevant in a few
moments.
The mood of the room is taken down to a silence.
The performer addresses the second subject (we will
call him Pablo).
Performer: “Pablo, I would like you to go
through your telephone contacts and choose a
person you know you can reach now and
state the number out loud to me”.
Pablo looks through his phone and starts to call a
number out. Halfway through Pablo calling the
number out the performer stops him.
Performer: “Pablo, in fact to protect your
friend’s privacy please type the number in for
me and await my instructions”.
Pablo types the number into the phone and awaits the
performer’s instructions.
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The performer informs David that when he receives
the phone, he is to become acquainted with the person
on the other end and when the niceties have taken
place, he is to read a sentence out (to the person on
the phone).
It is explained that when the sentence has been read
out, David is to ask the person on the phone to create
an imaginary book in his mind, call out a page
number, then to imagine looking on that page and call
out a word.
(This is all done in the imagination of the person on
the phone, there is no physical book).
When David understands what he is to do, the
performer asks Pablo for his friend’s name (in this
example we will call the person Erik) he takes the
phone and presses the call button.
(Everything so far has been ultra fair).
The male answers the phone, the performer explains
he is with Pablo and asks Erik if he can borrow him
for two moments, Erik obliges.
The performer informs Erik that the next voice he will
hear will be David. Erik is informed that David is
going to read a sentence aloud and hopefully that
sentence will influence him to say something that will
be important to the audience later on.
The phone is handed to David; the pair becomes
acquainted, David proceeds to read a sentence out
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loud (we will say for the sake of example the sentence
is ‘the Cat sat on the mat’).
David then proceeds to ask Erik to create an
imaginary book and choose any page.
Erik chooses page twelve.
When asked for an imaginary word he says dust.
(The page and word are never misquoted).
The phone is handed back to the performer, who
thanks Erik for his time and ends the phone call. The
performer then reiterates how random the entire
experiment has been, from the way the participants
were selected, right down to having David talk to
Pablo’s chosen friend (so nothing could have be
misquoted).
The performer approaches the easel and dramatically
reveals his prediction.
“I will attempt to send page twelve and the
word will be dust!”
Notes* the subject types the number into the
telephone; the subject can call their friend back after
the show/ effect and each subject is chosen at
complete random.
No preshow, any piece of information can be
influenced (words, numbers or pictures) and the
sentence read out does not prompt the person on the
phone!
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Breakdown
Did the effect description fool you? If so when you
read the method you will kick yourself!
Try this now.
Take out your mobile telephone, press the call button
twice and you will notice that it dials the last person
you called.
(Touch screens may vary, I know this works on any
phone with a call and end button and as explained
later I purposely use an old mobile telephone).
Please read on past the next paragraph, everything
ties itself up, I promise!
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To make this work, before a show/ performance, tell
one of your friends/ partner (someone you know you
can reach during the show and can trust) that you
need their help.
Explain that during the show you will ring them, when
they answer the phone; you will say “hello, is that”
and will state a random name (in our example we
used Erik).
Whatever name you state, is the name that you want
your friend to pretend to be called. Explain to your
friend that they will be talking to a participant and
you want them to introduce themselves as that person
(in our case Erik).
{What I am about to reveal is a little subtlety that has
served me well.}
Explain to your friend that he will be asked by the
participant to create an imaginary book and then call
out a page number.
Tell him he must say page twelve (or whatever
number you want to use). Then he will be asked to
look up and down the imaginary page and select an
imaginary word.
Explain to your friend that he is to pause for a few
seconds and claim he cannot imagine a word.
{The reason for getting him to do this is for the benefit
of the audience. This will get a little laugh and kill the
slight amount of dead time that will be occurring.
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More importantly, it will seem as though things are
not going the way you planned, which will subtly
suggest to the audience that the person on the phone
is struggling to make a decision and will kill any ideas
of him being a stooge later}.
Tell your friend when the participant says the words,
“don’t worry take your time” to respond with,
“Erm, ok the word Dust”.
Rehearse the phone call with your friend a few times
to make sure they understand exactly what to do and
are convincing.
Ensure this friend’s phone number is NOT saved in
your phone as a contact. This is important as on the
screen (after you have performed the dodge described
in a moment) it will show up as a name not a number
which is something we do not want.
Call your friend now and ensure you call no one else
before the performance. We need him to be the last
called person.
Please read this next section very carefully.
You will notice I have Pablo (the second subject) type
the number into the phone, this creates something
extremely wonderful.
It creates a strong moment of psychology; it sews up
everything logically from the audience’s perspective,
protects the first subject from being able to rumble
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the effect (when he sees the screen he can never say its
not Pablo’s friend) and it is in this moment you will
apply your misdirection (as there is no heat on the
phone).
The dodge
After you have told the first subject (David) what to
do, turn to Pablo take the phone back nonchalantly
ask what the person’s name is.
{While waiting for the second subject (Pablo) to give
you the name, hold the phone openly (make the phone
unimportant, the emphasis is on the person’s name.}
When you receive the name tap the red button fast
(which will delete the second subject’s (Pablo’s)
number and return the phone to the home screen).
Then make a large motion of pressing green button
twice (this will call the last number dialled).
Be theatrical when pressing the green button, this
will subtly suggest to the audience that pressing a
button is a big thing and subconsciously suggests they
would have seen you press anything else.
There should be no reason why the audience would
ever assume there has been any foul play whatsoever
as the effect hasn’t even started yet. Just to over
emphasise this, let’s back up and take a recap of the
psychological process from audience’s perspective.
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The subject was chosen at random, they chose another
subject at random, who chose the person on the
phone and that person typed the number into the
phone.
I think if you repeat the last few points to yourself,
you will see why this effect is so great; the method is
over before the effect even starts to take place and
everything is logically watertight thus far.
Notes* there will be no problems whatsoever using a
phone you provide (as long as you make sure the
above dodge works). I purposely use an old, popular
modelled phone; I introduce it as ‘old trusty’.
(If the model is popular people will recognise it as a
real brand and kill any suspicion that it could be some
magical prop. Some people are crazy and do think of
things like this)
I pump for a laugh when I introduce the phone, one
for calling it old trusty and two, the age of the phone. I
simply play it off as follows.
Performer: “You may laugh, but this phone
has served me well. More seriously after
having a phone stolen on stage I resorted to
using this.
It can be dropped and damaged or even
stolen without breaking the bank”.
This seems logical.
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{In my honest opinion using an old modelled phone
that people recognise makes this effect stronger. It
will subtly suggest that there is not some crazy app
that has been made to respond to conversation. Like I
said, people are crazy!}
The next phrase, in my opinion is the most important.
The phone call
After you have introduced yourself to the person on
the phone (your helper) ask them if it is ok to pass
them onto a member of the audience that was chosen
at random (we know they will obviously oblige).
{If you really wanted you could get the person on the
telephone to barter slightly about staying on the
phone, but don’t over do it.}
The phone gets handed to the first subject (David).
This is where this phrase rockets to ominous heights
of interest (for us at least).
{This phrase was constructed to psychologically serve
a couple of purposes.
One, it reassures the audience there really is someone
on the other end of the phone and two it ensures that
any information is not being misquoted by the
performer (as it is not the performer reciting it).
Another beautiful thing to remember is that the first
subject (David) doesn’t know what the second
subject’s (Pablo’s) friend sounds like (how could he?).
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What we have created here is a very nice use of dual
reality.
In a tight piece of dual reality everything will sew itself
up psychologically, be logical and that’s why I love this
effect!}
Let the phone call take place.
(The dialog of the call will be explained thoroughly in
the performance section).
We have now come to the end of the phone call.
I was searching for a novel way to end the routine that
ensured if the second subject (Pablo) rang his friend
later; it wasn’t going to ruin the whole effect.
I went with this ending; I thought it was the cleanest
of the several options I had available to me.
Amnesia ploy
After the person on the phone (Erik) has said the page
and the word to the first subject (David) take the
phone back.
Thank the person on the phone (Erik) and then before
hanging up say,
Performer: “In fact, before you go I would
like to try one more thing quickly. I would
like you to close your eyes for me and tell me
when you have done so.
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Now take a deep breath in and when I count
from one to five you will notice everything
seems to just fade away and when I end the
call on five you will forget this conversation
ever happened, it will just be erased from
your mind.
One, everything seems to fade away slowly
now, two, you start to breath deeper, three,
my voice is only slightly audible, four
everything that has happened in the last few
moments seem irrelevant and the more you
think about remembering you just sort of
seem to forget five”.
Make a display of pressing the end call button, so the
audience can clearly see you have ended the call and
more importantly you have retained a consistency in
the way the buttons are pressed.
The subject is now free to call their friend later and
when their friend claims they were never on the phone
it makes the routine so much stronger!
Notes* Credibility is everything! You will know if you
can pull this off or not. You need to create
believability that is the key to having the subject argue
your case for you when he calls his friend later.
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Reveal
Time for the reveal, this is the most important thing
as far as the audience are concerned. There is nothing
worse than reading a manuscript detailing every
single moment of an effect and it ends with “reveal
the prediction in any manner you desire”.
I have been suspect to the above before and in an
attempt to better myself, I have deemed I will detail
how to create a dramatic reveal (no matter how short
and simple).
The reason for a dramatic reveal is to create constant
moments of wonder in performance. I have seen
performances that were like rollercoaster rides, people
sitting on the edge of their seats in anticipation, all
staring on in awe and then bang all of the
aforementioned were ruined because the reveal lost
its dramatics.
The reveal for this piece is simple and direct.
David will already be on the stage, approach the easel
while remaining silent and point to the easel.
Wait a few seconds for absolute silence.
Look at David (remain silent) beckon him over, and
then break the silence. Ask take hold of the corner of
the cloth, while you take hold of the other corner.
Tell him not to pull the cloth off until the count of
three.
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Address the audience.
Performer: “I would like you all to help me
count down from three to one, when I hold
my hands up into the air start counting.
Remember it was page twelve and the word
dust”.
Hold three fingers up
Audience and performer: “Three, (fold
one finger down) Two, (fold another finger
down) One”.
Pull of the cloth.
Give the audience a few seconds to register what has
happened and then ask for a round of applause for
David.
End of routine.
It is proven in such places as spiritualist churches that
if you involve an audience in a process it will evoke
emotions and that is certainly what we are looking for.
We want to make this simple process as dramatic a
process as possible and this gives the audience a sense
of being involved in what they witnessed.
You will notice I involved David in the reveal this is
also another ruse.
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It is a common misconception that if an audience is
quiet after an effect that you did something wrong.
Not the case!
Sometimes silence is just as strong as an applause, as
the audience are speechless about what they have just
witnessed. It is often hard to break that silence and
having David on the stage gives us the perfect excuse.
