793.8 jeff stone

793.8 WHERE IS THE MAGIC?

JEFF STONE

When you confront the boundary of your ignorance, you you are a child again. If you can cross the boundary, you learn. –Clay Neves

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A Lot Lot of Magic Starts at The The Fingertips . . . ends at the Wrist Wrist Paul Starts at The Brain and it Goes to the Heart –Andrew Mayne*

* Speaking of Paul Harris on Magic Newswire’s This Week in Magic (6/14/10)

Astonishment Over Over Moves. Moves. –My Mantra

793.8 WHERE IS THE MAGIC?

Written by Jeff Stone H

Cover Cov er Design De sign Jimmy Gibbs H

Inspiration Brad “Scarnecky” Gordon Jay Sankey Paul Harris Melvil Dewey

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Thank You H

There are always so many people I owe a debt of gratitude by the time I complete any of my books. So let me start by thanking all of you, my fans who have waited patiently for this book to nally be completed. So many times I thought I was so close only to discover that I was so far. Thank you to Brad Gordon for always being a true friend and a true inspiration when it comes to thinking about magic. Thank you to Jay Sankey for constantly nagging me about the progress of this project. Thank you to Andy and the rest of the Murray Taco Time gang for letting me take up a booth for many hours on end while writing until my laptop battery gasped its last breath. Thank you to my family for the rest of the writing time down in my man cave that is Stone Cold Magic Headquarters. While I’m there, my family merely senses my presence . . . they don’t see me. Finally, thank you to my daughter Courtney. It was her nal challenge to the entire family that we each work on a goal every day that nally got me to buckle down and complete this quest.

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IMPORTANT NOTE TO PAPERBACK READERS Throughout the book, there are several references to YouTube videos and many other links that can be clicked on if you are reading the PDF version of the book. However, for those of you who are reading the printed copy of the book, all of the links and their cooresponding page numbers can be found neatly organized at www.7938.info. Additionally, you’ll nd the bonus PDF download and the bonus .xls receipt maker as well.

SECOND EDITION © 2014 Stone Cold Magic, LLC

No part of this publication may be sold, distributed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now know, or to be invented, without the expressed written consent of the author.

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Foreword H

Jeff couldn’t have written this wonderful book at a better time. After far too many years of rabbits hopping out of hats, overly serious magicians staring ‘mysteriously’ at their audiences, and the pompous presentations of pointless puzzles, magic is nally changing. Audiences and performers alike, are re-evaluating the dustcovered idea of ‘The Magician,’ especially in light of Google and our so-called ‘Age of Information.’ When the secrets to most tricks can be readily found on YouTube, where does that leave the art of magic? In Jeff’s book, he asks again and again: where is the magic? Jeff offers a thrilling range of answers to this question, suggesting that magic can be found in the element of surprise, in classic card trick books, in the emotion behind lines of script, in connecting with people, in not knowing, and in so many other lush places. I’m an enormous fan of the philosophical perspectives owing through this book, but make no mistake, these pages also document many powerful, clever, commercial magic effects. Among my favorites are ‘Leaving Decks’, ‘Martika’, and the extremely intimate ‘Ode to Charlie.’ Jeff also shares a wealth of great advice on performing and creating, along with many brilliant subtleties. In fact, you’ll nd fresh thoughts and clever insights on every single page. Jeff’s brain just can’t help itself.

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And when it comes to the important subject of scripting, Jeff really outdoes himself. I can’t remember the last magic book I read that offered such an ambitious analysis of scripting. Truly inspiring stuff. Where is the magic? Between the covers of this book, that’s where. Jay Sankey Oct 31, 2013 Toronto, Canada

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Dedicated to Dodd Vickers for his continued effort to remind us all what real magic should be.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS THANK YOU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 FOREWORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 PART ONE - GETTING IN THE RIGHT FRAME OF MIND . . . . . . . . . .17

MAGIC IS A DRUG AND DRUGS ARE DANGEROUS . . . . . . . . . . . 18 YOU, ME AND DUPREE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 THAT REMINDS ME OF A TIME BACK IN ‘NAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 PART TWO – “EFFECT”-IVE ESSAYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

DEDICATED TO THE ART . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 YOU CAN’T BE A KING IN YOUR HOME TOWN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 SHERLOCK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 THE INVISIBLE DOOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 SELF-WORKING LAY PERSON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 THE BLACK HEART REVEALS ITSELF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 YOU’RE RIGHT - STACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 PAPER BALLS UNDER THE HEAD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 SPECTATOR’S CHOICE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 PART THREE – MISCELLANEOUS MISCHIEVOUSNESS . . . . . . . . . . 87

FORCE SCHMORCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89 NOTES ON MISCALLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92 WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH THE DOWN UNDER DEAL? . . . . . . . . 94 CARD MEMORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98 LUKE AND THE 15 FORCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 FORCES OF NATURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

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BOOK TEST SUBTLETIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117 FAUX-QUIVOQUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 INVISIBLY SUBTLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 TWINKIE PICKER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 PART FOUR – ACTUAL EFFECT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

THE FAKE FALSE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 LEAVING DECKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 MARTIKA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 I NEED A HERO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 ACE RE-REVISITED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 STONE COLD MAGICARD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 NO ESP CARDS . . . NO PROBLEM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 GEMINI SHOPPING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 MEMORY RELAPSE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 TOWER OF BABEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 PART FIVE – THE MALINI EFFECT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

MOAB, UTAH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .222 EVERYTHING FADES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245 ODE TO CHARLIE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 FINAL THOUGHTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

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Introduction H

A standard 3x3x3 Rubik’s Cube has 43 quintillion (that’s 43 million, million, millions) different congurations that it could possibly be twisted into, yet I (and many, many others in the world) can take a mixed cube in any one of these 43 quintillion congurations and solve it in about 35 seconds . . . 45 on a bad day.

Australian cubist, Feliks Zemdegs holds the record of 5.66 seconds as of the time of the writing of this book. If you think that’s a uke, think again, the world record before that was 6.18 seconds, before that, 6.24, before that, 6.65, 6.77, 7.03 . . .

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793.8: Where is the Magic?

Oh . . . did I mention that all six of those records are held by one person, Feliks Zemdegs? Yet in 1974, when the Hungarian professor Erno Rubik invented the cube, he wasn’t even sure if a solution was possible. Now, I’m no Erno Rubik, but this book and his tool to explain three dimensional geometry gone international super-star puzzle have a lot in common. The mission of this book is many-fold. One of the “folds” is to get you thinking. Very often when I create an effect, I have no solution. I may have a rough idea of how I might accomplish it, but that’s about it. Many of the essays or effects in this book are very much like the Rubik’s Cube in its rst year . . . I’m not even sure if a workable solution is possible. Yet as I began extracting my thoughts and notes from my journals to create this project, the methods, presentations and further developments came as I wrote. However, though I’ve captured these thoughts for your benet, it is not the point of this book – far from it. There are plenty of cases, in fact, where I give no method. I leave it as a puzzle for you, the reader, to solve. The point is the effect, not the method . . . Astonishment Over Moves; wonder above all else must prevail. If you’re looking for a book on method or audience management, or how to pick spectators this probably isn’t for you. Those subjects are certainly found within these pages, but only as needed to illustrate a deeper point . . . effect over method. Though there are plenty of routines that I’ve honed over the years taught in this book, there are also crazy essays that are meant as thought experiments to provoke you and your mind. How’s this for an effect . . . you become 20 years younger before a live audience, and you stay that way. That’s a crazy effect, yet I have a possible method in the essay called Dedicated to the Art. The point of that essay will not be to get you to perform the effect, but rather to get you to think about effect . . . any effect. The effect is the affect when done properly. Furthermore, when the

Introduction

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affect is correct, the audience experiences a moment of astonishment or wonder. When I was very young, my father did essentially the coin from the ear trick (it was really denim pants back pocket label from mouth), and to this day, it still feels like real magic.

It was the moment that started me down the path that I am still on today . . . a journey to a feeling . . . wonder. I’ve lost my way over the years. A phone call with Bill Malone back in the nineties where he clearly told me that being a good technician isn’t enough got me back on track. He asked me, are you entertaining? The answer back then was no. What is the answer today? It would be something like “I’m a lot more entertaining now than I was back then.” For Bill it was all about the impact on the audience. Throughout the upcoming text, I will be using various techniques to open your mind to wonder, some more subtle or more bold than others. Though you will learn a lot of great routines, you will also (hopefully) be guided toward the path of wonder. When you saw the title of this book, likely you had one of two reactions. You either thought, “What the heck does 793.8 mean?”

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or you thought, “Hey isn’t 793.8 the Dewey Decimal code for Magic books in the public library?” If you fell into the latter category, you very likely remembered being at the library as a young child checking out magic books. You might have remembered the excitement, the thrill or the feeling you felt as you were studying and learning magic. I remember the feeling . . . the feeling of thumbing through books like 101 Easy To Do Magic Tricks by Bill Tarr . . . those illustrations of things I’d never seen before. And other books with the colorful pictures with cheesy kids dressed in even cheesier top hats and capes. The colorful owers and silks and apparatus that looked so cool. It was wonder-full – full of wonder. That feeling is the feeling that I contest is lost among just about every magician out there. I’m trying to bring it back to you the reader/magician and to the collective world population that we call our audience. Too many magicians have forgotten about wonder. Hopefully by the end of this book, you’ll be on this side of the fence remembering wonder. At the end of each effect/essay/etc. you will nd a section called Where is the Magic. The intent of this section is to spark some imagination and get you thinking and wondering about what makes this effect or essay or idea magical . . . where is the magic (i.e., wonder)? Of course, the dual meaning of this question can be found in the fact that this is the very question, when asked of a librarian that will be answered with the title of this book: 793.8. Jeff Stone Salt Lake City, Utah August 2012

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1

P A R T

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Getting in the Right Frame of Mind What follows is three essays. First, Magic is a Drug and Drugs are Dangerous is meant to get you remembering. That’s one of the main purposes of this book. I want you to think back to a time before you were an “addict.” What got you “high” back then? That’s what gets your audience “high” today. Next we take a bizarre turn and dive into context and the meaning of words with You, Me and Dupree. The intent here is to plant the seeds of the paradigm shift. I’m trying to help you/ us take the time to look at effect. After all, effect is what matters most: how the effect affects. Finally, we hit essay number three, That Reminds me of a Time Back in ‘Nam which has a goal that picks up where You, Me and Dupree left off. This is all about setting the context and the tone of your show. We dive into a sample of how you might start off your show. However, the real purpose is to get you thinking in terms of context, meaning, attitude, etc. It is here that we nd magic.

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Magic Is a Drug and Drugs are Dangerous H

As many of you know, I publish a monthly magazine, Stone Cold Magic Magazine. One of the columns that I write each month is entitled Roots and Branches. It’s essentially my attempt at nding forgotten concepts, methods, principles, etc. in magic and bringing them back to the front of our minds and thoughts. i.e., take the roots and branch out . . . hence the title, Roots and Branches. In the June 2012 issue, I wrote an article in this column that seems a tting beginning to this book, so here it is in its entirety straight from Stone Cold Magic Magazine: A while back, Derrick Welling and I were sharing 42 pounds of pig and beef at Famous Dave’s; as often happens when two Magicians share 42 pounds of pig and beef at Famous Dave’s, the subject turned to magic. But this time was different. I had an epiphany of sorts. I found an interesting connection between the development of a magician and drug addicts. You’ve seen it . . . First it starts with maybe a cigarette or a swig of beer or a hit from a joint . . . then . . . next thing you know, it’s heroin, cocaine, crack, meth . . . Not only that, but it takes more and more of the drug to feel normal. All kidding (or seriousness) aside, there is a pattern here that I think you’ll recognize in magic. Think back to the rst time you were fooled by a magic trick (before you were “into” magic). My guess is that it was something simple like a vanishing coin, or the classic, coin from the ear/denim pants back pocket label

Magic Is a Drug and Drugs are Dangerous

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from mouth, or maybe it was when you were a little bit older and someone nailed you with the glide or magician’s choice or a double lift or maybe even the 21 card trick. Root

Let’s remember our roots. The root is . . . wait for it . . . “remember our roots.” That’s right, the ultimate in self-referential self-references. Follow me here. When you rst got into magic, you did the glide trick where you have a card selected . . . shufed in the deck . . . show the audience four cards that are not the selection (using the glide) . . . have them hold the four cards between their knuckles in a st . . . slap the cards and bam . . . their card is staring them in the face . . . or the variation where you use magician’s choice to force their card of the four on the table. And it fried people. It fried you. Yeah? When’s the last time you did the glide? Have You Forgotten? (Thank you Avril Lavigne.) Then you learn about Marlo’s Miracle Card Moves and Snap Changes, and because you saw it done at just the right angle, you were convinced that this was the next big thing that you must learn. Then you went straight for the hard stuff . . . Extreme Card Manipulation . . . dun . . . dun . . . dunnnnnnn. Don’t get me wrong; there’s nothing wrong with XCM. The point I’m getting at is that many magicians go down this path where they constantly have to add more ourishes, moves, sleights, etc. to feel normal. Just like the druggy who can’t feel normal with one line of coke per day . . . he now needs two or three or ten . . . The magi has (like the junkie) become jaded due to exposure to meth(od). Too much method makes it harder and harder to feel normal. By normal, of course, I’m referring to that beautiful moment of astonishment that you felt when the coin literally (in your mind) came out of your ear. Now it’s not astonishment . . . now it’s a nger palmed quarter. Well that’s lame. I need more to be fooled . . . show me the latest

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trick on the market. Show me a move I’ve never seen. Show me a trick that’ll fry me. Oftentimes we get to the point where the trick ONLY fools the magician, and leaves the audience wanting. Magic is a Drug and Drugs are Dangerous. Like a junkie, we become obsessed with ourselves and lose touch with those around us (family, friends, audience members, etc.). We are more interested in what pleases us (heroin, 23 phase ace routines) and we forget what matters . . . the audience. We need to get back to the roots. What sparked this whole thing was Derrick telling a story of an old trick that he thought was child’s play and does not belong in the repertoire of a pro. Yet a pro (who shall remain nameless) uses it all the time and totally nailing people with it. By “nailing” I mean, of course, creating moments of astonishment. Needless to say, Derrick added this old “piece of junk” trick back to his repertoire. And I want you to do the same . . . Branch

Let’s build our branches. I want you to go back to The Royal Road to Card Magic and pick out two or three effects that you think wouldn’t fool anyone. That’s right . . . tricks that you think are too obvious to fool your audience. Then I want you to practice them and perform them for friends, family and spectators. Do it with an open mind, and experience a true moment of astonishment yourself when you see your audience light up with their own moments of astonishment. Now go study the classics and go discover your true magical self. Where is the Magic?

It’s in Royal Road to Card Magic and so many other classic texts. Where is the magic? The magic is found in the feeling you will get when you realize that these dusty old tricks leave the audience feeling wonder.

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You, Me and Dupree H

First, check out this YouTube Clip. This is a trailer for the movie You, Me and Dupree. It’s all part of the story, so take a moment to watch it. Pay particular attention to the relationship between Owen Wilson and Kate Hudson. Then notice Matt Dillon’s role. Click to Watch The Clip

Ok. Now that you’ve watched it, if you’ve seen the movie, you’ll likely notice that this trailer is nothing like the actual movie. For those who have not seen the movie, let me clarify. In the trailer above, you see what appears to be Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson as a happily married couple. Then along comes psycho evil killer Matt Dillon. The movie, in reality, has Kate Hudson married to Matt Dillon and their friend Dupree (Owen Wilson) moves in with them and nearly wrecks their marriage. It’s a comedy, not a horror ick. However, the kicker is that all of the clips in the trailer are actual clips from the movie. They are just taken completely out of context. Couple that with some thematic music, and you have a completely different looking trailer for what appears to be a completely different movie. This trailer can actually be found in the bonus section on the DVD. By the way, quick disclaimer . . . I didn’t really like the movie that much, and there were way too many scenes that I felt were inappropriate and I would rather not

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have seen, heard, etc. . . . This movie pushes the PG-13 rating to the fringe edge. Anyway, I’m not here to critique the movie. I’m here to give you a root that you can use to branch out. Root

Let’s remember our roots. The root: Context and perception. It’s very easy to take the same “pieces” and create a completely different outcome. What does that mean to the magician? Well for starters, there are various elements to your performance. Let’s look at a case where you’re doing a 30 minute show consisting of 4 or 5 effects. In this scenario, you can look at the show in 7 pieces: The opening monologue Trick #1 Trick #2 Trick #3 Trick #4 Trick #5 The closing monologue

Or you could look at each individual unit as multiple pieces. For example each trick could be broken down into multiple sections: Opening line of trick Phase 1 Phase 2 Kicker ending Transition to next trick

You Me and Dupree

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Of course each effect/trick will be different and will have different components. So what do you do with this information? Change the order and change the tone. Like the music for the parody trailer, your voice can set the tone for the performance. Take the sentence below for example. It is repeated 7 times. Each time with a different emphasis: I never said he stole that car. I NEVER said he stole that car. I never SAID he stole that car. I never said HE stole that car. I never said he STOLE that car. I never said he stole THAT car. I never said he stole that CAR.

You’ll notice that with each sentence, if you emphasize the BOLD RED word with your voice, the meaning of the sentence changes completely. Below are the same sentences followed by another sentence that is implied by the rst sentence. In other words, in the rst sentence where the word “I” is emphasized, the implication is that although “I” never said it, someone else DID say it. I NEVER said he stole that car. Implied: In this case, I’m just emphatically denying that I said it.

I never SAID he stole that car. Implied: I didn’t really “say” it, but maybe I “wrote” it . . .

I never said HE stole that car. Implied: I never said “He” stole it; I said “She” stole it.

I never said he STOLE that car. Implied: I didn’t say he stole it; he borrowed it.

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I never said he stole THAT car. Implied: It wasn’t “That” car, it was this car.

I never said he stole that CAR. Implied: He didn’t steal a car; he stole a truck; a computer; whatever.

As Jerry Seinfeld said in his book Seinlanguage, “I’ve written the words. The deliver is up to you. Remember, timing, attitude and inection are everything.” The key is in the delivery, and delivery is context and perception. Perception is inuenced by context and delivery (timing, attitude, inection, etc.). The above sentence can potentially have 7 different meanings, depending on how it’s said. Branch

Let’s build our branches. Your challenge is to pick an effect or your show as a whole and analyze it in terms of context and perception. What does the audience perceive? What happens if I swap the order of these two tricks in my act? How will I transition between effects with a new order? How will it impact the audience? Test it. Do the same with an effect or two. What if I do the current phase 2 rst and the current phase 1 last? Can the trick be done that way? Can it impact the audience in a more effective manner? Test it. You need to be constantly thinking about your magic. Remember, just changing which points to highlight in a movie trailer can completely set up a whole different experience for the viewer. So consider drawing focus to a different part of a routine. In our routines, there are often key moments/images that you try to create with your audience. Change them. Experiment. Try new angles. Try new focus points. This is the kind of stuff that keeps you sharp and keeps your act sharper.

You Me and Dupree

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Where is the Magic?

Eugene Burger has, on more than one occasion made the point that words seem to have lost their meaning. Generally he’s referring to false claims in magic product advertisements. While I agree with his point, and I understand what he’s saying, I would dare argue that on some level, words have no meaning to lose. The word “bloody” to an American is a description of what happens when you get a cut or punched in the nose: he has a bloody nose. That same word to someone from England is the equivalent of the “F” word. Inection, timing, attitude, etc. create the context and therefore the meaning of the words. Words alone are meaningless; they are just grunts coming forth from our gut and vocal chords, throat, tongue and mouth. Where is the magic? The magic is found in how you let those grunts come forth.

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That Reminds Me of a Time Back in ’Nam H

I was born roughly around the time that the Vietnam War ended. During my childhood, there were a lot of movies and stories about Vietnam Veterans. There were a lot of jokes, stereotypes and a million other things relating to the war. This was so prevalent that it wasn’t until I was in my teens that I realized that Vietnam was a place not just a name. There were actual people called Vietnamese people. I had no idea. Well I’m over 40 now, and it still seems (at least for people roughly my age) that the word “Vietnam” conjures up thoughts and images of the war and not the country. Much like the word “Vietnam,” the following phrases or question conjure up certain images. Take a minute to answer the following questions below before reading on . . . let’s see what comes to mind: 1. You deserve a break today at _________________? 2. Packed with Peanuts ______________ really satises you? 3. Who you gonna call? 4. My bologna has a rst name it’s ______________ 5. I’m stuck on ____________ cuz __________ its stuck on me 6. How do you spell relief?

That Reminds Me of a Time Back in ’Nam

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Depending on your age and how much television you’ve watched over the years, you likely got at least one of the answers “right.” The rst one is from the old McDonald’s ® jingle . . . you deserve a break today at McDonald’s ®. The second one is the old taglines for Snickers® bars. Of course the third one is from the movie Ghostbusters®. It’s nowhere near as prevalent today, but there was a time where you could not ask the question “Who Are You Gonna Call?” without someone nearby replying, “Ghost busters.” Then you have O-S-C-A-R and Band-Aid for numbers 4 and 5. Last but not least, arguably the most powerful of the group, Rolaids®. I’d be very surprised if you spelled R-E-L-I-E-F when I asked you how to spell relief. Most people will spell anything but the word relief when asked that question. You’ll hear things like B-E-L-C-H or F-A-R-T or something other than the word relief. Of course the classic tagline from Rolaids® is that relief is spelled R-O-L-A-I-D-S. From that comes all the parodies like F-A-R-T, etc. So what’s the point? The point is that the world around us is inuenced by popular culture. Sure, some of these references won’t be known in 10 or so years, but then there we’ll be new ones. We are, to some degree, brainwashed by the television shows, movies and commercials we’ve seen over the years. This concept makes for a great opening to a mentalism act. Combine the above with the previous section about inection (You, Me and Dupree) and you’ve got a solid opening to an act that involves the entire audience. Imagine this, then, as an opener to a mentalism act: [Intro by the M.C.] [You walk on stage to applause.]

Thank you. Thank you for that introduction Mr. M.C. Ladies and gentlemen my job here tonight is to demonstrate a unique skill, that

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I possess, for your entertainment. What is my unique skill? I’m extremely observant and perceptive. I’ve trained myself to hone in on psychological cues and signals. I will use this skill to manipulate and inuence the outcome of the experiences we will share tonight. You may be saying to yourself, “There’s no way I can be inuenced.“ However I can prove it. I’ll ask each of you a couple of questions. I want you to shout out the rst answer that comes to mind. Who you gonna call? [Audience responds.] How do you spell relief? [Audience responds.] [Turn over a large card that has the words “Ghostbusters” and “R-O-L-A-I-D-S” Written on it.]

Obviously not all of you said “Ghostbusters” or “R-O-L-A-I-DS” However, many of you did, and I suspect that in a more casual setting, even more of you would have. The point, of course, is that we’ve all been inuenced by others in the past. Next I would like to imagine that you’re a witness in an automobile theft. You, apparently, told the police that you saw the man who stole the car. Later, in the trial, you are questioned by the prosecuting attorney. She asks you the following question: Did you say he stole that car? You respond with, “I never said he stole that car.” What does that answer mean? I would argue that the answer is “It depends.” To know for sure, you’d need to hear it spoken. I want to know where (if any) emphasis was placed. If emphasis was placed on the word “that,” a possible meaning could be that you never said he stole that specic car, but that you certainly accused him of stealing a different car. What if the emphasis is on the word “car”? Could it be implied that you never said he stole that car, but maybe that truck? What about emphasizing the word “he”? I never said HE stole that car . . .

