(MENTA)LISTS Alexander May May
With presentational presentational ideas by Warren Thackeray
Copyright © 2013 Alexander May
Original front & back cover images courtesy of: http://www.sxc.hu/prole/smashy http://www.sxc.hu/prole/calchan
ll rights reserved. !his book contains material protected under international copyright laws and treaties. ny unauthori"ed reprint or use of this material is prohibited. #o part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means$ electronic$ mechanical$ photocopying$ recording$ by any information storage / retrieval system or otherwise$ without prior written consent of the author.
CONTENTS
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(Menta)Lists
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The Dirty Little Secrets
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)-
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The Prediction
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The Red Herring *
Full Stage Presentation 1 %
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Full Stage Presentation 2 %
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!olunteer "s #entalist *
Sa$ety Net %
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#ore %ord Possi&ilities )(
For The Techno Heads ,'
S'ecial Than(s
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SCENE 1
1
uring the show$ the performer hands ve or
six people in the audience an index card and pen each. !hey are instructed to all
write down (- random words any words that pop
into their minds. t is stressed that that they have free free choices and there are no forces. 0e then continues with the show. 2ater on in the programme programme the audience members with the index cards are invited to the stage$ bringing their lists of words with them. fter the mentalist had a 3uick look through all the words$ the lists are mixed and redistributed among the volun4
(-.
teers$ ensuring that nobody gets their original card. f it turns out that somebody has their own list$ they should swop lists with the person next to him or her. 5ach person is then asked a specic 3uestion$ like the day of the week they were born on$ or whether they like rock or 6a"".
fter f ter receiving all their answers$ the mentalist writes something on a piece of paper$ which is placed in a large envelope. !his envelope is given to one of the people on stage to hold on to. !he mentalist now gives a brief explanation explanation of the game of word association somebody says a word$ and the next person has to say a new word that is related or associated with it. !he rst person on stage is asked asked to select any one of the words on his list. 0e names it out loud$ and the person next to him is then asked to associate a word on her list with it.
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!his goes on down the line$ until until the last person on stage chooses a word from his list and says it into the microphone. s an example$ let us say he picks the word 7#O!5.8
!he mentalist now o9ers the envelope envelope to this last person$ and he removes the piece of paper that the mentalist placed inside at the beginning of the routine. 0e is given the microphone microphone and asked to read it out loud. t states: !Tonight "e "ill play the ga#e o$ "ord a%%ociation& '$ ' "a% ale to read #y a%%i%tant% correctly a%ed on their an%"er% the la%t "ord in thi% ga#e "ill e N*TE&+
SCENE 2
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he mentalist is hanging out with a group of people at a party and he suggests they play a game of word association. 0e states s tates that
he is working on a way to predict the outcome of this game based on the characteristics of the individuals playing it.
0e takes out a bunch of his business cards and hands everyone a pen and a card. 0e asks that they write down ten random words on the backs of their cards any random words that they can think of. Once this is all done$ he gathers all the cards and looks at all the di9erent words before mixing them
(-.
up. !hen$ he hands one card to each guest at the table$ and turns to the rst person on his left. 0e asks this person to name a celebrity he would take take with to a desert island. ased on his answer$ the mentalist writes a word on the back of another business card$ which he folds up and leaves in full view on the table.
0e now asks this person to select any word on the list he has in his hand$ and to name it out loud. !hen$ the next person names names a word from from his list that he can associate with the rst word selected. 0e might have di;culty to nd one seeing as the words on the cards are totally random$ but eventually he settles on a word. !he next person then associates associates a word from from his list with that word 6ust selected$ and it continues until the last person has chosen a word o9 his list$ as an example we
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possible outcomes$ depending on the di9erent words written by each person in the beginning as well as the random associations made. 0e points to the folded card on the table and asks someone to open it and a nd read the word he predicted. Written large on the card is one word 7 )O%*8
(MENTA)LISTS
(Menta)Lists is a system created that allows the mentalist to predict the outcome of a game of word association. We all know the concept of word association. One person thinks of a word$ word$ and then the next person says another word that can be associated with it$ and so it continues. =or example: =rog pple
!ree ?3uirrel
>reen
etc.