You will ask the audience for a round of applause for
all the volunteers that have helped out. As the round
of applause takes place approach David and ask him
to take a seat.
As you can see this serves a very strong purpose, the
audience see a process (David is walking off the stage)
and at the same time the silence is broken and it
leaves us in a position to perform our next effect.
If this is your last effect, you want to be the only one
left on the stage and if the effect finishes in silence,
you can break that silence by thanking your audience
for coming and seeing your self out.
I hope all is understandable so far.
Please read the performance or I will curse you so that
your children are born naked!
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Performance
The performer addresses the audience,
Performer: “I would like to touch upon
something now that can only be described as
a form of mind control. Brain washing
techniques were very popular in the 70’s and
are supposedly still used by the C.I.A. and
other organizations.
Don’t worry we are not going to do anything
imposing, we are just going to lightly scratch
the surface of what is possible when the mind
is nudged in the right direction.
I am going to throw this paper ball into the
audience, whoever catches the paper ball,
throw it again in any direction you desire”.
Turn so your back is facing the audience and toss the
ball over your shoulder. As the ball lands with the first
person, remind them to throw it wherever they would
like.
When the ball hits the second person ask them to
stand. Ask the entire audience if they are happy to use
this person, they should of course say they are.
Address that person,
Performer: “Hi how are things?”
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Subject: “Not bad”
Performer: “What is your name sir?”
Subject: “David”.
Performer: “Hi David, would I be correct in
saying we have never met before?”
David: “We have never met”.
Performer: “I would like to attempt an
experiment based on subliminal influence. It
is a little known fact that words evoke
emotions. Sentences can steer people into
saying and sometimes even doing things they
believe are their own choices when in fact
they are not”.
David looks worried.
Performer: “I can see you are happy to
participate knowing that, (audience chuckle)
don’t worry I am not going to do anything to
influence you but rather you are going to
influence a complete stranger...over the
telephone.
I would like you to look around the audience,
choose someone at random; it’s completely
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your choice and the person you choose will
provide us with a telephone number”.
David makes his choice.
Performer: “Can you just stand for me sir.
Neither of you have met before correct?”
David: “No”.
Subject #2: “No never”.
Performer: “What is your name sir”?
Subject #2: “Pablo”.
Performer: “David, Pablo I want to
introduce you to old trusty”.
Pull out the old modelled telephone.
The audience giggle.
Performer: “You may laugh, but this little
guy has served me well but seriously after I
had a phone stolen on stage I resorted to
using this. It can be dropped and damaged or
stolen and it won’t break the bank.
Pablo please take out your telephone and go
through the contacts until you find a person
you know will answer the phone if I rang
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them. When you have done so, just wait there
with the number until I have finished talking
with David.
Oh make sure the person is a male, they
respond better to such things”.
*Notes: I have only ever once had someone say they
could not reach a male and all I did to remedy the
situation was asked them to point to someone in the
near vicinity who could.
{While this process was taking place I again took this
as an opportunity to reiterate the randomness of
events}.
When Pablo starts to go through his phone, address
the first subject again (David).
(This is strategically placed to prevent dead time)
Performer: “David, in a moment I am going
to call the number Pablo gives me; you are
going to introduce yourself to Pablo’s friend
and when the niceties are taken care of you
will say this sentence to that person.
The cat sat on the mat.
These words are important, the cat sat on
the mat.
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Once you have said these words you will ask
Pablo’s friends to imagine there is a book in
front of him, ask him what his favourite page
is in the imaginary book.
When he tells you the page he selected, just
tell us all out loud ok?”
David: “Yeah, ok”.
Performer: “Once you have said the page
out loud, ask him to imagine looking up and
down the page and choose a word.
Don’t worry; I will help you out when you are
on the phone in case you forget anything”.
Turn your attention back to the first subject
(Pablo),
Performer: “Have you found a contact
Pablo?”
Pablo: “Yeah I have”.
Performer: “Before we go any further I
would like to point out something that is
hopefully going to be relevant shortly”.
Pause for a few seconds in front of the easel to create
suspense. Let people’s curiosity get the better of them
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before and after a few seconds you will notice the
audience will go completely silent.
Address the audience,
Performer: “The more nosey amongst you
may have noticed this easel covered with a
red cloth, for those who have not seen it, it is
important you know this has been here before
we talk to Pablo’s friend”.
Performer: “What is the number Pablo?”
Pablo: “07”.
Start to type the number in.
Performer: “In fact to protect your friend’s
privacy, you type the number in and await
my instructions”.
Pablo: “I have done it”
Performer: “Great, David you remember what
you are to do correct?”
David: “Yes”.
Take the phone back off of Pablo and perform the
dodge and misdirection described earlier and call your
associate.
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When your friend answers, remember to talk politely
(people think you are calling someone you have never
met).
Performer: “Hello, Hi is this Erik?”
Helper: “Yeah it is”.
Performer: “Hi Erik I am with Pablo he is
onstage and we are trying an experiment.
Yeah he is fine, say hello everyone”.
Audience: “Hello!”
Performer: “Would it be ok to borrow you
for a few moments, I promise we will not
keep you a moment longer than we have to.
Great, I will run you through what is going to
happen. I will hand you over to a member of
the audience, he will read a sentence to you
and then ask you a couple of questions is that
ok?”
When he says it is, hand the phone to first
subject (David). As you are handing it over
remind David to introduce himself.
David receives the phone.
David: “Hello”.
Helper: “Hello”.
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David: “You ok?”
Helper: “Yeah you?”
While they are talking, this process can be boring for
the audience. I usually roll my sleeve up and pretend
to be looking at my watch. This creates a small
moment of humour the audience can enjoy and will
invoke a little laugh.
Remind David to ask Erik to imagine a book
David: “I would like you to imagine you are
looking in an imaginary book”.
Performer: “Tell him to call out a random
page number”.
David: “Can you call out a random page
number please?”
Helper: “Twelve”.
David: “He said twelve”.
Performer: “Great now ask him to imagine
looking on page twelve and say a word he
sees on this imaginary page”.
David: “Can you imagine looking on this
page and say a word you see?”
Erik: “Erm, I cannot imagine one”.
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David: “He says he cannot imagine one”.
The audience have a slight giggle at this, if you notice
David is not talking, ask him what Erik is saying, you
want him to vocalize the point Erik isn’t sure.
Performer: “Tell him to relax and take his
time”.
David: “Take your time, just relax”.
Erik: “Erm....Dust I will go with that”.
David: “He says he would like the word
dust”.
Ask for the phone and when you take the phone back
this is where you will employ the amnesia ploy
described earlier.
When you hang up address David,
Performer: “So David, he chose the word
dust and page (look confused), what page
was it?”
David: “Twelve”.
Recap just how fair everything was.
{Although the conversation seems to take a massively
long amount of time in writing, it is over fairly sharp
in performance}
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Employ the reveal described in the method section to
finish the effect as solidly as possible.
Notes* you could always hand a prediction out in
advance in an envelope; you do not have to use this
piece as a stage piece.
Additional idea – Mike
Phillips.
This following reveal I think is a fantastic way to end
the aforementioned effect. It is that great, I wish I had
thought of it!
You will need to print your own book for this reveal,
but I promise it will be worth it. In the example used
above, we know page twelve is the page that we will be
using and the word is dust. Create a book with the
page numbers at the bottom of each page and all
blank pages (except page twelve). On page twelve have
the forced word (in this case dust) printed boldly
across that page.
Additional idea – Felix
Schellenberg
As a compromise you can also use any regular and
well known novel you like that fits the context of the
performance setting and the predicted words. Since
you are free what word and page are to be named, you
are home free in finding a suitable pair in the book.
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Just circle the word, and your prediction is right....!
Explain that the sentence used to influence the
participant is from this very book and our brain
subconsciously creates a connection to this text. The
book can be left on display the entire time and when
the book is shown to be empty with only page twelve
printed I can only imagine how strongly that will play
out.
Upon reflection, if the audience never knows there is a
prediction until the last minute, it might further
suggest to them that everything is fair play (in regards
to the phone call).
Additional idea – Colin
McLeod
This serves as a beautiful convincer to the audience.
After you have asked Subject#2 to choose a contact
from their phone, you ask them to call the number out
and you stop them. You hand them the cell phone to
type it in themselves (as to protect their friend’s
privacy).
As you hand them the telephone, peek at the name of
the contact (they are going to type in). We will say it is
‘Jim’. Step away and let them type the number in.
Take the phone back off of the subject, employ the
described doge. When the phone is answered,
introduce yourself and explain you are with their
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friend onstage. After you have given your name ask
them for theirs.
(Tell your confederate before the show to just say
something random here as it doesn’t matter).
This is where we employ the convincer.
You remember the name you peeked; in our case it
was ‘Jim’. Then you respond with this.
Performer: “It’s lovely to become
acquainted with you Jim, yeah I will tell
him”.
Address the subject who typed the number in.
Performer: “Jim says hi”.
Because there is no way you could know the name of
the subject’s friend (as you have never asked for it),
when the subject responds to Jim saying hi, everyone
will believe you are talking to the subject’s friend!
Credits/ Inspirations
Annemann - ‘Weird Wire’, ‘Wired thought’
and ‘On the wire’.
Paul Marcus - ‘Across the void’.
The wizard phone trick.
Docc Hillford- Cellular Mitosis
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Optional opener (A.W.A.A.P)
The thing I love about this lead in is the unlimited
ideas that can be created using this principle.
Although it is small in nature do not underestimate
the strength of this piece.
Another reason for including this piece is that it also
scratches upon something that will be mentioned later
in the 'my thoughts' section of this manuscript.
As you may have noticed the above effect has two
reveals, this adds a third reveal to the routine and
involves the entire audience.
Effect
The first subject (David) that is chosen in the
A.W.A.A.P routine is handed five envelopes
(numbered one to five).
He is told that in each of the envelopes there is the
title of a book written upon a piece of card and that
each title is different and each book is from a
completely different genre.
David is told that each title has been specifically
selected to influence a stranger he will talk to later on
the telephone. David is then informed that the
audience are going to vote as a collective on which
envelope they would like to use to influence this
stranger.
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He is directed to open each envelope and look at the
titles of each book. While the subject is doing this, the
performer addresses the audience.
Performer: “Each envelope David has a
hold of has a number written on the front.
The envelopes are numbered one to five. This
is where you the audience get to make a
decision, you are going to choose which
envelope you would like to use for this
experiment.
We are going to count the votes by round of
applause, in a few moments when I ask if you
would like envelope number one, the people
who have mentally selected number one just
give me a round of applause to let me know
that’s the envelope you would like to use.
When I say two, if you are thinking of two
just give me a round of applause to let me
know you are thinking of two.
We will go with the numbered envelope that
gets the most round of applause; do we all
agree that’s fair?”