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She did! The emphasis of one word in the sentence changes the meaning and even can imply another hidden meaning or subtext. [Have a poster board with the sentence written on it 7 times each one below the next – have a different word underlined in red in each sentence much like what was shown in the You, Me and Dupree section previously.]

[Point to each sentence and read it with the proper emphasis.] [Discuss that each time a different word is emphasized, it has a different meaning.]

As you can see, the slightest shift in the tone of your voice can drastically change the meaning of a sentence and even hint at some insight to what you are thinking. When you said, “I never said HE stole that car” you were thinking, “I said SHE did!” I can’t read your mind, but when you say, “I never said HE stole that car,” I know you’re thinking about the person that you did say stole it. Combine the fact that most people can be inuenced and that I’m trained to pick up on subtle cues and intonations, I think we’ll both enjoy our evening tonight. Let’s start off with our rst experience. [Move into opening effect.]

Post Essay Palaver

Of course, I used sort of stock wording to get the point across. You’ll need to personalize it and tie it in with your opening effect. Also consider that this sets up the show to be less of a mind reading show and more of Sherlock Holmes Power of Observation show. Your show, persona, etc. may not be the right t for this type of opening monologue, so of course in that case, don’t use it.

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Further, you may consider changing up which pop culture references you use. Mine are, admittedly, dated. However, they still play well for people my age and up, which is where I do most of my performing. What current pop culture references should you use? By the time you read this book, the answer to that will, likely, have changed. So you’ll have to play it by ear. Where is the Magic?

Connecting with people . . . the ultimate magical experience. People are more interested in themselves than any other subject. When they “fall for” one of your questions (e.g., Who you gonna call?) they reveal a part of themselves, a part that you share. Suddenly you have a common thread between yourself and the rest of the audience (or at least those who “fell for” it). Where is the magic? It is in the connection you will make with your audience. You’ll like them and they’ll like you: magic.

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2

P A R T

H

“Effect”-ive Essays This next section of essays is meant to take you on a journey with several experiences from my life at an early age and more recently. Although we’ll be discussing things like paradigms and dogmas along with hallucinations and keeping your mind open, the ultimate goal of this group of essays is to get us thinking about effect . . . presentation, not method. We’ll discuss the truth that even though spectators ask how it’s done, they really don’t want to know. We’ll discuss this as it applies to effect. We’ll nish up with two essays that evolve into possible effects as we examine my favorite question, “What if we went the other way?” When I read the Paul Harris trilogy, The Art of Astonishment, I was already very familiar with his work, his effects, etc. However, I had no idea about his thinking on the concept of astonishment, and I had no idea how much of a genius he really is. I knew he was clever, and I even knew that he was a genius, but I had no idea to what level his genius extended until I read those books. Once I caught up with the rest of the class, I thirsted for theory essays from Paul Harris. Since pretty much all of that was published in this trilogy, I had no choice but to read the essays over

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and over again. There were a couple of “out there” ideas that he published as just that . . . ideas. Stuff that was never tested or stuff that was maybe even close to impossible in practice, but probable in theory. The next few essays fall into one of those categories . . . untested or merely theoretical. Let’s start this bizarre journey with a piece I call, Dedicated to The Art.

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Dedicated to the Art H

Imagine a very young magician . . . late teens early 20s. He spends several years becoming a true student of the art. He reads the classics; he studies the masters; he performs and perfects his skill as a technician, performer, and entertainer. He reaches this point of expertise by the age of 25 let’s say. Then he uproots himself. He moves away to another country or at the very least to another state very far away from where he currently lives. In his new state/country, he takes on a whole new identity. Using make-up, he ages himself by 30 or 40 years. So he looks like a 65-ish year old man. He spends the next 5 years making a name for himself as an entertainer in his new state. He becomes an established performer. People know him. They know his act; he’s been on TV, Radio, etc. For the ve years in his new location while he’s building his show, he never ever removes his make-up. When he goes out in public, he wears the make-up and is always “in character.” Always. He never breaks character. He becomes a local celebrity. Then the hype begins. He starts telling the local news and anyone who will listen that he’s discovered a principle that the ancient Hindus (or whatever) used. It’s a secret of wise men that has been lost to the ages. But this faux 70 year old (he’s been performing for 5 years since he “became” 65) has rediscovered it. He claims that it will take some time to fully crack the code and

34


understand it, but once he does he will demonstrate it before a live audience. He spends several months “hyping” this with very little specic information. He creates several YouTube video journals with his progress report on this new concept. Finally, after several months of building it up, he claims that he’s very close . . . maybe a month away. He’s discovered an age reversing technique. Not only does it reverse the aging process, but it happens instantly. He continues to hype and push this on the media and the news claiming that on X date, he will demonstrate it. Finally when X date comes, he performs an effect where, right before the eyes of the audience, he goes from becoming a 70 year old man to becoming a 30 year old man. Of course the method is that he just secretly removes the make-up. How this is accomplished, I haven’t worked out yet. One thing is sure, however. The magician can never leave the sight of the audience while he is secretly removing the make-up. He can’t go behind a curtain or do anything that would allow the audience to suspect that he switched places with another person. The kicker of course is that he never puts the make-up on again. He stays at this new young age and continues to age normally from there. It would be the ultimate scam that would require true dedication to the art. Of course the hype leading up to the main event can be whatever you want, but the key is that it has to create mystery, controversy and draw in the attention of the media and the world in general. It can be spun like a magic trick or it can be spun like science. The effect itself could happen as you go into some sort of meditative state on stage and you de-age all at once. Or you could start the show by performing the de-aging ritual, and then throughout the show, you seem to get subtly younger and younger. There are many ways to do this that I’m sure each of you could

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conceive. There are many convincers you could do as well. You could submit yourself to a DNA test before and after the de-aging process to prove that no person switch was made. You could do a nger print comparison, etc. The more scientic and test-condition like you make it, the more incredible the illusion will be. Further convincers can be made by creating phony iers and documentation of shows performed 40 years ago at theaters that don’t exist anymore. Of course these iers and so forth would have the magician’s picture on them in full period correct garb at the appropriate age. These documents would be things that the magician collected in a scrap book or something as if it were his history and portfolio of his career. They might even make an appearance in a news story about the magician while he’s 65 years old. This way, he’ll have documented on lm pictures of what he looked like back in the 1970s when he was supposedly performing as a 30 year old. So later when he de-ages, there will be archived footage of what he looked like before he de-aged. Of course there are many details that have to be worked out. For example, how does this 65 year old who came from nowhere get new identication, driver’s license, etc.? What about his family? In my opinion, for this to work, absolutely nobody can know the truth, so it would have to be someone who has no family, no ties to anybody. I know it’s crazy, but in theory it’s possible. Where is the Magic?

Is this effect possible? Absolutely. Is it probable? Not really. I certainly don’t expect that anyone will do this. However, I do expect that it opens your mind. I hope that it gets you thinking about how you would present this if you were able to do it. The purpose of this essay, and this book, is to get you thinking about presentation more and method less.

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Where is the magic? It is found in the recesses of your mind behind all those boxes of things you’ve collected in your brain over the years. The magic is the open and receptive mind . . . the predecessor to creativity.

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You Can’t Be a King In Your Home Town H

Expert Defined: Someone from out of town with a PowerPoint presentation.

How many times have you been to a seminar or lecture (magic or otherwise) and just assumed that the speaker or presenter was the expert on the subject? We’ve all done it. Why? Because s/he’s from out of town and has a PowerPoint presentation. It looks authentic. It ties back into the old adage that you can’t be a king in your home town. The people know you too well. However, the moment you leave town (with a briefcase and a PowerPoint), you suddenly are a different person; you can be whoever you want because the people out of town have no preconceived notions about you. Every day, you are surrounded by people who know you and love you: your family, friends, co-workers, etc. I have 2 brothers and a sister. I also have ve kids and a wife. All of them know that I don’t have the power to bend metal with my mind. They all know that I can’t really cause them to speak in tongues or that I don’t really channel spirits, etc., etc. They also know that I’m not the most serious person in the world. They also know that when I perform it’s an act. If I tell some story about my travels in the Orient, they’ll know I’m full of it. So when I act as though I’m getting impressions or thoughts from them, they know that it’s “just part of the presentation” or

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whatever. My co-workers know me as the I.T. guy – (Information Technology, not Invisible Thread). I’m the programmer or the project manager or the computer guy. But they also know me as the computer guy who does magic and has published a lot of magic. But when it comes down to it, any effect I do for my coworkers is framed in the I.T. guy frame, not the Stone Cold Magic performer guy frame. It’s a much harder sell for those who are closest to me. For that reason, I’ve sort of shifted the type of effects I do for co-workers . . . I don’t do magic so much; I do “bends.” Surprising moments that are not “presentations.” It’s a lot closer to things like the old gag where you pretend to bend a spoon by pressing it down on the surface of the table. I do things that are unexpected or even incidental rather than scripted. I don’t perform self-tying shoelace personally, but it’s exactly the type of thing I’m talking about. You’re sitting there hangin’ out and someone points out that your lace is untied . . . so you quickly and sharply shake your foot (the lace ties itself), and you continue on in your conversation without missing a beat. That’s a bend. Back in the day when I served in The US Navy, I worked with a ton of people who smoked. I must have put out over a thousand cigarettes on my bare hand (read: in my Thumb Tip) followed by a complete vanish of said cigarette. I did it all the time to everyone I worked with. Oftentimes rather than ick their nished cigarette butt onto the ground, they’d give it to me. I would also do the old bit where you secretly get your nger and thumb cold by holding on to your soda glass (or whatever) and then you hold the lit burning cigarette between the thumb and nger for about 10 or so seconds. Of course, when you hand the cigarette to your buddy and he tries it, he’ll burn the crap out of his nger because he didn’t know that I had prepared by touching a cold glass (do this ef-

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fect at your own risk). The point is that when I did these bends, they weren’t in the framework of “grand illusionist” or “sleight of hand master” or “psychic entertainer” or “comedy magician” etc.; rather they were simply Petty Ofcer Stone messing with people’s reality . . . Bending The Real. We have Jay Sankey to thank for that clever term. Why am I telling you all of this? Simple. I want you to think about character. Who are you as a performer? If you are a master of time and space and can bend the universe to suit your desires like Neo, then ask yourself this question: are you always that guy? Or is that who you are when you perform. If you’re always that guy and your friends/family/co-workers/etc. know you as such, then maybe this essay isn’t as relevant to you. However, my gut tells me that your mom knows you can’t actually bend the universe, so don’t try to convince her otherwise. In my performance character, I attempt to just be a slightly more dynamic version of myself. Just an extension of who I am every day. But even in that case, I make claims (whether by my actions or my words) to have abilities that I don’t really have. However, when performing (read: bending) for my friends, family or coworkers, I’m just Jeff the normal guy who does crazy things to mess with people. Remember we are trying to create moments of wonder. Those moments come in different venues by different means. On a stage they may come by seeing something levitate; in a platform setting they may come when the ball vanishes over the spectator’s head. In a house party the moment(s) may come when the spectator’s card ies out of the deck and lands in your hand even though the deck has been shufed. In the close up arena the moment may arrive when the sponge ball appears in the spectator’s hand. At work in the break room, the moment may come when you spill something on your tie, so you decide to change the blue tie into a red tie to match the red stain.

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When you try to pull off the mysterious mind-reader that is not your normal everyday “I.T. Guy” persona, it takes away from the moment of astonishment. People are more focused on who you are pretending to be and therefore miss out on the opportunity – and it IS an opportunity – to be astonished. There is a huge lesson to be learned here that can be incorporated into your regular performances. I never had the opportunity to meet The Professor, but I’ve heard on more than one occasion that when he went from just hanging out and talking to doing an effect, there was no change in his demeanor or attitude. When you do close up magic particularly, there is a lot of nonmagic connecting with the audience that happens. When you start to shift back and forth between the guy talking to the people at the table and the guy “performing” for the people at the table, people feel it. It feels insincere. Take some time to watch Daryl when he performs. In most cases, he’s either a sort of silly guy talking to you and shootin’ the breeze with you, or he’s a sort of silly guy astonishing the crap out of you. But there’s rarely ever a noticeable shift between talker and astonisher . . . they’re both the same “sort of silly guy” doing one thing or another. This particular essay is probably one of the most ramble-y ones I’ve ever written so let me try to sum it up in a few bullet points. 1) When performing for people who know you well, don’t try to be someone they know you’re not. 2) When performing for those who don’t know you, make sure the guy between effects is the same guy doing the effects. So maybe you can be a king in your home town. You just have to make sure that being king doesn’t make you act like someone you’re not. If you’re going to be the king, be the king all the time.

You Can’t Be a King In Your Home Town

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Where is the Magic?

When you perform in a magic show, the magic moment is expected. People know that something will happen. They may not know what or when, but they know that it will happen. Even if you catch them a bit off guard, it’s still not the same as when you’re hanging out with your friends and they inform you that you have a rip in your pants which you proceed to heal by merely passing your hand over the rip. Where is the magic? The magic is in the surprise. The unexpected experience. Can you create that same feeling in your show where the magic is expected? I dare you.

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Sherlock H

About three years ago I was reading “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.” In the beginning, there was an excellent description from Holmes about how his methods to the untrained appear to be like magic. But once you know the method, it looks rather stupid and simple. I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir when I say that this very concept applies to magic and mentalism as well. This concept ts in with Ned Rutledge’s excellent statement: “I use my ve known senses to create the illusion of a sixth.” If that’s not exactly what Sherlock Holmes did, I’ll smell a daisy (I’m allergic, so that’s a drastic statement). I’ve always been fascinated with the subject of how to present my “skill” when I perform. Back in the day when I performed close up magic on a frequent basis, I had the occasion – I’m sure you’ve all experienced this – where a spectator maybe catches a glimpse of something and then boldly exposes me by saying, “You’re just palming it (or whatever). You’re not doing magic!” My response that I wish I could say is, “of course it’s not magic you moron. Duh!” But alas, we cannot do that. But I used that and combined it with a concept that Paul Harris shares in his Art of Astonishment series. He talks about the fact that he did some experimenting where he actually started some shows by training the audience. He explained to them the concept of astonishment.

Sherlock

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He explained the idea of watching for a moment that will make you feel like a kid again. The intent was to set the stage for the upcoming events. The idea was to teach the audience that it’s okay to let the feeling happen. Enjoy the moment; don’t squash it. Using that as a spring board, I’ve often opened a close up set by telling the story of the guy who boldly proclaimed that I was not doing real magic. Then I say to the audience what I wanted to say to him: “DUH!” I continue, “Don’t be that guy. Of course, I’m not doing real magic. Of course I’m not bending the laws of physics, time and space. I’m just doing some fun, funny and deceptive sleight of hand to help you feel a magical feeling . . . astonishment. I’m trying to inspire wonder, so don’t be the guy who wants to ruin the moment for those of us who want to share it.” It was a very successful way to open my close up show. I used to do a similar thing in my kids show. I’d start off by telling all the kids that we were going to pretend that I had real magical powers . . . “and so when you see something like this (I’d vanish a coin), let’s all pretend like I did real magic and clap our hands!” It worked almost every time. Well when I read the above section from Holmes, I thought it might be a cool idea to open a show discussing or maybe even quoting from the Holmes book to sort of set the stage for the show. This might be especially effective if you use the Ned Rutledge mentality when you perform. Another thought I had was to make a recording (audio or video) of professional actors reading the dialogue from the Holmes book, and then playing the footage at the beginning of my show. If I really got ambitious, I’d lm the actors in costume having the conversation as Holmes and Watson. Then at the end of it, I would come on camera also dressed in period correct garb and do a trick. Then I would expose the trick (don’t hang me . . . I’ll come back to the exposure in a moment). The purpose would be to simply show how a moment ago they were blown away, then

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two seconds later when the secret is exposed, it’s no longer fun. It was more fun to not know. This would all be a monologue I would do in the video. Of course if I had the budget for it, I would perform the illusion where you walk off the video screen and right onto the stage. I would do this while delivering my monologue. As for the exposure, what I would likely do is a trick that looks like it could be performed by sleight of hand, but not quite. However, I would use trick photography. But the method would look like maybe it could have been done with sleight of hand. Then when I expose the fact that I used trick photography, it would totally squash all the mystery. I want to create that squash to prove the point that the squash sucks. Once they realize that the squash sucks, they’ll be more willing to accept it and “play along” or at the very least enjoy the wave of wonder as it washes over them. Where is the Magic?

Sometimes it’s just better to suspend disbelief, as they say, and enjoy the moment. We must inspire our audiences to not care about method, but presentation, affect and effect. Where is the magic? It is found in ignorance . . . not knowing.

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You Don’t Want to Know H

From Stone Cold Magic Magazine, Roots and Branches July 2010 . . . You know that moment . . . the moment that your Raven gimmick doesn’t get snagged, and the quarter that was – a moment ago – on the spectator’s hand is now completely gone . . . that moment when the dude formerly holding the coin blurts out a blast of bawdy babbling that would make a Polish Nun blush with shame (apparently Polish Nuns have bigger potty-mouths than Navy Sailors – take it from me . . . I used to be both). The moment when he picks up his jaw from the oor and says . . . “How the @$*()# did you do that!?” How do you answer this question? Is he serious? Does he really think you’ll tell him? “Sure Mr. Spectator, it’s a product from Chazpro – Chuck Leach called, The Raven. If you have $50, you too can be as cool as me.” Or do you say something like: “Quite well sir!” or “Magic” or “Dog Anuses” That’s my favorite response. The question to you, dear reader, is what is the correct response . . . is it a brush off? A “legitimate” answer? A “stock” line? My answer is always the same –

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Spectator: How did you do that!? Jeff: You don’t wanna know. Root

Let’s remember our roots. The root: The audience does not want to know how it’s done. Oh sure; they think they do . . . but when all is said and done. They don’t. I performed a speech in my local Toastmasters circle that proved that very point. The speech started with me having a card freely chosen from f rom the deck. I then revealed a prediction (Queen of Clubs) that proved I knew what card they would pick. At that moment, the audience was denitely surprised. They gasped. Then I showed the deck to the audience to reveal that all of the cards are the same (Queen of Clubs). Of course, the audience clearly showed their disapproval of my actions. They groaned; they were upset that they were taken in by such a scam. I then proceeded to explain to them that the moment they knew the secret, the magic, the feeling, the wonder was gone. I then gave a few examples of moments of lost magic that we’ve all experienced that ultimately robbed part of our souls. Everyone could relate. They began to appreciate the value of not knowing. At the end of the speech, I picked up the deck from the table and once again showed the faces saying “remember this deck of 52 Queens of Clubs . . . well it’s actually not . . . it’s a normal deck” – I then showed the deck to be normal. My nal words of the speech were . . . “If you’re wondering how I did THAT, believe me . . . you don’t want to know.” know.” The speech left them with a feeling of wonder, and a powerful lesson . . . they really don’t want to know. Branch

Let’s build our branches. The branch is simple . . . every time someone says, “tell me how you did it,” I want you to respond by

You Don’t Want to Know

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saying, “Believe me, you don’t want to know.” know.” If you are pressed further, say “You think you want to know, but trust me . . . you really don’t. I promise.” If even further discussion is warranted – which it often will be – don’t be afraid to explain the concept. The bottom line is that we need to train our audience to know the truth . . . They Really Don’t Want to Know! Where is the Magic?

Not only is the magic found in not knowing, but the real magic is found in you, the performer, when you truly convince your audience that the magic is in not knowing. Where is the magic? It is found in your ability to show your audience where the magic truly lies.

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The Invisible Door H

A main purpose of this this book is to to attempt to pass on some experience that I’ve gained over time that will, hopefully, hopefully, inspire us to “remember our roots” and “build our branches.” There are just a handful of basic basic principles that that we need to understand to be able to accomplish this goal of this column. This lesson begins with a story story,, a story about a boy named Mickey Mouse. Don’t laugh. This is not a joke. I actually had a friend growing up whose name was Mickey Mouse Mitchell. I was about 10 years old when He and I were friends. He wanted to show me a magic trick, and so he did, and boy did he fry me! Here’s the trick he performed:

He and his brother went inside of an old wooden shed that was found in a weed infested eld behind our house. They told me that they would both go into the shed, but only one of them would come out because the other one would disappear. That’s exactly what happened. They both went in. A moment later, Mickey’s brother came out of the shed and told us we could go in and look around. We We did, and sure enough, Mickey was gone. Several minutes later, Mickey came walking into the shed from the outside. Killer! First of all, keep in mind that this shed is literally only about six feet wide, six feet long, and about 8 feet tall. It was a very

The Invisible Door

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small shed with only one way in or out. The two of them went in and shut the door, and we were told to stand directly in front of the door so that Mickey could not get out through the door. door. While we stood there, we suddenly started hearing some pounding or kicking on the back of the shed. After a moment of pounding and kicking, the noise stopped, and out walks Mickey’s brother telling us we could go in and look around. Of course, the rst thing we (my brother and I) did was go to the back of the shed and start kicking the wall to nd what we believed would be a false wall wall or door out the back. back. Of course, course, we found nothing, so we began looking around the shed elsewhere for any trap doors or false walls, and there was nothing to be found. No traps. No false doors. No Mickey! How the heck did he get out? Before I answer that, think about a solution yourself. Remem ber,, the shed is truly as I described. There really are no false doors. ber There really is only one door in and out, and Mickey really did “vanish” from the shed. He was nowhere in the shed. Think of how impossible that sounds. Before you read the next section, I really want you to stop reading and really try to come up with a solution for this. Roots

Let’s remember our roots. Ok. Have you gured out the vanishing Mickey Mouse trick, yet? Somehow Mickey got out of a shed that has no other door but the front door that we guarded the whole time. How did he do it? The answer is simple. He went out the front door when we weren’t looking. How did he pull that off? Simple. We heard kicking and banging which led us to believe that there was a false door somewhere in the shed, so upon entering the shed, we went directly to the back of the shed and started kicking.

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Of course, Mickey knew that we would do that, so before we entered the shed, he laid on the oor at the front of the shed. We walked right passed him and didn’t see him in our peripheral vision because we were so focused on getting to the back of the shed that we completely missed him. While we were kicking the back wall, he just stood up and walked out the front door of the shed. By the time we realized that there were no trap doors, he was gone. That effect is the epitome of misdirection. They used audio misdirection in such a way that they absolutely controlled my behavior.. They had so much control over me that Mickey was behavior able to walk right out the front door completely unnoticed. I’ll never forget that experience. That was the ultimate lesson in misdirection. Do not underestimate the power of misdirection. The old adage is true: “With the right misdirection, you can steal an elephant out of your pocket.” It’s true. It just is. You can switch in and out cards, coins, keys, secret props (TT), on and on and on. Please remember this principle, and don’t be afraid to try a top change or a switch of a gimmicked linking ring for a non-gimmicked linking ring. You get the idea. Your mission is to study misdirection. misdirectio n. Watch Watch other magicians, magicia ns, read books about misdirection. Remember this root . . . misdirection. Branches

Let’s build our branches. Your assignment this month is short and sweet and simple. I want you to perform a set of effects that require you to do a deck switch. That’s it. Of course, before you perform the switch, make sure you spend time practicing. If you don’t know a good deck switch, learn one. They’re everywhere, probably already in i n your library. library. If you really don’t have access ac cess to a book, video or magician who can show you a deck switch, then rather than doing a deck switch, do a top change.

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If you don’t have a book, video or magician who can teach you a good top change, then you need more books in your library. Notice I didn’t say, “You need more DVDs in your library.” You need more books in your library. Learn the top change or a deck switch. My point isn’t to teach you a deck switch or a top change. My point is to teach you misdirection, so if you’re not a card performer then do a coin switch or a key switch. The bottom line is that misdirection is a valuable tool. Even if you’re a mentalist, you need misdirection for billet switches and other things. Suddenly my short and sweet and simple assignment is beginning to get long, so I’m going to wrap up now . . . use some misdirection. Now go study the classics, and go discover your true magical self. Where is the Magic?