Of course$ these associations are pretty obvious. @ou can also stretch the imagination for more unusual associations$ which is what makes the game fun.
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started working on the routine routine after a friend told me over drinks one evening that he would be very impressed if a mentalist could ask people to play a word association game$ and correctly predict the word named by the nal player.
t sounded like a fun routine$ especially the fact there is inherent comedic potential in the associations made$ together with the impossible e9ect it would create. t is also one of the rare routines that could work on stage and in strolling strolling situations. !here are are a couple of routines routines available that are similar in concept Asee page BBC$ most of them seem to based on the original idea of #ed Dutledge. 0owever$ none that matches what wanted to achieve. !he main ob6ective for me was that THE
P"RTICIP"NTS TO %RITE THEIR O%N %ORDS+ set myself some other strict criteria for the e9ect as well:
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4 !he words EF?! appear rando, and unrelated.
4 wanted to have all the words and cards e-a,ina.
&le$ unlike other e9ects where a few seconds of inspection leaves the method blatantly obvious. also wanted to use only /ords and not 'hrases. 4 No 0shing for the word or number at which the word is located. 4 t needed to be a strict 'ure /ord association
ga,e 4 somebody thinks of a word$ then the next person thinks of a word that can be associated with it. #ot a word that rhymes with it or starts with the third letter or anything that can compromise this point.
4 No $orc $orces es to start o9 with 4 the volunteers must really have a $ree choice of what to write.
fter many trials and errors$ nally came up with the method you are about to read.
DIRT LITTLE SECRETS
!
ime to share. !he main secret lies in the last two cards that the participants receive. ll the other cards contain completely random
and unrelated words. @ou will also make use of clever wording to keep everything on track. 2et
break it down.
THE CARDS ll the participants write down ten random words on their cards$ and as far as they know you have no say in the whole process. 0owever$ seeing that we as mentalists are sneaky$ all is not as straight4forward as it may seem.
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Once everyone has 6oined you on stage$ you will gather the cards and hand them to one of the people 7to mix them and make sure sure nobody receives their own card.8 !he reason for mixing the cards of course has nothing to do with that.
efore the show$ you will need to prepare prepare two cards in a very special way. !hese cards will be called the ,-'M'N. CA-/ and the *-CE CA-/. CA-/. !hese two prepared prepared cards cards are secretly secretly added to the stack and are the main secret to the e9ect. e 9ect. t doesn
that are given to the two people at the end of the line.
THE PRIMING CARD Aheld by second last 'artici'antC has two sets of ve words at alternating positions. !hese words are all related to two words on the second special card.
THE FORCE CARD Aheld by 0nal 'artici'ant C contains two Gforce< words and eight random words. put force in brackets$ as it is not a hard force$ force$ but works more on a subliminal linguistic principal. !he two force words words are NOTE and )O%. !he words on the HDE#> HDE#> ID1 are all closely closely related or synonyms of those two words:
NOTE3 Eoney$ Eemo$ Host4t$ Hiano$ Hen. )O%3 0air$ Jiolin$ rrow$ end$ rch.
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Degardless of the word that is chosen from the HDE#> ID1 the last person should always associate either )O% or NOTE with it.
MONEY HAIR MEMO VIOLIN POST-IT ARROW PIANO RIBBON PEN ARCH
,-'M'N. CA-/
NUANCE DIFFERENT SINCE NOTE JUMPING BOW DURING ACTUALL ACTUALLY Y GUILE PARTLY
*-CE CA-/
!he other eight words words on the =ODI5 =ODI5 ID1 were carefully selected and are virtually impossible to associate with any other ones$ as long as you use the wording correctly.
Demember to write the two prepared cards in di9erent handwriting handwriting as the two people holding the (,.
cards are standing right next to each other and might 6ust catch a glimpse of each other
!he next person may go for 7#18 7#18 to associate associate with this word$ again$ it really makes no di9erence what he says. (,.