Audience: “Yes!”
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The performer turns his attention back to
David,
Performer: “David, can you confirm that
each book title is different and more
importantly each book is from a dramatically
different category. One is a children’s book,
one a horror and so on and so forth”.
David: “Yeah, each title is different and the
books are from different genres”.
The performer then asks the audience which number
they would like. We will say for example the majority
of the audience choose five (it can be any number).
Pablo is asked to read the title of the book that is in
envelope five.
“The Mystery of the mental Merkin”.
The effect follows suit as described above (A.W.A.A.P)
and proceeds to the reveal.
You have successfully predicted which envelope the
audience will choose!
Notes* No gaffed envelopes, the subject confirms
everything for the audience and the audience have
free choice of any envelope!
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Breakdown
You can see how strong this plays from the
perspective of the audience; it can really strengthen
the original effect and serves as a fantastic convincer
that everything on the phone was legitimate (not that
it won’t seem legitimate, but every little helps).
Before we get into the methodology of this piece, I
would like to make it apparent this can be achieved in
a variety of ways and I will also offer another variation
directly after this method.
The presentation I outlined above is based on simple
dual reality and word play.
Firstly prepare the envelopes by numbering them 1-5.
Then prepare five cards as follows.
The first card.
Title: The mysteries of the Mental Merkin.
Genre: Children’s book
The second card.
Title: The Mental Merkin.
Genre: Horror
The third card. (This card I have found the most
frequently selected)
Title: The life, of the Mental Merkin
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Genre: Drama
The fourth card.
Title: The travels of the Mental Merkin
Genre: Geography
The fifth card
Title: The mental miracles from the mind of
Merkin
Genre: Religion
Note* I don’t use these title in performance; these are
for a good friend of mine, I promised you a mention!
The titles of the book are really irrelevant, as long as
they all contain one name repeated.
{The best way to convince the audience that these are
possibly books that already exist, use a name that is
well know.}
(I.E. “The life of Stephen King”)
Write on the easel.
The audience will choose a book based on the
life of the Mental Merkin (or whatever name
you chose), this will influence the male on the
telephone to choose, page 12 and the word
Dust.
Cover with the cloth.
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You will understand how the ambiguity of the reveal
plays off later on.
The secret of this routine relies on verbal finesse. If
you look at each of these titles they are all different
but the thing that is the selling point as far as the
audience is concerned is the genres.
I cut down any leeway the subject may have by giving
them specific instructions.
Performer: “I would like you to look at each
card and make sure each title is different and
you will notice that each genre of book is
dramatically different”.
While saying this I take the envelope that is on the top
of the stack and slide the card inside it half out.
Notes* I never tell him this is how he should look at
each card, that is important to remember. In a
moment we will create an assumption that will
practically force him to copy the way I want him to
look at the bits of card.
{The reason for him looking at each card like this is
very important. It will ensure no on else in the
audience sees the card and two it ensures he never
drops the card as the card is not pulled fully out of the
envelope it will act as a safety net.}
After sliding the card out of the envelope I state,
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Performer: “As you can clearly see this book
is a religious book”.
Tap your thumb (gently) under where it says genre.
The opaque nature of the card hides your thumbs
movement.
Let him nod to confirm (or even better vocalize) the
fact he knows the books genre.
{This dodge creates something absolutely wonderful.
It subtly tells the subject to look at each genre, on
each card (when he gets chance) without having to
actually vocalize it.
More importantly, the word clearly will suggest to
the audience by looking at the title of the book the
subject knows exactly what that book is and it is clear
what it’s about.
It also opens up a possibility to create a logical
consistency later that will really sell the fact that all
the titles are different so please read on.}
After the subject has seen the card slide it back in the
envelope state,
Performer: “I would like you to do this for
the rest of them”.
Place this envelope to the bottom of the stack and
hand the subject the stack.
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It is important to show the subject the card and then
instantly use the above scripting. Place the envelope
to the bottom of the stack after you have used this
scripting or you run the risk of them just shuffling the
envelopes.
{Let’s have a look at the last verbal line; you will
notice that it is very, very ambiguous and can easily be
taken for several things.
It contains the important words “Do this”. Do what?
Look at each category/title? Slide the cards out a bit?
Keep the cards to myself so no one can see them?
The greatest thing I think about this is that
psychologically most people will just repeat what you
did, for fear of looking stupid.}
We will now explain to the audience about the voting
process.
Performer: “Each envelope David has a
hold of has a number written on the front.
The envelopes are numbered one to five. This
is where you the audience get to make a
decision, you are going to choose which
envelope you would like to use for this
experiment.
We are going to count the votes by round of
applause, in a few moments when I ask if
you like envelope number one, the people
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have mentally selected number one just give
me a round of applause to let me know that’s
the envelope you would like to use.
When I say two, if you are thinking of two
just give me a round of applause to let me
know you are thinking of two.
We will go with the numbered envelope that
gets the most round of applause; do we all
agree that is fair and understand what you
are to do?”
{Again the last line is something I find really clever, it
might not excite you as much as it does me but I will
explain it away none the less.
The thing I love about the use of the last line is that it
forces the audience to say yes, even if they don’t think
it is fair (which in this circumstance things most
certainly are). The audience will naturally register the
above as one question, not two and answer to the last
question they hear.
In later routines in the book you will see just how
these nuances can be used to our advantage.}
Explaining to the audience about the voting process
gives the subject ample time to have a look at each
card. More importantly this will ensure that the
audiences focus is taken away from the subject/the
envelopes and kills any dead time.
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After you have explained how they will vote, turn your
attention back to the subject.
Performer: “Each of the titles are different
and the genre of each book is dramatically
different correct?”
{Ending the sentence with “correct?” implies you are
just looking for a yes or no answer and the only way
he can answer that question is with a yes.
This is where the line we slipped in earlier about the
genre being Religion comes back into play and gives
us leeway to mention how dramatically different each
genre is. This will subtly suggest to the audience that
you have chosen five books that are worlds apart.}
For the sake of being thorough let’s take a look at
what should be going on in the audience’s mind.
(I will describe the process as though I was an
audience member).
David was chosen via the toss of a paper ball, anybody
could have been chosen, even me. There is no way he
would tell a lie; I could have got that envelope and I
wouldn’t have lied.
As far as the audience is concerned the subject's word
is gospel (so to speak) and I really love to take
advantage of such things.
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Let the audience vote on an envelope. They really can
choose any envelope so the voting process is just that,
a process.
We will say they chose envelope three.
Ask David to have a look at the title in this case it is
“The life of the Mental Merkin”.
Take the envelopes from the subject; proceed to
address the audience (the envelopes are still in your
hand).
Convincer dodge
Performer: “Each of these book titles has
been chosen for a specific quality. Each of
these titles has been known to influence”.
Say this while walking towards the audience, (leaving
David stood behind you).
Performer: “Books have been known to
influence people in a variety of ways, for
example, a lot of you will know about ‘The
Catcher in the Rye’ by J.D Salinger and the
evil influence it had on Mark Chapman”.
{Here you can create another great moment of
psychology. If you use the above script, while holding
the stack of envelopes in your left hand and just one
envelope in your right (nonchalantly), the audience
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will assume that inside the solo envelope the title is
‘The catcher in the rye’.}
Place the solo envelope to the bottom of the stack and
slide of the top envelope into the right hand (as small
motions as possible).
Performer: “Or the Bible, this has had a
massive effect on many people’s lives”.
{The key word in the script is “this”. The audience see
you holding one envelope separate, they will assume
you are pointing out that this is the Bible. This ploy
will take the audience back to the start of the routine
where David confirmed that he clearly saw a
religious book.
While all this is going on, the subject (David) is
behind you, therefore your body hides the fact you are
holding one envelope separate. He cannot see the
envelopes; he has to rely on what you are saying.
If you look at the scripting, there is nothing that
would suggest you are doing anything out of the
ordinary.}
As a rule, I only use name two titles. I believe using
more than two will be overkill, subtlety is what we
want to portray and two is the right amount to nudge
the audience into thinking the way we want.
I would like to address an issue before we proceed
with the explanation of this routine. I know you may
have this question in your mind.
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“What does the subject who reads the titles get out of
all this?”
In all honesty I thought about this long and hard and
realised there wasn’t a problem. If you read to the end
of this section, you will see I have done everything
needed to tie things up accordingly.
Here is my train of thought.
If you make the title selection seem an irrelevant thing
(as far as the subject is concerned) and don’t make a
fuss out of the reveal, the subject will never suspect
any foul play.
If the subject never suspects any foul play, he has no
reason to talk about such things later. If anything,
because he talked to the person on the telephone, he
gets more of an effect than the audience.
All he has heard so far is that each title is strategically
chosen to influence the person on the phone, so
naturally that is all he is expecting.
The only other change to the routine, from this point
up until the reveal, is instead of having the subject
(David), recite a sentence to the person on the phone,
you will have him recite the title that the audience
selected.
The purpose of having the title recited is to keep the
title fresh in the audience’s mind and this will also
help sell that the title is what is influencing the person
on the telephone.
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We shall now fast forward to the reveal.
This is where we are going to play on the audience’s
assumption a little more.
The thing I was aiming for was to have the subject
assume the reveal of the title is a statement and the
audience assume that is a prediction.
This is what I write as the prediction.
‘The book will be based on the life of the Mental
Merkin, this will influence the male on the telephone
to choose, page 12 and the word Dust’.
Let’s have a look at this reveal from the audience’s
perspective.
The audience are under the assumption that the books
are totally different and you have somehow predicted
the title they would choose before the show even
started!
This will also set in stone the reveal of what was said
on the telephone and adds another layer of deception
to the routine as a whole.
If you look at things from the subject’s perspective,
when he reads the easel he sees the first bit as a
statement. In his mind the only thing you attempted
to do was influence the person on the phone and you
succeeded!
Everything else in his mind is irrelevant; why would
he feel the need to mention anything about the titles
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of the books? The only thing going on in his mind is
how fair everything was.
You have no need to worry about anyone from the
audience going up to the subject and asking what the
titles of the books were either. It’s such a weird
question to ask and earlier we did something that
would stop this moment ever occurring.
We had the subject confirm all the titles were
different, we let the audience choose one of the titles
and it was read out loud. We proceeded to name two
more titles (The catcher in the rye and the Bible).
For the above reasons, you can see why this routine
plays so strongly.
This method relies strongly on verbal direction and
good subject control, verbal direction is as good a
method as any psychical method and should not be
avoided.
I have used it many times, for many different effects
and it very much suits my style. One of the main
reasons this opener made it into the book, is that it
really helps tie in with some thoughts of mine and this
is a good point of reference.
Credits/ Inspirations
Barrie Richardson (I love his “Lazy mentalist”
effect and his use of dual reality).