Hey! Look over there. Of course it’s never that simple, or is it? My childhood friend made me “look over there” just by kicking the wall. Where is the magic? It can be found in that beautiful moment when you’ve orchestrated the simultaneous “blinking” of everyone in the audience at the exact right moment. Misdirection is beautiful, magical and wonderful – full of wonder.

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Self-Working Lay Person H

Come on admit it. It’s annoying when you pull out a deck of cards and before you even open the deck, somebody says, “oh. I know this one . . .” or “I’ve seen this one.” You and I think, “That’s ridiculous. Marlo alone has published 18 million card tricks. How could they possibly know what you’re about to do.” But, most lay people have never – I repeat, never – seen a card trick before. The ones who have seen a card trick are familiar with the only three tricks that exist (from their perspective). It’s either Uncle Bob’s 21 card trick or the “trick where you pick a card and I nd it” trick or the “glide trick.” Yes . . . lay people know the glide sometimes. But that’s it. If they’ve seen any card magic (which is rare), it’s one of those three. Sometimes they’ll say something like, “I remember when I was a little kid, my dad would do card tricks sometimes.” It was a nostalgic memory of something from their childhood. It’s not like us where all of our friends have seen a thousand card tricks from us. I had an instructor in college many moons ago who knew I did magic. He came to me at one of the breaks one day and told me about this cool thing he saw on T.V. the night before. It was an exposé on gambling cheats. What he didn’t know was that it was a faux exposé done by a magician. Anyway, he proceeded to explain what was, to him, the most

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amazing thing ever to exist. He shared, with amazement, that “some of the cheats could actually turn over 2 cards but make it look like it was only one card.” He was blown away by this. Of course you and I are thinking, “What’s the big deal? So he did a double turnover.” But a lay person would never imagine such a thing. Just the idea that two cards could look like a single card is amazing. Remember, that Dai Vernon claimed that the best trick you could do is to change one card into another . . . hello double turnover. Jay Sankey often talks about the idea that magic takes place in three places, 1) the magician’s hands, 2) the audience’s minds and most importantly 3) in the magician’s mind. We must believe that it is only one card because that’s what the lay person will believe. The point is that the audience perspective is different from the magician’s and with the simplicity of many of the methods in mentalism, it’s very easy to forget the powerful impact . . . after all, there are many effects where the method is “self working.” While watching Max Maven’s Multiplicity DVD, he use the old X-ing the cut force (a.k.a. Cross Cut Force). It actually took me a minute to gure out which half was which. I had to really think about it just because of the casual nature of his handling. Because it was legitimate in Maven’s mind, it came across as legitimate in his handling, and therefore fooled me. It was the rst time I’ve ever been fooled by that force. So just remember that the next time someone says, “Can you do that one trick where I pick a card and you nd it,” don’t be mad; be glad. You are about to show them the most amazing version of that trick ever created. They’ve never seen anyone nd it in their shoe or inside a salt shaker or [name your own impossible location.]. Blow their mind . . . and always remember: Astonishment Over Moves.

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Where is the Magic?

People have paradigms, dogmas, stigmas. As workers of wonder, we play with those points of view. We shift them, expand them, modify them and maybe even break them. Where is the magic? It can be found in that moment when they realize that there is something so much more amazing than Uncle Bob’s 21 card trick. The magic is found in you.

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The Black Heart Reveals Itself H

We are creatures of habit. That is what makes us so susceptible to moments of wonder. Every day we do things that are so common and so rote that we forget that we’re doing them. Have you ever nished taking a shower and you weren’t sure if you washed your hair? That’s a common phenomenon. You are in such a routine that you just wash your hair as part of your ritual, but you never notice that you’re doing it. This can be used to your advantage as a magician. I had an experience the other day that absolutely solidied my theory. I use a laptop, but I rarely use the built-in mouse. Rather, I use a wireless USB mouse that I plug into my laptop. Without fail, I sit down at my desk, look at the screen and place my right hand, without looking, on my mouse. I do this thousands of times per month, and have done so for the past who-knows-how-many years. Every once in a while, I’ll start packing up my laptop to put it in my brief case and I’ll put my mouse away rst. Then I’ll get distracted and leave my desk for a minute. Well the other day, I did this. When I came back to my desk, I sat down, looked at the screen and placed my right hand, without looking on my mouse, except my mouse wasn’t there, or was it? For a split millisecond, I actually felt the mouse in my right hand. It then suddenly dematerialized right inside of my right hand. Talk about an amazing magical moment of wonder.

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I’ve done this, now, 2 or 3 times. It’s an absolutely incredible feeling. Of course, the mouse was never there, but I’m so used to it being there that it seemed like it was there, and it seemed like I saw it and it seemed like I felt it. Then when reality kicks in, it seemed like it vaporized. It’s a very powerful feeling. This, in psychology, is a form of conditioning . . . the old Pavlov’s Dog theory, right? What’s incredible about this is that if you can condition your audience to believe that there really are 3 coins (rather than 2) in their hand or if you can condition them to believe that you really put the card under your hand (a la ruba-dub vanish), then you can really create a powerful feeling of magic. Not just see magic, but feel magic. Try this little experiment. If you do any kind of color change with playing cards (Erdnase/Houdini, Snap Change, etc.) where the face of the card visibly changes, perform it for an audience member. Then immediately afterwards, perform a double turnover to show a card (let’s say it happens to be the 9 of Hearts). Turn the card(s) down and place the top card on the spectator’s hand or on the table. Have them snap their ngers and then turn the card over to reveal that it has changed to another card (say the King of Clubs). I guarantee that the less visual change (the double turnover) will get a stronger reaction than the visual (Snap Change) change. My effect, Triptych from my Gemstones DVD takes advantage of this. It’s a three card revelation. Three cards are selected and lost in the deck. Then one card is suddenly on the top of the deck (a la ambitious card). Then that card visually changes into a second selection. Then the card is turned face down. When it’s turned face up again, it has changed to the third selection. Surprisingly, the last change (the non-visual change) always gets the biggest reaction. I’m certainly not the rst person to ponder this puzzle. However, I just wanted to share my thoughts on

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it. It may have some value in creating your own effects and presentations. It seems to me that the visual change is just that . . . visual . . . eye candy. It might be startling for a moment, but that’s about where it ends. With the second, more cerebral, effect I think that the mind has had a chance to convince you further of the supposed conditions. In other words, if I show you an Ace and turn it face down, in your mind it’s still an Ace. If I then place that Ace (?) in your hand, it’s still an Ace (even though I’ve secretly switched it for a Queen). Up until the last second, it’s an Ace. The secret move is so long ago, that it’s no longer present. Thus when the card changes, there is no possible solution. When the change happens instantly, you haven’t had as much time to be convinced that the card is an Ace. Additionally, the moment the card changes, heat will be on the hand you palmed it with or on the deck or whatever is involved at the moment of the switch. So it would seem to me that what makes this more magical is that the brain had more time and spent more effort to convince the spectator that the card really was an Ace right before it was turned over to show that it somehow changed to a Queen. You may be familiar with those decks of cards where the Clubs and Spades are red and the Hearts and Diamonds are black. It’s quite a trip to show someone a black Ten of Hearts for a brief second and then ask them what card they just saw. You’d be surprised how many people will say that they saw a Ten of Spades. I’ve even had a few occasions where after claiming they saw a Ten of Spades, I handed them the card and told them to look at it again. (You may have even thought this was a Ten of Spades when you rst noticed the image on the page. See?) While looking right at the black Hearts, the person said it was the Ten of Spades. I just kept saying “look again.” They kept saying “Ten of Spades.” Eventually, the black Heart reveals itself and

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the blood drains from their face. They swear that the “tails” from the Spades were on the card and then they just vanished.

I had a similar experience myself. Years ago I was at a small family run restaurant in Roosevelt, Utah. It was the same year that The Titanic was in theaters . . . long time ago. While standing in line at the checkout, I noticed a Mason jar of black looking jelly. I picked it up and read the writing on the lid. It clearly read “Cherry Coke Jam.” I looked at it with a puzzled look on my face, and then I asked, “What’s Cherry Coke Jam?” Both the checkout girl and my wife snickered at me and said, “It’s Choke Cherry Jam.” As soon as they said that, my eyes literally hallucinated. I actually saw the words on the lid of the jar rearrange themselves to form the words “Choke Cherry.” It was the strangest thing I’d ever seen. Until that moment, I had never heard of a Choke Cherry. When I saw those letters, my brain seemed to just kind of assume that it was Cherry Coke . . . I mean

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why not? I’ve seen the words “Cherry Coke” so many times before and I know what it looks like, so my brain just lled in the gaps. It’s all about conditioning. The more time the brain has to condition you and convince you that a certain situation is true, the more amazing it will be when it is revealed that the situation is something else. Of course that feeling is the ultimate goal. So think about the vanishing mouse or Cherry Coke Jam the next time you perform for your audience. Where is the Magic?

What do people take for granted? What do people experience so often that they do it blindly? I’ll leave it to you to answer these questions. For therein lies the magic.

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Thinking Outside the Box H

“To think one can anticipate the complete structure of one country or language purely on the basis of being intimately familiar with another one is presumptuous and, in the end, preposterous. Even if you have seen dozens, you have not exhausted the potential richness and novelty in such domains. In fact, the more instances you have seen, the more circumspect you are about making unwarranted presumptions about unseen instances, although – a bit paradoxically – your ability to anticipate the unanticipated (or unanticipable) certainly improves!” That is a quote taken directly from Douglas Hoffsteader’s incredibly profound book, Metamagical Themas (pp 278-279). Ponder that quote for a moment. Essentially it states that the more experience you have, the less you really know. I think there is invaluable insight and wisdom in this quote. It speaks to how critical it is to be open-minded. Have you ever met the layman who somehow knows about a magic principle or two? One day I was at a church campout ddling with my cards . . . false shufes, false cuts, Ace productions, etc. When I produced the four aces one of the guys at the party said that he knew I was using a stripper deck, and that’s how it’s done. Of course, I wasn’t, but there was no convincing him. I’ve seen people that think every effect is accomplished by palming cards. It’s much like the guy who says, “I know this trick” as soon as you pull a deck of cards out of your pocket. Well . . . what makes

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you think you’re any different from this layman we’re talking about? Are you different? When you see an impossible feat of mind-reading do you automatically assume it’s a stooge because you can’t work out the method? Recently I listened to a podcast interview of Lennart Green where he said that he was disqualied from a competition because one of the judges thought he was using stooges for an effect. The truth is that he was not, and in fact, in the same competition the following year, he performed again, this time using the judges as his volunteers to prove that no stooges where used. Needless to say . . . he won. Tom Mullica had a similar experience in a competition where he lost because the judges said (paraphrasing) “Eating cigarettes isn’t magic. He’s just a geek who eats cigarettes.” The judges actually thought he was really eating the cigarettes. His method was so good and fooled them so badly that they believed that he was really doing what he was claiming to do. Don’t be that guy. Just because you’ve read over a thousand books on coin magic or whatever your favorite subject is, it doesn’t mean that you know it all. Rather, when you see an effect using a method you’re not familiar with, you’ll seek through your existing knowledge and attribute a method you know as the means to accomplish the effect. On occasion, there may be that moment where none of the methods you know will t, and suddenly you’ve emptied your les and resources and are left with nothing. Soak it in folks. This is wonder. This is astonishment. This is – as Paul Harris taught us – our natural state of being. The whole point here is that we must realize that not everything ts into our classication of things. Open your mind. Recognize that the more you know, the more you should realize that the percentage of things you know vs. all things knowable becomes smaller and smaller.

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One nal note on the subject: if you you have not read or are unfamiliar with Hoffsteader’s Hoffsteader ’s mammoth work mentioned above, you are doing yourself a disservice. I’ll give you two small samples below.. One will mean nothing until you read his book. The oth below er will throw your brain into gridlock. I’m not going to tell you which one is which, just that they’re both from his book: The entire purpose of this sentence is to make absolutely clear the purpose of this sentence. This English sentence is hard to translate into French. Where is the Magic?

What’s the point of this book again? To To inspi inspire re wonder. To remind us of that nostalgic feeling of ipping through the wealth of knowledge found in 793.8. Where is the magic? It is found in our natural state of being. It is found when we cross that boundary of our ignorance. It is found when we learn.

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You’re Right – Stack H

Here’s a fun little ploy I’ve used to add a little comedy and misdirection to my close up performances. When I need to stack a handful of cards for an effect, I’ll use this. If I’m just stacking 2 or 3 cards, then I may not use this. However when setting up 5 or more cards, this is a lot of fun. The basic idea is this: let’s imagine that I need the entire Hearts suit in order on top of the deck. I’ll go through the deck and cut the King of Hearts to the top. Then I’m going to very openly remove the Queen, Jack, ten, etc. and place them on top of the deck. However, I set up the audience rst. I tell them that we’re going to do an experiment to see if they can read my mind. I then hold up the Queen (back to the spectator) and ask them to imagine what the card is, but don’t say it. Then I’ll grab grab the Jack and do the same thing; then the Ten. Then on the Nine, I’ll ask them to name the card out loud. If they get it right, it’s a miracle. However 51 out of 52 times they’ll miss. When they do, I simply say, “Yep . . . you’re right.” Then I place the card on the top of the deck. I’ll continue doing this for another card or two. At this point they’re realizing that it’s all a joke. Then I’ll say, “You’re doing amazing. You’ve just guessed 5 cards in a row.” Let’s try a different question, “what’s my mom’s name?” No matter what they say, act surprised and say, “You’re right!” Meanwhile, you’ve moved a card or two to the top.

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Then ask “what card is this?” “Amazing! What’s my wife’s Name?” “Unbelievable! What card is this?” [Hold up the next card with its back to the audience.] [Continue until all of the cards are stacked.]

Any time during the process, if you happen to get a hit, don’t just show it as a hit. Instead, build it up . . . go on about how impossible it is that they’ve been getting all of these cards right. Eventually, with enough “bragging” and build up, you can get them to the point that they’ll ask you to see it (because they think you’re full of it). After several protests, and excuses about not wanting to ruin the surprise, turn the card around to show that they were right. I would only do this once, maybe twice (if you happen to get 2 hits) in the whole performance. Once you’ve completed the stack and jokingly proved that the spectator has a good mind for mind reading, move on to an effect that does NOT use the stack you’ve just done. However, preface the effect by pointing out the fact that they are clearly open minded and would be “a good choice for this next experiment.” Do the effect and another or two. Then do the one using the stack. One last thought: If you use the two questions “what’s my mom’s name” and “what’s my wife’s name” you could have a photograph of your mom and wife (or two women who look the right age) inside of an envelope in your pocket . . . an envelope with a big hole in the back of it. Then using pocket writing you can write the names that the spectator said on the back of the picpi cture. Then before moving on after the deck is stacked, pull out the envelope, big-hole-side down, and remove the image. Show the picture and claim that it’s a picture of you and your mom and

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your wife taken last year (or whatever) and point to your mom and say “Linda” (or whatever name the spectator named earlier). Then point to your wife and say “and Tiffany” (or whatever name was named earlier). Then for the kicker, turn the picture over and show it. You You then take what was essentially a joke and turn it into a real effect. Of course, this pocket-writing-picture idea could be used in its own routine unrelated to the faux-card-r faux-card-reading-while-I-stack-the-deck eading-while-I-stack-the-deck business. Finally, you may be wondering when to do the pocket writing during the card-stacking gag. Once the cards are completely stacked, put the deck in your left pocket and your right hand in your right pocket at the same time as if the effect is over . . . it was just a joke, joke, but you are still still hamming it up . . . as as you go on about how amazed you are at this person’s skill (tongue rmly in cheek while doing so). During this period, you are pocket writing. I’m not offering a full routine, obviously, but rather an idea to add a little levity to your act along with a fun little bonus that can turn the levity into a beautiful moment of astonishment. Post Effect Palaver

A sneaky little subtlety you can employ here is to put the stack in the middle of the deck rather than the top. After each “mind reading” moment with the spectator, place the cards in order right in the middle of the fanned out deck. That way it’s even less obvious that you’re stacking the deck, because you appear to be placing them in the middle of the deck “somewhere.” When you’re done, cut the stack to the top and do a false shufe or two. Where is the Magic?

Borrowing a deck and/or having a deck shufed by spectators while in play has a huge impact on the effect. During the course of the set, the deck has been handled and shufed by spectators.

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Then you do your open stack procedure right in front of them. From their perspective, the deck is still shufed, especially if you follow up with a false shufe or two and move on to an effect that does not use the stack. Where is the magic? It is found on the back of the picture in your pocket; and/or it is found in your ability to perform an effect that is impossible with a shufed deck. The magic is found in the little touches.

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Paper Balls Under The Head H

Another one of my all-time favorite concepts comes from the new version of War of The Worlds Worlds – The one with Tom Cruise. During the behind-the-scenes interviews on the DVD, one of the producers talked about the fact that often when creating a movie, they ask the question, “What if we went the other way?” That was how they came up with the idea of having the aliens come from under the ground rather than coming from the sky. They “went the other way.” That concept has inspired a lot of journal entries for me as well as routines, ideas and thoughts. One of my routines, routines, Miser’s Miser’s Nightmare (from Nightmare (from Gemstones Gemstones)) comes directly from this line of thinking. The traditional idea, Miser’s Miser ’s Dream, is the old classic routine where seemingly endless coins are produced from nowhere. Ah, the dream of a miser indeed. Well, what if I “went the other way?” The opposite of a dream is a nightmare. What would be a miser’s nightmare? All of his money disappearing. So I created a routine where I borrow four quarters, and one at a time they vanish into thin air. Some of the vanishes happen in my hand, some in the spectator’s hand and ultimately ultimate ly right after the nal vanish, vanis h, my hands are totally empty. empty. I’m left with nothing. Ah, the nightmare of a miser indeed. This line of thinking lead me to look at other classic ideas such as the Ambitious Card. Of course the old-school presentation was about the fact that this card was very ambitious. He was a go

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getter; he always rose to the top of everything in life. So what if I “went the other way?” What’s the opposite of ambitious? Lazy? So what would the “Lazy Card” do? Maybe he would always sink to the bottom . . . maybe he would get lost in the shufe (i.e., he starts on top, but magically ends up in the middle). I never fully developed the concept. Feel free to take it and run (just give me some credit if you ever publish it). Another one I played around with was Slydini’s Paper Balls Over The Head. What Head. What if I “went the other way?” What’s the opposite of over the head? Under the head? What if, instead of throwing the balls over the head of the spectator, I threw them under his head, in his lap? Well . . . not bad, but it would kind of be obvious to the audience. So what if I “went the other way?” What if I turned the volunteer around and put his back to the audience? Then, rather than fooling the spectator (not the audience) by secretly throwing balls over the spectator’s head to effect effect a vanish, vanish, you’re you’re throwing throwing paper balls under his head (i.e. in his lap) to fool the audience (rather than the spectator). However,, it’s still not quite there because if I’m standing in However front of the spectator and apparently performing the effect for him, then the audience won’t really see much. So what if I com bined the two concepts? Then you might have something like this: Sir thank you for joining me on stage. Please . . . take a seat here. This next effect is just for you sir. sir. I have here a wad of paper that you just have to merely merely guess which hand it is in. As you apparently place the ball into one of your hands, toss if over his head (per the Slydini original effect). Of course, he’s bafed, and the audience is laughing hysterically hysterically.. Milk this until you feel like it’s time to move on.

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Sir, I’m sure you’re probably a bit confused Sir, confused.. Why are they laughing? And why are you bafed? Well, let me show you how the effect is done. [Turn his seat around to have his back to the audience.]

Here’s a back stage view. [He’ll see the balls on the floor floor.] .]

Let me show you how it worked Then perform the effect just as before, but rather than tossing the ball over his head into the audience, toss it directly into his lap while feigning a toss over the head. Of course, the audience is expecting the ball to come ying toward them, but it never does. As you perform the effect several more times, you continue addressing the spectator as you explain to him the method of the original. It might sound like this: So as you can see, I pretend to put put a ball in my left hand like so, but in reality, I toss the ball over your head so that it lands on the stage behind you. Hence the audience’s laughter and your surprise. But now the surprise is ruined for you because you know the secret. However, the audience is now bafed because even though I tossed the balls over your head, they vanished in midair as you can see if you turn around. [He turns around and is apparently shocked at the missing

balls.]

The method I’ve come up with actually reminds me of Paul Harris’s suggested method for a theoretical effect, Nowhere Man. He proposed the idea of everyone being a stooge. But there were two categories of stooges, the audience, and the “invisible” man on stage. It was dual reality to the nth degree.

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Apply that to this effect and, you get an audience who thinks that the volunteer on stage is fooled by the paper balls ying over his head. He’s quite the actor. His act of astonishment gets the audience laughing. Then when you switch gears and turn him around, the acting continues. He pretends like he really thinks you throw the balls over his head even though you’re throwing them in his lap. Of course, before he turns back around and heads back to his seat, he’ll need to stuff these paper balls into his jacket pocket, but this shouldn’t present too much of a problem because he can do it immediately after each ball is thrown. As you start to throw throw another one, he’s pocketing the previous one. Once he turns around and sees that the paper balls are not behind him, he continues his snow snow job by showing his “genuine” “genuine” surprise at the lack of balls. You You now have completely fooled the entire audience by using an elaborate set up that made them think they were in on the th e secret and the guy on o n stage was not. Turns out however things are exactly the opposite of what everyone (except your guy on stage) thinks. Of course, you could just use a topit or a pull or some other method of vanishing the balls during the “exposé” portion of the effect. In fact, you may even be able to get away with not having your volunteer be a stooge. Rather than tossing the balls in his lap, if you use a topit or some other method, you may be able to convince him that you threw them over his head when you really topited them. That line of thinking got me wondering if you could do the original effect using a topit or some other method. Of course in that case, there would be no part 2 exposé, and the overall effect (that of a gag with the audience) would change to an effect where the audience and the volunteer have no idea what happened to the balls. Obvio Obviously usly this may not be as fun, funny or even enter entertainin taining g as the original Slydini effect, but it is a possible effect nonetheless.

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I’ve never tried any of these ideas in real life. They were just journal entries that were sparked by simply asking the question, “what if I went the other way?” The real point here isn’t that I’ve come up with a different (better or worse) version of Slydini’s effect. The point is that asking that question lead me to start thinking, brainstorming and coming up with ideas. Some ideas lead to new routines (e.g., Miser’s Nightmare). While others lead to fun discussions and possible routines ideas. Next time you look at adding a routine to your repertoire, ask the question, “What if I went the other way?” Where is the Magic?

Nothing is better than an audience that is ready to receive the gift of wonder. The problem is that most audiences are not ready for it. There are things, however, that you and I can do to prepare them for the reception of this beautiful gift. One of the sneakiest ways I know is to get them involved . . . get them to care. In this “effect” we get them so involved that they think they know the secret . . . because they do. Then you ip everything on its head and show them that in reality, they don’t know how it’s done . . . suddenly they are so ready to receive the gift. Where is the magic? It’s found in that moment when the audience “knows” that the ball is going to y over his head . . . but then it doesn’t . . . that moment when they realize that the ball really(?) vanished. The magic is found in being prepared to accept a gift, the gift of wonder.