#ow we come to the crux of the e9ect. !he next person Asecond last in lineC is holding the ,-'M'N. CA-/ and is about to do all our work for us. 0e looks at his list for %o#ething to associate with 7#18 7#18 and by doing so will inLuence the nal spectator to choose either one of the two force words. 2et us imagine he chooses the word 7JO2#8 from from his card. !he last person now picks an o&4ect from his list the *-CE CA-/ 4 CA-/ 4 to associate with 7JO2#.8 0e has no real choice but to choose 7OW.8
s you can see all the words chosen by the rst couple of spectators have no impact on the e9ect$ as all the work is done by the last two spectators. @ou @ou should always end up with either the the word 7)O%8 or 7NOTE.8
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CARDS ACROSS !he two prepared prepared cards are are ready and waiting waiting in an easily obtainable place. While one of the partici4 pants gathers all the other cards and mixes them$ you secure secure them in a palmed position. position. When he is done mixing$ he gives the cards back to you and you start handing them out one by one to each person.
0ere is where the 7move8 comes in. !here is a classic magic e9ect known as 7Iards 7Iards cross8 which you can nd in numerous magic books. !he usual e9ect is that you count ten cards into two volunteers< hands$ then make three Ly invisibly and when they are recounted the rst volunteer only holds seven cards and the other now has thirteen. We will use the principle here and in the process ensure that the nal two participants receive the ,-'M'N. CA-/ and the *-CE CA-/ as CA-/ as opposed to the real cards they wrote. (,.
s you get the mixed cards cards back$ you place the two palmed cards on top of the stack$ with the *-CE CA-/ on CA-/ on top. @ou now start handing out the cards from the end of the line$ meaning the last person in line receives the *-CE CA-/ the person next to him gets the ,-'M'N. CA-/$ CA-/$ the person next to him receives a random card that was written on earlier$ and so forth. s you get to the rst person in line$ you simply hand him a card and keep keep the remaining two cards hidden in your palm. !hey are easily ditched in the pocket as you remove a pen or the like. =or =or a more detailed description on exactly how to perform the 7Iards cross8 refer to !The -oyal -oad to Card Magic+ by 0ugard and raueM. The eect o$ thi% procedre i% that "hile e4eryone el%e ha% a card "ith rando# "ord% on the la%t t"o people in the line are each holding holding a %pecially prepared card&
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WORDING Hreparing Hreparing a proper script for the presentation presentation of this e9ect is 3uite necessary. s you go from person to person$ you will be giving them subtle instructions that will ensure a successful conclusion. nstead of asking them to associate a word with the one they 6ust heard$ they are told to associate
SOMETHING with the word they 6ust heard. It 'lays a crucial role5 as you /ant the, to thin( o$ a 'hysical o&4ect and not 4ust a /ord* On the nal card held by the last spectator$ there are only two real ob6ects listed 4 the other eight are abstract words. !hese two words are a re our force words. 2imiting their choice to an actual ob6ect ensures that the nal person chooses either e ither of the force words$ and doesn
=or example$ your presentation could go like this$ 7>ood$ so he chose elephant$ now want you to associate so,ething on your list with an elephant.8 Or$ 7Which o&4ect on your list would you associate with a cabinetB8
M !The -oyal -oad to Card Magic+ y 5ean 6gard 7 rederick 8rae World ,li%hing Co#pany&
THE PREDICTION
s you will understand by now$ you will need
to make two predictions predictions for this e9ect$ as
there are two words words that can be chosen.
!here are are countless books and 1J1
ON STAGE Herforming this on stage$ the easiest way to reveal the prediction is within a two4way envelopeM. am
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sure you are familiar with the concept depending on which way the envelope is opened$ you will nd a di9erent prediction prediction paper inside. !he one side of the envelope is pre4loaded pre4loaded with a prediction for 7OW.8 @ou can either 6ust place a paper inside with the word written in large print across it$ or you can have a longer message that somebody on stage can read.
