cgefore {hnewtqrnlQses

a treatise on preshow workQ 9(o"f gtrhings

fhe A{pho $eries<()ohtme cI

Also by Mark Stfivinss

Books and ihe like-

Annemann For The 90 s (i994tM€nral M6lanjle Lecture Notes {1996)

Mobiie Mentalism booklaudiorape set (1996)The Unseen Edibon {1997)

To Pay The Pnce (1997)Constructive Menlalism (1998)Masic For Youns-Un's {1998)

Pseudo-Psi {1999)

On video and audio-

Annemann's Encore (1994)How To Make Money With Psi Parties (1996)

The Annemann Upsrades Vol. I (1996)Strlvings Speaks Vol I {1996)Slrivings Speaks Vol. ll (1996)

WAM - \,\,alk tuound Mentalism 11996)Strrvings Speaks Again (1997)

Mentalisn A Viewpoini (1997)The Mastemind Act & Cagljostro s Crystal (1997)

How To Create Your Own Mtractes (1997)The Deieri Brainshom Series (with the Six and One-Hal{. 1997), rhr€e rape set

A I All Stärs Volume lll (with Juan Tamariz. Daein Orhz. Raphael Benarar, 1997)Mark Strivings coes To Daycare (1998)

Get More Oui Of Your Magjc (1998)Marketing Your Menialism (1998)

Kid Stuii The A B C's AI 'Boui Ch:ldren (1998)lmaginatjon Is Everything (1999)

A-l Convennon At The Cäpiial Live 99 (1999)

Eltecs-

SymbolMinded * As ln A Minor Dalkly * A5ln A Nljnor Darkly The Sequel . Täroi TellChallenge Name A Card + Exira Sensory Percepbon * tucane lmage

Tarot Optic'Wam Fwi6 Up Close I Tarot Tell Basic Kii * Arcane Slmbol MindedPar-Opäc Plus 'Seven Keys To Baldpar€ i The Sisht Unseen Case . pur?ter

Psychic PsLrds ' Happy Meäl Mira.ie * S€a Sheil Divinaöon Kit * Open & ShurFrossie + A Work O{ An (with Robin Dewitt) . Mask,erade . Mäsk erade ll

TheJoint s Jumpin'+ Koran Style Force Deck - Koran St/e Two-Way Forc€ DeckThe Precosnilive Puppet " Chip Shoi I The Precosnitive Phinger Puppet

The Ulbmate Invisible Bminwave * Blistering . H!"no-Voque . A Binding Choice * Squeek Mel

Market€d Materials-

Th€ Home Psychic Party KitCagliosho's Crystal - The Deluxe Set

Psychic lnluence

For more information on th€ complete line ol materials for prolessional m€ntalist's,children s and family entertaineß, pleas€ call or wiite:

Mark Strivings8631 N. Lowell Blvd.

Westminster, CO 80030USA

(303) 650-6992email MarkyApril@aol.com

:

ii

6hn &ho$eriesThe voltrme you now hold is part of the Alpha Series of treatises. Each of these mono-

graphs will deal with very specific and underexplored areas of the art of Mentalism. It is hopedthat these specialized monographs will expand the readers background and appreciation ofthese techniques and concepts. It is also hoped that these monographs willserve as a foundation to a whole new era of exploration in these techniques and concepts.

Please feelfree to expand on the new vistas revealed in these works and create yourown new miracles. And please let me know what you discover on your joumey. With all bestthoughts to you and gout future in mentalism.

Preuious Works in the Alpha Senes

{()o[umecl - gepre @-he Qudcin !I(!;es

; . . \ :

' i ' v

\

q treqtße on preshow rvork

$efor e $he Qurtain !$sas' (r treqtise on prEsfror! rvork -

Before The Curtain Rises

First published 2ü)O by:Mark Strivings

8631 N. Lowell Blvd.westminster, CO 80030

USA

Copyrighto2mo by Mark D. Slrivings

This book may not be reproduccd, stored in any rstrieval system or transmitted, in any folm or byany means, electronic, mcchanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written permis-sion of Mark D. Strivings, 8631 N. Lowell Blvd., westminster, Co 80030

$efore {he Qurrain {$es' rr trcotisc on preslrorl *'olk -

- {abte of Corrtents -

Acknowledgments

Definition of Preshow & Iniroduction

Types of Preshow Work - OverviewType One: Direct Contact - OverviewType Two: Indirect Contact - OverviewDirecr Contact - Deraillndirect Contact - Detail

Potenoal Pit{alls Of PreshowTime (or the lack rhereof; .Specrarors TalkingPreshow Volunteers Leaving

Factors ln Making Preshow More EffectiveVerbal Misdirection .DistanceNumbers of spectators approachedMixing Methods

Useful Devices for Preshow

The Use Of Preshow In Various Effects .'Mulbple Ours Rouhnes

As Part Of A Three-Part PredictionTossed Out DeckAdd-A No

7474T415

177 7202027

22

55679

24242526

282829

Psychic YahtzeePsychic Yahtzee 2The Miracle Prediclion

Some Parting Thoughts

Suggested Reading.

30

J I

The 'Warming Up To Strangers' Dept.

- t -

32

{$zfor e ffhe Qurtain !(ses- q lrcqtise on presfrou' rlork -

{:knowte dgmentsThe treatise you hold actually started as a lowJevelproject a few years ago. Ihave a

keen interest in all facets of mentalism and have noüced several 'gaps' in the Iiterature. Thesegaps omit critical information to the student (like myself) as to some of the inner methods,concepts and techniques that can be used to great effect in mentalism and magic. This treatise,and the oihers thai {ollow, are an attempt to fill some of these gaps with solid inlormation andbackground.

Over the years, there have been mang who have kept my interest in preshow work,and it's many possibilities, alive and well. Virtually all have inspired through their performanceand writings. Among these are Rudy Hunter, Docc Hilford, Kreskin, John Riggs, Banachek,Craig Karges, Dunninger, Marc Salem and many others. I have been fortunate in that I can rubshoulders with mang of the verJ, best minds and performers in the world of mentalism. I haveyou allto thank for your inspiration and friendship. This is written as a tesiament to gour manygifts and talents. I thank you all.

As always, I have to thank my wonderfut wife, April Canter. Thank you honey, for gourlove and caring, and for not letting this silly habit I have of.,,,,riting books you couldn't care lessabout. get in the way of our relöbonship.

And to you, dear reader. I hust this work opens your eyes to the many truly incrediblemiracles that can be done with this amazing technique. Thank you. Now let's get on with it!

- i l -

$zfore ffhe Qvtaain !(!scs' c treolise on preslrorv rvork -

$-he :{pfta $crics()ofurne cl

Potentiallg (and in many ways), this is the most powerful technique in the arsenal ofthe mentalist - -

First oi all, is it 'pre show', 'pre,show' or 'preshow'? Beats me, but from this point

on, I'll refer to it as preshor-u. If {or some reason that doesn't work {or you, please forgiveme. In this instance, at least, it appears I know not what I do...

The simple definition -

All rjght. here's the simple definitlon: "Any advance work that is done before aperformance officially begins that can directly or indirectly involve a member or membersof the viewing audience, without the knowledge oI other members of that same auorence.This advance work can then be used either openly or secretively from the stage when theformal performance happens."

That's ihe easy deliniöon (as I would define it). This advance work can take manylorms and be used to achieve many ends. It's use can be disclosed openly from the stagelater on, or more often, is used as a secret weapon in ef{ects or demonstrattons.

This is such a powerful weapon when used correctly, yet is seriously underexploredin the literahre. [n fact, when I embarked upon this proiect some years ago, I was immedi-ately süuck by how litde there was in the literature that specifically dealt with this subject.The overwhelming majority oI it is taken up by individual thoughts. A senrence nere, anoff-hand comment there. It is so spread out, in {act, that to do a complete blbliography of itis prohibitive. There are simply too many bits and pieces.

So the work at hand is an attempt at a collecüon (albeit an incomplete one, sincedoing a totally complete treatise is next to impossible) of time tested ideas and techniquesused by most preshow practitioners. There are also some ideas that I believe are seeingprint {or the first time in these pages. These are practices that I have been using lor years inmy own perlormances and I haven't seen them explained anvwhere else.

1 -

1

c$efore {he Qurtain !(ises- q treatisc on prcshs\\'rvork -

Of course a proieci of this scope, on this specialized a technique, is bound to be

missing ideas and concepts that some will consider to be crucial. or at least hdue been

crucial in their own work. I can't speak for everyone- So, ihis treatise will be coming pretty

much exclusively from one point of view, my own. This is not an encyclopedia oI preshow

work (although to date it is probably the closest thing to one), and will not try to deiineate

everything under the sun- But rest assured all of what you are about to discover has been

iested and used ln the real world. The only instances where that is not true, iwill say so

right from the siar| These will be as yet untested ldeas that should work. Only time and

experience will prove them out, oJ course.