Kenton Knepper for his use of verbal wizardry
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Alternative Method
We will be using a very similar envelope to the one
found in Anneman’s Practical Mental Magic (with a
few adjustments).
To construct the two way envelope you will need.
Two, size 6 Seed envelopes, (these are the best type of
envelopes).
Post it glue.
Scissors.
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Take one of the envelopes and cut all the way around
it. If you have done this correct the flap and the back
of the envelope will be loose.
Remove the loose pieces; keeping the address side of
the envelope, we will call this piece the ‘divide’.
You may need to trim the divide a little so it slides
snugly into the un-attacked envelope.
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Push the divide as far into the envelope as far as it will
go.
You may have noticed that the piece you have slid into
the envelope slightly over hangs the lip of the un-
attacked envelope
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We do not want this! If this occurs, slide the divide
out and trim it until it sits in the envelope as depicted
below.
If you squeeze the envelope, and look into it, it will
look like this.
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When the divide fits snugly, slide it out and apply a
small layer of glue as depicted in the picture below.
Flip over the divide, as shown in the picture below (do
not place back onto the table) and slide it back into
the un-attacked envelope. The glued side goes right
down into the bottom of the envelope.
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Wait till the glue dries, look at what you have, you will
notice that you have a partitioned envelope. Lay the
envelope onto the table, Slide a book title facedown
into the partition that is closest to you.
Apply a small amount of glue in the place depicted in
the above picture, then seal that partition shut.
Mark the envelope with a little x (on the side of the
envelope with the forced book title in).
This will ensure you cut the correct side of the
envelope and will ensure that the title is orientated
correctly when it is removed later.
You will need to prepare five of these envelopes, each
five containing a force title in the secret pocket and a
random series of titles in the other pocket.
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In essence, depending on which end of the envelope
you cut, depends which title will fall out. In
performance you will handle things a little differently.
The main difference is that you never let the audience
see inside the envelopes until after they have voted on
an envelope.
For example, we will say the audience has voted on
envelope number one.
You cut the four envelopes to reveal four different
titles (opening the non force side) and then the
envelope the audience chose you would then cut on
the side with the little x.
I would recommend screwing up each envelope after
opening to get rid of the evidence and play on the
audience’s assumption they really are empty.
Credits/ Inspirations
Annemann’s three way out envelope
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The confirmation principle
This principle I hope will change your entire thinking!
This principle came into existence after hating having
to ask volunteers to think of things and then revealing
them.
For example, if I was a real mind reader why would I
ask people to think of things? I would be telling
people what is already inside their mind.
So here was my solution to the problem.
If I was performing a routine where I wanted someone
to think of a name I would use this.
Address the subject, (for example sake the subject is
male).
Performer: “The thing I am sensing when I
look at you is that there are several
subconscious memories in the back of your
mind. I am receiving one more so than the
rest.
In this memory you are twelve or thirteen
and you are playing a game. I think this is a
game of hide and go seek and I see someone
else in the picture with you.
This is a best friend from school you know
who this is correct?”
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This is a very clever way to ask someone to think of a
name. More importantly you are not just prompting
the subject to think of a name, when the subject says
“Yes” (confirming they know the person) from the
audience’s perspective, they are confirming that this
memory actually took place!
You are getting great hits before you have even started
the routine. Another plus this principle has, is that if
you asked someone to write the name down (so they
cannot deviate from the person you are seeing) people
believe you already know who the person is.
Therefore, the peeking process is never suspected and
there is no heat on the billet.
Why would anyone ever suspect you of needing to
peek something you already clearly know?
There is a difference in script when performing for a
female. Instead of saying you are twelve/thirteen and
playing hide and go seek. You say
“I am sensing that in this memory you are
seven or eight and you are playing jump
rope. There is also another person in this
memory, a best friend. You know who this
person is correct?”
If you wanted to get them to think of a place you could
use this.
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Performer: “I am sensing that there is a
place in your mind that holds a lot of
emotional significance. This place you visited
when you were a child, you know where I am
talking about correct?”
Again ending with correct? ensures they have to give
you a yes or no answer. Essentially you are prompting
them to say yes.
This is only the tip of the iceberg with this principle.
I will give you an extreme use of this principle.
Use the confirmation principle to push someone
towards thinking of name (as described earlier).
Apply Peek (or data extraction method)
Address the subject,
Performer: “I don’t want you to smirk or
give anything away; I only want you when I
ask, to just answer yes or no, but only when I
ask.
I am going to use devious means to get you to
reveal the name.
Ok, I see travel, erm Spain. This person is a
singer, no an actor, it’s a male yes?”
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{Say the last sentence fluently, not giving the subject
any chance to respond until you ask the question
about the sex of the person in question.
When the subject say’s yes, (just answering if the
person is male) as far as the audience are concerned
that is all the confirmation they need for the travel,
Spain and actor hits.}
You are creating hits where there are none.
So instead of asking for a name and then revealing it
this is what happens.
(From the perspective of the audience)
You have picked up on a memory, honed in on that
memory, told them the age they were in that memory,
told them what they were doing in the memory and
told them you see someone in the memory with them.
They confirm all this to be true, you then go on to give
them details of the person they are thinking of and
finish by revealing the name. The subject will be fully
shocked at the reveal, which will really sell the fact
you picked up on all of the other pieces of
information!
Sometimes restricting the subject talking can be as
important as letting them sing like a canary.
I will offer a simple experiment to try out on people.
This will prove just how effective changing the pretext
of a conversation can be.
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{This is nothing more than a little test to show you
how the brain can controlled by pre-text.}
Say to a friend/partner (nonchalantly)
Performer: “Can I tell you a joke?”
Friend: “Go on then”.
Smirk like you know something they don’t
Performer: “What’s the difference between
a truck and a child’s bicycle?”
I will be willing to bet the answer will be
“I don’t know”.
By starting with the line about telling a joke, all logic
goes out of the window.
This shows you how one sentence can influence the
way someone answers. When you get your mind
around this, the possibilities are endless.
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Seven bald keys
Effect
A female member of the audience is asked to stand.
The performer notices she is wearing a lovely looking
wedding ring.
This lady (we will call Amy) is asked if she is
comfortable being blindfolded, looking rather puzzled
the woman says she is fine with it and the performer
proceeds to blindfold her.
The performer explains that she is about to perform
an amazing feat based on instincts and she is going to
use her senses to accomplish this feat.
The performer tells Amy he is going to briefly borrow
her wedding ring. The performer removes the ring, it
is handed directly to a random member of the
audience (we will call him Sam) to inspect and
remembers the rings qualities.
Once the process of examining the ring is complete,
Sam is asked to approach a table and chairs (on the
stage) and take a seat. Sam’s attention is directed to
an open padlock on the table, he is instructed to place
the ring on the clasp and lock the padlock.
He is then asked to inspect the padlock and ensure it
is solidly locked (no trick locks). Amy is then led to the
table by the performer and seated also.
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She is told that her ring is locked on a padlock in-front
of her and that she is going to locate the key that
opens that lock. Just shy of finishing his sentence the
performer removes seven pay envelopes from his
pocket and hands them to Sam.
He asks Sam to mix the envelopes as he desires and
then lay them out in a line in front of Amy. It is
explained to the pair that in each envelope there is a
different key; that Amy is going to try to mentally
receive which of the seven envelopes contains the key
that opens the padlock.
She cannot be aided by sight; everything is going to be
done based purely on feelings. She is asked to deduce
which envelope she believes contains the correct key.
She hovers her hands over each envelope, she never
touches them, is never prompted and she has
completely free choice of envelope.
She stops above one and says,
Amy: “I think it’s in this one!”
The other envelopes are opened by Sam one by one by
one and the six keys are tried in the padlock, none of
them open the padlock.
There is one envelope left in front of Amy (the one she
selected), the audience are addressed.
Performer: “In a moment if the key inside
this envelope opens the padlock give Amy a
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massive, massive round of applause. If on the
other hand it doesn’t, boo me for making an
absolute muck up of things.”
The envelope is handed to Sam to open (the
performer never touches the key), the key is placed
into the lock and it opens!
The audience erupt into wild applause. Amy’s
blindfold is removed and she is handed back her ring.
Both subjects get seated to another round of applause.
Notes* the ring is inspected, the padlock is inspected,
each key is tried in the lock by the second subject
(Sam), the performer never swaps any keys and the
envelopes are not gimmicked in anyway.
Breakdown
You will need a few things for this effect, once you
have purchased these cheap items they will last you a
life time!
You will need
Two identical padlocks.
Six spare keys that open one of the padlocks.
Seven manila (or black) envelopes and
Two expensive looking dress rings.
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{You can pick up cheap dress rings that look
expensive for next to nothing; just ensure the rings
look like the real deal}.
We are not going to swap any keys, I found this
illogical as that is where the entirety of the heat is.
Instead we are going to swap the lock out!
I know switching a lock out has already been touched
upon, but I have added several layers of deception
that will destroy any possibility of anyone ever
thinking the lock was swapped. That is what makes
this routine ultimately valuable.
To prepare, lock one of the rings onto the padlock that
has the seven keys (the key it came with and six
spares). It is important you lock the dress ring on the
correct padlock.
On the inside of your left jacket pocket place a folded
envelope, you will create what I call “A temporary
two out pocket”.
When you look in the pocket you will notice two
partitions.
The side closest to the opening of the pocket (and your
body) we will call pouch A, the other side we will call
B.
Place the prepared padlock into your two out pocket,
in side A. Leaving the ring hanging out of the pocket
(like the clip of the pen earlier on).
This will be important for switching the lock later.
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Lay the other padlock (clasp open) on the table on the
stage. Place the key for this lock in your box (or
anywhere) other than your persons. You do not need
it during the routine.
Finger palm the duplicate dress ring in your right
hand.
The first stage is choosing a suitable candidate.
The only thing you are looking for in this routine is
someone with a ring on, don’t point out that this is
why you are looking for the subject.
{This will prematurely bring attention to the ring and
that is one thing we do not want}.
The wedding ring is found on the left hand (This
sounds patronising but it will make sense why I have
pointed this out in a moment).
When you have your suitable subject, ask them to
stand, take their name (we will stick with Amy as in
the description. Make sure the subject is comfortable
being blindfolded.
Blindfold the subject.
Take hold of the underneath of subject’s left wrist,
with your right hand (the hand containing the finger
palmed ring.
{The finger palmed dress ring is now hidden under
the subject’s wrist.}
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Ask them if it is ok you borrow their ring briefly.
As you say the word ring, place two fingers from your
free hand (left) over the top of their ring. (So you are
covering the ring).
{It almost looks like you are taking the rings pulse.
If you have come across as warming, trust worthy and
an over all nice person, no request will be too big}.