Once you are on stage you then take a piece of blank paper and write the prediction prediction for 7#O!58 on it$ without letting the audience see of course. @ou fold it up and slip it inside the envelope$ which is placed somewhere in full view. Once the nal word has been selected$ all that is needed is for you to open the correct side of the two4way envelope. @ou @ou can now o9er it to one of the spectators spectators on stage to remove the paper inside and to check *,.
that there is nothing else inside. !his is 3uite a nice way to remain hands4o9 from the prediction. good idea is to mark one side of the two way envelope so that you always open the correct sideK
STROLLING & CLOSE-UP
f you are working in a more intimate setting$ you may consider writing the prediction on the back of your business card$ which is folded up and placed on the table. @ou do of course need another$ similar folded card already written with the other word hidden somewhere$ ready for a billet switch. !he reader no doubt doubt has his own favourite billet switch and am not about to reinvent the wheel. !here are are numerous numerous books available that describe ways to switch billets. ust go to the classics of mentalism like Iorinda
Out of experience$ it seems that for some reason 7#O!58 is selected more often than 7OW8 and always make the card write in performance with 7#O!58 on.
!his means that if the nal person does choose choose this word$ don
prediction prediction
card. simply point to it and a nd repeat that it has been lying on the table the entire time and then ask one of the people to open it and read my prediction. Of course$ should they select 7OW8 7OW8 can 6ust get the already prepared card from my pocket and do the billet switch. t this point all the attention is on that person reading the prediction and it is easy to dump the other card. nother solution would be to make use of a 0imber Wallet. @ou can carry the lists inside the one com4 partment together with one prediction slip$ and the other prediction is of course placed in the other side. !his will keep keep everything together and the e9ect is self4contained.
M An ea%y #ethod to #ake one can e $ond in !,ractical Mental Magic+ y Theo Anne#ann /o4er ,lication% 'nc& : !Thirteen 9tep% to Mentali%#+ y Corinda ;oi% Tannen N&&C& < 5ay 9ankey ,aperclipped ,aperclipped
htt'366///*san(ey,agic*co,6detail*as'-7ID89:;<=
THE RED HERRIN>
W
hile cards are always shown openly to to the audience$ it might be a good idea to utili"e another bit of misdirection to lead
them down the garden path. !he easiest would be to throw in a red herring that can send them in the complete opposite direction should they try to reverse engineer the e9ect. !he idea is to ask every person taking part in the game a seemingly random and arbitrary 3uestion$ and then pretending that whatever they say has a profound inLuence on your prediction.
*Q.
?imple 3uestions like asking them to mention the day of the week they were born on or which celebrity they would want to be stranded on an island with$ will do the trick. Once you have these answers you act as if they are very interesting$ and now you are able to make your prediction.
Dead through the 7?!>5 7?!>5 HD5?5#! HD5 ?5#! !O# R(8 section to see how these 3uestions are used during the actual performance. While it has no inLuence on the routine$ if you play it correctly correctly you can convince the audience that this is how you were able to achieve the e9ect. Demember$ the main secret lies in the sets of words on the last two cards$ so downplay their role and make make a big deal about your 3uestions and the participants< answers.
ST">E PRESENT"TION 1
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ix people are lined up on the stage to assist you with your next miracle. !he rst ve all received an index card earlier in the show
and were asked to write down any ten random words words on each. @ou @ou gather all the cards$ cards$ have a 3uick glance at all the words on them and then give them a 3uick mix. !hey are now redistributed redistributed so that all ve are are holding a list di9erent than their own. @ou @ou now move to the rst person in line. line. 7!hank you so much for being willing to take part in this experiment. need to ask you 6ust one 3uestion$
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and need you to answer as truthfully as possible. s that a dealB >ood. 0ow old were you when you had your rst kissB8 70mm% was ( think.8
7HerfectK 7H erfectK !hank you very much. #ow we move on to you madam. f you can$ please tell us which day of the week you were born onB8 7On a Wednesday.8 Jery good thank you. @ou sir$ if you could choose between a holiday on a tropical island or a 5uro4 pean skiing village$ which one would you rather go toB8 7
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7!hank you. nd nally sir$ if you had to buy your wife an anniversary present$ would you go for diamond earrings$ or a pearl necklaceB8 7 guess diamond earrings.8
7>reatK have now asked all these people a 3uestion which has given me enough information information about them to tell me exactly which choices they will make tonight. am going to write down a prediction on here and place it in this envelope which am going to give to you sir for safe4keeping.8 5verybody holding a list is told to hold it so that they can see all the words on their card. !he rst person chooses any word he wishes from all ten random words and names it out loud. !he person next to him then associates a word on her list with the one 6ust mentioned$ etc. Once the nal word is chosen and named out loud$ you can write it on a big white board for all to see. s an example$ let
@ou @ou move your attention back to to the gentleman holding the envelope.