You'll notice, too that there are relatively few complete routines contained herein.Mostiy just bare bones and ideas. That fact nohvithstanding, there is more than enough

fuel ior thought here to inspire dozens of routines. Apply the logic and techniques andgou'll soon be coming up with kilier ideas of your own. These are always the best for you

angrlay, so enjoy the joumey.

We will explore an awful lot of applications and iechniques for using preshow. ltseems that there is a strong emphasis everywhere on 'how' things work. The 'how' ofpreshow con be fairly complicated but. more often than noi, is really pretty simple. This isthe only place I'll mention this in this entire treatise, but without a doubt the biggest ingredient of 'how' to do preshow, is simply having the nerve to approach someone who youhave never seen beiore and get them to help you, with or without their direct knowledge

Some oI us have a ptoblem with approaching complete strangers and just tolking tothem. My suggestion on this most crucial point is to do hdro things. One, there are severalgood books written by people whose names you know, about the art o{ speaking withanyone. I'll note a couple of the better known titles in the bibliography. These are excellentresources and can be of immense help. lf you have even the slightest hesitation about thiscritical skill, get these books and read them! Even if you don't have a problem with this, get

the books anyway, they couldn't possibly hurt!

And my second sugges[on is to simply practice. Obvious, right? But how many willactually go out and do if?? This is so obvious that I know it will be overlooked by most.This is a shame. What's even more criminal about it, is that you can practtce angwhere.An!^.vhere there are other people who you do not know, is a golden opporhtnity to prac-tjce and get comfortable with talking to strangers. I'm hiding one of the biggest secrets topreshow right here, so listen up. Simply being completely comlortoble speaking with some-one you do not know (and, ol course, lnitiating the conversation io begin with!) is abso-

. 2 -

$efor e {he Qurtain !(ses- a rrcatise on prcsfrow I'ork ,

lutely vital to having good success with certain forms of preshow work. If you're noi comfoltable, your potential volunteer won't be comfortable and that could cause problems lateron.

This is particularly true if your volunteer is going to end up on siage with you. li youare uncomJortable in the initial{ew moments of contact during preshow, theV won't feelconfident in being on stage with you. Those cribcal few seconds can make or break howsuccessfulthe piece you're going to do wil l ult imately be. Do yourseli (and your audience)a favor and give this some very serious considerahon. lt wil lpay huge divjdends and is oneof those things that truly separates the professionals Jrom the amateurs.

I 'm not sure that the above discussion is really one of the hou,r,s of preshow so I putit here. It's a critical concept, so don't overlook it. But there's som€thing else that fascinatesme.

What is equally interesting as the hour of preshow, is the urhg. There,s been a fairamount of discussion about hoar preshow is to be accomplished, with much more in thefollowing pages. In most cases it's usually fairly cut and dried. The uhy, however. hasn'tbeen examined much and is truly fascinabng. tvhg is this technique so incredibly powerfuland why is it so compietely undetectable when used properly? There have been a few,attempts at trying to put into words the 'why' of ihis powerful technique before, but I don,tihink there's a better explanabon than is given all too briefly in MlchaelClose's essay on'Assumption' \n "Workers 5". Allow me to paraphrase and expand...

ln essence, everyone has certain assumptions about the world they live in, theevents of their lives . . . and the performances that they see. One of those assumptions isihat lhe shou.r begins when the show begins. Strange statement, huh? Here,s another one.The ellect begins when the eJfect begins. What that means is that we all assume that thevarious efJects and demonstrations that we see performed in a live show st'od when theperformer launches into ihe introduction. We assume that the entire process of what goesinto the presentation happens while we are watching. The thought that something milhthave happened long before we even entered the theater never even enters our mind. It,s anaturalthing. OI course there are several things we as performers can do ro cemenl ordesfroy that impression. We'll discuss those aspects later. What is working for us from thestart is that this is a completely natural unconscious assumption.

This is the primary power that is built into the use of preshow. Since preshow isinherendy an invisible technique (in that the overwhelming majority of the audience neversees it happen and are, therefore, completely unaware of it), it is all the more powerful.

- 3 -

ßeprn {he Qurtain !(!ses- a treatise o presfrqw rvork '

There is no way for any logical ihinking person to decode and unraveLa mysterythat has preshow as part (or all) of the modus involved. Assuming thai they know nothingof the existence of preshow in any form, there's simply not enough information present atthe time of performance to figure it all out.

I distinctly recall the firsi time I ever saw Q&A performed. lt was on 'The TonightShow with Johnny Carson' many years ago. What I don't recall was whether it was Kreskinor Orson Welles. I do know that I saw them both perform Q&A on Carson's show over theyears. Regardless, in looking back. I now know that they had (probably) clip boarded partof the audience ahead of time and were simply revealing the information in time honoredQ&A fashion. Whether they made use of clipboards or were stealing slips, I can't say withcomplete auihority (although, knowing Kreskin's love oI Dunninger's techniques, he prob-ably just stole slips). Regardless, some kind of information gathering was done preshow.Bottom line to the present story is that I was unaware of the concept oi preshow at thatpoint in my li{e, as is pretty much everyone else out there. Needless to say, I was compleiely blown away by what I sawl!

Since I had no concept of what preshow was, there was no explanation that I couldpossibly come up with that would explain what I had seen. The same was true for theaudience. PLus I really had two strikes against me from ihe start. I had the natural unconscious assumption that the show started when th€ show started, plus I was unaware thatthere was such o lhing as preshow work. The hro do go hand-in-hand, but they alsoreinforce one another. Everyone in your audience is in the same boat as I was back then. ltgoes without saying that they don't stand a chance of figuring out a thing if this techniqueis used correctly.

We're going to look at several factors involved in preshow, as well as several tech-niques that can be used. We'll also look at a Iew examples o{ the end result when the {inalperformance happens.

cSefore {he Qurtain !$ses' q trectise on preslrorv rtork '

dlpes of presftow c1\rork -4tt o1igl"tle\\t

There are basically h.\ro types of preshow work. Type one, the most common. involves direct contact with the person(s) that are to be worked with. This contact can bedone by the performer jersonally or by someone else who, either knowingly or unknowingly, is helping the performer. Type hvo involves preshow where there is no direct contactwith any audtence member{s) by the performer or anyone else in his behall Here,s a briefoverview.

d-1pe Qne, $irect fontact -

Of the two mains types of contact that we will examine here, this is the most com_mon form of preshow work. In this first scenario, the perlonner himseff approaches ind!viduals prior to the show and asks {or their assistance in some of the dernonsuaoons rohappen later. In some cases, the assistance is asked in a 'specit'ied'

manner. By this I meanthat the individual involved knows that they wil lbe called upon to either assrsr on sragewith a demonstration. or in some other fashion that the audience willwltness. There areseveral factors in this iype of contact and we'll look at them in detail in a moment.

There is also another scenario that is common in this {iJrm of contact. Ii is used mosiin Q&A type of performances. In this instance, the individuals who are approachedpreshow don't know whether or not they will be called upon to actively participate later onin the show. Their assistance is being solicited in an ,unspeci/ied,

manner. This type ofwork is best used ior demonstrations where large numbers of people will be {apparently)used, such as Q&A

Another form of this \pe of contact was very common in the vaudeville era (andbeforei mentalist's program. Since these performers frequently traveled with at least oneother person as part of the act, they could take full advantage of the situation. ln this in-stance, someone other than the perJormer would approach members of the audience andsolicit information and/or assistance as above. Dunninger and Lustig are a prime exampleof this. Thls could be simply filling out slips for e&A later on (an .unspecifed,

manner ofusage), or lor specific demonstrations in the show (a tpeci/ied, usage oI the spectator).

Even if you work alone, you can still use this technique. Itis very efJect_dependent,

I

n

$efor z. {hz. Qpaain ((ises' q lreqlisc on oresfror,l' 'work -

though. By ihat i mean that it 's use as I 'm about to describe it is somewhat l imited. Here'swhat I mean.

Lei's say you're doing Q&A and you're having slips fi l led out by members of theaudience as they enter the lobby of the theater. The slips are then folded and left in a largebowl or other container on display in the lobby. Later on the bowlfull of slips will bebrought to the stage and left in plain sight for the Q&A (or sightless vision or whatever)later on. This technique was very popular in vaudeville days.

Well one oI the easiest things to do is simply steal out a handful oI slips while thebowl is in transit from the lobby to the stage. Just pocket ihem and you're setl But you canonly do ihat if you get the bowl yourself, right? Not necessarily. Suppose you have anemployee of the theater rehieve the bowl and bring it backstage momentarily ("So I canmake sure we have enough slips to do the demonstrabon later."). While they have thebowl backstage you simpiy siir the slips and steal a few right under their noses. They theniake the bowl out on stage to display it. This takes only a moment and will pass unnoticed.The employee is an accomplice and they don't even know it!