The audience will not see the touch as anything out of
the ordinary, to them you are just clarifying by touch
(to a blinded person) what you want to use.
The real reason for placing your fingers on top of the
ring is to hide what it looks like to anyone in the near
vicinity.
When she says it is fine, which she most certainly will
not only because you are trusting but more
importantly she is blindfolded and she might as well
now she has started.
This is where we will employ a switch.
Let’s recap on our current positioning. Your right
hand is under the subject’s wrist containing a dress
ring; two of the fingers on your left hand are covering
the subjects ring.
Firstly loosen your grip on the subject’s wrist a little,
place your left hand around the ring.
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Start to slide the ring off of the finger; when it gets
half way down the finger, simultaneously slide down
the right hand that was holding the wrist
As the ring pops off the end of the subject’s finger,
both your hands will meet.
(The left hand will be covering the right hand)
Let your right hand drop open displaying the dress
ring.
As you part your hands, drop your left hand to your
side retaining the subject’s ring in a finger palm and
simultaneously lift your right hand up and push your
ring into the Annemann billet grip.
(Hold the ring at the tips of the first and middle
finger)
Lift the right hand up, this will naturally be followed
by the attention of the audience and they will see a
ring at the tips of your fingers.
Don’t say anything; let the audience make the
assumption that it is the subject’s ring.
{Don’t be tempted to point out the fact it is the
subject’s ring, it is overkill. You are bringing
unnecessary heat to the ring; you want to create a
sense of naturalism.
The first subject (Amy) cannot see the ring therefore
she can never say it isn’t hers.}
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Keeping the ring held up, approach a member of the
audience.
Performer: “You look like a trustworthy
character, hold your hands out sir”.
Turn your right hand (the hand holding the ring)
palm up, drop the ring into the subject’s open hands.
{This will suggest display your hands are empty
without having to say anything.}
Performer: “I’m Pete, what is your name
trustworthy looking sir?”
{This is a very social way to ask for the subject’s name,
it will create a small laugh but more importantly take
the attention away from the ring. The ring is an
important part of this routine but for now we want to
make it seem unimportant and as though we have not
started performing anything yet.}
Subject: “Hi Pete, I am Sam”.
{The response you get will often be more polite and
lengthy than them just responding their name. Try it,
it works!}
Performer: “Trustworthy Sam, please
inspect the ring, take in all its qualities and
most of all be very careful as it is very
important to Amy”.
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{Note* I say the ring is very important to Amy, this is
a very subtle way to say the ring is Amy’s, at the same
time it puts to bed any worries Amy has, as it is clear I
care about the ring’s well being.
Sam, the audience and Amy now believe Sam is now
examining Amy’s ring.}
While Sam is examining the ring, walk back over to
Amy and address the audience while doing so.
Performer: “How many people by show of
hands, have heard that if we lose our sight,
our other senses after a short amount of time
heighten to the point they almost replace the
sight sense?”
{Of course people will have heard of this, but
something rather special should take place here, it is a
principle known as the hysteria of masses.
A few people will raise their hands, which will evoke
other members of the audience (who do not want to
appear stupid to their peers) to raise their hands also.
This is great to us; for all the people in the audience
who have not heard of this, it is confirmed true by a
portion of the audience. Again, we are using the
confirmation of a trust worthy source to our
advantage.}
While the audiences’ hands are in the air, the
audience will naturally be looking amongst
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themselves to see who has their hands up and this
gives us the opportunity to place our hand in our
pocket briefly and dump the subjects ring.
Important note*
Ensure the pocket is empty; remember that this is
someone’s prized possession. I take no responsibility
for you losing or damaging the ring.
The scripting about the senses heightening is
strategically placed to play on the audiences’
assumptions.
They will assume because Amy has been blindfolded
for a while, her senses will be heightening.}
Ask Amy if she is ok.
{This just lets her know we have not forgotten about
her.}
Performer: “Sam, have you looked at the
ring?”
Sam: “Yeah”
Performer: “For sake of argument, if I took
that ring from you would you recognise it
again?”
{This line will seem unimportant now, but later this
will become very important.}
Sam: “Of course”.
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Performer: “Ok, trustworthy Sam, can you
approach the table on the stage. (Pause for a
few seconds).
Wait Sam, I would like you imagine you are
invisible and try get to the table without
being seen”.
{This will create a laugh, which in my show is a very
important thing. It makes the experience a lot more
enjoyable for the audience. I am not saying act like a
clown but creating a relaxed atmosphere is very
important.}
One of two things will happen, one Sam will be a good
sport and literally try to stealth down to the table on
the stage (which happens more frequently than you
would imagine.)
If he does this make sure you get the audience to give
him a massive round of applause.
The other scenario is he will just stand there and wet
himself; (just kidding) he will look like he doesn’t
know what to do.
In this situation address him.
Performer: “I am only joking Sam”.
Address the audience,
Performer: “It’s a very nerve wracking
experience getting up in front of all these
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people, give Sam a round of applause for his
courage as he makes his way to the stage”.
This implies to him he is to start to make his way to
the stage. In either scenario we are conditioning the
audience to give a round of applause on cue. This is
another thing that will be important later.}
As you see Sam approaching the table, if the applause
is still going kill the applause.
{You are taking control of every aspect of the show,
which is important.}
Address Sam,
Performer: “You will notice upon the table
is a padlock, will you take Amy’s ring, lock it
on the Padlock and just double check it is
solidly locked. I know I said this earlier but
please be careful with Amy’s ring while doing
this”.
{I start to refer to the ring as Amy’s ring now but more
importantly I remind him to be careful. This subtly
suggests the ring is expensive and valuable.}
While he is doing this approach Amy, before taking
her arm address her (you do not want to shock her).
Performer: “Amy I am going to take your
arm and lead you to the stage”.
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When you approach the table and chairs help Amy
take a seat and sit next to her.
{In writing it may seem like a lot of time has passed to
get the routine on its way, in performance trust me its
not.}
Address Amy,
Performer: “Amy, your ring is solidly
locked onto a padlock in front of you and in
my pocket I have seven envelopes each
containing a key”.
Remove the envelopes.
Performer: “One of these envelopes contains
the key that opens that padlock. Sam can you
give these envelopes a mix please”.
Hand the envelopes to Sam.
When he is done mixing them instruct him to lay
them in a line in front of Amy.
Take hold of Amy’s wrist and hover her hand over the
first envelope.
Instruct Sam to take Amy’s wrist and hover it over
each envelope for a couple of seconds.
Address Amy.
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Performer: “Amy, Sam is going to hover
your hand over each envelope in turn; I want
you to say now over the top of two envelopes
you believe may contain the key that opens
the padlock
Nod if you understand Amy”.
{This will ensure she understands she is to select two
envelopes.}
Let her select the two envelopes and when she has,
ask Sam to collect the rest up and open them one by
one and try them in the lock.
None of them open the lock, address Amy.
Performer: “You have done fantastic so far
Amy; you have successfully eliminated five
keys. In front of you on the table there are the
two envelopes that you selected and inside
one of them envelopes there is the key that
unlocks your ring”.
Address the audience.
Performer: “In a few seconds Amy is going
to select the envelope she believes has the key
is inside. The envelope she does not choose
will be opened and if that key does not open
the padlock I want you to give Amy a massive
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round of applause to let her know she has
successfully chosen the envelope with the
correct key inside”.
Both of Amy’s arms are positioned over an envelope,
address her.
Performer: “Amy, you hands are positioned
over two envelopes. You are going to get five
seconds of complete silence to make a
decision. After the five seconds have passed I
want you to pick up the envelope you believe
contains the key that opens the lock.
When you have done this, the envelope that is
left upon the table will be picked up and if the
key inside that envelope does not open the
lock, that tells us you are holding the key that
does”.
Address the audience.
Performer: “Remember if the key does not
open the lock we want a round of applause to
let Amy know she is holding the correct
envelope.
We will give her five seconds of complete
silence starting now”.
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Hold your hand up displaying five fingers, as each
second passes drop a finger.
After the five seconds pass, tell Amy to make a
decision.
(She can choose any).
She will leave one envelope on the table, instruct Sam
to pick that envelope up and try it in the lock.
When he has tried it and it wont open, you may get a
staggered round of applause from the audience. This
is exactly what we are looking for, take the lock off of
Sam with the key and hold it above your head as
though to demonstrate largely it will not open.
Cut the round of applause, pull the key out and throw
it on the floor.
Execute this while walking toward the audience.
Address the audience,
Performer: “I know what some of you are
thinking, maybe we are being lied to, maybe
all the keys don’t fit the padlock and you
would be entitled to think that”.
Here is where we will switch the lock.
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The switch
Hold the lock between the thumb and forefinger.
Place the lock into compartment B of the two out
pocket.
Release the grip of the thumb and forefinger, while
simultaneously putting the tip of the middle finger
into the ring in compartment A.
Move the thumb to middle finger and pull out the
duplicate lock and ring.
The move needs to be performed nonchalantly; openly
perform the pocket switch. After the switch is
complete, pull a confused face. This will portray that
you are wondering why you went to put the lock into
your pocket in the first place.
Address Sam,
Performer: “Sam bring the envelope Amy is
holding over here and come and take a hold
of Amy’s ring”.
{Note I never asked Sam to take the padlock, I told
him to take Amy’s ring. This subtly suggests to the
audience there is no way the lock could have been
changed as Amy’s ring is solidly locked onto it.
This layer of deception is beautiful as far as logic goes.
The ring on the lock is the only thing we ever need to
convince even the smartest thinkers that there is no
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way the lock could be swapped. I mean come on; there
is only one of Amy’s ring right?
Address Sam,
Performer: “Open the envelope, remove the
key and insert it into the lock but do not turn
it”.
Wait a few seconds for him to complete the
Instructions. Address the audience,
Performer: “I want you all to be as quiet as
a mouse, Sam is going to turn the lock and I
want to be able to hear it open.
If the key does open the lock, that proves that
against all odds Amy has located the key and
that does deserve a massive round of
applause.
On the other hand if the lock does not open,
boo me for making a complete mess of
things”.
Address Sam,
Performer: “Unlock it when I say Sam”.
Wait for the room to become silent, after a few
seconds of silence nod at Sam.
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{Do not say anything this will break the silence we
have created and that is one thing we do not want.}
As soon as you here the lock click, cue the audience
for applause. Take ring and lock off of Sam and show
them off (one in each hand).
Ask Sam to return to his seat during the applause.
Place the lock and ring in your right trouser pocket,
while you are in the pocket ditch the lock and dress
ring and remove Amy’s ring.
Approach Amy, remove her blindfold and address her.
Performer: “Amy you did fantastic, you
have most certainly been the star of tonight’s
show”.
Address the audience,
Performer: “I am going to help Amy back to
her seat as she may be a little disorientated,
give her a round of applause for being so
wonderful!”