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7?ir$ you have been holding on to my prediction that made before we got started. Would Would you please be so kind as to read what have predictedB8 Of course$ the prediction contains only one word$ 7#O!5.8 !hanks to the two prepared prepared cards cards you secretly added$ the wording you used$ and of course the double envelope your prediction matches perfectly. !he rest is all theatrics theatrics and showmanship$ hiding hiding the real method behind the smok s moke e and mirrors of the 3uestions being asked inferring that the answers will lead you to the right word.
ST">E PRESENT"TION 2
H
erforming (Menta)Lists on a stage or plat4 form is going to re3uire you to bring a certain number of people on stage. 0ere is an idea to
make use of this fact and turn it into a full stage routine. f you can blend two good e9ects into one Lowing routine$ routine$ you can get a good amount of stage time and entertainment value in one go.
What is described here is 6ust one concept that the reader may nd useful$ or may inspire other routines routines featuring (Menta)Lists.
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n this routine$ the lists are already made and they will not write their own words. While this might take away the impromptu feeling of the original routine$ you will make up for it by adding more layers of deception.
5ight people are invited to 6oin you on stage. !hey are lined up to ll the stage from left to right. !he person on the far left is asked to mix up eight big envelopes that each has a large 3uestion mark on the front.
While he is busy with that$ you ask each of the other participants to name any celebrity they would like like to invite to dinner. @ou now make a prediction based on their answers$ which is sealed in another envelope and placed in full view on a table. @ou @ou return return to the person mixing the eight envelopes. envelopes. Once he is satised that they are all mixed up$ he hands every other person on stage an envelope$ keeping one for himself. (,.
5veryone now opens their envelopes and is instructed to remove its contents. nside they nd one large laminated paper containing random words. The re4er%e %ide o$ each li%t i% al%o a dierent color to di%tingi%h the#&
@ou @ou now start with the the rst person in the line on stage and instruct him to select #@ one of the random words on the list he is holding. Once he names it$ you turn to the next person in line$ asking him to associate any word on his list with the word 6ust mentioned. !his goes on down the line$ until until the nal person has chosen a word o9 her list. 0old the mic to her and ask her to name it out loud. ?he says$ 7#O!5.8 @ou @ou now point to the prediction prediction envelope that has been in full view on the table the entire time. !he contents are removed and the lady is asked to read what it says.
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!Tonight = insert insert your name here > "ill atte#pt a da??ling $eat o$ #ind reading and prediction o$ h#an eha4ior on not one t eight dierent indi4idal%& '$ he i% %cce%%$l a rando# ga#e o$ "ord a%%ociation "ill end "ith the "ord N*TE@
Not only that t he "ill al%o ha4e inenced the rando# #ixtre o$ en4elope% in %ch a "ay that the order on %tage "ill e $ro# le$t to rightB .reen yello" yello" red le prple orange "hite and lack&+ !he eight people on stage hold up their lists lists with the colour side showing$ and would you believe it all eight colours in perfect order as predictedK SSS !he working is pretty pretty straight4forward straight4forward and allows you to concentrate on your presentation. presentation. !he (Menta)Lists part is still more or less the same as
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described earlier$ only dressed up and paired with another great routine. Obviously there is no need to secretly add the two prepared prepared cards anymore$ as they are in play right from the start.