You can't do this with every ef{ect that uses preshow, but if your 'helper' can honestly swear ihat they were not 'in on' anything, your demonstrations wiii be just thai muchmore credible. You may want to even consider sending an audience member out to doyour clipboarding lor you! lmagine how strong this can be! You'll have to work out theactual details oI what they will say and so forth, but the end result could be devastating.While I have never done this, I can easily imagine how powerfulthis could be!

This type of contact (someone other than ihe performer himself making contact) isvery effechve. However, direct contaci has become the main form of preshow since TheoAnnemann came on the scene and tumed almost all mentalism acts into solo perfor-mances. Prior to Annemann, almost all mentalism acts involved at least h.vo people.Annemann changed all thal At least he was the most influenüal in that regard, so blamehim.

@pa fwo, (ln{irectContoct -

Perhaps the term 'lndirect Coniact' is a bit misleading. ln this particular case, l'mreally talking about a situaäon where no direct contocthas been made by the performer oranyone else associated with the performer with the spectator(s). This is a much more

I

cSe.fore {he Qurtain !(ises- .r trcatise on presfrou, rvork -

covert gpe o{ preshow work. It frequently involves using a computer, occasionally a pri-vate investigator is called upon, and any one o{ a number of other ruses are used. The onecommon denominator of all these truchniques is reseorch. Basically you,re doing researchoi some Upe on those who are atiending your performance. Some of this researcn tsspecific and some is very much determined by chance, but we,re getting ahead of ourselves. More details follow.

That's a brief overview of these hvo main types of preshow work. Now let,s examine these h^,o types of contact methods in more detail.

!)irect fontact -

Anytlme someone approaches a spectator prior to a performance and solicits assis-tance oi any type, that moment is highly suspect right from the stari. Thar moment rc evenmore suspect when the petorrner himsef approaches a spectator. However, in ihe lastseveEl decades this is exactly what has been done. Ever since the strong movemenrstarted wellover 75 years ago towards solo performers, the performer has had to do it allhimself. There's been very l itt le choice. This moment can make or break how well thepiece to be performed later plays. It is absolutely ctihcal, and I cannot stress this enough,that everything you are going to say and do with this spectator be thoroughly thought outand rehearsed.

ln a bit we're going to discuss some ways to diminish the 'moment' of that contact

and make it 'fly' a bit easier later on when the show starts. Obviousiy, this \rpe of directcontact for preshow is used most often for the current versions of e&A. Wh.neu", a per_iormer clipboards the house, or is passing out cards and pencils, he is in dlrect contact withthose whom he hopes to call on later during the show.

^ ^ . If this audience member is going to be used in a .major effect, (ala Cassidy) IikeQ&A, there will be several people who are openly being approached. In this case a largeamount of the pressure will be off of both you and the participant. It simply appears thltthere are several members of the audience who are participating in a survey of some kind.No big deal, and it should be played as such by the performer. fro pr".rll..,

",.p,y u.,

invitation to join in on something that could be a lot of fun and very interesting later on.

Nothing in your delivery or demeanor should place any apparent importance on theactivity o{ writing down a bit of inlormabon or a question. It's'simply to ,help concentra_tion' later on. This is really quite easy from the performer,s point of'view because vou

- 7 -

cSef or e ff he Qvrtain lt(ises- a trcqtise on oresfto*' *'ork -

don't know if you'll use their information or notl Whatever they write down may be worth-less to you in the show. So heat each participani with respect, bui not as if the success ofyour show rides on their shouldersl Q&A and effects like it are easy in this regard.

However, effecis where the spectaior is going to be involved in a specified manner

ii.e., end up on stage or in some way be specifically participating in an event) are a bitmore delicate. In these cases, the success of the effect does ride, in part, with your spectator. But you cannot let them feelany pressure. There are severalthings you must establishwith this person in order for things to go smoothly.

First and foremost, develop a sense o{ trust between you and the spectator. Theymust be at ease (which means YOU must be ai easel) and never get a sense that they wil lbe embarrassed in any way. Of course. much of this depends on the sp€ci{ic effect involved. So let s use a specilic example.

Let's say that your spectator is going to select a word, either djrectly from a book orsimply by thinking of one. l{ it were me, I would iirst approach a person whom I got a goodfeeling lrom just in their appearance and demeanor. Someone who seems iriendly and abit outgoing, without being an extrovert. Avoid exhoverts for this type of work like theplague. They can make life absolutely miserable for you later on. Ii they get to be on-stage.God only knows what might happen. If you get one of these persons in preshow, get out ofthe sih-ration as best you can. Don't open yourself up to this potential disaster later on.

So I select someone who seems friendly and a bit outgoing. I would approach thisperson and introduce myself as the performer in the program tonight and do all the pleas-antries. Be sure to get their name. Try to establish as much rapport as possible withoutbecoming overly friendly. I would then ask thls person ii they would be willing to assist mein a demonstration later on during the program. This assistance would be very simple andin no way would it be embarrassing {or them. I usually make a bit of a joke at this pointabout me being the only one who is embarrassed by this program! Big smiles at this point!Above all else, give them a chance to back out. If they are not comlortable with you by thispoini, don'i force the issue. This discomfort is the exact \rpe oI thing that has been knownto cause people to leave the show for fear of ending up on stage. Then you're out of luck!

So do everything you can to keep them comfortable. The best thing is to be com-fortable and likable yoursell This will go far in accomplishing your mission. I would thenexplain that all I need lor them to do is to think o{ a word. "Eosy enough? Butl'll make iteuen easier. I'ue got o dictionary here with thousonds upon thousonds ol word in it. We'regoing to pick one ot rondom. Tell you what, I'll just fip the pdges ond gou soy stop when-

- 8 -

{$efore {he Qurtoin ([{ses- q treqlisc or presftorv rtork -

euer you wont. Right there? Greot. Toke o look ot that Loord ight there at the top ot' thepoge. I don't wont to see it. Got it? Con gou remember it ot do vou need to wite itdown? Greot, now don't lorget it.

'Loter on duing the program I'll coll on you t'rom the stage you won't need tocome up, but I will hooe you stond. I promise thot I won't do onything to emboross youin any way. ln fact I think you'll find it to be fun! I'll ask gou to conlinn thot we spokebelore the progrom ond so on. We'll do something thot will be amozing (I hope!). Soundgood? "

With these few words, l'm all set to go. Later on I'll have her stand and l,ll go overbasically what happened earlier before the show, using all the things in the section onverbal misdirection. See that section for more on this. What will end up happening. is ihati l l apparently read her mind and pullout the word ihat she is thinking of. She wil l beamazed, the audience will be amazed and everyone looks good. Make sure she gets a goodround of applause for her participation. Take good care of your direct conract volunteerswho are going to be used in a specified manner and they wil l take good care of you!

(Ttdi'ect forrtoct -

As I mentioned eariier, this \rpe of work is mainly research, the gathering of infor_mation by covert means. Thls can take any one of a thousand different forms. In fact. thisis probably lhe single technique that is nentioned the most' in the literature. I can,t tell youhow many times I've read something l\ke, "Just keep your eyes and ears open and you'llget information on people just by ouerheoing conuersotions ond by cosual obseruation",or words to that eifeci. Whiie this is very true, it's not terribly exacting. There,s simply notelling what informaäon you'llget, iI indeed you get any at all! So l,lltry ro grve you morespecific rechniques thar you can use.

First we'll go with low-tech. I'm sure some of you reading this immediately thoughtabout doing online searches on the intemet and the like. Well, we'llget to that in a mo_ment. First, here ar€ some things you can do even when the power goes out!

. First of all, just ke ep your eyes and eors open ond you'll get inJormation on peoplejust by ouerheoing conuersotions andbg casual obseruotionl Sorry, I had io do that, but itreally is true. But you can obviously go much farther than that. I{ you have an assistant (ormore than one), by all means use iheir eyes and ears as well. If they are an assistant who is

$efore She Qwaain (I{ses' q tfe4tise on prcshqw $'ork -

never seen on stage, even betterl! They are, for allpracticai purposes, invisible. Thus iheimpact of information they may obtain is even more powerful-

There are performers who have been known to scope out the parking iot whilepatrons are aüiving for a performance. A lot of information can be gleaned by observationhere. The tlpe of car a person drives, the license plate and the State it comes {rom, who isdoing the driving, the mood of those in the car as they pull up. more than one car brlnginga load oI people from the same party . . . ali of this can be put to good use later on. Thissame technique can be applied to the lobby oi the performing venue as well.