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Spectator’s Choice H

Another concept inspired by my favorite question: “What if we went the other way?” If the “standard” way is Magician’s Choice, what’s the “other” way . . . spectator’s choice? Effect

The Spectator Predicts an ESP card that you will choose. Then he uses Magician’s Choice (without realizing it) to force you to pick the card he predicts. Method

I’m assuming that if you’re reading this book, you’re familiar with and have used Equivoque a.k.a. Magician’s Choice. Basic Idea

You start by placing a prediction of an ESP card (Let’s say the Square) face down on the table. Then you spread out ve facedown ESP cards on the table which are marked. Using standard Equivoque procedures, you force the Square on the spectator. You then tell the spectator that he can try it. Have him write a prediction down without you seeing. Then he mixes the ve cards face down and spreads them out in a row. Then he repeats the same forcing procedure – though you don’t call it a “forcing procedure” – on you and you end up choosing the predicted card. So let’s address this in a few pieces: the prediction, the force

Spectator’s Choice

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procedure, some examples and the presentation. Additionally, we’ll look at this from 2 different angles: you force the card on the spectator (phase I) and the spectator forces the card on you (phase II). Before we dive into that, let me just give one frame of reference to consider while reading. Both phases need to look identical to each other. The only thing different is that in phase II, the roles have reversed (i.e., you are the spectator, and the spectator is the magician). The idea is that you are giving the power to the spectator and in order for him to have the same results, he must repeat your every move. The Prediction

As mentioned before, the cards are marked, so you can read the backs of the cards no matter how well they’re shufed. So in Phase I, it’s a no brainer. Write the prediction down and have the spectator shufe and lay out the cards. Then use Equivoque to force the correct card. However, in Phase II, you need to know what the spectator predicts you will choose. There are many ways to get this information. Just remember that the key is that both phases must mirror each other identically. So for example, let’s say you choose to do a no-tear center tear like Osterlind’s Perfect Center Tear. In Phase I, you’ll unfold the pre-folded business card and write your prediction in the correct place and refold it. Then you’ll hand it to the spectator to hold for a moment in an “attempt to get in tune with the prediction.” Then in Phase II, the spectator will write his prediction on one of your pre-folded business cards and he’ll hand it to you so that you can “attempt to get in tune with the prediction.” Of course, this is when you peak. You get the idea? You need to make your moves in such a way that he can mimic them as part of the procedure.

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However, the way I would prefer to do this is to have 2 sets of ESP cards. Both marked. Five of the cards are on the table (one of each symbol). The other ve are kept in a separate envelope to be prediction choices. So in Phase I, I just choose one of the ve cards for the prediction. The remaining four are out of play and placed aside. Then during Phase II, the spectator will do the same thing. Of course, since the cards are marked, you’ll know which card is used for the prediction. Finally, when using this card method, an effective way to present it is to display the faces of both packets showing that each packet is a copy of the other. Then shufe each packet individually and use one packet to choose the prediction from and the other to be spread out on the table to be used for the force. The advantage of this is that your prediction card will truly be a random card. Again during Phase I, this is impressive, but in Phase II when the spectator mimics your actions it becomes much more impressive. The Force Procedure

For some serious work and tips on Magician’s Choice, check out Eugene Burger’s work and Max Maven’s work, particularly in his relatively recent DVD, Multiplicity. I would highly recommending studying the above resources before performing this effect. There are so many subtle ideas and additions that really make the Magician’s Choice totally kill. Meanwhile, I’m going to, for the sake of explanation, use a very simplistic description of the concept. If you had two face-down cards, a red card and a black card, and you wanted to use Magician’s Choice to force the red one – in a very oversimplied explanation – it would go like this:


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Please pick up one card and . . . Turn it over - Or Please pick up one card and . . . Toss it aside The idea is that you change the ending based on which card the spectator picks up. If he picks up the red one, you go with the rst line. If he picks up the black one, you go with the second line. Of course, the spectator never suspects a thing. As far as he was concerned you were always going to say “toss it aside” regardless of which card he picked up. If we were to do the above ESP effect (Spectator’s Choice) only using two cards (red and black) instead of 5, it might go like this: I’ve placed a color prediction aside right here. It predicts what color you will decide upon, red or black. Place these two cards (one red and one black) face down on the table and mix them up so that neither of us know which is which. Remember, the cards are marked. Now that the cards are mixed, please pick one up and . . . toss it aside. Now turn over the remaining card. [Spectator turns over the card.]

It’s red. Take a look at the card I placed aside. Turn it over and you will nd that it too is red. Now it’s your turn. Place a card aside face down to be the prediction. Then place the other two cards face down and shufe them so that I don’t know which is which. Now, just as you picked one up and tossed it aside, I’ll do the same.

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Of course, you know which card is which . . . all of the cards are marked. So just make sure you pick up the card that does not match the prediction and toss it aside. That’s the concept. However, when we bring in 5 cards and a little more procedure the effect becomes much more impossible seeming. So let’s move on using ve ESP cards. Imagine that the ve ESP cards are face down with the prediction card face down in front of the ve cards. They can be in any order, and it is unknown to the spectator and supposedly unknown to you as well. Remember, the cards are marked so you know which card is which. The prediction card that you are going to force is (let’s say) the cross. The following procedure shows the possible scenarios you may nd yourself facing. I start by singling out a place on the table and saying, “We’re going to eliminate some cards; here is where we’ll place the discards.” This wording will be valuable in a moment when you direct the proceedings. Basically after each decision is made by the spectator you will either tell them to put some cards in the discard pile, or you will put them there yourself. In the diagram that follows, you will nd in “quotes” the places where you tell the spectator to do it, and in [brackets.] you will nd the places where you will do it yourself. Take some time to really study and understand the Equivoque procedure outline below.


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Get out ve ESP cards in a row face up and follow the directions below. Follow different options and outcomes to get a feel for how it might go in performance. Equivoque Procedure Outline

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Now that you understand the procedure, you realize that each time you perform the effect, the procedure will be different. This one keeps you on your toes. Each time you perform the effect, you need to memorize the procedure for that instance that you are performing. You must then make the exact same choices that the spectator did when it’s your turn to play spectator. So if he initially pointed two non-force cards, then, pointed to the two not force cards, you must do the same. The idea that you are conveying to the spectator is that before the show even started, you had a planned procedure that both of you were going to do. Then when each of you do the procedure you end up “selecting” the same card. In advance, you inform the spectator that he will have to play the role of the magician in a moment so he’ll want to make sure he’s paying attention to the procedure. Of course, when you play the role of the spectator, you can coach him and remind him what the procedure is. This effect is a bit weird to explain in print. It’s kind of like Vernon’s The Trick That Can’t Be Explained. You can’t really explain it because every single time you do it, the procedure is different. The best way to master this is to perform it over and over until you get the rhythm and hang of it. I can show you some examples, but the real knowledge will come when you start practicing it with another person. Grab one of your magi friends and just practice it until you can do it without thinking. Example/Presentation

Have you noticed that people who spend a lot of time with each other tend to pick up nuances of each other’s personality? Sometimes they begin to behave quite similarly and can even begin to look like each other. Of course these levels of synchronicity and empathy can take years


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to develop. However, I’d like to try to develop such a connection with you in the next few moments. I have here two sets of cards that where designed by Dr. Rhine at Duke University for just such purposes. As you can see, these ve cards here, the circle, square, cross, star and wavy lines match these ve cards over here. As I mix these ve, I will remove one without knowing what it is and I’ll place it aside here. The rest can be slid back into the envelope. The other group of ve, I’ll mix and spread out on the table for you. What I’ve learned is that if you stop and think about trying to be in sync with someone, you end up over thinking it, and it rarely works. So I’ve decided to remove the thinking from our experiment today. I’ve come up with a procedure of eliminating and selecting cards that we will each participate in. We just follow the procedure and neither of us will have to think. We just act. It’s a very simple and quick procedure. We’ll use this part of the table as a discard area. [Point to an area on the table to act as a discard area.]

First, with your left hand touch one card . . . and with your right hand, touch another . . . now slide them to the discard area. [The above assumes they did not touch a force card either time.]

Of the remaining three, pick up one with your left hand . . . and with your right hand, pick up another . . . and place them both in the discard pile. [Again we go with the assumption that neither card picked up was the force card.]

Now turn over the remaining card.

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It’s the circle, and as you can see, the card I put aside from the beginning is also a circle . . . a perfect match. [Turn over prediction card.]

It would certainly seem that you have empathy, but I made the claim that we would also synchronize, so let’s do this one more time, but this time, I’ll let you play the director and I’ll be the experiment subject. Do you remember the procedure? [Wait for response.] [Remind them by grabbing the four cards from the envelope and the prediction card while explaining.]

You shufe these cards and place aside a card for the “target” card. Then you spread out the other set of ve cards over here after you’ve also shufed them. Then nally, you have me eliminate four cards two at a time. Can you remember all of that? Ok, let’s give it a try. [Spectator shuffles one of the packets and randomly puts aside a “target” card and replaces the other four in the envelope.] [She then shuffles and spreads out the other five cards.] [She tells you to touch two cards one finger at a time.] [You touch any two that do not match the “target” thanks to the fact that the cards are marked.] [She then tells you to pick up two cards, one at a time.] [Again, you do so making sure you don’t pick up the force card.]


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[She then tells you to turn over the remaining card along with the prediction.]

It would appear that not only do you have true empathy, and we’ve truly made a connection tonight, but are we in sync? [Turn over both cards.]

It would appear that we are. Post Effect Palaver

I’ve toyed with the idea of doing this effect where the spectator and I do the performance at the exact same time. This would require 20 cards, however. But it would basically go like this. We each get two sets of the 5 cards. We each choose one card to be a prediction and put the other four cards away. We each then spread out the remaining 5 cards in a row. Then I give the rst set of instructions to the spectator. I tell her to place each hand on a card. I mimic her actions. If she places her hands on 2 non-force cards, then I do the same. If she covers one nonforce and the force, then I do the same. Keep in mind that the ve cards I’m using and the ve cards she’s using are not necessarily in same order as each other (although you could do that since the cards are marked) and the prediction cards are not the same either. She might choose a circle for a prediction, and I might choose a square. Again, you could contrive to have everything match up since the cards are all marked. If you go down the road of doing both procedures at the same time and having the prediction cards match then you can add a few little extras to the presentation. So during the beginning of the effect, the spectator is instructed to shufe up one of her piles and put one card face down to the side. You then note the mark on the back of the deck and place the same card aside from one of your piles. Now you’ve each placed

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aside a face down prediction card apparently at random – neither of you have looked at the faces. You each put aside the remaining 4 cards from those piles. You direct her to shufe the remaining ve card pile and to deal them onto the table in any manner she sees t. You do the same. Shufe your 5 cards. Then deal them out so that they are in the same order as her cards. If her row from her left to her right is square, circle, wavy lines, star, cross, then your pile from your right to left should also be square, circle, wavy lines, cross if you’re sitting across from her. This makes your row mirror her row. However, if you’re sitting next to her, you would make your pile the same left to right as her pile is. During the proceedings, do exactly the same moves that she does. Let’s say that after all of the Equivoque procedures, you each have eliminated four cards from your respective piles and you are each left with one card in front of you face down that neither of you have looked at yet. Of course you know (thanks to the markings) that not only do these cards match each other, but they also match the prediction cards. Let’s imagine that the prediction card is the square. You’re in a situation now where each of you have a prediction card of square sort of off to the side, and you each have a square right in front of you that you just “selected” via the procedure above. That’s four squares sitting there face down to be revealed in whatever manner you see t. Here’s the extra part I mentioned earlier that can really take this effect to the next level. Imagine the above scene of the four face down squares that have not yet been turned over. Let’s pick up at that point in the presentation: We’ve now each eliminated four cards. We both chose target cards randomly and we each randomly shufed the cards. So to recap, neither of us knows which card is the target card and which card is the remaining card. This is a truly random situation where there was no


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thinking on our part, but merely following directions and creating randomness. According to Dr. Rhine, this is the ideal scenario for testing his theory about synchronicity and empathy. So let’s start by turning over your chosen card. [She turns over her forced card.]

It’s a square. Interesting, the square with its perfect angles and four corners represents balance between the elements (earth, wind, re and water). This suggests someone who is even-keeled and very empathic, so it’s interesting that in this experiment that’s the card you chose. Now, turn over your target card and I think we’re going to nd that it’s a match. [She turns over her prediction card.]

So it’s clear that you have empathy, but are we in sync? [Turn over your two square cards.]

It seems that we are. The extra little addition here is the quasi cold reading using the card as a basis. Below you’ll nd some simple statements that you can tie to each card that t for this effect. You can, of course add this to the original effect if you contrive to have both predictions match each other. It’s a style thing. On the one hand, if you do the original and allow everything to be truly random, you’ll end up with a different target card than the spectator. However, if you want to take this a step further, you can make your “random” choice of a target card not so random by reading the markings and using the exact same target card that the spectator chose during her phase.

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ESP COLD STATEMENTS:

Keep in mind that these statements are just things that I made up to t with the theme of the effect. SQUARE: Interesting, the square with its perfect angles and four corners represents balance between the elements (earth, wind, re and water). This suggests someone who is even-keeled and very empathic, so it’s interesting that in this experiment that’s the card you chose. CIRCLE: Interesting, the circle without end or beginning represents innity or forever, symbolizing patience and endurance. This suggests someone who can relate with people on an empathetic level, so it’s interesting that in this experiment that’s the card you chose. STAR: Interesting, the star represents the heavens and the mysteries of space symbolizing openness and love. This is the type of person who is very loving and open and lled with empathy, so it’s interesting that in this experiment that’s the card you chose. WAVY LINES: Interesting, the 3 lines represent a owing river, constant and strong and powerful, yet gentle and smooth. A person with these characteristics can truly relate with people on many levels. They blend in and are uid and empathetic people, so it’s interesting that in this experiment that’s the card you chose. CROSS: Interesting, the cross. This represents pain and burden and the strength to handle it. This card represents a person who is particularly gifted at sharing the load of other people’s burdens, a person who has empathy, so it’s interesting that in this experiment that’s the card you chose.


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SUMMARY:

Basically, you have two general ways to perform this effect: 1) A 2 phase approach: Spectator does the procedure once; then you switch roles and become the spectator (Uses 10 cards). 2) A 1 phase approach where you both do the procedure at the same time (uses 20 cards). Each of the two techniques can be performed with 2 possible variations: 1) Your target card and “selection” match each other but are different from the spectator’s target and selection. 2) Or your target and “selection” match each other and match the spectator’s target and “selection” thus all 4 card match. In the cases where the spectator’s cards are different from yours, I think the cold reading doesn’t quite work because the idea of the cold readings is that the one card she chose is the only one that represents empathy and that any other target card would not have been as good as the one she randomly selected. However, if all four of the cards are the same, then the stock line quasi cold reading works really well. Alternate Ideas

Rather than having two sets of cards (one for the prediction and one for the procedure) you could just use one set of cards and rather than choosing a card to be set aside as a prediction, you write the prediction down. Then when you switch roles, the spectator writes the prediction down. Of course the disadvantage of this approach is that now you’ll have to gain the information you need using an impression device, a center tear or pencil reading or some other technique. Some of you may nd this method better. I personally prefer the previously outlined method using

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two sets of cards. But in case you like the idea of using less cards I thought I’d mention the above idea. One other drawback, however, is that doing the one phase approach (where you and the spectator do the procedure at the same time) may unnecessarily complicate the proceedings. Credits

Stuart Judah has an effect called, The Spectator’s Choice, found in Annemann’s Card Magic. The effect has nothing to do with the above effect. However, the name inspired me to create what you’ve just read. Where is the Magic?

It’s always fun to fool someone who knows Equivoque by using Equivoque. However, the magic goes beyond merely fooling a spectator with a familiar principle. A true connection with a spectator as you both reveal your synchronicity is a moment of pure wonder. Where is the magic? It’s found in the exact moment when you turn over all of the cards, the prediction card and the “selected” card only to nd that they perfectly magic each other. Pure magic.

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3

P A R T

H

Miscellaneous Mischievousness Next up . . . a handful of ideas, subtleties, thoughts, concepts and other things that have various applications. In Force Schmorce we’ll take a peek at spectator choices, ver biage and using Equivoque properly and logically. We’ll follow that with some pointers on how to take advantage of luck when it comes your way during presentation in Notes on Miscalls. Further, we will briey touch on how to orchestrate this so called luck and exploit it when it happens and even when it doesn’t. In my quest to give meaning to the Down Under Deal (What’s the Deal with the Down Under Deal) , I’ve developed a simple presentational subtlety to make sense out of the procedure. Let’s also add some levity to our presentation with Card Memory. Within the walls of this section, you’ll nd a brand new force that gives meaning and logic to making a spectator do math on a thought of number, Luke and the 15 Force. What follows, Forces of Nature, is a crazy journey through a huge vault of bizarre book test ideas. You’ll nd some crazy stuff on taking a borrowed book book-test to the next-next-next level. For more formal performances, add the few ideas from Book Test Subtleties, to your routine for an improvement in fairness and legitimateness.

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Next we’ll further the discussion on luck and magician’s choice and how their paths often cross as we learn the principle of FauxQuivoque. You’ll further nd a brand new use for a Svengali Deck, and an excellent essay on Equivoque and similar techniques will open your mind to the power of this combination of tools. With Invisibly Subtle, you’ll nd a simple way to modify your invisible deck to take all the risk out of this power tool, and nally, we’ll wrap up this section with Twinkie Picker , a handling and presentation of my effect (from Gemstones), Epicenter (bill in sealed Twinkie), to a brand new place with perfect logic, fun and presentational clarity that makes me wonder why I didn’t do it like this in the rst place. The goal of this section is to load up your arsenal with some serious tools that will take your magic/mentalism into a different realm . . . a much more powerful and wonderful (i.e., full of wonder) realm.

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Force Schmorce H

Worst patter ever: Mage: “Pick one of those two decks.” [Spectator – Picks the blue deck.]

Mage: “So that leaves the red deck. We’ll use that one.” If you see the problem with the above . . . hallelujah. If you don’t see the problem, smack yourself upside the head and read the rest of this section. By the way, even those who “get it” should continue reading this section as well. Thus this paragraph served no purpose other than to give me an excuse to abuse some of my readers by proxy. Good times. Here’s the problem. Too many people just don’t know how to force an object using magician’s choice (aka Equivoque). If this book does nothing more than inspire you to study the dynamic duo of Equivoque excellence (aka Max Maven and Eugene Burger) then it was worth every second I spent writing it. So take that as a cue to do some research. That aside, I’ll share a simple idea that I’ve used many times in the past, and frankly is so simple that I’m sure that others have done this very thing, but just in case, here it is. Imagine the above scenario where you have a red deck and a blue deck. The red deck is the “force” deck. It’s the one with the set up or whatever.

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The rst question you have to ask is why you are using two decks. The assumption is that the other deck will play a part in the effect. In other words, you didn’t just decide to give them a choice of decks and then discard the one not chosen. The blue deck also has a purpose. Next time you’re in a similar situation, try this: Have two spectators help you out rather than just one. Then ask each of them to choose the color of deck they would like to use. Then whoever picks your force deck . . . start with that person. Of course, don’t be foolish and say, “Ok, since you have the red deck, we’ll start with you.” Looking at the guy who chose the force deck, I’ll just say, “Let’s start with you sir.” The other option that’s kind of fun is this: Mage: You each have a deck; let’s decide who goes rst. I’m thinking

of a number between 1 and 10.Whoever guesses the closet goes rst. Homer, since you chose your deck rst, we’ll let Marge here make the rst guess of the numbers. Marge: (Happens to have the force deck): I’ll guess seven. Homer: I’ll guess ve. Mmmm . . . donuts . . . Mage: The number was eight; Marge wins, so we’ll use her deck rst.

Of course the truth is that you weren’t even thinking of a num ber. No matter what, you’ve rigged the game, by claiming you were thinking of whatever number happens to be closest to the number named by the person holding the force deck. Thus, no matter what happens, the force deck will be the one you start with, and everything seems very fair. Having said all that, know this: sometimes (oftentimes) it is not necessary to force anything.

Force Schmorce

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Best patter ever: Mage: “Sir, here’s the red deck. We’ll start with this one.” Where is the Magic?

The Professor once said that a good effect could be described in just one sentence. I’m paraphrasing, but that was the gist. Though I don’t entirely agree with that statement in its most literal sense, I certainly support the sentiment. Simplicity. There’s nothing wrong with a force; there’s nothing wrong with Equivoque (when it’s done right), but why bother with it if it doesn’t add anything to the effect? Where is the magic? It’s found in the raw purity of simplicity. Stay away from awkward procedures when the effect can be accomplished by merely offering the deck. Where else is the magic? It’s also found in that wonderful moment where they really believe that they really guessed a real number that you were really thinking of. Beautiful.

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Notes on Miscalls H

Every now and then you get lucky. In my effect Under My Skin from my Gemstones DVD, I borrow a dime and make it appear in an “impossible” location. Because I’m switching dimes, I can’t have the dime signed. So I miscall the date. If the date of the dime pre-loaded in the impossible location is 1989, then when I borrow a dime, I pretend to read it and claim that it says 1989. Of course, every now and then you get lucky and the borrowed dime truly is 1989. When that happens, use it to your advantage. The key is that you don’t want to make a big deal about it by making sure everyone sees the date and over selling the fact that it’s a 1989 date. So what I like to do is simply pretend that I can’t quite see the date and I ask someone in the group to read the date for me. I might then have a second person “make sure.” It might go something like this: [I borrow the dime and notice it has the correct date.]

Me: Sir, I can’t quite read the date on there; can you see it? Sir: Yes. It’s 1989 Me: Thank you. Ma’am, can you verify that. Is it really 1989 or is he

trying to mess with me. Ma’am: Nope. He’s not messing with you. It’s 1989. Me: Thank you.

Notes on Miscalls

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Then I proceed with the effect. Subtlety wins out every time. So much so that if you’ve got the guts, you can try and pull off this little subtly sneaky stunt: The preloaded dime is 1989. You borrow a coin which is NOT 1989. You look at it and squint as you say, “What is that, 1989?” Just as you say that you briey show it to one of the spectators near you as if you’re asking them to read it. However your timing is such that before they have a chance to read the coin, you’ve already taken the dime out of their line of vision and moved on. Usually (if you time it well), they’ll just nod in agreement. Of course there are plenty of methods for switching out the dime for another dime so you can truly show the date before you make it vanish. However, for those who think that a switch in this context is a good idea, I refer you to my mantra: Astonishment Over Moves. Where is the Magic?

Lucky ain’t luck folks. Luck is where opportunity and preparedness meet. If you’re prepared – and you are since you just read this brief essay – then when the opportunity (i.e., the lucky matching dime) arises, you have a miracle moment. Why not create your “luck” by faking the moment as outlined above? I say unto you that there is no reason not to create your own luck. Where is the magic? It’s found in that moment where the audience tries to reconstruct the effect and realizes that it has to be the same dime because they know that you borrowed it, and they know that someone else veried the date. It’s the moment they think, it must be the same dime because nobody’s that lucky. Yet, you are. Beautiful.

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What’s the Deal With the Down Under Deal H

Radar of a spectator is the last thing you want to be “on.” Before we get to that, rst a brief treatise on the Down Under Deal, and I do mean brief. Take a small packet of cards, say eight. Hold them face down in the dealing position. Then deal one to the ta ble, then one to the bottom of the packet; then one to the table, one to the bottom. Continue until you have only one card remaining in your hand. If you started with an 8 card stack, then the card that is remaining will be the original bottom card of the packet. Which card you’re left with varies based on how many cards you start with in your packet. To gure this out, grab any number of cards starting from Ace on top, two second from the top, three third, etc., until you have however many cards you want to try. Do the dealing procedure, one down to the table, and one underneath until you have one card left. Whatever its value will be the position it started in. Everything above is for your own playground at home when nobody is looking. Let’s move on to the point. Let’s imagine an effect using a small packet of 8 cards where you have a card selected and controlled to the bottom of the eight card packet. Then you can do the Down Under Deal (or have the spectator) do it until one card is left. The nal card is their selection. That’s a decent effect and certainly not original with me. Many

What’s the Deal with the Down Under Deal?