!he mixing procedure procedure followed by the person shuTing is obviously controlled. controlled. n other words$ regardless regardless of how well the envelopes are seemingly mixed$ the outcome is always the same. !he classic books of card card magic are full of these these false shuTes and counts$ which can easily be adapted to envelopes. One very practical example would be the 9"indle 9"itch by 9"itch by Haul Iurry Aoften referred to as /eal or 9"itchC. 9"itchC. t can be found in Haul Iurry
envelopes is published in 1oug 1yment
s you can see from the above description$ (Menta)Lists can be used as a stand4alone e9ect$ but also work well as part of a bigger presentation. @ou @ou probably probably already have other ideas for your own routinesK
M !,al CrryD% World% 8eyond+ y ,al Crry Crry 6er#etic ,re%%& : !9ti#lacra+ y /og /y#ent 9el$pli%hed& 9el$pli%hed&
!OL?NTEER "S #ENT"LIST
f you are a fan of the 7?pectator as Eind Deader8 ploy you can easily adapt (Menta)Lists and fry their brains a bit more. nstead of you as
performer predicting predicting the nal word$ word$ you can have one of the audience members make the correct predictionK #ow you are only the facilitator in the experiment and you are endowing them with insane powers. !hink of 1erren 1erren rown standing on the sidewalk with a sign reading$ 78e 78e a #ind reader $or 10p8 10p 8 in one of his rst !J shows.
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!he market market place is full with books and e9ects e9ects that can make you achieve this. !he principles of dual reality or instant stooging are used most of the time$ and as a mentalist you will undoubtedly have your favourite ways of doing this. While am not about to give away other people
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f you go back to ?tage Hresentation R( on page BB you can also try the following variation which will turn a member of the audience into a mind reader. Thi% #ethod doe% not in4ol4e in4ol4e either dal reality or in%tant %tooging if %tooging if you are someone who is not a fan of these principles.
Variation to Sta! Pr!"!ntation #$ s all the people who wrote a list 6oin you on stage$ you ask another audience member to come up as well. !his person does not have a word list$ but you explain that he will actually be the mentalist in this game. On the table in front of him are (- numbered pay envelopes. n a few moments$ he will have to pick up one of those envelopes. ut before he does so$ you are going to ask each of the other participants a 3uestion and you explain that you want him to listen very carefully to their answers. (,.
fter f ter everyone has answered$ you move back to apprentice apprentice mentalist$ who you now instruct to keep all the answers he heard in mind$ and then pick up any one of the ten numbered envelopes in front of him. !his is a free choice and he can really pick any one he wishes. 0e is instructed to hold on to this until the end of the game. !he game of word word association is played as normal normal and once the nal word has been selected you move your attention back to the person holding the prediction prediction envelope. 7?ir$ you heard all the answers these people gave and based on that chose envelope number ,. 1id you ever feel forced to do so or were you free to choose any one you wantedB8 7 believe it was a free choice.8 7 would like to show you something very interesting regarding regarding the other nine envelopes left on the table.8
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@ou @ou proceed to open all the the other envelopes left on the table and show that they are all 5EH!@ there is nothing inside any of them. @ou open the envelope that the participant selected$ and inside there is one folded piece of paper with only one word written on it. @ou hand it to the participant to read$ and it is of course the word 7#O!5.8 SSS !his utili"es the old 7ank 7ank #ight8 principle$ principle$ which can be found in books like 1arwin
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!ear !ear open the top of his selected envelope$ stick your thumb and index nger inside and take the slip from the thumb tip. !he thumb tip remains inside the envelope which you can crumple up and place in your pocket.
M !101 Th# Tip Trick%+ y .ary /ar"in 7 .eno Mnari 6odiniD% Magic 9hop ,re%%&
S"FET NET
W
hile you are pretty much guaranteed a successful outcome as long as you follow the scripts as outlined in this
book$ there is of course a real possibility that some clown will not follow the instructions and choose a wrong word of the last card. Eany mentalism e9ects carry this risk and with experience comes the knowledge to avert them$ whether it be by knowing who to choose as assistants or by proper scripting and wording.