As you are leading Amy to her seat, use Dunninger’s
ploy and under the guise of the applause hand her the
ring and make sure she is ok.
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Performance
The performer addresses the audience,
Performer: “The story I am about to tell you
is very much true. This is the tale of a little
girl named Lilly. Right from birth Lilly had a
hard life, losing her mother and being
unfortunate to be born blind.
From day one she had to rely on her other
senses as an aid to survival. Raised by her
father a rich doctor, who she loved dearly,
she had a happy childhood.
During her early teenage years Lilly
developed a strange connection with a family
air-loom, a pocket watch that had been
handed down the family from generation to
generation.
Frequently her father took the watch from
her and hid it in the most obscure places
around the house to ensure its well being and
Lilly always managed to find it.
It became than much of an annoyance to
Lilly’s father that one day he locked the watch
in his safe.
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The watch stayed in the safe for many years
and when Lilly’s father was on his death bed
he beckoned Lilly to his side and took her
hand.
Lilly instantly felt her father’s touch was cold
and she knew his hand contained the watch.
He spoke to her softly,
“Look after this watch Lilly; it has been in the
family for such a long time.
Please do not miss me when I have gone,
whenever you hold that watch in your hand
you will always know I am close by...I love
you Lilly”.
With that he took his final breath and fell into
a long sleep.
Lilly wept for several days and whenever she
clutched the watch tight she got the sense her
father was watching her. Over the next few
years whenever Lilly felt down she clutched
the watch and the sad emotions disappeared.
One day while Lilly was out, an opportunist
broke into the house stealing several antique
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items; amongst the items were the watch.
Lilly was distraught.
Every night for several weeks when Lilly
slept she kept getting an overwhelming urge
to visit Paris. One night the urges got so
strong that she was awakened and she knew
what she had to do. She had to indulge the
urge. Being a wealthy young woman, she
booked the flight and arrived in Paris several
hours later.
Leaving the airport, she followed her
instincts and after fifteen minutes of walking
led by her intuition alone she was led to a
small shop. She entered the shop, instantly
being attacked by a musky smell.
This did not bother her, her mind started to
race as she was lead by an apparent force
through the store. Winding up and down the
aisles she stopped in the corner of the store.
Her hand became animated and delved into a
box of its own accord. It started to rummage
through the mounds of junk in the box until it
suddenly stopped.
Her fingers started to wander slowly like a
creeping spider. Until they touched upon a
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cold, circular metallic object. The moment her
fingers touched the watch she instantly felt
her father’s presence.
Out of every country in the world, every
single shop in that country and out of every
inch of that shop she was led to the watch!
We will never know if it was the connection
Lilly had with the watch or her father’s
presence that made her able against all odds
to track it down.
It is in my belief that it was the strongest of
all emotions that led her to the watch.
Love.
I would like to demonstrate my findings.
You madam, would you mind helping me out
for a few moments?”
Subject: “Ok”.
Performer: “Hi I am Pete, What is your
name?”
Subject: “Amy”.
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Performer: “Hi Amy, I am going to
blindfold you for just a few moments if that is
ok?”
Amy: “No Problems”.
Blindfold Amy.
Performer: “Amy, I promise you I will not
do anything untoward. This is all about trust.
May I borrow your ring?”
Amy: “Sure”.
(Perform ring swap)
Approach a random male member of the audience.
Performer: “You look like a trustworthy
character, hold your hands out sir”.
Performer: “I’m Pete, what is your name
trustworthy
Subject: “Hi Pete, I am Sam”.
Performer: “Trustworthy Sam, please
inspect the ring, take in all its qualities and
most of all be very careful as it is very
important to Amy”.
Performer: “How many people by show of
hands, have heard that if we lose our sight,
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our other senses after a short amount of time
heighten to the point they almost replace the
sight sense?”
Wait for the audience’s response.
Performer: “Are you ok Amy?”
Amy: “Yeah I am fine”.
Performer: “Sam, have you looked at the
ring?”
Sam: “Yeah”
Performer: “For the sake of argument, if I
took that ring from you, would you recognise
it again?”
Sam: “Of course”.
Performer: “Ok, trustworthy Sam, can you
approach the table on the stage. (Pause for a
few seconds).
Wait Sam, I would like you imagine you are
invisible and try get to the table without
being seen”.
One of two things can happen here.
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Performer: I am only joking Sam, its a very
nerve wracking experience getting up in front
of all these people give him a round of
applause for his courage as he makes his way
to the stage”.
When Sam reaches the stage the performer addresses
him.
Performer: “You will notice upon the table
is a padlock, will you take Amy’s ring and
lock it on the Padlock and just double check it
is solidly locked. I know I said this earlier but
please be careful with the ring while doing
this”.
Performer: “Amy I am going to take your
arm and lead you to the stage”.
Help Amy take a seat.
Performer: “Amy, your ring is solidly
locked onto a padlock in front of you and in
my pocket I have seven envelopes each
containing a key”.
Remove the envelopes.
Performer: “One of these envelopes contains
the key that opens that padlock. Sam can you
give these envelopes a mix please”.
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Hand the envelopes to Sam and let him mix them.
Performer: “I would like you to lay them
out in a line in front of Amy for me”.
The performer waits till Sam lays the envelopes out
and then takes hold of Amy’s wrist and hovers it over
the first envelope in the succession.
Performer: “Sam, I would like you to take
hold of Amy’s wrist and hover it from
envelope to envelope”.
The performer addresses Amy.
Performer: “Amy, Sam is going to hover
your hand over each envelope in turn; I want
you to say now over the top of two envelopes
you believe may contain the key that opens
the padlock. Nod if you understand Amy”.
Amy selects two envelopes and the other five are
collected and handed to Sam.
Performer: “Sam, take the keys one at a
time out of each envelope and try them in the
lock”.
None of the keys fit.
Performer: “You have done fantastic so far
Amy; you have successfully eliminated five
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keys. In front of you on the table there are the
two envelopes and inside one of the envelopes
there is the key that unlocks your ring”.
The performer addresses the audience.
Performer: “In a few seconds Amy is going
to select the envelope she believes has the key
is inside. The envelope she does not choose
will be opened and if that key does not open
the padlock I want you to give Amy a massive
round of applause to let her know she has
successfully chosen the correct envelope”.
Both of Amy’s arms are positioned over an envelope,
address her.
Performer: “Amy, you hands are positioned
over two envelopes. You are going to get five
seconds of complete silence to make a
decision. After the five seconds have passed I
want you to pick up the envelope you believe
contains the key that opens the lock.
Address the audience.
When you have done this, the envelope that is
left upon the table will be picked up and if the
key inside it does not open the lock that tells
us you are holding the key that does”.
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Address the audience.
Performer: “Remember if the key does not
open the lock we want a round of applause to
let Amy know she is holding the correct
envelope.
We will give her five seconds of silence
starting now”.
The performer holds his hand up displaying five
fingers, as each second passes he drops a finger.
Performer: “Go with your instincts Amy
select one”.
The envelope she does not choose is opened and the
key is tried in the lock to prove it does not fit.
The audience applaud.
Cut the applause short and addresses the audience,
Performer: “I know what some of you are
thinking, maybe we are being lied to, maybe
all the keys don’t fit the padlock and you
would be entitled to think that”.
Switch the lock.
The performer addresses Sam,
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Performer: “Open the envelope, remove the
key and insert it into the lock but do not turn
it”.
The performer waits a few seconds for him to
complete the Instructions.
The performer then addresses the audience,
Performer: “I want you all to be as quiet as
a mouse, Sam is going to turn the lock and I
want to be able to hear it open.
If the key does open the lock, that proves that
against all odds Amy has located the key and
that does deserve a massive round of
applause.
On the other hand if the lock does not open,
boo me for making a pig’s ear out of things”.
Address Sam,
Performer: “Unlock it when I say Sam”.
The room goes completely silent.
Lock: “CLICK!”
The audience go mad, Sam returns to his seat.
Ditch dummy ring.
Remove Amy’s blindfold and addresses her.
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Performer: “Amy you did fantastic, you
have most certainly been the star of tonight’s
show”.
Address the audience,
Performer: “I am going to help Amy back to
her seat as she may be a little disorientated,
give her a round of applause for being so
wonderful!”
Credits/ Inspirations
Annemann - Seven keys to the bald plate
Henry Fetsch - Jinx nº34
Pablo Amira - Intuition key
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Pray proceed
This is very simple but so direct. This is about 95%
accurate and is a lovely little lead into any
psychological type routine.
Effect
The performer addresses the audience,
Performer: “When I was a child, I was
fascinated by Sherlock Holmes. I loved the
way he could be looking into a book, when a
client arrived and as they walked into the
room he would command them to stop.
They would stop dead and he would tell them
without ever looking up or facing them that
they should come no further. They would
stand looking puzzled for a few seconds and
while continuing to read Sherlock would tell
them that they are going to mucky the freshly
washed rugs.
The client would look down at his boots and
then ask Holmes how he knew they were
muddy without ever looking up. Sherlock
ignoring the question would peer over the top
of the book and ask the client how the
orchard is blossoming at this time of year.
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Looking white as a ghost the client would
reply (often stuttering) how in the world did
you know I had just come from there?
Holmes would pause for a few seconds and
then respond that it was all elementary.
Standing up sharply Holmes would explain
that as soon as the door opened he got a
strong smell of mildew and bramble vine.
He proceeded to say that those smells only
emit from trees, trees that only grow in the
orchard and because of the lousy weather
over the last couple of days, he came to the
deduction the orchard would be muddy.
He smiled with content at how he had
correctly put two and two together and
would proceed to ask the client what they
needed.
When I realised Sherlock Holmes was a
fictional character I was devastated. None
the less I decided that just because he was not
a real character did not mean I couldn’t
adore his traits”.
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The performer then points to three members of the
audience and asks them to stand. (This could be any
number).
When they start to stand the performer turns so his
back is facing the three subjects.
He asks them their names and they respond
He instantly (without ever having to look) tells each
one of the subject which hand they use to write with.
Notes* they never write anything down; you never ask
them and no instant stooges.
You don’t have to have met the subjects before and
they are never subjected to any tests.
Breakdown
The method for this is ultra simple and is something
that is totally overlooked.
The method is the subject’s watch.
If the subject wears the watch on the Left wrist, they
are Right handed. If they wear it on the Right wrist
they are Left handed.
All you need to do is look around the audience see
who is wearing a watch and then ask them to stand.
It’s always nice to pick two left handed people. This
will blow out any theories that it was just luck.
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Additional notes
While I know revealing methods to an audience is
usually frowned upon, in this situation I think it
serves a very strong purpose.
It gives the audience a visual pseudo explanation. It
aids in implying (without saying) this is how
everything I do is performed.