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others have done this type of effect. In fact, the one that inspired this chapter is Max Maven’s effect from Redivider called Pseudo D/U ESP (p. 12). There are plenty others out there. (I promise; a point is coming soon). There are variations of the procedure. For example, you might deal one to the table. Then deal the second one to the table next to the rst one and place the packet on top of it; then pick up the packet and deal another one onto the one still on the table. Then deal another one to the table next to the pile and place the packet on top; pick it up and repeat. I just never really cared for this procedure. Many have published various ways and means to justify the procedure. Some work ok, but others do not. However, I’ve never seen one that feels right to me, until now. As far as I can tell, the idea to follow is original with me. It’s very simple and very straightforward. Go back to your stack of 8 cards. Have one picked and controlled to the bottom. Next you are about to perform the D/U deal, but in a very disguised way. Deal down the top two cards one at a time. Then place your hand over each card one at a time in an effort to “get a sense” or a “feeling” of which card might be the spectator’s card. After your feeling, you decide that you’re not sure about one card, but you are denitely sure that the other card is NOT their card. Thus you push it aside, and place the other one (the one that you’re “not sure” about) under the packet. Repeat this “deal two, feel both and discard one” procedure until you’ve got one card left. During each “round,” you are (in the mind of the audience) eliminating a card that you know is not their card. The effect is that through process of psychic elimination you’ve eliminated the seven cards that you are sure are not their card. Of course, each time, you are “discarding” the one that would normally be dealt “down” on the table, and you are putting the one that normally

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goes “under” the deck, under the deck with the claim that you’re not sure if this is their card or not – internal subtext: “so we’ll get back to this one in a moment and try it again.” What makes this really deceptive is that each “round,” I change it up a little. First round, I’ll deal the top card and place the second card to the right. Do my “feel the cards” business. Then place the packet on the card on the right (the “Under” card). Then on the next deal, I place the top card down and the “Under” card to the left. After “feeling” the cards, I place the packet onto the left (the “Under” card). On the next deal, I might place the “Down” card on the table and the “Under” card below it (i.e., in a column rather than a row). Then next time, maybe the “Under” card goes above the “Down” card in the column. Maybe next time I just hold the “Down” card and “feel” it and decide to discard it to the table. Then take the next card and “feel” it and decide to place it under the deck. Additionally, I may ask the spectator’s to “feel” the cards. If they guess right go with it. If they don’t then just correct them. For example, you may place the “Down” card on the table and ask her to see if she feels anything when her hand is placed above the card. If she says, “Yep, I feel something. It’s NOT my card,” agree with her and push the card aside. If however, she said, “It feels like it IS my card” or she’s not sure” then you say, that you’re condent that it’s NOT her card and push it aside. You don’t need to have the spectator do it every time, but giving them the opportunity can only strengthen the effect if they get a hit, and leave the effect the same if they miss. Why not give ‘em a chance or two? In the aforementioned Maven effect, you nd two cards, and the best part is that the cards are in the spectator’s hands the entire time. You actually don’t have to control the cards to the correct position. The extremely clever handling allows for this to happen automatically in the spectator’s hands while your head is turned.

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Obviously I won’t be tipping that method. You need to pick up your own copy of Redivider. I’ve read that book over a halfdozen times. It’s one of the most brilliant books I’ve read and has inspired so many things in my own work. My point, however, is that I use Maven’s effect with my “Deal and Feel” procedure. The combination of the two makes for a very powerful routine that feels like true clairvoyance. Trust me. This will take your Down Under Deal to a whole new level. Where is The Magic?

Eye, ear, nose, tongue and nger are body parts most people have thus allowing them to participate in the joy of the ve senses: sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. Of course we often claim, in our mentalist work, to have a sixth sense . . . much like the above presentation of the Down Under Deal. Yet there is no body part that allows us to partake of this socalled sixth sense. Like Alfred Hitchcock did for his audiences, we must let their mind do all the work for us. We plant the seed, make claims and demonstrate things. Where is the magic? It’s found in that intangible place we call the mind. That moment when they turn over the last card . . . the one that seemed to give off some weird vibe; that moment is where deep down inside you want to LOL.

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Card Memory H

Astonishment comes in many forms. I’ve been astonished at the clever comedic wit of Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie on Who’s Line Is It Anyway? I’ve literally been moved to tears by the astonishing talent of Wayne Brady from the same show as he creates, writes and sings a song on the spot with no prep work whatsoever. That is truly astonishing to me. Harry Lorayne told a story in an interview on Reel Magic Magazine about how astonishing it was to lay people when he did effects that were just purely demonstrations of his legitimate ability to memorize a deck of cards right there on the spot. If you’re reading this book, you are trying to “move” your audience. Move them to tears, move them to laughter, move them to surprise, move them to wonder. All roads lead to wonder if you have the right trail guide. That’s your job. You are the trail guide. A well timed line or joke or call back or comment is one of many ways to move people along the path. It lets people in. What follows is an idea that probably was invented by Moses, but it makes for a fun moment. It can either be looked at as a throw away joke (which is totally a legitimate view) or it can be seen as a fun bonding moment with your audience, or it can be used as an inline to something much more powerful which is the way I prefer.

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The idea is (can be) a simple joke: Mage: I can memorize a deck of cards in 5 seconds. [Have someone shuffle. Then quickly glance through the cards.]

Mage: Done. I’ve memorized every card in the deck.

Then simply start naming every card in the deck (i.e., Ace of Clubs, 2 of Clubs, 3 of Clubs, etc.). Keep going until you get a laugh. You can end there. Or . . . You can use the quick glance through the deck to spot a particular card and/or its position for your next effect. You could also follow up with a “real” memory demonstration either by using one of the many pseudo-memory effects in print or by really doing it (if you’re that good). It can be used to glimpse a key card and a million other things. However, my favorite is to go right from this into my effect Spectral Chill. In that effect, you need to know the ninth card from the bottom of the deck, and the premise of the effect is that the cards keep track of themselves and the cards, themselves, always know the location of other cards. Right after doing the gag of naming a bunch of cards, stop and say, “Ok. I can’t really memorize the order, but the cards themselves can. Let me show you what I mean.” Then go right into Spectral Chill. If ever there was an effect that meets the standard of my mantra of Astonishment Over Moves, of everything I’ve created, Spectral Chill has to be in the top 5 maybe even number one. It’s a moment of pure chilling astonishment. This silly little mock memory demo is an excellent lead in to such a “chilly” effect.

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Post Effect Palaver

When “performing” this quasi-gag, particularly in the context of a show, I really build up the impossibility of what I’m about to do. I really emphasize that the deck was thoroughly shufed and only handled by the spectator. I over-sell the fact that I merely spread through them for just a few seconds and did not change the order of the deck. This only makes the moment funnier . . . they really believe that I’m about to recite the entire deck in order. When I nally get to the point (after all the hype of what I’m about to do), I take a deep breath as if my life were hanging in the balance. Then I proceed to put on my “game” face of pure concentration. Then BAM . . . I start naming the cards in order from Ace to King. It’s funny stuff folks. Going from the silly to the spooky (Spectrall Chill) is a fun roller coaster ride of emotions. Keep in mind that Spectral Chill is not something I usually do in a show. And on the occasion that I do put it in a show, I never do it like a magic trick. I do it like it’s real because it basically is real (not to be confused with The Old Testament 12 Tribes Dude). I only do this with family or friends in a non-magical setting. The faux-memory gag is a great lead in when you’re in this type of venue (i.e., hanging out in a “nonvenue”). You can learn the basic effect of Spectral Chill here. The password is “spooky.” Please do not share this password or video with anyone. For a full treatise on the concept and a ton of uses for it (including adapting it to Tarot cards and Tarot readings), check out my e-book, Spectral Chill/Tarot Below Zero here: Spectral Chill e-book. Where is the Magic?

Einstein said, “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to won-

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der and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead—his eyes are closed.” What better effect to fulll this moment of beauty (i.e., mystery) than an effect that fools the spectator and the magician. Sure there are many amongst us who understand the principle behind Spectral Chill. However, even then, the method still just feels mysterious. This further adds to the sense that it’s real. Adding a fun intro such as the above joke about memorizing the deck adds a nice touch to you and your reputation. You become that clever guy who knows about playing cards unlike anyone else. Where is the magic? It’s found in the beauty of mystery and that feeling when your audience really believes you when you claim to be able to instantly memorize a deck of cards, or when you claim that the cards themselves have true power within them. Magic.

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Luke and the 15 Force H

There’s an effect (that I’m keeping to myself for now) in my repertoire where I need to force 1 number from a range of num bers. The problem was that every force I was aware of seemed way too contrived, and I just didn’t like making the spectators do what felt like controlled math that had no context. So I went to my good friend Jason Conforto. He’s not a magician, but he is a cube geek, and he’s been involved in the lming of some of my work and has read my Tarot book. In fact, after reading the Tarot book, he had an excellent suggestion that I ultimately published in the second edition of the book. It was because of his insight on the Tarot project that I asked for his help on the ranging force. So I brought him into my ofce and wrote this on my white board:

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Tangential side note . . . I had these written on a piece of paper in my ofce, and my son happened to notice that the left column is 0 to 9 and the right column is 9 to 0 . . . very observant. I never noticed that before. I’m probably the only one. Anyway, I showed the list to Jason and told him that I needed a way to force any one of those numbers. Literally within ve minutes, he gured out a simple way to do it. From there, the two of us created the rationale needed to make the force work. Then later I showed it to Brad Gordon and, as always, he added a level of smoothness. Now I use this force constantly, and I’ve even fried a handful of knowledgeable magi with it. Follow the presentation below and you’ll see it. Mage: Thank you for joining me here on stage (or whatever the ven-

ue). Spec: You’re welcome. Can I have your autograph? Mage: No. Before our next experiment, let’s do a quick exercise to see

if we are in sync with each other. Spec: Sounds Fun. Mage: It is. To test our synchronicity, I’m going to think of a number

between 1 and 10. In a moment I’m going to have you see if you can guess what it is, but not yet. Ok. I’m thinking of a number right now between 1 and 10. Now see if you can get a sense of the number and remember the rst number that pops into your head, but don’t tell me what it is. Spec: Ok. I’ve got one. Mage: Great. I don’t want to know your number, but I do want to

know if we’re thinking of the same number to see if we’re in sync. So I’ll tell you my number. You just tell me, yes or no, if you thought of my number. My number was 9. Are we in sync? Spec: Nope.

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Mage: That’s ok. Don’t tell me what number you’re thinking of. I

have a simple way of syncing us up. You’ve got “your” number that I have no clue of. And I have “My” number. Let’s make an “Our” number. Take my number and multiply it by whatever your number is [insert your own multiply and replenish the earth joke here.]. Spec: Done. Mage: Great. So let’s forget about your number and my number, and

I want you to concentrate on “our” number. We now have synced up and can continue with our experiment. Of course, since I have no idea what your number was, I can’t have any clue of what “our” number is either, correct? Spec: Yep. I’ve just forced one of those numbers 9 through 90. I then continue with the effect that requires the use of one of those forced numbers. When I performed the effect for some magician friends, they didn’t realize I had forced a number on them. The procedure is simple to use and very disarming and has some meaning. Once I explained to the guys in the group what I did, one of them asked, “Yeah, but what if you didn’t think of 9?” Of course, immediately after asking the question he realized that it was a bit of a silly question, but the point is that the proceedings seemed absolutely legitimate. Of course this force hinges on making it absolutely clear that you have no idea what number they thought of originally. If they tell you the number, then the effect no longer works. Because if you know their number and your number, you could do the multiplication as well and obviously know what the new number is. Thus you must make absolutely sure that you don’t know the number and that they are absolutely sure that you don’t know their number. I know what you’re thinking then . . . what happens if they do think of the number 9, right? Admit it you were think-

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ing that. That’s the best outcome and this is where Brad’s brilliant brain came into play. We came up with this . . . picking up in the middle of our script: Mage: My number is 9. Are we in sync? Spec: Yes. That’s the number I was thinking of! Mage: Excellent. This means that you’re very open to receiving

thoughts. Let’s now see how good you are at sending them. Since I know your number (because it was the same as mine), why don’t you think of a new number between 1 and 10 that I don’t know. I’ll keep my number, 9 (I had it rst). Just to make sure we stay in sync, let’s create a number that’s unique to us. Let’s say we multiply your new number – the one I don’t know – by my number, 9. Then I proceed as before. The effect that I use a forced number with is one where I’m reading her mind so the idea of seeing how good she is at sending thoughts ts this perfectly. How you use this force is up to you, but here’s the beauty of it. It doesn’t have to be a multiple of 9. You could force all multiples of 8 or 7 or whatever. It all depends on what you’re doing with the number and what the overall effect is meant to be. Below is a table (essentially a multiplication table) of all of the ranges of numbers to be forced with multiples of 1 through 10. The column headings represent your lucky number (i.e., the number you’re going to “think” of); the row labels represent the number the spectator might think of, and of course the body of the table is the product of the multiplication. Each column represents the range of numbers you’d be forcing based on what your lucky number is. Of course the places where the spectator and your number match are labeled as “N/A” because you won’t force that number as explained previously. If they think of your number, you have them change their number.

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Anyone in the mentalism industry is likely familiar with a ranging force where you need to force one of a handful of options. This is an excellent way to do just that, yet at the same time create a connection between you and your spectator. Where is the Magic?

I’ve mentioned this before, but due to the nature of this book, it will continue to come up. Connecting with the audience is magical. That’s the whole point of this book, to create “wonder-full” connections, connections that are full of wonder. What’s more magical than creating something together that is not yours, not hers, but “ours”? Where is the magic? It’s found in the mind of the spectator as they ponder that question . . . how did he get into my mind? How did he know that?

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Forces of Nature H

What follows is a series of ideas (some are tested; others are not) that could be used with book tests. They are all entries from my journal, and most of them were ideas inspired from the ideas. In other words, I wrote down one idea and while writing it, it triggered another thought/idea which I wrote down which triggered another thought/idea, etc. It ended up being 5 pages of journal entries from one little idea. Most book tests are all about reading the spectator’s mind. They see an image in the book or a word, or whatever, and you divine it. There’s nothing wrong with that, and I’ve used it many, many, many times. However, why not investigate other approaches? One angle I like is the idea of memorizing the entire book. Either claim that you’ve read it so many times that you’ve memorized it or claim that you can memorize it by ipping through it right in front of the audience. Along with this presentational angle, here are a few ideas and subtleties: Idea 1

Pick a book that is extremely popular and likely to be found in most people’s homes. Memorize several page numbers and a few key words or lines on each of those pages. The next time you’re

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at someone’s home and you notice that particular book on their shelf, you can say something like this: “DaVinci Code! I love that book. I’ve read it at least a dozen times, maybe more. In fact, I’ve pretty much got the whole thing memorized. I’ll prove it.” [Force a page.] “What page are you looking at? 79? Yes. I have that page memorized. The rst sentence is . . . “ The 9th word on the 15th line is . . . The last sentence on the page is . . . Etc., etc. Of course, you don’t have to pick a “likely” book. You can just take note of a few books that your friend has on his shelf and go purchase copies of those books later. Then study them on your own time and be prepared the next time you’re at his house. Just make sure you purchase the same edition of the book that he has on his shelf. Idea 2

Still using a book that you’ve memorized a few key sections of . . . you’re at a friend’s house and you “notice” the book on the shelf. If the opportunity arises . . . maybe the conversation steers toward what you do for a living or it steers toward memory and memorization, etc. You grab the book off the shelf and claim that you can memorize it in just a few seconds. You could force that book on their shelf or just pick it seemingly at random. Then ip through the book in about 3 or 4 seconds. Continue as above in idea #1. Idea 3

A fun ruse . . . again still using the same pre-memorized book, once you’ve ipped through the book and claimed to have just memorized it, say “crap . . . I forgot a word on page 59 (or whatever page).” Then turn to page 59 and memorize a word or two

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and the position of the word(s) on the page (e.g., 27th line, 3rd word). Then leave it at that. If, later or during the routine, someone asks what word you forgot, you can respond by saying, “Oh. That was the word nickel on page 59, 27th line, 3rd word in. A slight modication could be that you specically name the line and row of the word you’ve supposedly forgotten. “Crap, I forgot the 4th word on line 12 on page 48.” Then go to that page and memorize that word on that line. Idea 4

Still using the same previously studied book, memorize a few more key words. Pick a small handful for example: Boxers: Page 10, 4th sentence, 9th Word Necktie: Page 49, 9th line, 3rd Word Blacktop: Page 152, 4th Line, 2nd Word Memorize these at home on your own time. Then when at your friend’s house, locate the book and after claiming that you’ve memorized the book, offer to prove it. Say something like, “Turn to page 10. Look at the 4th sentence, 9th word. It’s the word ‘Boxers’, correct?” Continue doing that a few times. Then say, “I’ll let you pick a page.” Then force one of the pages you’ve studied and continue as in the above previous ideas. Idea 5

For those familiar with the marketed effect, Mother of All Book Tests, here’s a little trick you can use. Performing it as a standard mind reading effect, ahead of time, memorize 5 or 6 of the nonforce words (the longest non-force words). Then during the presentation when you ask them for a “nice long word” tell them that short words are easy.

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I’ve memorized all of them. For example, turn to page 12 and look at line 7, 4th word. It’s “coffee.” Check out page 75, 9th line 6th word. It’s “jester” correct? Do one or two of these; then say, so don’t pick a short word; get a long one. In fact, make sure I can’t even see what page you’re on. Etc. For those who own the effect, this’ll make sense. What’s groovy about this idea is that you called a 6 letter word (coffee, jester, etc.) a short word. This will help to ensure that they choose a much longer word avoiding that awkward moment when they pick the “wrong” long word. Idea 6

The idea of a page vanishing from a book and reappearing elsewhere dates back at least to 1939 to Annemann’s effect Whim of Tituba published in issue number 67 of The Jinx. There are methods available for forcing a page that doesn’t actually exist in the book. In other words, tear out page 98 of a particular book and throw it away. Then through various gimmicks and/or methods, you can make the spectator believe that they are looking at page 98, but in reality, they’re looking at another page. I’ll offer my simple method in a moment, but that’s not the point. The idea is this: force the page that doesn’t exist. Have them look at the page and remember a word on it or a phrase or sentence, the line num ber and the page number. In your presentation, you are claiming to have just memorized the entire book right in front of them as you ip through it. Once that’s done, they put the book down. You then ask them to tell you the page and the line number as you claim that you’ll know what word/phrase/etc. is on that line. As you begin trying to “remember” the word, you struggle a little and pause. Then you say, “Wait a minute. What page was it?” They say “98” or whatever. You respond by saying that it can’t be 98 because you “remember” that when you memorized the book a few minutes

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ago, there was a page missing. The missing page was 98. Have them look at the book again to verify. Of course, they’ll nd that 98 is missing. My method is a book switch. Why not? Have two identical books. Tear out one page from one of the books. During the presentation, have the duplicate with the missing page in your case, pocket, etc., depending on how big it is, the venue, etc. Then once they look at page 98 in the regular book, place it down on the ta ble or during the “trying to remember” phase, do a pocket switch or switch it for the one in your case, etc. Idea 7

Using the same missing page method above, it might be fun to tear the page out ahead of time and singe the edge of the remaining portion of the page that’s still attached to the book and place some burnt ashes in the book. Then while you’re trying to remember, rather than claiming you never saw page 98, start to recite part of what you “remember” but as you start to talk, get a strange look on your face and say that the memory of the word is gone. It seems to have vanished from my mind. It’s weird; I got a ash of re in my mind, like the image of a burst of ames. That’s so strange. I’ve never had that happen before. I can’t remember anything on that page. Maybe if I look at it for a quick second again I’ll memorize the whole page and you can test me. What page was it again? They say 98? You open up to 98 (or have them open it). When they do, they’ll see the ashes of the page and that the original page is gone. The advantage of you opening the book instead of them is that if you could be rigged up to have smoke come out of the book as you open it. (There are several methods on the market to produce smoke from a hidden place on your body.) If you can nd a book where the rst word or sentence of a certain page has the word “re” or “smoke” or something like that

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in it, then you can tear out that page and have an added effect. The effect is then two fold. First, as described above, the effect is that you saw the memory vanish in a burst of re. The image in your mind became reality. If you forced the word re by forcing the page and telling the spectator to remember the rst word or rst sentence of the page chosen (forced). Then when you make the comment about the image of a ame, you’ve got an extra level because you actually saw the image that they read. Not only that but it became real. Idea 8

You can, of course, take this to the nth degree. What if you chose the word “vanish” or “invisible” or “disappear” or some such word, and then switched in a book where you’ve erased or scratched off the text. Most books have a blank page or two at the front or back of the book, so you could carefully remove one of those and carefully remove page 98. Then glue the blank page in the place of the removed page 98. If you decide to erase the text, you could erase everything but the selected word, or erase only the selected word. During the presentation, you say, “I can’t remember (or can’t see) the image. It’s like it vanished or is invisible” etc. Maybe the forced word is “razor” or “knife” and when reopening the book, there is a slash or two in the page. You’re patter is “I can’t see (or remember) the word . . . it’s like it’s been cut or slashed from my mind.” There are tons of other things that I’m sure you could do if you nd the right key word in the book. A little diggin’ll do you some good. Idea 9

Ok. This one is just plain weird, maybe even creepy. While claiming you can memorize the whole book on the spot, as you

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ip through the pages in an effort to memorize the book, sort of under your breath, say something like “that was creepy” or “that was weird.” Hopefully the spectator will ask you what was weird, but if not, continue by saying something like, “While I was ipping through the book, I swear I saw my father’s face, an image of him like a photo or something. It was weird. He passed away several years ago.” Use whatever dead person ts your style. After making the comment, just continue the presentation and force the page. During the part where you’re trying to “remem ber” what’s on the page, make some comment about not remem bering seeing that page. In fact, page 98, that’s about half way (or whatever) through the book, right? That’s about when I thought I saw the image of my dad. Go back to that page and let me look at it. Of course they’ll nd that it’s gone. This is weird. The day after my father passed away, I received a letter from him in the mail. He must have sent it just a day or two before he died. The front of the envelope says, “You’ll know when to open this.” I’ve never opened it. I’ve just carried it around for years wondering if I would ever truly “know when to open it.” I think I know . . . the time is now . . . you are here to witness it. Inside the envelope is a picture of my dad reading a copy of the book we’re using for the book test. In the picture he is tearing out page 98. Along with the picture is the actual missing page from the book. During the beginning of the presentation, you might mention that this book is one of your dad’s favorite books and that when he died, you inherited all of his book. Each night when I do a show, I use a different one of his books to demonstrate my ability to memorize books rapidly. I’ve never read any of

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the books. I save them for my shows and read/memorize them right in front of you. Tonight’s book is [whatever]. Then begin the effect. This suits me well because it’s pretty much all true (except for the ability to memorize the books). Idea 10

You could take this dead dad or dead uncle thing to the next really creepy level. This one, however, is certainly not the most practical, but if you could pull all the pieces together, you could really freak someone out. This one would be done with someone’s borrowed book rather than in a show. So imagine that you, while at a friend’s house, see a book on their shelf and claim that you love this book. It was one of your dad’s favorite books. My dad was the one who taught me how to memorize mass volumes of information at once. Let me show you. Then you ip through it just as you did in idea 9 and claim to have seen your dad’s face, or whatever. Go through the routine where you force the missing page on them. Then when you open the envelope, it’s a picture of my dad in their house in front of their book shelf tearing out the page from their book. The book switch would either have to happen while they’re looking at the picture in disbelief or you may have to use an alternate method of making them think that they saw page 98 in the book. However, obviously, that’s not the tricky part. The tricky part is getting the photograph. Maybe, the next time a friend has you house sit for them, you can take the picture. Find an old newspaper or something with an old date on it. Have “your uncle” (i.e., the guy pretending to be your uncle) holding the folded paper under his arm so that the date can be seen. Make sure the date is after he died. You may even be able to manipulate the photo to make him look a little ghostly.