Bottom line here is to always be aware of any opportunitv to gain information onpeople who are attending your performance. You never know what you might chance intothat could positively kill on stage laterl

There is the famous story oJ Dr. Jaks hlding in a stall jn the men's restroom prior toa show and ljstening to the chatter, only to use the valuable information laterl l would haveloved to have seen the looks on the gentlemen's facesl Well, this is still as valid today asever. As I'm sure you already know, the ladies restroom works even betteri Of course. ifyou have a {emale assistant (preferably one who does not appear on stage, Ior reasonsalready noted... ) she can do this same thing for you without the fear of ralslng suspicionand a possibly sticky situaöon lf you tried ii yourself {like you leaving the ladies restroom!).Obviously I'm assuming you're male. If not. here's a chance to just reverse the situationl

You never know when or where an opportunity may arise to gain a bit of informa-tion that can be used later on. You've got to stay alert and on your toes. The biggest warn-ing I can give is, pleose don't just lurk around your audience prior to a show, paying whatmight be perceived as undue attention to them. I've seen this happen and believe me,people do notice. This can come back to haunt you later on, so don't do it. lI you can't beuery discreet, don't even bother!

Of course, if you throw some technology into the above mix, you can come up withmiracle materiaM know of performers who carry their laptop computers with them at alltimes, even backstage be{ore the show. lmagine what you could do with intemet accessand a name or a phone numberll You hear the stories on the news allthe time aboutpeople who can find out all about you over the intemet, right? Why not put some of that togood use. You're not going to do anything illegal or immoral, so go lor it!

There are CD-BOM's out there that have entire databases on them with all klnds oIinformation. You don't even need internet access to use them. I won't list any here purely

- 1 0 -

c$efor e {he Qurtain lQses' q lreatise on orssfro*'s'ork -

because, given the speed with which technology and information is changing today. a weekfrom now any specific in{ormaüon I give you would be out of datel Suffice ro say. oo yourhomework and gou'll find a ton of great information out there that is ripe for use aspreshow background material.

I recall a few years making a phone call to a friend of mine at the other end of thecountry. He was (and stiil is) very up to date with information technology and has severalcomputers at his command. I called him from the home of the lady I was datrng at ihetime. He asked me what the phone number was where I was call ing from. Shortly aiterthat, while he was talking to my lady lriend, he proceeded to describe her neighborhood,name her neighbors, describe what a couple of them do ior a livjng, and apoLogize ior thescar on her right l(neel Needless to say, she was completely blown awayl

While I don't know for cetain whai he was using to gain all this information. I doknow that he was using iechnology that anyone can get. I'm quite certain he worksmiracles with ihis powerful technology allthe äme. But let's say you don't have that at yourcommand just prior to a show. What can you do?

Well let's suppose that you can get the name and address of a few of the peopleattending that big company {unchon you're working next week. More often than not.company secretaries are happy to supply litde tid bits of information if you make it clearthat you just want to memorize a tew names before the show and maybe have some fi-rnwith it. Once armed with the iniormation you have several avenues that you can follow.Having your own computer and appropriate software makes things easy. But there areoiher options.

Of course. there is a ton of public iniormabon available on just about anyone forfree at the library and your local County Courthouse. A great many useful iacts can beobiained with no problem due to the Freedom Of Information Act. OI course this meansgenuine research of the 'old school', getting down and dire, digging through old files andactually looking things up! But if you've got a list of some of the attendees o{ your nextprogram and have the time to do this, it can be a powerful technique. Just be aware. itdoes take a fair amount of time and leg work. But the results can be well worth it. plus, themore you do it, the better you will get at it. You'll become ever more familiar with the in'sand out's oI the system and maybe even make a friend or two on the staff who can be atremendous help. Just be sure you don't 'tip' them as to your reasons lor all the researchl

Do you have a frlend who can get online frcr you? Think o{ who you know who canhelp you with this. But here's an even better idea. Assuming you're being paid the type of

Ij

- 1 1

$efore dhe Qurtain !(ises- q tre4tisc ox pfesftou'l'ork '

fee you deserve for the caliber of show you shou/d be per{orrning, consider hiring a privatejnvestigator. Believe me, iI anyone can flnd out the dirt on just about anybody, fhis is theperson who can! It's ach.rally best if gou can cultivate a relot'ionship with a PI if you aregoing to do this wlth any regularity at all. I have a couple of different friends thai I can callupon if I need the dirt on a specific person {or an upcoming gig. lt's a powerful techniqueand is certainly worth looking in to. You never know what they willcome up with, but evenone impossible to know fact can create a sensation wjth the right crowd. Think about itl

Of course, as I have already mentioned, there's a ton of info available on theinternei. Learn your way around it and you can turn up some mighty interesting things.Just be sure to use any information you get wisely and sparingly. In this technological age,it s easy to blame the internet for just about anything. Make certain that you can cover yourtracks. Get your initial in{ormation (names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.) as discreetlyas possible with little or no room for back iracking by someone else. Perhaps you can gethold of a corporate directory or even a list oI office numbers lor specilic individuals. Useyour head and, again, stag alert to any possibility.

I might as well mention here a time-honored technique that is both low-tech andvery useful. If you have advance information on people attending your performance, ltwould be worth your while to drive by their homes and iake a look at their property andneighborhood. Be carelul doing this as you don'i want to arouse any suspicion ("Hey,there's that stalker again!''), just do a slow drive-by during low traffic hours. Get a look atthe house and visible property. You could even conceivably snoop further, but remember,you didn't hear thot t'rom me! Seriously, though, it's really not necessary. Just a simpledrive-by can reveal a bunch of very useful in{ormation about the lifestyle and home liie ofyour potential spectator. Again, be careful, and above all else be discreet! lt wouldn't lookgood for you to be arrested casing someone's home before a big show This iechniquetakes some time but can pay off big!

Here's another possibilig for the solo pedormer. Make sure you have a friend whols a major computer whiz and has access to all kinds oI information. Offer to pay him a feeevery üme you can use his service (and he delivers!). Whenever you get a potentiallg goodlead at the perlorming uenue, call your buddy on your cell phone and tell him what in{or-mation you have and let him go to work. Let him know your cut off time (show öme!!),and to call back to your cell phone at least ten minutes before your show up time if hefinds out anything that sounds promising. Having a fee attached to producing real resultswill be a good incentive program {or him and frees you up to pursue other matters beloreshow time. If he tums up nothing at all, you're out nothing (including your time), but younever know what might tum up.

- 1 2 -

$efor e {he Qurtain lQszs- a lrcqtisc on presfrqr! rvork -

One small word of warning here. Should you decide to pursue the above scenario,make sure you are completely comfortable with ihis individuaL you're working with. Hemust be completelg trustworthy and will feed you only accuraie information. There's nothing worse than getting on stage and revealing inaccurate information. In short, you musthave a good relationship with this person or they can make you look very bad on stag€Again. it's probably a good idea to tie the iee in wiih accurate results. If they feed you solidinformation, you couLd easilg make a world class reputahon. That's worth paying goodmoney for, so make it worih his while! It will be good for both of youl

The iniernet is a wonderful thing. With the advent of wireless internet oecomrng avery real occurrence, I m sure enterprising mentalists willtake full advantage oi the speedand easy access this provides to turn up some real miracles. But I aiso suspect that as ihespeed and easy access improves, the face of what the public is aware o{ will also change.Everyone will know that certain things are possible and it will be up to you to make surethat you do everything you can to eliminate even the slightest possibility of technologyfrom their minds. Keep this in mind if you decide to pursue these avenues of covertpresnou work.

Remember Dr. Jaks hiding in the men's restroom? Don't want to hide in thereyourseli? Allow me to present an alternaöve. What you'll need is a micro-cassette recorderto hide in there. It needs hvo very specific functions in order for this to work. First it needsto be what is known as 'voice

acävated', meaning it does not record at all until it 'hears'

sound. Once lt detecis sound, it instantly begins recording. It also shuts off automaticallywhen the sound stops.

lt will also need to have 'double speed playback'. All this means is that you canhave it playback at twice the regular speed of the tape. It will sound like chipmunks talkingwhen this happens, but it's still perfectly legible. This is the way Alvin and the Chipmunkswere recorded (l'm starting to give away my age here...). You can listen to allthe talk {romthe ladies room in half the time it would normally take, plus it's all talk with no dead space.As a result you get all the good stuff you would have gotten if you were hiding in thereyourself in a fraction of the time, plus you can be doing other things while the tape is recording. Get two tape recorders and you can cover both restrooms at once. This can be apowerful weapon.