Credits/ Influences
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes
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Get busy living or get busy
dying
This plays out beautifully; it has become a favourite of
mine and still makes me smile whenever I perform it.
It plays out exactly as described and is practically self
working
Effect
Five subjects are selected entirely at random and are
invited to join performer on stage. The performer then
displays five cards, four that say living on and a fifth
that says dead.
These are displayed openly, handed out for
examination and mixed facedown by any random
audience member. The cards are then distributed to
the five members on the stage.
(The performer never touches the cards).
It is explained to the five volunteers that they are to
peek at the card they have and the only thing they are
to do, is remember if they are thinking of a living or a
dead card.
The cards are handed down towards the end of the
five volunteers and placed onto the floor (facedown).
(The performer never goes near the cards).
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The performer explains that by using his powers of
deduction, he is going to determine who is thinking of
a living card and who is thinking of dead.
After a few seconds of looking up and down the group,
the performer points to a subject and exclaims that
she looks too happy to be thinking of a dead person
and asks her to return to her seat if she is thinking of a
living person.
(She returns to the audience).
The performer then addresses the female he just sent
back to the audience,
Performer: “I am not asking you to think of
anything now; I just want you to answer
honestly, when you were on stage you were
not thinking of anything in-particular
correct”.
Subject #1: “No”.
The performer then addresses the audience,
Performer: “The reason I asked this, is that
I wanted to point out something incredible
thing about the human mind. Sometimes
when given a small nonchalant piece of
information, we often take that information
and give it relevance.
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For example, if I was to mention the word
cold, you might think of a recent trip you
took and the weather there was freezing. You
might go as far as to remember going to the
top of the Eiffel tower and remember the frost
set across the cityscape”
The performer reiterates the fairness of events thus
far.
The performer addresses a subject,
Performer: “There is no way I could know
what you are thinking about?”
She confirms that there is no possibility.
The performer proceeds down the line of subjects and
suddenly doubles back.
Performer: “I don’t know why I am getting
this sense from you, but it’s almost as though
you are repeating a name over and over in
your mind as not to forget it”.
She looks bemused at this point.
Performer: Would the name be Steve?”
Subject: “yeah!” (She is completely shocked)
You are thinking of a living person take a seat.
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(She returns to her seat in the audience, to a round of
applause).
He asks the three remaining subjects to stand.
The performer looks confused and claims it is very
difficult from this point to work out who has got what.
He proposes to go back to old tried and tested means
of finding another person thinking of a living card.
He plays eeny, meeny, miny, moe and when his finger lands on the last person he say,
Performer: “Are you thinking of a living person?”
Much to the amusement of the audience he is!
Two subjects are now remaining (we will call one
Mary and the other John)
The performer addresses the pair,
Performer: “I want you to relax, drop your
eyes down for me and say nothing out loud
while I make some notes”.
The performer picks up a whiteboard (or large pad)
and faces it towards the audience.
Looking from subject to subject he starts to smirk.
The performer draws an arrow pointing to Mary, rubs
it out and then writes,
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“Childhood memory” (rubs it out).
“Wooded park” (rubs it out)
“Lost puppy” (Rubs it out)
“RUSTY?” (Pauses a few seconds and rubs it out).
He looks at the audience and shrugs.
The performer stands behind the subjects reminding
them to keep their eyes closed and heads facing
forwards.
He points over the top of the subject on the left (Mary)
proclaiming,
Performer: “I think this person is thinking
of living”.
The performer then points to the subject on the right
(John)
Performer: “This person is thinking of
dead”.
(Points left, “Living”, point’s right, “Dead”).
The performer addresses the audience,
Performer: “If I am correct about who is
thinking of what, let these two know by a
loud round of applause”.
The performer addresses Mary and john
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Performer: “In a moment if you hear a
round of applause that will be your cue to
take a seat back in the audience. If on the
other hand I do not get this right and I have
screwed it up, the audience will boo me. This
will be your cue to point and laugh!
Can the person thinking of living person raise
their arm in the air so everyone knows which
of you it is?”
Mary raises her arm and the audience applaud
vigorously.
Both subjects start to return to their seat, the
performer cuts the applause short (with a confused
look on his face).
Performer: “Mary, yes or no, in your
memory have you been thinking of a dog?”
Mary: “Yes”.
Performer: “Ok...What was that dog
called?”
Mary: “Rusty”.
The audience will be dumfounded!
This confirms that the performer had picked up on the
subconscious thoughts of a random subject and was
100% correct!
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Notes* No preshow, none of them ever writes
anything down, the performer never touches any of
the cards and every subject is selected at complete
random!
Breakdown
This effect is ultra simple and employs a simple
switch. This is the pad switch; it’s very easy to perform
but makes complete logical sense in performance.
You will need:
Ten business cards (separate these into two piles of
five)
Take one of the piles of business cards, on four of
them the word living and on the final card the word
dead.
The other five (we will call the prepped stack) are
prepared slightly differently.
On two cards write the word living, one card the
word dead.
Prepare one of the final two cards:
Think of a living person named Steve.
And on the final card write:
Think of a living dog named Rusty.
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You may be reading this and thinking !?!?!? right now,
but I promise everyone will get an effect and be
completely shocked!
You will also need a notepad gaffed so that the cover
on both sides is the same.
I use a spiral bound pad as the covers are easy to
remove.
Firstly let’s take a look at where the difference in effect
lies for all parties involved.
For two people (prompted) on stage, this is similar to
the four white balls and one black ball routine (max
maven kurotsuke). As they believe your only job is to
discover who is holding what card, why wouldn’t they
be impressed when you correctly nail it?
The audience will see so much more and you have
gone above and beyond the balls routine.
To the three volunteers on stage (none prompted),
they see what the audience sees and are used as pawns
(or props) for the greater game. They will always be
really shocked and help sell that everything is fair.
I will outline the switch, it is essentially very simple.
Take the five prepared cards and arrange them in this
order,
The Steve card, dead, living, Rusty and living.
Remember this order this is essential.
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Open the pad, place the stack face down and then
close it. Flip the pad over and lay it down this side up
(in the near vicinity).
Invite five random volunteers to join you on stage.
When the subjects are seated behind you, proceed to
bring out the un-prepped cards.
Performer: “You will notice only one of
these cards say the word dead on”.
You need not say more than that about them, just
openly display them one at a time so the audience can
clearly see each one in turn.
{This is very important, when the subjects receive the
cards they will never question anything, it stops what
I call a psychological buckle. Another thing to note
here, is that sometimes saying nothing at all, can be
just as important as saying everything.}
Hand the stack of cards to a random audience
member; ask him to mix them facedown until even he
does not know the order.
This is where we will employ a switch; the idea is to
create logic for using the pad.
This is the excuse I use.
After the audience member has examined and
shuffled the cards face down proclaim you will get him
an envelope to drop the cards into as you don’t want
to touch them.
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Check your pockets for an envelope with no success.
Look around and grab the book opening the front
cover.
Keep the book at the finger tips.
Performer: “Drop in the cards facedown for
me”.
Close the book and bring it towards your body, as you
turn toward the subjects flip the book over (the move
is hidden from the audience by your body).
Do this very openly and the subjects will never think
anything of it.
Walk towards the first subject in the row (the
volunteer on the far left).
Open the cover (revealing the prepped stack) and ask
the subject to take a card from the top of the stack
keeping it facedown at all times.
Repeat for the other four subjects.
We know that the first person (far left) is thinking of
living, the second Rusty, third living, fourth dead and
fifth Steve.
The majority of the work is now done.
This is where we work some verbal’s.
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Performer: “I would like each of you to peak
at the card you have, making sure your peers
cannot see it and just memorize it. When
you have done this pass the cards down
toward the end, keeping them facedown at all
times.
When they reach the end please place them
facedown on the floor”.
When this task is complete, explain to the audience
about your skills of deduction (It is always nice to use
the ‘pray proceed’ on the seated subjects). This early
on in the game all you need to explain is that you are
just going to deduce what each subject is thinking of.
Look up and down the line of subjects and point to the
women in the middle, let her know she is too happy to
be thinking of a dead person and send her to back to
her seat in the audience.
After she has just about reached her seat call her.
Performer: “I am not asking to think of
anything now; I just want you to answer
honestly, when you were on stage you were
not thinking of anything in-particular
correct”.
Subject #1: “No”.
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{If she says she was thinking of something excellent,
this is even better!
Ask her what it was she was thinking of, let her tell
you and finally ask her why. Try to get her to
emphasise she was thinking freely and was not led
there.
This is great for us as it confirms what we are about to
say.}
Addresses the audience,
Performer: “The reason I asked this, is that
I wanted to point out something incredible
thing about the human mind. Sometimes
when given a small nonchalant piece of
information, we often take that information
and give it relevance.
For example, if I was to mention the word
cold, you might think of a recent trip you
took and the weather there was freezing. You
might go as far as to remember going to the
top of the Eiffel tower and remember the frost
set across the cityscape.
Two things are going to happen at this point;
these volunteers will purposely start smiling
to throw me off and each one of you will start
to think of random thoughts.
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It’s completely natural”.
{I once performed this routine and the standing subject freaked out and asked how I knew she had been to Paris!
It’s safe to say luck sometimes plays a big part in
mentalism.}
Cont** Get busy living or get busy dying.
Much to the audience’s delight the onstage subjects
will either start smiling or make ridiculously obvious
attempts to hide a smile.
The more important subtlety here is that we have
suggested to the audience the subjects will now be
thinking of random thoughts.
Start to look up and down the subjects, cheekily
remind them how the cards were mixed randomly and
then address one of the subjects and get her to
confirm there is no way anyone could know what she
is thinking of.
Place your hand above each subjects head in turn (this
gives the audience a visible process), after you have
done this to the person thinking of Steve (just as you
are about to go to the next subject) double back.
Performer: “It’s almost like you are
repeating a persons name in your mind over
and over as though not to forget it, you are
thinking of a name correct?”
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{Say it nonchalantly, she can only respond yes. More
importantly, from the audience’s perspective she has
confirmed that she was in-fact repeating a name in
her mind. (The confirmation principle)}
Performer: “This person is a creative
person, a celebrity... an actor, it’s a male
yes?”
{This is where we use the confirmation principle. She
answers yes to the question about whether the person
is male.
From the audience’s perspective she confirms she is
thinking of a celebrity.
Because she was prompted a name she believes the
pre-script to be you telling her what the person she is
thinking of does.
Bob Cassidy gave me an excellent thought, use
celebrities in living and dead tests as not to upset
anyone.
This got me thinking and I changed the concept a
little.
If I have her confirm she is thinking of someone called
Steve, her husband (or partner) may think she is
thinking of another man and almost prompts him to
question her.