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Additionally, if you’re good with Photoshop you could just edit the image of “your uncle” into a picture of their home. I’m no Photoshop expert, so you’re on your own. The advantage of really taking the picture there is that you can give them the picture and they can have it examined by a professional photo expert. There will be nothing to nd because it’s a legitimate photo. Of course, you could also have your “uncle” set up a tripod and video tape himself tearing the page out of the book. Then you could have the video on a disk inside the envelope. You could have the video on your phone, but I would not recommend that. It would change the effect and even possibly tip the method. Post Effect Palaver

As you can see there is a lot of Malini’s inuence in the above ideas. His “vait a veek” philosophy is in play here. Some of these things may never happen because the opportunity doesn’t arise. As I mentioned at the beginning of this book, my interest in this book was not to provide full methods, but rather to spark ideas and share many of my ideas. The above set of 10 ideas relating to book tests were all sparked from watching Max Maven’s effect Autome from his Videomind series. Something in that segment inspired idea #1 above. As I wrote it in my journal, it inspired idea #2. Two inspired three, etc., etc. Hopefully my 10 will inspire you. Where is the Magic?

Well, there’s likely nothing creepier than having a picture of a ghost in your house tearing a picture out of your book. But, is it magic? Yes. It’s a mysterious creepy feeling that something is not right. Eugene Burger has mentioned in just about every interview that I’ve ever heard him do that there are many legitimate feelings you can have during a magic trick. Why not fear? Why not shock? Why not laughter? Why not sadness? Why not happiness? Why not, why not, why not, etc.?

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Where is the magic? It is found in the Heart of the owner of the book who knows that it was his book and yet a page vanished, or a ghost removed the page, or a word vanished or you memorized the book on the spot, or, or, or, etc. The magic is in “it” being his book in his house, in his mind.

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Book Test Subtleties H

Speaking of book tests . . . next time you buy anything from Barnes and Noble, keep the bag. In fact, collect a couple of bags. One option is to make a double walled force bag out of the Barnes and Noble bag. Then on one side of the bag, have 3 or 4 copies of the same book (force book). Then on the other side, have 1 copy of the force book plus three others. Take out the books and show them. Then drop them back in the bag and have them quickly reach in and quickly pull out a book. Of course, they’ll pick a force book because you’ve switched sides of the bag. If using a plastic Barnes and Noble bag you’ll make the bag with a false side. However with a paper bag you would make a false bottom. With the false bottom, the handling is a little different. Have the 3 books in the bottom of the bag (1 force book, 2 regular). Have the false bottom pushed to the side with three force books inside of it. Reach in and pull out three books (1 force, 2 regular) and display them. As you put them back in the bag, put them on the bottom and slide the false bottom in place over the books. Then have the spectator reach in and quickly grab a book. In both cases (paper or plastic), you hold the bag up slightly above eye level so that they can’t see inside of the bag. If using the plastic bag as a force bag, you may have to use magazines rather than books because they’re much thinner and won’t look bulky in the side of the bag. Additionally, they’re less likely to have the spectator accidentally feel them when reaching into the bag.

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Another option rather than using a force bag is simple Equivoque with three books and the bag. Place all three in the bag after showing them. Make sure to place the force book on top. Have them reach in and grab one book. The odds are very much in your favor that they’ll grab the book on top. However, if they don’t, have them grab one more. If it’s the force book, then you can have them hand you one. If they hand you the non-force you put it back in the bag. If they hand you the force book then you hold the bag out toward them in a gesture that says (without actually saying it) put the one we’re not using in here with the other one we’re not using. The other option, if you back up to the second book they remove, is that it, too, is not the force book. Then you simply say “that leaves me holding the bag. I don’t want it, so you take it. In a moment, I want you to reach in and pull out the book and ip to any page . . . [whatever your presentation is for having them pick the page.]” While you’re explaining that, you simply take the other two books from them and place them aside. There’s also the old Annemann idea where you get three or four magazines that are roughly the same thickness and same type of content. Then purchase multiple copies of one of them and place the covers of the non-force magazines on several different force magazines. You’ll end up with four or ve magazines all with different covers, but identical content. You could do the same basic thing with novels if they were about the same size. Of course, like the Annemann method, this gives you the added bonus of having a key right under their noses. You can use one of the duplicate books to get a quick peak at whatever page they pick. This gives them a free choice of page numbers. Finally, I really like the idea of having a receipt to show that you just purchased the books on the way to the gig that day. So if you have your B&N force bag (or normal bag) with three or four books (one force book, three or four regular) and a receipt inside,

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you’re set. It all feels so much more legitimate. Included with this book you also received a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that allows you to create phony receipts. I use this in my effect Visa 2.0 from my DVD Gemstones. The beauty of using my receipt maker is that you can create a receipt for gimmicked/ marketed book tests that you can’t actually buy at B&N. Bring the person up on stage and show the receipt as you mention that you bought the books earlier that afternoon (the receipt maker lets you create a time and a date). Then proceed with the effect. Where is the Magic?

There is magic in simplicity, the simplicity of 4 books that you “actually” bought at Barnes and Noble. It does more than prove that the books are legitimate, so much more. It proves that you’re human. It proves that you shop at the same places your audience members shop. This helps break down the walls that are all too often between you and your spectators. When I worked as a telemarketer and as a door to door salesman, I had to constantly work on breaking down that wall. All too often people felt that it was ok to curse at another human being and slam a door in their face or threaten them and hang up the phone on them. Like it or not folks, telemarketers and sales people in general are human. They have feelings too, and they’re just trying to do their job like anyone else. But until I was able to build rapport with customers, they didn’t see me as human and treated me in ways that you wouldn’t treat a dog. However, once I gured out how to build rapport and get on a common ground with them, everything changed. I became one of the top sales people. It was like magic. Can a Barnes and Noble bag really do all that? Yep. The more they can see you as a human being with feelings, bills to pay and emotions just like them, the more they’ll relate to you and the

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more they’ll like you. For an in depth discussion of this topic (and a ton more topics on improving as an entertainer), pick up Ken Weber’s incredible book, Maximum Entertainment. Where is the magic? It’s found in your human-to-human connection with your audience. When they realize that you are their brother/sister in the human family, real magic happens.

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Faux-Quivoque H

Pronounced: Foh Kwi Vohk

Every now and again I’m in a situation where I’m using some form of Equivoque (aka Magician’s Choice) and I have a moment of luck that really adds to the illusion. Here’s basically what happens. Imagine a scenario where you have two rows of four cards each – a total of eight cards. Using your equivocal acumen you plan on forcing the third card in the second row. You ask your spectator to point to a row. She points to the top row, so you eliminate it (had she pointed to the bottom row, you still would have eliminated the top row). Next you ask her to point to two cards on the table. She may at this point be expecting you to eliminate the two she points to. Let’s say you get lucky, and she points to two non-force cards. You now have two cards left on the table, the force and an indifferent card. You again ask her to point to a card. Again, she’s likely expecting you to eliminate the one she points to. Lucky for you, she does point to the indifferent card. Know this: if you perform Equivoque as outlined above, you’re doing it wrong. Why I say that is beyond the scope of this book other than a couple of pointers . . . study Max Maven and Eugene Burger . . . they teach some very clever concepts to mask the discrepancies in the procedure. The reason, however, that I bring this up is to give you the

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journey that got me to the point of this chapter. I used to perform it as described above, and on the times that I didn’t get lucky, the spectator would often say something like “No I want to eliminate those cards, not keep them” or “I thought you were supposed to eliminate the ones I point to.” Of course, at this point, you’re kind of stuck, but when I had those lucky moments mentioned earlier, it gave me the idea of switching the method from a force to multiple outs or multiple forces. This isn’t necessarily the most revolutionary thing in the world. Many variations and methods in the past have used this technique. I just want to share my thoughts on the matter. Continuing on, when I would use multiple outs or multiple forces or a combination of the two, I found that – particularly when performing for magicians – it would really freak people out. I would mimic the Equivoque-like procedures, but then somewhere along the line, I would say something like this: “point to one, and no matter which one you point to, that’s the one we’ll eliminate.” Anyone familiar with Equivoque –and there are a lot of lay people who are – was bafed, especially, of course, the magicians. Max Maven’s darn-near-perfect effect B’wave is an excellent example of this. The spectator must make two choices. The rst one is a very subtle verbal equivocation . . . so subtle that the audience will NEVER know that the situation was manipulated. The beauty, however is in the second phase where the wording is absolutely concrete. There is no ambiguity whatsoever. What’s more is that the second phase procedure is exactly the same as the rst phase, giving us what story writers call retcon (retroactive continuity). Both choices in B’wave are absolutely free choices, and when the moment of astonishment – 3 moments actually – is revealed, the audience pretty much has no choice but to believe that you somehow knew what they were going to do. This is truly one of the greatest effects in existence.

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There’s one other small piece of the B’wave puzzle and that’s a very clever gimmick that will never be seen by the audience. So the combination of a small amount of Equivoque, a clever gimmick, and a free choice makes this effect stand up and dance and make a peanut butter sandwich when it’s done. My point here wasn’t to expose Mr. Maven’s effect; my point, however, is twofold. One, I want to make you aware of the concept so you can create your own miracles with these tools, and secondly, I’m offering an example that I’ve used. Those of you familiar with my DVD Stone Cold Magic or who have attended my lecture will remember an effect called Little People. The basic effect is that I show a little pose-able keychain hand (YouTube Clip of Little People) that is attached to a telescopic radio antenna. This little hand will “palm” a card. So the spectator picks a card (free choice). The card is shufed back into the deck (by the spectator). The spectator then cuts the cards anywhere they want and I reach in with my little hand, and it pulls out the card they cut to . . . it’s their selection. Then the kicker, I turn the pose-able hand over to reveal a teeny-tiny card (matching the selection of course) palmed in the mini hand. The method . . . a one way force deck (i.e. a deck with 52 Nines of Spades). There’s a little more to it than that, but for the purpose of this discussion we can omit many of the details. This method is very effective, and I used it for years. Then one day while developing another effect, I had the idea of using a Svengali deck. So I tried it out in my lecture. The effect was basically the same. However I was able to show the deck more freely thanks to the Svengali principle. Also, the nal reveal was a little different. I had the spectator cut the deck into 4 piles. Then through a procedure that looked like Equivoque, I had a pile picked. Remember, this was for a room full of magicians, so they were mostly familiar with Equivoque.

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The tricky part was this: Me: Point to two piles [Spectator points to two.]

Me: Ok . . . we’ll eliminate these two . . . [I pause for a moment.]

Me: Actually, I’ll leave it up to you . . . do you want to keep these two

or eliminate them? This is where you could see the blood drain from the face of my volunteer. Remember, that if you cut a Svengali deck from the short ends you’ll cut a force card to the top. So each of the four piles on the table had a force card on the top, but even if they didn’t it wouldn’t matter as you’ll see in a moment. Once two piles were eliminated, I asked the spectator to eliminate one more pile. We’re left with one pile on the table. I pick it up and quickly rife/dribble the cards and ask if he happened to see his card among the packet. He said no. I then made some joke about “it not looking good for me.” I placed the packet back on the table and asked him to cut the packet anywhere he would like (this is why it was not necessary for the top card to be one of the force cards). He did, and I used my mini hand to slide out the card at the position he cut to. It, of course, was the card he picked. He, along with the rest of the crowd, was stunned. Then I revealed the palmed mini card. That was a mistake . . . During the teaching/explanation portion of the lecture, I asked the group if they knew how Little People was accomplished. Most of the hands went up. I was confused. Why were they stunned if they knew how it was done? Well as I started getting feedback, it was clear that the nal reveal of the mini palmed card was the death knell.

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Up until that point in the routine, nobody in the room had a clue that I was forcing the card, let alone using a gimmicked deck (Svengali). Once I showed the card on the keychain-hand, then (as magicians) they knew that it had to be a force. Of course, laymen don’t think that way necessarily, so when performing for lay audiences I still leave in the nal reveal. However, a powerful testimony was gained regarding this combination of gimmicks, procedure and free choices. I fooled a room full of magicians with a Svengali deck. That’s certainly a notch in my pack of pasteboards, but more importantly, I learned how to increase the astonishment without adding any moves . . . Astonishment Over Moves. Post Effect Palaver

One quick note when using a Svengali in this context: I always mark the non-force cards in my Svengali decks. I just ll in the center circle on the back of the card - I use Bicycle Rider Backs and/or Mandolin Backs. The intent is that if I see a mark during a performance, I’m seeing a card I shouldn’t. If the spectator happens to cut and misses the force card, I’m aware of it because I can see the mark.

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I minimize the likelihood of this happening using a clever technique by Eddie Joseph where you place the deck on the table next to the card box in such a way that they can only cut from the narrow ends of the cards as shown below. Finally, realize that there are many other ways to apply this principle of combining these methods. Create your own; play around; experiment; just remember in the end . . . Astonishment Over Moves.

Where is the Magic?

Do you really have to ask . . . fooling a room full of magicians with a principle they’ve been using their entire magical life. This doesn’t have to be only for magicians. The concept is a true concept. There is nothing more wonderful than stumping a math wizard with a 30 second magic square. What about amazing a room full of engineers with levers and pulleys (secretly) levitating your assistant. Maybe it’s all about sneaking a bottom deal past a non-magician expert card “player.” Where is the magic? It’s found in that wondrous world where people realize that they don’t know everything . . . even if they are an expert in the eld.

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Invisibly Subtle H

Those of you who’ve read my e-book, Spectral Chill/Tarot Below Zero, will know that I’m not afraid of routines that require multitasking and thinking while performing. Some effects require you to really be at the top of your mental game . . . thinking or calculating one thing while saying another all the while not seeming distracted by your inner monologue. Obviously I have no problem with effects like that, however, if you can get the same impact with less work, why not? So here’s a very simple thing, so simple in fact that I’d be shocked if nobody else has thought of this. I’ve just never seen it before, so I thought I’d share. The idea is simply a rearrangement of the pairs of cards in an Invisible Deck. If you have an Invisible Deck, you’ll know what I mean. If you don’t have or haven’t heard of an Invisible Deck, I’m surprised you’re reading this book. Put this book down and go out and buy an invisible deck. For the rest of you, here’s what I recommend. Pair up each Club to each Diamond and each Heart to each Spade. So in other words, you have the 7 of Hearts back to back with the 7 of Spades, King of Clubs back to back with the King of Diamonds, etc. Then place all of your Clubs and Hearts facing one way and therefore the Spades and Diamonds facing the other way. Then give the deck a thorough overhand shufe being sure not to separate the pairs.

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One last thing to remember . . . CHaSeD. I’m sure you remem ber that from back in the day. It’s an old mnemonic used to remember the order Clubs, Hearts, Spades, Diamonds, referred to as “chased” order (i.e., CHaSeD). If you remember that, then you’ll realize that the C and H (Clubs and Hearts) are facing the same direction and the S and D (Spades and Diamonds) are facing the other direction. So you have Hearts and Spades paired back to back. Easy to remember since a Spade looks like a black Heart. The Clubs and Diamonds are back to back because they are both the less common suits. You have the Club and Heart sides of the pairs facing one way and the Spade and Diamond side of the pairs facing the other way. Your deck is now in a much simpler set up for revealing the thought of card in the deck. If the person says four of Clubs, you’ll bring out the deck with the Club and Heart (C and H of CHaSeD) facing down. Then you’ll spread through until you see the four of Diamonds in the face up portion of the deck. Directly below it you’ll nd the face down four of Clubs. Thus “proving” it’s the only reversed card in the face up deck. Easy. For those of you who use the Invisible Deck, you know it can be an excellent weapon. There are tons of things you can do with this deck. I’m merely offering a less-thinking-and-doing-mathin-your-head version of handling the cards. For ideas on what effects you can do, I highly recommend Jay Sankey’s project, Invisible. It covers everything you can imagine about this incredible tool. Where is the Magic?

There is something beautiful and inherently magical when a performer isn’t putting on a persona, but rather he’s sharing a moment. He’s really “there” with the audience. He’s not going through the mechanics of a technical trick. He’s not calculat-

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ing the complexities of a math-based trick. He’s not just going through the motions of a so-called self-working trick. Rather, he’s experiencing a bit of wonder with the audience. Where is the magic? It’s found in the moment the audience realizes you’re all on the same team.

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Twinkie Picker H

In my Gemstones DVD, I published a bonus effect called Epicenter. It is an effect where a dollar bill (or whatever) ends up inside of a sealed Twinkie that the spectator has been holding from the beginning. The spectator can open the Twinkie and remove the dollar bill himself. The method requires you to preload a duplicate of the object before the show. You then perform your favorite Twinkie force to get them to pick one from the box. Vanish the dollar bill or playing card (using a torn corner ruse), and bam you’ve got a pretty darn solid bill in Twinkie. Well since then, I’ve matured a bit, and have had some further thoughts that I think you’ll appreciate. First, rather than using a torn corner for proving, you could do the old bit where you (ahead of time) scratch off the last number of the serial number on two sequential bills. In that scenario you now have two identical bills with the same serial number. Not bad, but what about this: Get a series of bills in order and nd one that ends with 3 and another that ends with 8. Then scratch off enough of the 8 to make it look like a 3. Then you have two matching bills with the correct number of numbers and identical serial numbers. And you don’t have that awkward gap between the last number and the letter. Further, using an idea from Danny Archer’s effect G.I. Bill, I thought it would be cool to use the Twinkie as the object that you

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toss out into the audience to select a member of the audience to help. So pulling this all together, you get this: Before the show starts, you go to the bank and get a set of sequential one dollar bills (or hundreds . . . whatever). Find the one that ends with a 3 and put it aside. Then nd the one that ends with 8, and using an X-ACTO knife, gently scrape away enough of the 8 to make it look like the 3. You now have two identical bills. Load the legitimate “3” bill into the Twinkie (per the Gemstones instructions). Place that in a box of Twinkies with its poor (i.e., no dollar bill loaded) brethren. Make sure you know which Twinkie is the loaded Twinkie. During the show, it goes a little something like this: I’m a rm believer in inspiration. I believe that many things inspire people, but I’ve found that only two things inspire people to participate in a magic show. [Hold up the box of Twinkies.]

One of them is treats. So I’m going to toss one of these Twinkies out into the audience. Whoever catches it gets to keep it, but you have to promise me not to eat it until after the show is over. Throw the loaded Twinkie out into the audience. When someone catches it, offer to let them keep it or throw it again. Ultimately when you’re done, someone will be holding the Twinkie. That person will be your volunteer. As I mentioned, there are two things that get people to participate in a magic show. I gave you a Twinkie so that you’d participate, now you must give me a dollar so that I’ll participate. If they don’t have a dollar, have them choose someone in the audience who does. As you get the dollar bill, using your favorite secret switch, swap it for the “8” bill that’s been converted to

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a “3” bill. Then have a volunteer chosen by the Twinkie person come up on stage and read aloud the serial number. You may even want to have him write it on a white board or a large piece of poster board. You can get a couple of people to verify it, etc. When all is said and done, you hold up the bill and thank the person who gave it to you. You then vanish or (my favorite) change the bill into a receipt which turns out to be the receipt for the Twinkies. I decided that since I’m already being paid to be here that I’d give you back your dollar. I know it’s hard to believe but you’ll nd that if you open your Twinkie, your dollar bill is inside of it. They unwrap the Twinkie, break open the Twinkie and remove the dollar bill. You then have them read the serial number aloud. Post Effect Palaver

You’ll want to keep handy a small garbage can (or paper bag), a towel, and maybe even some wet wipes. Let the spectator quickly clean up and throw everything away. Then as a reward, give them another Twinkie that they can have after the show. You could use this as a publicity piece. Though I’ve never tried it, what I would do in that scenario is open a box of Twinkies and load up the entire box with dollar bills that have had the entire last number scratched off (not just part of the 8, but the whole last number). This’ll give you a box where most of the Twinkies are loaded with the right kind of bill. Of course you have to keep one bill for yourself so that you can perform the effect. Next put all the Twinkies back in the box and seal it back up (when you open it, do so carefully and then re-glue the box shut. Make sure you know which Twinkies are the loaded ones. Next, you’ll have to either sneak the box into a grocery store or get with a manager ahead of time and have him place it with the other Twinkies at the right time.

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When the camera crew or newspaper (or whatever publicity venue) gets there, you grab a box of Twinkies (the box) off of the shelf and have someone open it. Hand out a couple of Twinkies (all of the ones that are NOT loaded) to a few people and have them open and eat the Twinkies. Then once you’ve done this, you’ve “proven” that the box is normal without having to say something stupid like “behold this normal box of Twinkies”. Next, you have someone reach inside and pick out a Twinkie. Then perform the effect as described previously. As mentioned, I’ve never tried the above publicity piece, but I think it’s worthy of consideration. One other thing you may want to do is switch out the remaining Twinkies. If you have the manager in on it, you can hand him the box after you’ve allowed one of the loaded Twinkies to be chosen. You just casually hand it to him in a gesture that says, “Would you mind holding these.” While the focus is on the guy holding the loaded Twinkie, the manager can just set the Twinkies down on a table or near a bag or whatever you’re going to use to facilitate the switch. Then at the end when the dollar bill appears inside the Twinkie, what’s left on the table is another box of Twinkies with the exact right amount of Twinkies missing but none of them are loaded with dollar bills thanks to your manager-friend-stooge. You can then give out all the rest of the Twinkies to be eaten. Post Post-Effect Palaver

At the time of creating Epicenter, the Twinkie was a common household item, but as of the time of this writing, I’m sure you all know that the Twinkie is no longer. Though it is a thing of the past, there is still validity in its inclusion in this book. I was originally going to delete this section from the book – I wrote it before the great Twinkie Demise of 2012. However, there are other Twinkie-like products that are packaged the same way and will work for this effect. Also, there are still a few places that

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have Twinkie inventory, so if you happen to come across them, buy up a bunch. You’ll be able to use them in your show. Plus you have the added advantage of some possible patter about the end of Twinkies, or magical childhood memories of the now gone snack cake. You could likely make an interesting story of how you found them at XYZ store and you bought the last of them, so you decided to share them tonight, etc. If you’re planning on doing a publicity stunt, and you happened to nd a store that still stocks a bunch of Twinkies, then you could pretend to notice that the store still carries Twinkies and “decide on the spot” to “do something” with the Twinkies. And nally, if there are no Twinkies, you can still do the publicity effect with generic snack cakes if your local store carries them. Where is the Magic?

Twinkies are kind of magical; so are circles. This effect with the patter of motivating people with money and Twinkies is a full circle effect. It starts with you handing out a piece of motivation (a Twinkie). Then it ends with you rewarding the Twinkie holder with more “motivation” by causing his bill to appear inside the Twinkie that he’s been holding since before he loaned you the bill. There is inherent beauty in simple, clever, patter that ows from point to point to point. This one’s all about the script and how “clever” it is. Further it has that added feeling of the signed card in ring box at the end of an ambitious card routine. Put those two pieces together, and you have an impossible effect with a smooth owing logical presentation. Where is the magic? It’s found in the Twinkie. In addition to creamy wonderful goodness, we nd a dollar bill that was in the spectator’s wallet a moment ago, but yet somehow it’s now in the Twinkie that he has been holding since before he actually opened his wallet.