Of course you will need to work out the logistics o{ where io hide the recorder, howto retrieve it, and allowing enough time to review it and decide how to use the info. Havingan offstage assistant can be a godsend in this situation. She can be reviewing the tape and

- 1 3

$efore $-fie furtain T{ses- o treotise on pr.esfrorv *'ork -

can get the inio out to you on-stage later in the show. That's a great situation, but for mostof us 'guerrilla' performers, we'lLjust have to do it ourselves. This is a great technique.Think about it.

potentia[Fitfotf. Of preshow -

$-ime 1or the [ack thereoft -

When doing preshow, you simply MUST allow plenty of time to cover all the territory gou need to cover. Many times the physicol situation of a program simply won't allowfor preshow. For instance, let's say you're working a company banquet and are on rjghtafter dinner and the awards ceremony. The problem here is that, unless you plan on getting to the venue and doing your preshow at least 2 hours prior to your show {which isn't abad idea...), there's simply no üme window where you'l l have access to the audiencewithout interrupting the ongoing program.

The moral of the story here is to ALWAYS have extra material with you that you cando with no preshow work at all. Trust me, Murphy's Law willdefinitely rear its ugly head atthe worst possible time if you don't plan ahead. Having extra material that can easily fill theslot that your preshow material would have covered, will give you tremendous peace ofmind and make vour iob much easier.

Spectotors {af/rring -

Without a doubt, this is one of the biggest potential problems Ior the preshowworker. lt is not really an issue i{ you are playing in comedy clubs or general public shows.However it's a huge issue when working for corporaüons and private clubs. In these orga-nizations, most everyone knows everyone else and is much more inclined, not to mentionin o position, to discuss the show they have witnessed. lf they witness a performance where

7 4 -

.t

ßnfo, n {he Qurtain (I{ses' q treAtise on preshor,r'rlork -

only those who were talked to before the perfomance were called upon, ihis couLd bereconstructed the next day, and the basic method worked out. Noi good

Richard Osierlind, in his excellent book. "Dynamic Mysteries" (Busby, 1999), men,tions an incident exactly like this happening io someone he knows. lt's not pretty. Thesepeople are in a posiäon to talk for doys and longer about the show. li you are working forthese types of groups, take heed and plan appropriately.

With generalpublic shows, this is not much of an issue. After the show. thev allooiheir separate ways and won't be in a position to gather data on who talkea tä wno. ,qs-*ewill discuss shortly, without a doubt the best way to handle a potential problem situationlike this is to either a) noi use preshow and rely on other meihods lor your effects, or b)mix methods for your preshow. More on this highly e{iective technique to iollow.

preslroru cOofunteers Qalin6 -

How many times have you heard ihe story, "l had this guy allset up to do this killerbit with me, and when the time comes, he's left the buildingl"? If this ever happens to you,I hope you look good with egg on your face! Either that, or you are prepared for the worst{which can be the above scenario), which it' r.ui/l eventually. No mofter how close youwatch thai criöcal person you worked with before the show, lhey will get up and leave. Nomotler how much you emphasize that their parücipation is necessary, no mofter how muchthey assure you that they are there Ior the entire evening, no molter how careful you areand how many safeguards you take . . . eventually someone that you have done preshowwork with that you are planning on using in the show will disoppeor on you. Murphystrikes again!

Who knows where they go or why? Maybe they just got an important message onthelr pager. Maybe they are tired of your show (heaven forbid). Maybe they are in therestroom at the critical moment when you need them. The bottom line here is that thev'regone and you re sruck.

Given that the above scenario u.ri// happen to you eventually if you do preshowwork, what are you going to do about it? you can,t avoid it, so what will you do?

I'm assuming a worst-case scenario here. By that I mean thai the prece you areplanning on doing absolutely has to be done with that one person and no one else. Moreoften than not Q&A won't suffer from this unless you only clipboard huo peoplel you

cSefore {he Qurtain !$ses- q trc4lGe on oreshq\\,.work -

normally should have plenty ol spectators to draw from. The person that leaves may havebeen your best selection. Oh u,'el/. You move on. But what if that person who leaves is theonly person, the exoct' person you need to perform your miracle?

My best suggestion is one that I live by. Air-uoys have extra material on st'oge withyou at all times that you can simply pick up and do without skpping a beat. Ideally thisalternate material should be just as strong as the piece you ate replacing. lt's a tall orderbut believe me, ihe above situation only has to happen to you one fime, and you will seethe wisdom of this suggestion.

You must prepare for this. The very best thing you can do is to vividly imagine thisawfulsituation happening. Then try to imagine hou you're going to get out o{ that badsihiation and into your replacement effeci. Be sure to ihink this through thoroughly. In aperfect world, ihe audience shouldn't even be aware that there was ever a problem. Yoursegue from your 'missing person' situation to your replacement ef{ect should be as seamless as possible and, indeed, appear to be a regular and planned part of the show in someway. Just so long as it doesn't raise any red flags lor ihe audience. Even if your preshowpiece doesn't happen due to someone skipping out on you, the mere thought of somethinghaving been arranged ahead oi time (and failing somehow) should never have the oppor-tunity to €nter the minds of the rest of the audience. This is crltical. if jor no other reasonthan your own credlbility.

Probably rhe easiesr thing to do is to have a similar effect to the one you were goingto do using the preshow, but using a difierent method which can be done right on stage.With a little thought this can be done with virhrally any effect. You may have to bend yourconditions a bit, but keep in mind that this is a back up situation, not your first choice. youwillprobably have to make some concesslons in the method. That's ok.

This has two advantages for you as a periormer. First of all, it keeps the basic flowand programming of your show intact. That can be very good for your timing and generalmlnd set. Another huge advantage can be if your spectator (who skipped out on you)hears later about that spot in the show. He or she will be doubly fooled because youwound up doing the shrnt with someone pulled from the audience at random. Even if theywere to spout off about you working with them prior to the program, this completely null!fies their point. This would only increase your credibili\r.

- 1 6 -

:t

tt

ßnfore {he Qurtain !(!ses' 4 treatise on preshou'rl'ork -

ffactors tn makrng praslrow more affectwe -

c()e 16o[ ffsdirection -

Of all the factors in making preshow effective, this is without a doubt the most im_poriant. lt's quite possible to completely destroy good preshow work with just a simplephrase. By that same token. it's quite possible to tum good preshow work into a mind-numbing mirocle with a simple phrase. As such, let me state here the one fhing that is byfar the most important about this aspect of preshow: you simply musf practlce anct re-hearse exoctly what you're going to say on stage. One wrong word can completely blow iilor you. Make absolutely ceftain that you know exactly what happens once you're onstage. This is critical. I've seen too many guys try to 'wing it', and end up with a smalldisaster on their hands. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I'll state right up front in this section that by far the best thing you can do to reallymake your verbal misdirection effective is to obtain allthree volumes of Kenton Knepper,smarvelous Wonder Words series of audiotapes. Kenton has a worid o{ experience andknowledge on the subject and the tapes are worth their weight in gold to any performer,regardless what type oI performing you may do. Do yourself a favor, get Wonder Wordsand devour every minute of them. It will help you more than anything I can say here.

That being said, I'll hit a couple of highlights here {or you. What you say when theperformance starts can make or break good preshow work. Of course, if your preshowwork has been of the indirect type, there will have been no contact with anyone in th€audience. This situation is by {ar the easiest to deal with.

Let's say you have singled out an individual lrom the audience {whom you havesome good dirt on). Basically allyou n€ed to do is to establish that thev have never metyou before, and vice versa. No one talked to them before the show or at anv otner trme

- t 7 -

c$efore ffhe Qurtain ll(ises' 4 treqtise on oresfrou' rvork -

and that there is no way you could possibLy know any'thing about them. The main thing isnot to 'protest too much', meaning don't over do it. State your case and get on with thepresentation of the effect. If you go too far, some will start to think maybe you know a lotmore than you're saying. So be sparing about it.

That one is easy. However when there has been direct contact with the speciator'sbefore the program, you must be very careful how you word things so that no red flags goup for anyone. Basically you must be aware of hvo different realities, one for the preshowvolunteers and another lor the rest of the audience. Both of these realities must makesense to the indivlduals involved. As long as these separate realities make sense, no onewill question anything.

For example, let's say you have clipboarded several members of the audiencebefore the show and you are about to do Q&A. They have all kept their slips and haveihem in their possession. ln the introduction to the routine you can say someihing alongthe lines of, "We're going to try a demonstrotion in mind to mind communication. I con,on occosion, reod thoughts of a very speciJic nature ond t'hot's whot we're obout to try. lfgou would, pleose remoue o slip of poper t'rom your puße or wallet and simply wite ocomment or question ond perhaps o bit of personal inlormotion. Anything ot oll will do.Keep thot slip in your. possession. I understand that some oJ you moy houe alreadg donethis, if so, please toke out gour slip and reuiew what 9ou houe witten. This is the information we will try to communicote". and you proceed with the Q&A.

ln ihis case the two reaLities are very close to each other, in iact virh.rally identical,but the timing is different. Those who were clipboarded will remember that they havealready written something down, and those who haven't will be busy doing just that. No-äce the positioning o{ the t'xo paris of the equation. First we get those who were notclipboarded working on their slips and then bring in those who were clipboarded. Sinceeveryone will have their slip on them lrom beginning to end, there should be no questionas to the legiümacy o{ the situation.