If I Say it is a celebrity, no one has any reason to ask
her why she thought of a celebrity.
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I would suggest using well known names like Orlando
(Orlando Bloom), or something that doesn’t give the
urge or need to ask why she was thinking that.
Thanks Bob!}
It’s time to kill two birds with one stone. The name
and card reveal. I am a massive fan of consistency so I
introduce my drawing pad.
I write,
You are thinking of a living card. Steve?
I hand the subject the pad facedown and ask her to
state the name aloud she is thinking of.
She will obviously say Steve.
I ask her to reveal what’s on the pad, the audience will
freak out and simultaneously she will be shocked (as
in her eyes you correctly guessed the card she peeked
at.
{If you don’t think she will act shocked, people still
freak out at pick a card tricks when the card is
revealed, trust me she will sell the effect for you.}
Ask her to return to her seat.
You are now left with three subjects.
For now we will call them,
Dead, Rusty and living.
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Ask the subjects to stand and move closer together.
It is time to employ the eeny, meeny, miny, moe phase
of the routine.
We know that the last person in the three is thinking
of living, we want to make sure it ends on him.
Start by counting from him
I will try explaining the rhyme process,
Living dead Rusty
“Eeny meeny miny
moe catcha tiger
Bythe toe ifit
screams letit go
eeny meeny miny
moe”.
As you say each word you point to the next subject.
You can see the words end on the last living person.
State as you land on that person (directly after saying
moe).
Performer: “If you are thinking of a living
person, return to the audience”.
We are now down to two subjects; this is where things
get a little more interesting.
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I ask the subjects to take a seat and close their eyes.
I place my hands over their heads again (creation of
consistency).
After passing my hands over their heads a few times I
stand in front of the subject thinking of rusty and
draw an arrow on the pad pointing to her.
I ask them to ensure they keep their eyes tightly shut.
I write Wooded Park, ensuring the audience have
seen it, flip the page, found a lost dog, flip the page
and write “Rusty?”
I look confused at this point and if I am with a
particularly friendly audience, I will swirl my fingers
near my head (as though to point out the female is
crazy).
I will get a little laugh from this.
Stand behind the subjects and point out which is
thinking of living and which is thinking of dead.
Tell the audience to applaud you if you are correct.
This bit is standard play.
When you have received the applause and the two
subjects are on the way to their seats in the audience,
stop the person (Mary) thinking of Rusty.
Performer: “Mary, Yes or no in your
memory have you been thinking of a dog?”
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Mary: “Yes”.
Performer: “Ok...What was that dog
called?”
Mary: “Rusty”.
If the audience applaud at this point, it should seem
very normal for Mary as she will believe they are
applauding you for correctly predicted what was
written on her card in full detail. She will share their
enthusiasm and then is asked to take a seat.
Credits/ Inspirations
Anneman – Living and dead test
Bob Cassidy- Additional thoughts
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My thoughts - Participants
as props
This is not an essay, just something I think about
frequently when creating. I hope these thoughts aid
you.
Picture this scenario,
We have just selected a random member of the
audience via the toss of a paper ball. No matter how
trustworthy you seem as a performer, the audience
will always believe the word of this randomly selected
participant (as they themselves could just have easily
been chosen).
This kind of defeats the age old saying, “don’t trust
a stranger”.
For example, if I was to inform the audience that five
envelopes, contained five different playing cards and
never verified that to be true via the audience, there
might be a slight amount of doubt in the audience
members minds. If on the other hand I have the
randomly selected participant verify the contents of
the five envelopes to be different, because of the
selection process the audience will be inclined to
believe the envelopes are in-fact different.
If I can somehow convince the participant that the
contents of the envelopes are different, when they are
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not, what I have accomplished is a successful use of
using the subject as a prop.
Now I know this is not new in thinking, I think it is
one of the strongest tools available to any mentalist.
The point I am trying to press is that any opportunity
you get to use a participant as prop, take it.
This thinking is especially good when applied to dual
reality wherein 90% of the effects performed use the
‘participant as a prop’ principle.
In this book you will find several different ways to use
‘the participant as a prop’ principle. For point of
reference I will outline several.
A.W.A.A.P
Having the subject call out the phone number and
then handing him the telephone to type the number
ensures that the audience believe that is the number
getting dialled.
Then having the other subject call the information out
(so it cannot be miscalled) which logically seems fair.
In reality he is calling out information prearranged
with a friend of ours. This little subtlety of using the
subject to do the dirty work for you really helps plays
on the audience’s natural assumptions.
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A bonus lead in A.W.A.A.P
The five cards sealed inside the envelopes, we have the
subject confirm they are different, when in-fact they
are not.
Seven bald keys
Asking the blindfolded participant how valuable her
ring is and the line about probability we convince the
audience that there can only be one ring.
Handing a dummy ring to the second subject and then
asking him to remember the rings qualities. This ploy
serves us well later on in the routine (when we switch
out the lock). Because the subject never cries foul
(when he is handed the lock back) the audience will
never suspect foul play.
Get busy living or get busy dying
It is used several times in this effect; the earliest use is
the first subject who gets sent back to her seat. We use
her to convince the audience that the cards just say
the word living on.
Then there is the person thinking of a name (the one
we prompted her), I mention it is a celebrity, an actor
and then I ask her to confirm it’s a male.
Her confirmation helps sell the fact that she really is
thinking of a celebrity.
(We also completely confirm this when we reveal the
name).
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Then the last subject, (who we also prompted) she has
her eyes closed and we write about a childhood
memory on the pad/board. I never mention anything
to her at all about this at the time. I let her get to her
seat and ask her to confirm the name (which is again
using her as a prop to confirm the memory is true).
Trust you instincts 2.0
This is another lovely use of the participant as a prop.
After the first subject has been forced a card, the
second subject is asked if there is anyway he could
know the identity of the card. Now in this instance he
really doesn’t know what the card is, but the question
is an essential leverage to prise a reaction out of the
first subject when the second subject finds it.
Additional thoughts
Of course there are many more contained within this
book, it is essential you apply this principle subtly and
with tact. If you make a massive issue of doing this it
can be come very apparent what is going on and that
is the last thing we want.
S.L.I.M
(Sometimes, less IS more!)
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What’s on your mind?
I thought I would finish this piece of literature by
addressing an issue that means a lot to me. You will
have noticed that I called this book ‘Bigger Fish’. As
explained in the forward I did this to honour the
moments of wonder that ‘Big Fish’ (the film) evoked
within me. Moments I will carry with me for the rest
of my life and I would like to share a few things I hope
you will carry with you for the rest of your life.
It’s a very strange thing to talk about time, to talk
about how moments can last for a life time. While I
know theoretically a moment cannot last for a lifetime
and on paper it seems silly, in practice I can tell you,
that is very much what can and does happen.
You may not be aware of the power you have at your
very own fingertips, I am not talking about a
supernatural ability, more of an ability you have that
you may have overlooked. A power that once you get
your head around will really make you appreciate
what you do.
To explain this is the most logical sense I can, I will
create a scenario.
This is a fictitious scenario, none the less it could
easily be real.
You are performing and as you scan your eyes over
your possible audience (in a restaurant or bar) you
come across a couple.
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You introduce yourself, become social with the couple
and find out that the couple have been dating for
several months. You propose to try an experiment
with the pair. They anxiously agree and you proceed
to remove 10 E.S.P cards.
You separate the cards into two piles. Each pile
containing a Star, Square, Circle, Wavy Lines and
Cross.
You explain the relevance of the cards and explain
that they are used to test all manner of connection
between two people.
They are handed a pile each and are both asked to
make decisions as though they were the other person.
They are directed to place one card facedown that they
believe the other will choose.
After a slight pause and a moment of silence both
cards are turned over and they match!
This is repeated for the other four cards and they are
turned over one at a time to find these also match.
It is then explained to the couple that are perfectly in
sync and the cards never lie. The odds of the cards
matching like that are astronomically against them,
yet they have defied probability and that without
shadow of a doubt, this proves that they are meant to
be together.
The performer leaves and never sees the couple again;
he is happy that the performance went well and moves
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on to a new set of subjects, oblivious to what he has
created.
What has he created?
When we have a look at what happens to the couple
after the performance, we really start to get a sense of
the things we are playing with.
The couple leave the establishment and cannot believe
what has just happened. They have just witnessed
visual proof of how perfect they are together and for
days they will tell everyone about their wonderful
experience.
They see what happened as more than just an effect;
they take what happened as the push over the edge
they needed to take things to the next step.
They are perfect together, they were told so by the
mystery man and the proof was laid out in front of
them on the table.
They take the plunge and move in together; they get
married, have a child and they spend the rest of their
lives together.
Do you think they will ever forget the moment the
performer created?
The obvious answer is no!
When you think of the above scenario (which is very
possible) you can see just how life changing the things
you are doing can be. When you look at things from
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this perspective you will really appreciate what you
have.
You are creating moments that make the hair stand
up on the back of people’s necks, their eyes water and
scarring them (in a good way for the rest of their
lives).
It is in this moment that you will realise just what it is
that you have to offer. So rather than tell you what you
are doing wrong or what you should be doing, I’m just
asking you to appreciate the things you are already
doing.
As each one of you (individually) has something very
special and very different to offer than the next
performer.
I too did not fully understand the power I had at my
finger tips until watching ‘Big Fish’ and it changed
my outlook on everything. Since then I can honestly
say I am a million times better a performer than I was
before.
I hope you have found something useful from within
this book and I really do appreciate from the bottom
of my heart the time that you have taken to read the
thoughts I have to offer.
Aim as high as you can and always remember that
“The biggest fish in the pond gets that way by never
being caught” – (Edward Bloom)
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Special Thanks
I would firstly like to thank a great friend of
mine ‘David Sena’. Thank you David for all
of your help over the last few months. If it
wasn’t for you this book would not be in
existence now.
You are like a brother to me and a great
inspiration. You ensured I finished this book
and always kept me smiling with amazingly
funny pictures and stories.
Papa Kenton - For all the lessons on being
patient, pushing me to write about the obscure
material I love to perform and helping me as
much as possible whenever I ask.
You can find Kenton Knepper’s amazing
material at www.wonderwizards.com
Bob Cassidy-For giving me moments of
wonder, inspiring me to perform and for
inventing the best mentalism routines known
to man!
Felix Schellenberg - For all your additional
ideas, crediting references and proof reading
this book. You are a gem!
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Myke Phillips - For your additional ending
to the A.W.A.A.P routine.
Erik Ostresh - For all your honesty, help and
my lovely Simon says clipboard!
All the performers around the world -
Thank you for taking the time to listen to the
things I had to say and utilizing the principles
and effects I had to offer.
Without you none of this would have been
possible and I appreciate it more than you will
ever know!
Keep on rocking in the free world!