0owever$ if you are not somebody who likes to stare fear in the face and laugh or simply someone who (,.
does not like e9ects that are not (--U guaranteed$ there are remedies available to ensure your prediction will 2W 2W@? be correct$ regardless regardles s of whether they choose the force words words or not. One method is to use a pocket index$ index$ where you substitute billets for the cards. Eany magic shops sell these and you can also nd instructions on how to construct your own in the book 7,ractical 7 ,ractical Mental Magic8 Magic8 by !heo nnemannM. t would be a very simple matter to obtain the correct correct billet from the index and switch it out with the original prediction via a billet switch. Haul rook also has an e9ect called GFnderhanded< available on his websiteV. 0ere is the ad copy for it:
!The per$or#er re#o4e% a %ingle $olded po%tit note $ro# hi% pocket& There i% nothing el%e in hi% hand% and and he can %ho" oth hand% to e e#pty except $or the $olded po%tit note&
6e clo%e% hi% hand arond the $olded $ olded po%tit and keep% oth hand% in $ll 4ie" the entire ti#e&
The participant $reely na#e% any one o$ thirteen drink%& 9he
(,. take% the illet and open% it and the only thing "ritten on the illet i% her cho%en drink&
8eing a tility gi##ick yo "ill e ale to %e p to thirteen o$ anything $or the participant to %elect& o o are not li#ited to drink%@+
ndeed$ you are not limited to drinks$ you can also use wordsK With either a pocket pocket index or GFnderhanded< as your safety net there will be no more risks involved and all ten words on the nal card ca rd are covered. covered. t might be worth a look if you are afraid that your last participant might not play ball.
M !,ractical Mental Magic+ y Theo Anne#ann /o4er ,lication% 'nc& V htt'366///*'aul&roo(*co*u(6he(no/s6underhanded*ht,
#ORE %ORD POSSI)ILITIES
y now you understand that the concept of
(Menta)Lists is based on the fact that you are limiting the possible associations that
they can make by using words that are either closely related or synonyms of the force words.
While trial and error has shown that 7#O!58 and 7OW8 7 OW8 are the best and most successful s uccessful for this routine$ routine$ you may want to choose your own words and that is certainly very possible. One thing to keep in mind is that the whole point is to ensure that your priming words are not blatantly obvious. f Gvehicle< is your force word$ having priming words such as car$ truck$ taxi$ automobile$ (,.
sedan$ bus and the like like is most certainly #O! what you should be going forK !o !o get you started$ here are are 6ust a couple of ideas to get you started o9:
RIN>3 1iamond$ 1oorbell$ !elephone$ ?phere$ ewelry. ewelry.
ROC@3 oulder$ Ioncert$ Eeteorite$ >uitar$ Hebble. ROPE3 not$ #oose$ ?kip$ #ylon$ 2ine. While wouldn
FOR THE TECHNO HE"DS
f you are a fan of using technology in your
perfor4mances$ perfor4mances$ the following idea might be of
interest to you.
nstead of having the prediction prediction written on the back of a business card or the like$ like$ why not have it printed as a XD Iode on your cardB Once the last person has selected a word$ some4 body scans the XD Iode that has been in full view the entire time$ which redirects redirects to a dedicated page on your Ahopefully mobile friendlyC website. On that page they will nd the word as chosen by the last (,.
person% perhaps even a short video of you making the predictionK predictionK !here are are a bunch of free XD Iode Iode >enerators available on the net$ so once you have your prediction prediction ready simply type it in there and you are sorted.
CREDITS
!
he original idea that this is based on is usually credited to #ed Dutledge (Minding The 9tore). 9tore). =or related e9ects$ see also:
7Eental @arn8 arn8 ill >oldman 7Dhyme!ime8 Eick yres 7Dhyme!ime 7Dhyme!ime ?ublime8 ill Iushman 7!o4do Joodoo8 Dick 2ax 7Eagic 2ist8 im Hace
f have left anyone out$ please let me know and will correct the omission.
SPECI"L TH"N@S
big thank you to everyone who assisted in
the creation of the e9ect$ especially Warr Warren en
!hackeray !hackeray who very generously generously contributed
his ideas. word of thanks as well to ubrey de Wet and of course to everyone else have bugged while ironing ironing out the e9ect. Hlease do get in touch and share your thoughts and ideas regarding regarding (Menta)Lists with me. Ey inbox is always openK lexander Eay
ale-anderAale-ander.,ay*co,