One small word here. Although it's somewhat beyond the scope o{ this particularmonograph, an excellent technique to add to the mix of the above scenario is to throw insome dummy questions. These are dealt with in some of the better Q&A manuscripts andthey can be very effective.

Here's another scenario. Let's suppose you've worked with on€ individual b€forethe show, and they are thinking of a single word. This word was gotten Jrom a dictionary. Itwill be much more effecüve if you can give the impression that they could have chosen any

- 1 8 -

clef or e {he Qurtain !{ses- q treatise on presfrox' rvork -

word in the English language. any word at all. The volunteer knows that ihey took a wordfrom a dictionary. The audience does not know how the word was chosen. That,s thesituabon going in to the presentatlon. Here's one possible way to word this on stage. Let,ssay you ve already gotien your volunteer on stage.

"Thank you so much t'or helping. lÄlould you pleose conJirm o thing or two for auroudience. I spoke with you bnefly belore the show tonight, is thot conect? We chotted abit ond I asked you if you would be [,i//ing t'o ossist me tn o simple demonstration duingthe progtom, is thot corect? You see, I do thjs becouse some people houe stage t'nght orsome other condition thot moy cause them undue onxiety b9 being on sfoge. I simplyuanted to determine that gou were indeed wil l ing to help.

I told you thot you needed to think of o word in the English languoge. you had achoice of literally ten's of thousands of words, is thot conect? you uere giuen a chonce tochange your mind and you finollg lotched on to one word, conect? you hove been con_centroting on that word eDer since, am I ight? Now let's be cleor, you did not tell me theword did you? You didn't uite onything down or mention this word to anyone else didyou? So gou ond you alone know which word is locked in your mind ight now, conect?Fine. Thonk you."

You then proceed to dlvlne the word. Notjce the two realiues present here. Go backand re read the above passage and try to put yourself in the mind set of the volunteer.Everything willsound conect. They did have a choice of thousands oI words, they did nottell anyone nor write anything down, etc. It all sounds quite cofiect. It simply appears thatyou neglected to mention the dictionary, (if that indeed is noticed at all by your votunreer).

Now re-read the passage again from the stand point of an audience member. Againeverything sounds correct, only in this case, they wiil assume that your volunteer simplychose a word at random out of the clear blue sky. Everything fits from born perspectrves.That is verbal misdirection.

The€asiest way to do this process is to write everything out clearly belorehand. Dojust as.we did above and re-read your lines from the perspective of both your volunteer(s)as well as your audience. If something doesn't .fit' from either perspective, dump it andstari again. One thing I have found to be very helpfulin this process is to read the linesaloud and try to put myself into the performing situation. you may also want to tape recordyourself. Go back and listen, making sure everything lines up coriectly and no red flags areraised. This is not a difficult process to do, but it has to be done aheaä of time. Don't try tomake this up on stage. You're asking for trouble.

- 1 9 -

{$efore She Qurtain !(isas- o treqtise on presho*' u'ork -

I've only given a couple of examples here, but l m sure you get the idea. This is notdifficult, but it is vitalLy important. Give it the attention it deserues.

!)istance -

By distance I mean both physicol distance and time distance. If you can do yourpreshow work three hours prior to the performance, while literallg no one else is in thetheater except you and your votunteer, then no one can possibly know anything everhappened at all (assuming you handle everything else conectly). That is the advantage oftime distance. The more time you can allow to elapse bet'ween the execution of preshow,and the program itself, the better off you will be. This is why you'llsee Q&A workersclipboarding the house a fulL45 minutes to an hour before shor,,.rtime.

The next step is to disoppeor Do this as early in the preshow sequence as possible.By that I mean get out of sight, and therefore, out of mind. If the vast majority of youraudience sees you for the very first time the moment you walk out on stage, then you represhow work becomes even more invisible. Remember Michael Close's work on Assumption? This is one place where it weighs the most heavily! This is a valuable point. Put osmuch time between gour preshow work ond your progrom as possiblel You'll be glad youdid. Do your preshow work and get out of therel

What can be even better is if you can get witnesses to swear that you were actuallynext door at the pub before the program (or anywhere else, for that matterl). Just some-thinq to think about!

$nr6ers of spectqtors aryroached -

This is a major lactor when doing Q&A. Let's suppose that the performer isclipboarding the house. An excellent shategy is to have both 'hot' boards as well as'dummy' boards working the house. All that this means is that you will have slips beingwritten where you willget no information whatsoever. That is where the dummy boardscome in. Later on, when the Q&A segment of the program happens, you can have everyone else in the room get out a slip of paper and write their questions. You'll have peoplewho will have done this before the show as well as lot's of people who did their slip duringthe show who do noi get picked. It will seem much more fair.

- 2 0 -

:

;

c$efore {he Qurtain !{sas- q treatise on prcshow rvolk -

Obviously, it's the sheer number of people involved that helps to hide the {act thatany work was done before the show. If you only ciipboard three people and they ali getcalled upon, the method wili become transparent

I won't labor this point because it has been dealt with very well in other publicaiions(see bibliography). Suffice to say, read those other texts and you'll see examples of thistechnique in action.

$Qxing $kiftods -

One of the most devastating ways io use preshow is in conjunction with other methods. When the only actual method for an effect is the use ol preshow, it's a very straightline to the explanation. On the other hand, if there are a combination of methods {or theeffects utilizing preshow, there's no straight line. ln fact, oll expionotion pret$ much goesright out the window.

One of the best examples of this in the literahrre is Bob Cassidy's Q&A routine from"The At O{ Mentalisn". The mixture of methods to achieve the overall efiect is marvelousand virhially impossible for anyone to reconstruct. Of course it is fairly easy to mix meihodsfor Q&A. Q&A is what Cassidy calls a major effect', meaning that literally everyone in theroom is involved (ot at least think they are). Since so mang peopie and, therelore, poten-öal effects arc involved, it's actually very easy to mix methods.

Just using the devices that are mentioned later in this book that are good forpreshow use, you can achieve a wide variety of effects. Obviously you can clipboard forjust about anything. You can also use another method for a design duplication. Have aword or tlvo selected either via Flashback or the Working Mentalists Dictionary. Forceanother word from a book and force a card as well. Have another card mentally seleciedand written down {using Annemann Outdone).

All of these bits of information can then be revealed later on. And each was utilizedin a dif{erent fashion. Of course you can also use center tears, peek wallets, switches, stealsand any number oI other techniques and devices. When it's all put together, it is not onlyde\,astating, but literally impossible to reconstruct since so mang methods were used to-gerner.

Of course that's Q&A, a major effect. What if you are doing a minor effect? Cassidydelines this as any effect where just one or a lew spectators are directlv involved. Minor

- 2 7 -

cSef or e {he Qurtain lQses- .r treqtisc on oresfrou'work -

effects are a different animal altogether. It is possible to mix methods in minor ef{ects,particularly if you use more than one spectator. Using preshow on one spectator and anentirely dilferent procedure, say, something that can done completely on stage. with an-other spectator makes for a very effective combination. There are a couple of examples ofthis in the efiects section (particularly the lbssed Out Deck preseniation).

ql"nf"t ()evicesfor preslrow -

There are a number of items that can be very useful ior preshow work. In all of thecases that follow, the performer (or a representative) will be involved in direct contact withthe audience. Some of these are great for gathering information, others for impafting it.

Of course the all-time classic is the clipboard. Clipboarding people is one o{ themost useful techniques you can use. By the way, l'm also including any impression devicewhereby written iniormation is stored and retrieved later on by the performer. Up untilrecently, by lar the best on the open market was that made by Lee Earle. Unfortunately,Lee has stopped making these marvelous clipboards and has come out with a new prod-uct. It is equally good (although candidly, I stilllean towards the original model). I com-pletely understand Lee's reasoning for siopping production o{ ihe 'Micro Thin' model. Hisnewer model will q,ork just as well. And of course there are others available that will serveIne purpose.

It is said that Dunninger favored hardcover books with carbon paper in th€ covers.These are easily made even today and look normal. Of course, more often than not itwasn't Dunninger who was 'booking' the spectator, but David Lusiig! In fact it seems thatthe vast majority of preshow of any sort that Dunninger used was achtally carried out byLustig. See section on direct contact for more information on this technique.