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4

P A R T

H

Actual Effect

What follows are mostly fully eshed out effects, many of which are direct from my working repertoire. Others are tested but not necessarily “proven.” Still others are not even tested, but as you read them, you’ll see the full potential and recognize, immediately, their value. Many of these effects will be a journey that we take together as we walk through how I got from the idea to the nished product. Many of them kept leading to more and more ideas as you’ll see. The Fake False is a combination of stuff I’ve done many times and stuff I’ve only thought about doing. LEAVING DECKS is an effect that I’ve proved the concept on, but have never performed for a real audience. Martika is a crazy effect that I’ve never done and one of the aforementioned journeys we’ll be taking together. It’s an effect that has the risk of offending people due to the sensitive subject matter (fallen heroes and veterans) but at the same time has huge potential to truly move an audience. On the other end of the spectrum are effects like, I Need a Hero which has been a staple in my stand up show for years. Ace ReRevisited is my handling of a Larry Becker effect that is the perfect strolling book test and another staple in my close up act. Stone

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Cold MagiCard is my script, handling and performance for Mark Jenest’s MagiCard that I’ve used for years. No ESP Cards . . . No Problem is one that I, literally, never leave home without. It uses ve ESP cards, and I carry them in my wallet. However, the version taught here can be done even if you have no ESP cards. Next we pick up my Handling of Eugene Burger’s Gemini Money called Gemini Shopping which has been tested on a few magi, but not fully audience tested. However, this is one that you’ll immediately realize is very powerful and has a very good emotional hook and lends itself well to fun and audience participation. Then we head down the road of real mind-messing-with stuff with Memory Relapse, an update on Jay Sankey’s effect Memory Lapse where you cause a spectator to forget a thought. In this version, they have no choice but to believe that they truly forgot. Very powerful. Finally, we end this chapter by having the spectator speaking in tongues with Tower of Babel, and no she’s not a stooge, instant or otherwise. She really does speak in tongues and has no idea why.

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The Fake False H

One of the main reasons for writing this book was to not only share my mentalism effects, but also to do a brain dump of all things . . . well . . . brain. There are so many psychological subtleties and ideas and so forth that have landed in my brain and ended up in my journals. The scope of these ideas are wide in spectrum. Some are simple quick ideas and others are deep and, hopefully, thought provoking. One of the things that’s always interested me is the difference between how lay people think and how magicians think. Because magicians and laypeople look through different windows into the house of magic, many doors into the same house became much more available to those who would exploit it . . . like me. Why not use the magician’s mind against him with this idea: It’s not earth-shattering, but I’ve nailed clans o’ magi with this little “trick.” If I hold up a card with the back toward a fellow magician, and say, “Name any card,” over 80% of the time the named card (in my experience) has been either a 6 of Clubs or a 7 of Clubs. The only reason I can think of is this: Clubs is (in the magician’s mind) the least conspicuous suit. Additionally, face cards (from the magician’s perspective) are too obvious . . . same with the Aces and low cards, so you’re basically left with a magician trying to out think me on what card I’m holding and they end up with a middle-value Club card. It’s pretty freaky. Try it.

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Keep in mind that just merely asking for a magician to name any card isn’t enough. It has to be in the context of you claiming that you can predict the card. However, when I hold up the card, I never claim that it will be the card named. I merely imply it. I just hold up the card and say “name any card.” That’s it. Another little sneaky bit I’ve done is my awesome second deal demonstration. This is what my fellow magi say after seeing my second deal: Fooled Mage: Did you see Jeff’s second deal? It was amazing! Other Fooled Mage: Yeah I saw it. It looked like those cards were

coming right off the top of the deck. I couldn’t catch him. Fooled Mage: Wait a minute. How do we know the cards weren’t

just coming off the top of the deck? Other Fooled Mage: Well . . . he showed that the top card was the

Ace of Spades. Then he dealt a bunch of cards and showed the top card as being the Ace of Spades again. Fooled Mage: Mmmm . . . maybe the whole deck was Ace of Spades? Other Fooled Mage: Nope . . . he showed some of the cards as he

dealt them. They were indifferent cards. Fooled Mage: Man . . . he’s good

Truth be told folks, I can’t do a second deal at all. However, when every other card in the deck is the Ace of Spades or every fth or sixth card is the Ace of Spades you can create a darn good illusion that you’re doing a heck of a second deal. Play around with what feels right for you, but the basic idea is to have about 10 or so Aces of Spades (or whatever your “proving card” is) spread throughout the deck in positions that you know. Also, you’ll want to make them so that you can spot them from the back pretty easily.

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Finally, you’ll want to spread them out so that they’re not the same distance apart. In other words, you may want to set it up like this: 4 indifferent cards, Ace of Spades, 3 indifferent Cards, Ace of Spades, 6 indifferent Cards, Ace of Spades, 4 indifferent Cards, Ace of Spades, 10 indifferent Cards, Ace of Spades, 2 indifferent Cards, Ace of Spades, 7 indifferent Cards, etc. So how does this work? Next time you’re jamming with your magi peeps, tell ‘em you’ve been working on your second deal. Then do 4 straight deals (or however many you stacked on top of your proving card (in our case the Ace of Spades) all the while claiming that you’re doing a second. Of course, they’ll claim that you’re just messing with them and accuse you of taking them off the top. To answer their challenge, you show the top card (Ace of Spades) and quickly deal off 4 more straight from the top of the deck (the Ace plus the three indifferent cards as shown in the previous sample list). This leaves you with an Ace of Spades on the top. You quickly turn it over to show them that the Ace is “still” there. Then quickly deal off 7 cards (The top Ace and the 6 indifferent cards), however, this time, do a legitimate second deal once or twice, but still only deal a total of 7 cards. A couple of the magi will notice the couple times you did a second deal and just kind of assume that you were sloppy that time. This lends credibility to your claim, but still leaves them aghast at the rest of the supposed second deals that look awless. Since I can’t do an actual second deal, I have to leave this part out, but it doesn’t mean you can’t do it. Depending on how you stacked your Aces of Spades, you can run the routine however you like. I like to nish it off by dealing through almost the entire deck leaving only 5 or 6 cards left. In that case, I’ll usually have my Ace of Spades followed by about 20 or so indifferent cards followed by another Ace of Spades and 4 or 5 more indifferent cards. After going through the rst phase of dealing 4 or 5 at a time then showing a proving card, etc., I’m

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left with the above 25-ish card stack ready for my nal kicker. On the table are the other face down cards that I’ve already dealt. Next, I show the Ace of Spades on the top, then I deal one or two cards face down, then I’ll start turning the cards face up as I deal. Again, you might throw in a real turn over second deal a couple of times. By the time I’m done, there are about 18 or 20 face up indifferent cards in a pile on the table and only about 5 or 6 cards left in my hand with an Ace of Spades on top. I turn over the top proving card, and I look like a freakin’ genius. Then a fellow Fooled Mage says, “Did you see Jeff’s second deal? It was amazing!” Post Effect Palaver

Of course, this could also be used with a lay audience as well, but I just nd it to be much more fun to make my magic buddies think that I’m a gifted second dealer. Keep in mind, when you do these apparent false deals, that just because you’re using a gimmick you do not have the right to be sloppy. If your deal is so slow and deliberate and clearly coming off the top of the deck, the jig is up. It looks too impossible. You also don’t want to overdo it either. I’ve found that simply dealing through the cards at a fast yet neat pace is very effective. It looks like you’re really dealing off the top (because you are), but it also looks like your claim that you’re doing a second deal could very well be possible. I also perform a routine in my working repertoire that demonstrates my claim that I can do a center deal and a bottom deal. Of course I’m using a similar concept . . . a fake false deal. This can be combined with the concepts above to be a good 5 to 10 minute demonstration of your skill with a pack of cards. Additionally, I’ve had a few other methods and ideas (some tested and some not) for this effect. My rst method for this was simply a 50/50 deck. The top 26 cards were the proving card and

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the bottom 26 were indifferent. The advantage of this was that I could just deal apparent seconds and stop any time I wanted to show the proving card to “still” be on top. Then after 25 deals, I stop and show the proving card once more, then just stop. From there I can casually ash the faces of the remaining cards in my hand which will all be indifferent. However, you now have a pile of 25 duplicate cards on the table, so Of course the disadvantage is that your magi folk just might bust you. If they pick up a card from the pile, it’ll be one of your duplicates. Another idea that I had was to have every other card be the proving card. This way, after any even number of deals, I can turn over the proving card on the top all the way through the deck. This allows the spectators to call out stop any time they want, and you can just make sure you go one more card if they call stop on an odd count. When you deal, in your head just count: one two, one two, one two . . . If they say stop on “one” just deal one more card . . . as if you didn’t quite stop fast enough. This is just one more way you can “prove” that you’re not using some sort of trickery because any time they say, you can stop and show the proving card. Of course, this might slightly fall into the category of running when not being chased. But keep in mind that the whole point of the “effect” is to show off to your audience (lay, magical or otherwise) how incredible you are at second deals. One further addition I thought of would be to have the 26 proving card duplicates stripped and shortened. Then set up the deck with every other card being the proving card. To create this, take a Svengali deck and remove the short cards. Then go to Kinkos and have them trim a hair off of the long side of the indifferent (normal length) cards. Then take the 26 short cards and have them trimmed to a very

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slight taper by trimming the long ends at an angle. You’ll end up with a very unique deck that has the following properties: 26 normal length indifferent cards that are not quite as wide as a normal card. Plus 26 duplicate cards that are shorter than normal cards and are slightly tapered. Here’s how this could play out . . . Place the short-tapered-duplicate cards at every other position so that the top card is one of these short cards. Make sure the tapers are all pointing the same way. Perform the faux seconddealing effect making sure that as you deal the cards onto the table you don’t disturb the direction of the taper. Once you’ve gone through a good chunk of the deck occasionally showing the proving card, stop. Pick up the cards on the table and add them back to the deck. Then shufe the cards thoroughly. Rife shufe, overhand shufe, etc. Just make sure you don’t mess up the orientation of the strippers. When you’re done shufing strip out the proving cards under the guise of cutting the deck thus cutting the strippers to the bottom. Then give the deck an overhand shufe thus reversing the grouping. Shufe off cards in small clumps until you get near the center. Then shufe one card at a time until you’re past the center; then continue shufing off clumps until you’ve shufe the whole deck. You’ll end up with your 26 stripper/short/duplicate/proving cards on the top of the deck with the 26 indifferent cards on the bottom. From there you can do the rapid dealing demonstration occasionally stopping to show the proving card. The beauty of this handling is that during the rst phase (every other card is a proving card) you are able to show the deck to be normal because of the Svengali (short card) principle. Before doing your demonstration, you can rife or dribble the cards to show that they are all different. Again, show; don’t say. When doing a demonstration like this, the last thing you want to do is plant the idea that the deck is not normal by overselling its normalcy. Further, once you’ve done the dealing, your pile on the table

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will basically be an alternating pile of short and long cards. So you’ve still got the Svengali concept intact. So after dealing about 30 or so cards occasionally showing the proving card, you can stop; turn up the top card of the deck’s balance to show your proving card. Then you can square up and pick up the pile on the table and do a quick and casual rife display to show the cards to be indifferent. Now that you’ve done the every-other-card version, you will – as mentioned above – shufe the cards; strip out the short cards; reshufe and end up with the 26 strippers on top. One important point, however, before all of the shufing, make sure you leave one of the Ace of Spades aside out of the deck. Then do the above mentioned shufing procedure. Next, openly place the Ace of Spades (supposedly the only one in the deck) on top of the other 25. Then do the dealing procedure again claiming each time that you’re dealing a second deal. You can just blaze through the dealing this time and just stop whenever they say or whenever you want so that you can show an occasional proving card. Stop at 25. Then show the 26th card as the proving card. Place it on the pile on the table and pick it up. If you can do a faro, here’s the place to do it. You can faro the two halves together and not only be reset, but you’re also in a position to do the Svengali display to show all indifferent cards in the deck. Of course, you can always start with the strippers on top and begin with a faro. Or do the phases in the reverse order from what’s described above. I think that this really has the potential of being a true reputation maker. Nobody (not even magicians) would think that you went to the trouble of creating a Stripper/ Svengali/Short/Narrow deck just to do a phony second deal demo. With a little bit of practice and a lot of acting, you can really convince your audience that you’ve got some serious second deal chops. You may be wondering why I’m including this non-mental ef-

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fect in this book. Two reasons. One, it is very mental when you consider the method of going to the extreme effort of creating an effect that uses the mind of the magician – and maybe even lay person – against himself. Secondly, part of what I want you to do while reading this book is expand your mind. My hope is that after reading the above, you’re realizing that even though you’ve handled a Svengali as frequently as you have, the potential is still not fully tapped. Plus I hope you’re saying to your magi pals, “Did you see Jeff’s second deal? It was amazing!” Where is the Magic?

A full deck dedicated to proving that you can do a false deal . . . that sounds a bit crazy, and it is. Therein lies the magic. You’ve worked so far ahead and done something no normal person would do to perform a simple effect. In fact, it’s not even an effect. It’s proof that you really do have an extraordinary second deal, something that many lay people have heard of and know that it’s a legitimate thing. Where is the magic? It’s found in that moment when they “know” that there’s no way you’re doing what you claim to be doing, yet you still “prove” that you’re doing it.

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Leaving Decks H

Effect

A deck of cards is thoroughly shufed. A spectator chooses a card. The spectator may then thoroughly shufe and lose his card in the deck if he wishes (you know what they say . . . wish in one hand and crap in the other . . . see which one lls up faster). Anyway, the spectator then can throw the deck into an examinable paper bag (or any handy receptacle. The magician then can be blindfolded if he wishes (you know they say about wishes . . .). He then reaches inside of the bag with clearly empty hands and removes the spectator’s card while blindfolded. Yes folks; it’s that clean. Method

Our old friend, the Svengali is employed for this sneaky little effect. There are so many things you can do with this deck. I’ve considered writing a book entirely on that subject, but for now let’s just examine this effect which takes advantage of the deck’s properties in an unorthodox way. Technical Handling

Dribble the cards by the narrow ends from your right hand to your left. As you do this, you can slightly tilt the cards to allow the faces to be shown. This shows all of the indifferent cards and thus shows the deck to be normal without actually saying so.

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Next, you can give the cards several rife shufes. Because of the nature of the Svengali deck, this will leave the long-short pairs together. From here there are a number of ways to force a short card. We’ll discuss that in depth in a moment. For now, let’s assume you’ve forced one of your short 9 of Diamonds and had it returned to the deck anywhere that the spectator would like. At this point, the spectator can rife shufe or even overhand shufe the cards as long as it’s done face down. He can even spread the cards face down on the table and spread them all around. At this point, you’re no longer concerned about keeping the pairs together. Next, the cards are dumped into the bag and shaken up for further mixing. At this point, you merely need to reach into the bag with one hand and grab a clump of cards and square them up. Then with one hand, thumb on the rear narrow end, index nger on top and middle nger on the forward narrow end (i.e., Biddle Grip), you rife down the back with your thumb. When you come to a short card, you’ll feel the cards break and stop. Even though the cards are not paired off in long/short pairs, you’ll still be able to feel the short cards. When the pack breaks, it will break in a spot where there is a long card above a short card. Once the pack breaks (remember, this is all taking place with your hand inside the bag while you are blindfolded), you can fairly easily remove the card above and below the break. The one below will be the short card, and the one above will be the long card. For added security, you can hold these two cards one on top of the other and easily, by touch alone, discern which card is the short card. That will be the spectator’s selection. Post Effect Palaver

Jim Sisti once told me a story about “back in the day” when he was strapped for cash; he tried to unload a bunch of Svengali decks at a Flea Market (That’s a Swap Meet for you Yanks). For

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those of you who’ve ever seen a demo at a magic shop – those were the days – you’ll recall that it usually ended with a “kicker” where the entire deck turned into the selection. Jim’s observation was that this shouts “Gimmicked Deck.” Rather than end with this so called kicker, Jim peppered up the presentation and eliminated the “kicker.” When all was said and done, he had a sweet routine that not only looked extremely magical and un-gimmicked, but it sold the heck out of those decks. My point in sharing this is to remind us all of my mantra: Astonishment Over Moves. Just because the Svengali can do something doesn’t mean it should. It’s all about the impact of the effect, not the fancy “demonstration” of what the deck is capable of. When I use the Svengali deck, one of the big things I try to do is eliminate the possibility of a trick deck, let alone specically a Svengali, as the method. Below you’ll nd some tips on this . . . tips, mind you, that will even mask the deck from magi and others in the know. Svengali Handling Tips:

Don’t ever mention that the cards are all different. Merely drib ble the cards openly to let it be seen. Furthermore, in this particular routine you have a real advantage. As soon as the “selection” is added back to the deck, you can actually perform an overhand shufe. That alone kills the possibility of a Svengali deck for those (particularly magicians, of course) who know about it. Additionally, for the force you have so many options. The typical way to have a card selected from a Svengali is to have the magician rife the cards off of his right thumb into his left hand as he has the spectator stick his nger anywhere in the deck. This works, but it’s a bit unusual and again tips the method slightly for those in the know. Rather than this force, you can classic force very easily. Every other card in the deck is the force card, so it’s hard to miss the

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classic force. You can also dribble the cards from your right hand allowing them to cascade and be caught by your left hand and have the spectator yell stop. This is not a dribble force because you’re not trying to force any particular location. They truly can stop wherever they want, and the card on the top of the pile in your left hand will be one of the force/short cards. Another way I’ve done it in the past (especially when there are a lot of magicians present is what I refer to as Faux-Quivoque, or fake Equivoque as discussed elsewhere in this book. I’ll have the spectator cut the deck by the narrow ends into three piles. Then I’ll mimic magician’s choice maneuvers with the three piles. From there, I’ll either have the top card of the selected pile be used for the selection or I’ll have the spectator cut the selected pile one more time. A quick tip for shufing a Svengali deck: make sure that you tap the deck on the table on one of the narrow ends just before shufing. This will drop the short cards to one end of the deck. Then you rife shufe from the other end of the deck. This drastically improves the possibility that the long/short pairs will stay together properly. Presentational Ideas:

I think a great way to do this is to start with the blindfold on. Get the deck out and put the blindfold on. Have the card selected while you’re blindfolded. Then have the spectator hold the card face down in front of you so you can feel the card. You then claim that you can now feel that card’s presence, so much so that you could recognize it in a crowded room even with a blindfold on. Offer to demonstrate by having the card returned to the deck and thoroughly shufed. Your motivation now is that you’re reaching inside the bag to feel the cards and nd the one they selected. It’s not far from the truth. You now can take your time and nd a force card.

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Final Thoughts:

Also, you could just do this behind your back with no bag, but it wouldn’t be as good . . . but it’ll do in a pinch. Just keep in mind that the effect is nowhere near as strong. The whole appeal with this version is that everything seems so fair. Whereas a behind the back version could be accomplished with a duplicate card in your back pocket and a rife force from a normal deck. It’s not as clean from the audience perspective. In a case like this, the mystery is nowhere near as mysterious. Being able to let the spectator handle and shufe the cards and being able to reach into the bag barehanded is just incredible. You can really milk how fair it is. Where is The Magic?

Imagine that you really had the power to read someone’s mind. You bring someone up on stage, and you literally read their mind and announce what you’ve found in their brain as they stand there in shock. Chances are that the audience will assume one of two things: 1) you really can read minds or 2) The guy you brought up on stage is in on it. If it’s that clean, they’ll assume you cheated and used a stooge. With an effect like LEAVING DECKS, it is that clean, however there is no possibility of a stooge. Even if they think the spectator purposely chose a certain card, how could you possibly nd it in the bag while blindfolded? Where is the magic? It’s found in a method so clean that the audience has no choice but to believe your claim, whatever that claim may be.

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Martika H

Way back in the days of my wee-lad-dom, I had a good friend named Carlos Rodriguez. He and I were pretty inseparable for much of our pre-teen years. We had many favorite games that we played. One of them was centered on our love of the classic Spy vs. Spy episodes in Mad Magazine. We would concoct the most bizarre gadgets out of school milk cartons and baseball diamond dirt. Ah, those were the days. Another favorite of ours was playing with toy soldiers. You know the kind – green soldiers with their feet glued to a surf board-like platform to keep them stationary – a gross of ‘em for a nickel. The best soldiers were the ones that were laying down in an “army crawl” position . . . those guys didn’t have surf boards glued to their feet. They were much more mobile and were critical in winning our battles. The best part of the game was the moment right before we Photo by Courtney Stone

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destroyed them which is also the moment right after we spent hours setting up the battle eld. Just seconds before the rst rock bomb was thrown to destroy the troops, Carlos and I would lay down on the ground with one side of our face to the ground and one eye closed. With our one open eye we would simply look. We looked at the battleeld of soldiers with their tanks and guns pointed at each other. From that perspective for a brief moment, these soldiers were real. The battleeld was real. It looked like real people (covered in some sort of liquid green nagahide) standing there ready to protect their country. It was awesome. That moment where the soldiers seem real is a moment when you realize that perspective matters. When looking at the toy soldiers from my normal standing or sitting perspective, they look like toy soldiers. However, just a slight change in angle and height and suddenly the soldiers come to life. This experience is a tting anecdote for the theme of this book (focusing on the audience’s perspective – astonishment – not on our perspective – moves, techniques, etc.). But it’s particularly tting for the following piece of strange (thank you Paul Harris). It’s not unusual for me to doze off in the middle of the day . . . I’m a night owl, and usually don’t go to bed until 3 or 4 AM. One day, while I was in and out of the sleep world, as I dozed, I had a strange idea. I’m not sure that I have a solution even, but I thought the idea was fun. Simply stated, a bunch of toy soldiers are set up on a table ready for battle. The audience will then knock over some number of soldiers. You will have predicted how many. There are several rough solutions I thought of when I originally captured this in my journal years ago, but none of them are complete. However, I’ll share them with you below in case you nd inspiration in any of them. Before you look at the list of quasi solutions, consider the following presentational ideas & thoughts rst. I think it would be

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fun to have the audience member look at the soldiers from the edge of the table with a tilted head and one eye closed as previously described. If I ever perform this effect, I will use my childhood story as part of the presentation. I would then claim to be recreating a childhood experience as I had the spectator hurl a foam rock or two at my table of soldiers to knock over a truly random num ber of soldiers. Also, my prediction would be some sort of formal documentation that looks like it came from the government. It would be some details about the war with a fatality count listed. Another angle might be to take on a political topic if you feel so inclined. Maybe use the old 60’s protest song War by Edwin Starr as background music. Or maybe you could quote from the song. Not my style, but it may be yours. Remember . . . Astonishment Over Moves. Since the focus of this book is not moves (or methods), the solutions I offer below will be very brief, and I’ll let you ll in the gaps as a thought exercise. If you come up with something awesome, let me know. Of course, if your number of soldiers is few enough, you could simply use a pocket index. If you have a larger number, maybe pocket writing or nail writing would work for you. If you use a multiple out method, then you will need to keep your number of soldiers small. However, this small number opens the door for a very clean form of Equivoque in the nal reveal. Let’s say, for example, that you have 6 soldiers. With the right patter you only need 3 outs. You need 3 separate cards, one with the number “1” on it, another with the number “2” on it, and a third with the phrase, “Three Soldiers will survive the attack.” In the presentation, when you tell the spectator to attack, tell them that they’re not allowed to kill all of the soldiers. Doing so will make it so that at least 1 soldier is left standing. That being the case, you can use the “1” card for 1 knocked over soldier or 5 knocked over

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soldiers. You can use the “2” card for both 2 and 4 knocked over soldiers. The idea is that you focus on the correct perspective. So for example, if the spectator knocks over four soldiers, you emphasize the fact that after the battle only 2 soldiers survived, thus when you show the prediction that has the number “2” it matches your wording. Of course if they knock over only 2, then your wording changes to say that after the battle, there were 2 casualties. So rather than focusing on the survivors you focus on the casualties. The “3” card, however can be very specic because if they knock down three, they’ve also left three survivors. Thus your prediction can be very specic (“Three Soldiers will survive the attack”). How you handle the various outs would certainly depend on the venue. I can see this playing as a larger piece (on stage/in a parlor setting) or as a smaller close up set. As a stage/parlor piece, I could imagine having a table set up with larger toy soldiers. Have the soldiers represent an imaginary foreign enemy. The volunteer comes up on stage and puts on an Army General’s hat as he sits at the table. During the course of the presentation, you casually mention that part of his role will be to deliver the news regarding the outcome of the battle, but since this particular war is top secret, we’ll have to hide the message. I would have (in advance and secretly) placed one prediction inside of his hat hidden such that it will go unnoticed while donning the hat. I’d have another one taped to the bottom of the chair and one taped to the back of the chair. During the presentation I would make mention of the fact that General’s make decisions from their ofces in their chairs and not from the more intimate perspective of the battle eld. This line of presentation will make for an easy call back to the secret message being part of the chair. Another addition you could try would be to put names on the predictions. So the “1” card will have the name of one soldier. The

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“2” card will have two names, and so forth. Again, the third card would be more specic by saying “The survivors of the battle are ...“ In this case, the nal reveal for 2 knocked over soldiers would go something like this: The battle is over and there are 2 casualties. As I mentioned at the beginning, you will have to deliver the news of the casualties. I also mentioned to you that the generals spend a lot of time in their chairs which is why the secret message is attached underneath your chair. If you would, reach down and grab the message (an envelope labeled top secret). Before you read it, there were two casualties, thus there should be only two names in the message. If there is one more or one less, then you’ll know that my prediction of the outcome of the war was wrong. However, if there are only two names, then you’ll know I was right. How many names are on the message? Two? Then I am correct. Let’s tell the families who the casualties are. Please read the names. Of course if 4 were knocked over then you would change your focus. It would go something like this: So the battle is over. You’ve made your decision as the general that the battle is done. You’ve left only two survivors. As I mentioned, I predicted the outcome of the war. Not only did I predict the number of soldiers, but I listed them by their name. As I mentioned, your role will be to deliver the news of the outcome. Let’s take the message to the President. Reach below your decision making chair and you’ll nd an envelope. Inside you’ll see the names of the two surviving soldiers. Let’s take the message up the chain of command and let everyone know who the survivors are.