Of particular mention in this discussion is 'Annemann Outdone' by m9 dear friend

Carlyle. This is a carbon impression device built into a single p/oytng cord. The access to

-22 -

$efor e {he Qurtain !(scs- q freqlise on oresfroq' rvork -

the written impression is immediate (in faci it can be done right in lront oi the spectatorswith careful handling). Obviously you can have a spectator think oi any card and havethem write it down, using the deck as a writing suüace (and a Post-ltG) Note). you canfigure oui the justification {or yourself. But this also makes a marvelous combination byforcing a card from the deck and having the speciator write down ony ot'her inlormation{and thus obtaining the impression). It 's a great piece of mentalism and wellworth themoney.

Since I'm talking about the Great Carlyle, I might as well mention one of my personal favorites for preshow use. His 'Working

Mentalist's Dictionary' is worth it's weight ingold. It's a simple pocket dictionary. The spectaior selects any page in the dlctionary andthinks of the first word. The book is snapped shut and pocketed. you can then go back atany time and the book will tell you what uord the spectotor is thinking of!lt s not originalwith Carlyle by any means. It's been around for a very long time, and Carlyle makes thebest one currently available. Get this,,

Of course you can force playing cards and name them later. But that,s really tooeasy (and obvious). A much more subtie idea is to make up a pack of cards with objectson ihem (recipes. automobiles, vacaüon destinations, etc.) and have one selected This caneither be forced or the info obtained in some other fashion. When the show comes, usingverbal misdirection (see verbal misdirection section) you can paint this into a scenarlowhere the cards are never known by the audience and the spectator is still happy. youapparently just reach into the spectators mind and tell them where they want to go forvacation! The opportunities here are literally endless and can add a great deai to youroptlons.

Forcing books can be a great boon {or preshow. ln fact ony t'orcing item canbemade to work for preshow. Obviously iI you are forcing information on your spectators anclrevealing it later, it must be made to look like the spectator chose anything at alland yougot it! A big plus is that you don't really have to remember anything. The informaüon willbe the same from show to show.

Regular booktests (Flashback, Mother O{ All Booktests, lnsight, etc. ) can all workjust fine. You have them look at the word and you reveal it later on stage. The Mother isparticularly effecäve when done this way. There's no book in evidence orrce you are onstage and yet you are able to divine (and in most cases, drour) the picture in the spectator,smind Powerful stuff! Flashback is particularly good if you want to have several diflerentwords selected by diflerent spectators. Make sure you've got good mnemonrcs to remem_ber all those words!!

- 2 3 -

{Sefor e She Qurtoin lQses- q treqtise on p''esfro*' rvork -

Right along those same lines is design duplication. UriGeller has been making a bigsplash Ior the lasi few years doing this on television. The host of the show draws somethingand ii is seaied in an envelope. All of this is done before the show. Later on Uri duplicatesii on the air and the two drawings are compared to be a match (or close enough, at leastl).Any impression device would work for this as wellas Lee Earle's wonderful 'Clone Pad'.Of course there are other methods as well. Search the literature and vou'll find much thatwill work.

ln short, anything that can either capture or impart predetermined information isvery suiiable for preshow work. Look into these various devices and see which {its you andyour style of working best.

{he(Jse Of preshow clncQariousQffecß - -

'$Qftipfe Quts' clQutines -

I've used this idea severaltimes. When planning on doing an effect that has multipleouts as part oI the method (let's say, various sealed predictions), I will approach a spectatorbefore the program with one ol those outs sealed very thoroughly in a padded envelope.I'll also have my return address written on the envelope {or reasons ihat will become ap-parent shortly.

I tell them that I want them to be the guardian of the envelope. It contains some-thing that moy be of importance later on in the show. All they need to do is hold onto itand if I call {or it, simply bring it Iorward to me on stage. If, by chance, there's not enoughtime to do the particular piece I have in mind by (say) the intermission, they can simplybring it to me during the break (or after the show, etc. ).

- 2 4 -

c$efore {he Qurtain !(!ses' a treqtise on preshow uork '

Obviously I have one of my outs for a routine coniained in thai envelope. My otherouts are elsewhere. I will do the routine. and if the out that they are holding is needed, Imake a big deal at that point ihat I enhusted a member of the audience with a sealedenvelope be{ore the program began. I have them stand and aitest to the sihlation, theyhaven't opened it, etc., and have them bring it forward. Once they have done so they arereturned to their seat and I proceed with the effect.

Of course, a good portion of the time this out is not the one that is needed. I use theout that ls called for and when the program is over they simply return the envelope thatthey have been holding to me. assuming I never had time to do the piece I was consideringperforming. They are none-the,wiser. This is a also why I put my return address on iheenvelope. I tell them that the contents are somewhat valuable to me personally (not toanyone else, however, with no real monetary value) and I DO want the envelope back incase i decide not io use it.

Just on the off chance that they forget io retum the envelope after the program, theycan easily mail it to me since the address is on the envelope. This has never happened, butit is a safeguard that is most helpful Plus it keeps them from opening the envelope anddr', overinq lhe contents.

d part Of \6hree - par4 {Brediction -

When doing certain standards such as 'Mental Epic, and any one o{ a dozen other

effects that require a 'one-ahead' as part of the method, preshow can be a valuable ad-

junct. Many of these routines require that the final selection (out of ihree in this examDie)needs to be forced for method reasons.

lnstead, why not use preshow and call upon your audience volunteer lor that finalpiece of in{ormation? Instead of forcing something, you would use the information you gotpreshow. This looks very clean, especially if the other selections were just objects or wordsselected entirely at random. If your final object is a playing card that has to be selected (forinstance), that can appear somewhat out of place. By using preshow, you are less limitedin what you can use for presentation maierial, and it can appear that the final selection is asfree as the previous two. Make sense?

This can take what is generally considered to be a weak spot in routines such asthese and make it much stronger. Try itl

- 2 5 -

Snfotn {ha Qurtain ((!ses- a lreqtise on presho*'u'ork -

flossed Qut $eck -

Obviousiy this is an all-time classic effect. I've kept this a total secret until now, butthis is the best place for it to be. This is easily the best finish for a Tossed Out Deck preseniation I've ever seen or used. This iakes what is already an extremely strong demonstrationand moves it up at least a notch, maybe h.vo! This is powerful stuff!

You introduce a deck oi playing cards and wrap a rubber band around them. Youdemonstrate how to lift one comer and just pe€k at a card, allowing several spectators todo it. They each stand. When you get the deck back, you look over the crowd announcethat you'll expand the possibilities. You point to random spectators around the room andhave each one of them just thlnk of a card, noi even seeing the deckl

In time honored Tossed Out Deck fashion, you then proceed to name severalcards,having spectators sit if they hear the name of their card. Finally you have only one specta-tor left. As it happens, this is a person who merely thought oI a card. Concentrating, younow name a card and they sit immediately. It's a miraclel

Of course you know the method. The initial cards are selected by any one of severalmethods for performing Tossed Out Deck. The final selections were done preshowl Yet youmake it seem as i{ they are thinking of cards right on the spot. "Let''s toke this a bit Jurther.You sir! You're thinlang ot' o cord, conect? Pleose stond. And you sir, you ue got one rnmind os well, conect? Pleose stondl" When these cards are revealed as well as the others.it's a maior kick in the brainl

There's no need to point out that your linal spectator is one who merely (seemingly)thought of a card. Believe me, your audience urill notice. Since you know which cards yourpreshow people chose, simply do not name one of them during the fißt phase of theroutine. Save one or both for the finale. Of course it should go without saying that i{ yourpreshow spectator thinks of one of the Tossed Out Deck Cards, they will sit when that cardis named. It's always under your conkol.

Try this, it's a major kick!

- 2 6 -

Clefor e She Qurtain Qses- 4 treatise otl preshq\r 1\'ork -

^dd-ltqb,

Here's a new wrinkle on this venerable effect. Basically the effect is this. S€veralspectators write two or three digit numbers in a column and a final spectator adds them allup and reveals a total. The performer then reveals a prediction (usually an envelope thathas been in sight the entire time) which turns out to be the exaci same number.

Great efiecil Here's a new way to handle it. This requires a bit of mental agility topulloff, but the effect really plays well. Suppose you preshow a person or two and get ahvo or three digit number from each one. Remember these numbers.

Now, during the program you go into the audience and have h',,o or three otherswrite numbers in a column on a pad of paper. Mentally add these numbers as they arewritten, keeping a running total. Finally hand the pad to one of your preshow volunteersand have them write their number in place and hand the pad to your other volunteer.Writing their number. The pad is finally handed to someone else and the numbers areadded.

When you hand the pad to your preshow volunteer # 1, yoL-r break {rom the crowdandn-ead {or1he stage. Sincelou have a running total'of the numbers so {ar, plus youknow what your h,vo volunteers are going to write, you can quickly come up with the {inaltotal, even before the last number is written. A large slate or dry ense board would beperfect ior this. By the time you write your prediction, the pad is just making it to Vour lastvolunteer. They write their number and they are alltotaled. The finaltotal and your predic-tion will match perfecdy.

As I said, this takes some 'on the spot' mental agility, but if you're able to talk andmentally add at the same time, this can be a most convincing demonstration your chatterwill need to emphasize your physical locatlon as the linal numbers are written as well ashaving your 'prediction'

held high once it's done.

Another handling would be to nail write (or boon or whatever) the final total. Thisway you could have the 'prediction' in plain sight the entire time with nothing apparentlybeing done to it except holding it. Great stuff and virtually impossible to back track. Try itout!

- 2 7 -

cSefore {he. Qrntain lQfses' q trcatise on preshq$''work -

One more thing, a HUGE advantage that this method has thai the standard methoddoesn't is that you can leave the pad with your spectator's. They can check their ownnumbers and keep the page. There's simply noihing to find amiss.

psychicr6htzee -

Here's a fun demonstration where the spectator gets to psychically influence aninanimate object. Picture this: a spectator is shown a small die along with a match box. Thedie is placed in the box and shaken, the drawer opened and the number revealed. This isdone several times with different results. Finally you have the speciator shake again and tryto 'will'the die to fall on a ceriain number. Before the box is opened, the specrator an-nounces which number they are trying to make happen. Let's say it's the number 4. Thebox is now opened and the die does indeed show Iour spots!

How? Simple! Preshow and the die force from Annem ann's 2O2 Methods of Forc-ing. Simply preshow your volunteer {or a number from one to six. Rig a matchbox alaAnnemann to force that same number. Basically you need a large household matchboxand turo small dice. One is loose and can be removed. The other is actually attached to thebottom of the drawer towards one end of the box. The loose die is ihe one that rattlesaround and gets looked at each time. When you're ready to force the die, rattle box andsimply turn the box end ior end-Make sure the loose die is towards the inner end of thedrawer. When the drawer is opened, the fixed die will show and force your number. youcan use a temporary adhesive or wax for this so you can force a different number eachtime. If you can't figure out what l'm talking about, spend $5 and get the book, it's worthit's weight in gold.

ps2chicßhtz,ee z -

A die and matchbox (as above) are shown and demonstrated to show that the die isreal. You have the sp€ctator roll the die one last time. Without revealing the result, you alsohave them roll an imaginary die on ihe table and note the number that is uppermost. Theynow open the matchbox and note it's uppermost number without showing anyone. Theyare now to add those two digits together and reveal their new number (which will be any-where between 2 and 12). You now show a prediction that has been in sight the enfiretime, revealing the exact same number!

You have already figured this one out. It works exactly like Psychic Yahtzee above,only you {orce any number you want, without matching their preshow number. For in-

- 2 8 -

ßefor e {he Qurtain !l$es- .r treqtise on presfrs$'\'ork -

stance, let s say they preshow the number 4. You rig ihe box to force a 5. So your predic-tion total will be 9. Simplel

$'fre $Qrocfe prediction -

This powerful demonskation of mind power is one that I have kepi under wraps formany years and it is being revealed here ior the {irst äme. Picture this: A spectator sbrought on siage and is shown to have a seaied envelope which the performer (you) gavethem before the program. They attest to the fact that they have not tampered with theenvelope, nor do they know it's contents.

The performer asks them to think of a word in the English language, which theyhave locked in their mind. They conlirm that they have such a word. For the first time theytell everyone the word they are concentrating on. Let's say it is 'houseboat,.

They are nowinstructed to open the envelope which they have held since before the program began andto remove the siip contained therein. The performer never goes anywhere near the enve_lope or the slip. When the spectator reads aloud what is contalned on the slip, it is foundio have written in very large letiers the word 'houseboat'! lt truly is a miracle.

This powerful demonshation is a ciasslc example of mixing methods as we havealready discussed. The envelope is an impression envelope, made by installing a piece ofcarbon paper inside against the solid wall of the envelope. A slip of card stock (my personalpreference) is then sealed in the envelope. you will also need a s\rlus writer o{ some sort.Any type will do as long as it does not actually write, but does have a ,nub, on it of somesort. Pressing this stylus writer against the outside of the envelope and then writing willtrans{er whatever is written to the inner slip without leaving a mark outside the envelope_Obviously the word is secretly written on the outside of the envelope during preshow.

As to how the word is chosen, you could simply have them name any word in theEnglish language and secreily write it. But my personal pre{erence is to use Larry Becker'sFlashback, have a page selected and a word noted. I then hand them the book and havethem look at several more pages to see that their word is not on every page, all the whilesqlus writing their word. Regardless o{ how you choose to do it, the envelope is then leftwith them. Proceed as outlined above. Trust me this is powerful shrff that there seems to beno explanation for. The combination of methods (impression envelope, secret writing, andFlashback) makes for a formidable effect that is squeaky clean. Do this. it killsl

.

it

- 2 9 -

Snforn She. Qurtain !$ses- q lrc4tise ot1p1.ss[rq!v lvork -

These are just a {ew of the endless possibilities that preshow offers. A couple ofthese are pets o{ mine so treat them well. They have been solid for me. I hope ihey workas well for you.

$onre p aratng dhou6hts -

Well there you have it. I hope this has opened your eyes to the possibjlities thatpreshow offers. The original working title of this litile tome was "How To Be A God [n yourSpare Time". It was meant to be boih a lighthearted joke as well as a poke at a bit ofreality. The iypes of miracles that preshow work makes possible border on being religiousexperiences at times. Of course, there are those in the world who really do bring aboutreligious experiences using these techniques. But that's another story for another time. Mywife talked me out of that tiile. Part of me wishes she hadn't.

I hope you have enjoyed this. It's been a pleasure putting it together for you.Untilwe meet again, here are good thoughts to you. Now go forth and only use yourpowers for good...

And the curtain falls. . .

- 3 0 -

ßnpr n {he Qurtain !(!ses- 4 tlcqtisc on presftou' rvork '

$u66estedQpadrngRoberi Cassidy's "The Art Ol Mentalism" is a classic in the lield. ln addition to the

wonderful Q&A routine I've mentioned in this book, there's a ton of other great stufi Thisis required reading.

John Riggs s "The Compleot Foftune Teller" is a great treaUse on Q&A. This andthe following volume {orm a post-graduaie course on Q&A. Highly recommended.

John Riggs's "The Euen Compleoter Foftune Tel/er" is the follow-up to his highlyacclaimed first volume. These two together can give you viriualiy allyou need to knowabout doing Q&A

Tony Corinda's all time classic "73 Steps To MentoLism", while not addressingpreshow work specifically, does have an excelleni section o{ answering questions lor e&Aiype oi acts. Ii you haven't read this book, you cannot call yourself a mentalist.

Wiiliam W Larson. Sr. literally 'wrote the book' with "The Collected Mental Myster-ies of William Lorson, Sr. " Ton's o{ great stuff including dynamite material for e&A work-ers

There are several other books that have marvelous work on the maior effect ofQ&A and related material. Seek and ye shall find.

Richard Osterlind's "Dynamic Mysteies" has the only section specifically devoted topreshow that I have ever seen in any book. Entitled 'About Modern pre-Show Work, (page92), there's a ton of sage advice especiallg suitable for the corporate worker, althougheveryone can benefit from Richard's experience. He also cites a wonderful Design Duplica_tion that uses preshow to great ef{ect. This is worth getting lor surel

Keep your eyes open for those tiny pearls oI wisdom that are sprinkled so sparinglythroughout the literature regarding preshow work. Each one is a reflection of the workingconditions ot that particular author/performer. Try to get inside their head and see ,why'they work the way they do. lt can be very revealing and open up entire new vistas for yourown work.

:

$nfot n {he Qurtain lQses- 4 treqtisc on presfis\\'1!ork -

S'he '{Marming

llp 6o gtran6ers' !)ept.

Both of the following titles are available in the general public press and can be ofimmense help to those who have trouble talking with strangers.

"Horn To Tolk To Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere: The Secrets Of Good Conuerso-t'ion" by LamT King and Bill Gilbert. Thrs book is a huge name dropping seminar for King(deservedly so, he's talked with just about everyone in the Universe!), and tends to strayoff the ätle topic, but a good read nevertheless. Worlhwhile.

"How To Tolk With Practicallg Anybody About Procticoily Angtfiing,, by BarbaraWalters. The Queen oi talk tells all. This book may be somewhat tough to find since it isout of print. Check wiih the best used bookstore you can find and you'll likely land a copy.Very worthwhile and has a lot oI valuable material for the preshow worker cleverly con-cealed inside. Get this.

There are other books and even some excellent audiotape programs on peßonalcommunication that you may find helpful as well. Check ihe Nightingale_Conant catalog {oraudio tides. lt's worth whatever you need to do io make this skili second nature!

- 3 2 -