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I would make the names humorous names that sound Slavic but are clearly jokes. E.g.: • Grabsak Turnankof (Thank you Colin Mochrie) • Ivana Sanvich • Boris Pocus Were I to do this effect, I would likely start by telling a brief summary of Jasper Maskelyne’s background with magic and war (look it up). Then follow that by discussing the fact(?) that Merlin was a consultant to King Arthur and played a key role in battles. Further there is the legend (myth?) that Robert Houdin ended a war using the Light-Heavy Chest (look it up). I would discuss each of these stories and then point out that I too have this same power over war. I can predict the outcome of the war. I’ve tried to convince generals and admirals of this, but they don’t listen to me. However, I have proof of my claim . . . Another possible solution would be to simply use a nail writer or pocket writing. Then you could have your prediction be much more specic: “The number of survivors will be ____” Of course, you could use a pocket index, or a Himber Wallet with double walled envelopes. The point here is the presentation, not the method (remember my mantra). Post Effect Palaver

The method of multiple outs mentioned above was very much inspired by Max Maven’s effect, The Arm Chair Bowler Found in the mentalism “color” books compilation, PRISM – originally in The Yellow Book of Mentalism. Keep in mind that this effect has the potential to be offensive. As a former military man myself, that, clearly, was not my intent. However, you may be accused of taking sacred things light-

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ly with the above presentation. There are ways around this, of course. Swap out the soldiers for deer that you’ll be hunting in the upcoming weekend (if you’re performing for Utahan’s and Idahoan’s especially). Your presentation might center around how successful you’ll be on your hunting trip . . . of course as a mentalist, you predicted the outcome. Or maybe you can display a copy of your hunting license that has a limit of X deer per weekend. In that case, you’ll have to have 5 outs: 1 deer limit, 2 deer limit, 3 deer limit, 4 deer limit, 5 deer limit, etc. Substitute it for the number of times you have (or “someone you know” has) remarried. You can produce a marriage license as a prediction with how many times you’ll get married. You could predict how many people will pass out from drinking too much using any kind of game token pieces or toys that look like people. Or bring a six pack of soda/beer to display and mention that you’re going to drink some of these and leave some for later. When you open the prediction you either say “let’s see how many I saved for later,” or you say, “Let’s see how many I drank.” You could, additionally, use photographs of people or images laying them face up on the table. Have the spectator kill or discard them by turning them face down. There are literally innumerable possibilities limited only by your creativity. Hopefully this has sparked some ideas for you. Just remember; don’t turn this into a card trick. And most importantly when creating, keep in mind what’s important . . . astonishment, not moves. Where is the Magic?

Freedom of choice . . . ah . . . what a sacred thing. When the spectator is given the choice to knock over any number of soldiers (or whatever you decide to use), you give them a feeling of complete control.

Martika

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Where is the magic? It’s found in the beautiful illusion of free will, an illusion you create that is so strong that the spectator MUST believe that they had a free choice. Ironically – or may be paradoxically, they are “forced” to believe that they were not “forced.”

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I Need a Hero H

About 150 years ago, I lived in New London, Connecticut. It was there that I met several of my life long magic friends, David Winkler, Dick Roy and Jim Spinnato. Jim introduced to me his good friend Jim Sisti. I went to Sisti’s lecture and I was in love . . . er . . . um . . . not with Jim . . . either of them. Ahem . . . anyway, I really became a big fan of Sisti and his work. As a true fan, I had to own the L&L set that was a compilation of Sisti’s excellent publication, The Magic Menu. In book two, years 6 thru 10, I came across a killer trick on page 534. The effect is Mental Kombat by Terry Parrett. The short version is this: Parrett had a small stack of superhero trading cards. They are mixed up and spread on the table face down. You and the spectator battle it out. She points to two superhero cards, and you decide who will win the battle. Then you point to two of the remaining cards, and she decides who wins. This continues until one superhero card is left. You turn it over and it matches a sealed prediction. I thought the effect was excellent, and the method is stupid simple so even I could do it. The method, P.A.T.E.O. Force, has been explored by many (e.g., Eugene Burger, Bob Neale, et. al.). It’s a great method – we’ll discuss it in a moment, unless you wait until tomorrow to read the next section. In that case, we’ll discuss it in a day.

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I wanted to do this effect in my stand up show and as I was working out the routine, I thought of a great addition that gave it a good comedy feeling. However, I want you to experience it, so I’ve included two performances (in one video) for you to watch here: I Need a Hero. So please make sure you watch the footage before reading any further. Also, forgive my terrible choreography. I’ve grown much since these two performances. Ok . . . good you’re back. For those unfamiliar with the P.A.T.E.O. Force, it’s an acronym for Pick Any Two, Eliminate One. The idea is that you and a spectator take turns pointing at two while the other eliminates one. The one that matches the prediction is marked somehow – I use marker dots on the corner of the envelopes. This method was created by Roy Baker and was rst printed in his 1968 book by Hugh Miller called Baker’s Bonanza. The way you operate the force is simple. When it’s your turn to point at two items, never point to the marked (predicted) item. That way when the spectator eliminates one of them, it will always be safe, and she’ll never eliminate the marked one. Then when it’s her turn to point at two, if one of the ones she points at is the marked one, just make sure that you do not eliminate that one. The only other rule is regarding how many cards you use. If the number of cards is an odd number, then I go rst (I point at two rst). If it’s an even number, then the spectator starts it off. The way I remember that is the way that every magician/mentalist remembers it. If it’s an odd number, I go rst, because I’m an odd guy. It’s silly, but it’s effective. Hopefully you’ve watched the performance. If not, please go back and watch it before reading on. I want to give you some more tips, but there will be spoilers at this point. So make sure you’ve seen the performance. I really want you to see it in action.

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That said, if you continue on, it’s your own fault. I warned you . . . spoilers ahead. My friend Diamond Jim, The Cardslinger put his cowboy spin on it, and came up with essentially the same effect, but using gunslingers instead of superheroes. He also had a few gigs where he did some sword ghting and decided to do swashbucklers as another variation. We’ll go into depth about those in a moment. For now, here comes your rst spoiler . . . I just wanted to put a little space between my rst spoiler warning and the actual spoiler so you didn’t accidentally see the spoiler. Thank you Jim, for your variations. They not only make for good magic, but excellent spoiler buffering. There are three main elements of my version. First, you’ll notice in the performance that I tend to pretty much ignore the superheroes and go with the characters I have up on stage. In other words, I play it out as if I’m picking who would win a ght between spectator A and spectator D, not superhero A and superhero D. You’ll see that in the performance. I focus on any jokes I can get out of the crowd I’ve picked. I do try to get a nice mix of young kids, older adults, younger adults, males and females. This allows for several funny moments as the effect plays out. For example, if the audience member pits a young guy against an older lady, I’ve got two choices (both are funny). Let’s assume that neither of them hold the marked prediction card. In that case, I can eliminate either one. If I eliminate the older lady, I make a joke about the younger guy being the kind of guy who would beat up an older lady. If I eliminate the younger guy, I joke about the fact that a little old lady beat him up. Believe me, if you get the right mix of people up there, you’ll nd plenty of funny scenarios to play out. Just remember not to eliminate your target hero.

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The second thing that makes this routine fun is the “losing” superhero reveal. You’ll notice that in both performances a young boy got the Wonder Woman card. That was no accident. It’s just dang funny. The Wonder Woman card is also marked, marked differently from the prediction card. Once the cards are shufed, I make sure I note where the two marked cards are. I then make sure that I give the Wonder Woman card to a male. Secondly, I make sure I note who ends up with the predicted superhero so that I never eliminate him/her throughout the routine. You’ll notice that all the other superheroes printed on the cards are male. This is also no accident. This ensures that the women up on stage will end up with a male superhero. There is nothing funnier than a frail 60 year old lady getting “The Hulk” or a 12 year old girl getting “Batman.” Other than the Wonder Woman card, I do not contrive to give any specic card to anyone. I like the randomness of letting the cards fall where they may. This keeps the performance fresh and me on my toes. I have at one point thought about having each person do their best impression of each superhero once their card was revealed. However, I felt it would take too long. Maybe someday I’ll try it. I would simply give each character a line to say or a move to make. So once the Superman person shows the card, I would maybe say, “Ok . . . stand up straight. Put your hands on your hips. Take a deep breath in. Push out your chest. Turn your head slightly to the right, and repeat after me . . . ‘Up! Up! And AWAY!’” Comedy gold folks . . . For Batman, as soon as the card is shown, “Look serious. Furrow your brow. Stare at me intensely and then using your most gravelly voice, say ‘I’m Batman!’” For Spider man, I might try to get them to do the web slinging stance: feet spread apart, slightly squatting, one arm extended

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forward, palm up with the two middle ngers pressing into the palm while tilting the hand back and the wrist up. Then I’d have them say, in a cheerful voice, “I’m your friendly neighborhood Spiderman.” Hulk: I might jokingly tell them to rip their clothes. Ultimately I would just have them give me their best “Hulk Growl.” Wonder Woman: I might have him spin around in circles and then say (in a sing-song voice), “Wonder Womaaaaaan!” You get the idea. There is a lot of potential here that I’ve never fully tapped into. I even considered putting together a set of toggle switches or some kind of electronic gizmo that would tie into my sound system. It would play a sound clip from the superhero’s theme song, or a sound bite of some quote or statement they’re known for (e.g., Spiderman – I’m just your friendly neigh borhood Spiderman). Then when each superhero is addressed, the spot light would be turned on him/her while I hit the switch that played the appropriate clip. Finally, part three is the nal reveal of the winning superhero. I remember very clearly the moment I gured this out. I was planning on performing the effect for an upcoming birthday party for a room full of kids. My plan was to use a superhero action gure rather than a sealed prediction. I was willing to settle for whatever action gure I could nd. I would just make that my force card. But I just happened upon the stuffed animal aisle and saw a stuffed Winnie the Pooh doll and that’s when I realized that it would be hilarious to have the winner be something so ridiculous. I bought Winnie (and several more over the next few years) and never looked back. I think what makes this routine end well is the nal superhero being something so silly. This is played out in a couple of parts. First, I make sure that the winner does not open his card until we’ve gone through all the superheroes who’ve lost. Then, just before opening the card, the question I ask

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the audience is what superhero could possibly be strong enough to defeat all of these heroes, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman . . . who is strong enough to defeat them all!? Then comes the surprise that it’s Winnie the Pooh. Take a minute and let them feel the funny. It’s a beautiful moment. Then after sufcient pause, reveal the prediction of the actual stuffed animal in the paper bag. Go back and watch the performance again, and note my demeanor and expression as I read the winning card, Winnie the Pooh. I’m attempting to be surprised by it myself. Post Effect Palaver

As I mentioned, my friend Diamond Jim got his hands on this and put the cowboy spin on it. He used gun slingers ending with Yosemite Sam as the winner. He also did a version for the renaissance fair with swashbucklers. The winner was “The Three Musketeers,” and of course, in the bag is a bunch of tiny 3 Musketeer bars for the audience member. Another nice touch that Jim added for kids was the use of balloon swords for each of the swashbucklers. When two kids were paired off against each other, he’d have them each demo their best sword moves and then the winner was (supposedly) picked based on the sword stances. Of course we know that the rules of P.A.T.E.O. were used. A word of warning is in order here. When you have a bunch of younger kids give their best sword ghting stance and you have to tell one of them that they didn’t win (or that the other kid’s stance was better), you’re risking hurt feelings and – dare I say it – psychological scarring. As with all effects of this nature care must be taken to avoid putting down or hurting your audience members. To paraphrase my pre-Navy medical examiner, “There are enough jerks in the world. We don’t need one more.” Included with the purchase of this book is a bonus PDF document containing the exact cards that I use for my superheroes as

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well as Jim’s swordghters and gunslingers. You’ll see that his cards are much fancier than mine especially if you print them on parchment-looking paper. Post Post Effect Palaver

This is a rare effect that can play for just about any audience age bracket. It works extremely well in corporate settings, children shows and family shows. I’ve done it in all of those venues and it plays well in every case. However, keep in mind, that even in the children show I use adults for some of the superhero volunteers. It gets the parents involved and makes for so much more potential for presentational humor. Where is the Magic?

If you ask me, Winnie the Pooh is pretty magical. An old lady smiling because she beat up a young “whippersnapper” or the giggle in the little girl’s voice when she discovers that she’s Batman . . . that’s a beautiful thing. Where is the magic? It’s found in the faces and expressions and feelings of the superhero volunteers. This effect, more than most stand-up pieces, has a real ability to let you connect with several members of your audience. That’s magic.

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Ace Re-Revisited H

In Larry Becker’s excellent book Stunners! Plus! he has an excellent effect called Ace Revisited. It’s a book test using a dictionary. It uses a special, yet non-gimmicked, dictionary and an extremely clever ranging force. In my stand-up act, I’ve actually replaced Mother of All Book Tests with Becker’s routine. With Larry Becker’s blessing, I will describe my performance/ presentation of his effect following which I’ll show you the modications I’ve made for close up work. We’ve all heard it said that the pen is mightier than the sword. Sure, we’ve heard it, but what does it mean? Does it mean that the pen is a slow and painful death whereas the sword is a quick sharp blow? The pen is easier to jab out an eye. Of course it really means that words can be more moving and more powerful than physical force. So if it’s true that words are powerful, then what book is more powerful than a dictionary? [Display dictionary.]

I have here an unabridged abridged dictionary. Let’s see if it truly is as powerful as we think. Let’s try to harness some of that power. Though the pen is mightier than the sword, I believe that the mind is mightier than the pen. Let’s see if I’m right. Let’s combine three minds and the “pen” or . . . these words.

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You sir, and you ma’am, and also, you sir, would you join me here and you’ll receive a nice round of applause from the rest of the group here. [Get their names, etc. – let’s go with Fox, Dana and Walter.]

Fox, Dana and Walter, I would like each of you to hold out your right hand and grab the dictionary. Sort of stand in a circle around it and hold on to it together. Now take your left hand and make a st and hold it in the air like so. [I demonstrate.]

In just a moment I will count to three. When I do, I would like each of you to hold up any number of ngers you would like with your left hands. Hold up at least one, but it’s your choice, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 ngers. Before you do, I want you to realize that you have in your right hand one of the greatest sources of power in the world, assuming it’s true that words are as powerful as we’ve claimed. Take a moment to try, as a group, to channel that power. Ready? Ok. 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . go . . . Excellent, so on impulse and under the inuence of power, Fox, you’ve chosen 4; Dana you’ve chosen 5 and Walter, you’ve chosen 2. Between the three of you, we can make a page number in the dictionary. Of course, the choices are page 542, 425, 254, 453, etc. Decide amongst yourselves what page we should use. What page have you decided on? [They say 245.]

Great, turn to page 245 and look at the rst word at the top of the page. Make sure each of you see the word and truly focus your energy on the word. So rst, we’ve decided that in the hierarchy of things, swords are mighty; pens/words are mightier; and minds are possibly even mightier-er.

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If that’s so, then let’s bring in a fourth mind . . . mine At this point, I use a crib sheet to gure out the word that they’re looking at. Then I draw a picture of it on my pad of paper. If it’s not something that can easily be drawn, then I merely write the word and draw a picture frame around the word. Of course as I’m drawing I’m doing the typical swaying, retching, hemming and hawing, convulsing, grunting etc. that are typical when one reads one’s mind. Ok. I think I’ve got it. I’ve put the pen aside and committed to what I have here on this pad of paper. For the rst time, please name, aloud so everyone in the audience can hear, the word the three of you are merely thinking of. [They Say “Dice”.]

“Dice.” Interesting. Well if words are powerful and a picture is worth a thousand words, then our four minds have created the most powerful thing of all. [I turn around the pad of paper and display the picture I’ve drawn.]

That routine as written is one of the highlights of my show. It’s one of the most talked about effects after the show. Because it was such a hit in my stand-up shows, I wanted to add it to my close up arsenal – I perform much more close-up than stand-up – but obviously carrying around a ve-hundred page dictionary isn’t exactly practical. I came up with a simple and obvious solution. Use a pocket dictionary. You can get these at the dollar store for around $30 bucks (yes, my tongue is in my cheek). For a buck, go pick up a pocket dictionary and you’ll quickly realize that you can’t do the three person number force like the above routine. The pocket dictionaries have a lot less pages, so you can’t exactly have three

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spectators decide on the number 542. There is no page 542. So I just eliminated the third spectator and kept all the patter the same just adjusting the number of “minds” we’re using of course. I also will likely just have two people sitting across the table from each other hold the dictionary rather than have them come up to the front. The other modication is that I use my business cards instead of a pad of paper. There are only 25 possible pages that can be selected when using only two people, so I was able to, writing pretty small, t all 25 words on the bottom half of my business card. If you were holding a stack of business cards in your hand with blank sides facing up, the card at the very back, touching your palm, would be the one with the crib sheet on it. Once they announce the number I’ll have obtained a left pinky break above the crib card (and thus below the rest of the stack). Then I jog the whole stack forward leaving the crib card sort of in position for a gambler’s cop. I quickly peak the word and square up the stack. Another method is just a quick pinky pull down of the bottom card. The possible numbers are shown below. The column header represents the number of ngers held up by one of the spectators and the row labels represent the num ber of ngers held up by the other spectator. Of course the body of the table shows the 25 possible pages:

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Using the above list, you can turn to each of those pages in your dictionary and quickly make a crib sheet. If you can’t quite read small print, you can prepare ve crib sheets, one for the numbers starting with “1”; one for the “2’s”, etc. Then just rife up the back of the stack of business cards to nd the correct crib sheet. Post Effect Palaver

Since there are only 2 possible pages for any combination, you could very easily devise a simple “shing” system that would allow you to get the word without asking them what page they decided upon. In other words, Fox holds up 4 and Dana holds up 3, they can only choose to turn to page 34 or 43. In advance you would have created a crib sheet that shows the 2 words it could possibly be (the one on page 34 and the one on page 43). This lets you secretly sh for the word. To clarify further let’s take a look at the list of words on the force pages in my pocket dictionary, shown on the right. If you examine the list, you’ll quickly realize that 5 of the possible scenarios (11, 22, 33, 44, 55) are ones where it’s obvious which page they’ll be choosing because there’s only one choice. That leaves 20 page numbers that you would use this “shing” technique with. To the right, I’ve paired up the page numbers with the words on those pages:

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You’ll notice that, with the exception of pairs 23/32 and 45/54, in each case the two words start with a different letter from each other. So in our example where Fox and Dana have to create either 34 or 43, it might go something like this: Ok so between the two of you, you’ve held up 3 and 4 ngers. Using those two numbers, you can choose page 34 or page 43. It’s your choice. In fact, to make it even more difcult for me, don’t even tell me which one you choose. Once you’ve both decided, turn to that page. [They do so. Let’s say they chose (unbeknownst to you) page 34 – the word “Bound”.]

Have you turned to that page and looked at the rst word on the top of the page? [They say yes.]

Both of you concentrate your energy and thoughts on that word. First, focus only on the rst letter of the word. I’m getting the im pression of the letter “B.” Is the rst letter a “B?” If they say yes, you now you know what word it is. If they had said no, then you would know that they chose page 43 rather than 34 and that the word is “Carouse” rather than “Bound.” In that case it would have gone something like this: . . . I’m getting the impression of the letter “B.” Is the rst letter a “B?”

[No.]

Interesting . . . sometimes when I’m looking at other people’s thoughts, it’s like looking at a mirror image or a reection. So let’s try this backwards. See the word in your mind. Imagine the last letter of the word.

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I’m seeing an “E” . . . [Dramatic pause and grunt.]

. . . an “S” . . . Seeing it backwards is making it much clearer in my mind . . . I see a “U” and an “O” . . . I think I’ve got the word . . . [Then write down the word “Carouse” on your business card or whatever you’re using.]

I’ve written my thoughts here on my business card. For the rst time tell everyone the word that you are both thinking of. [Reveal your prediction.]

Also, note that there is no reason to ask for conrmation with the above “backwards” reading. You will always be right, because if the word didn’t start with “B” (and they were using 3 and 4 to create their page numbers) then the word has to be “Carouse.” This can really freak people out. Further, if you miss and they say “no it’s not ‘B’,” even though you now know that the word starts with “C,” do NOT mention this at all. Going from “oh it’s not ‘B’” to “it’s ‘C’” might tip the method just a bit. This is why I go backwards with the second word. Finally, in the two cases where both words start with the same letter, you’ve got some potential for really creating a moment of wonder. Look at the 23/32 combo in my dictionary. Both words start with “B” and end with “D.” In that case, it might go something like this: . . . I’m getting a strong impression that the last letter is a “D.” Correct? Further, I’m getting a strong impression that the rst letter is “B.” Correct? I’m having a hard time seeing what’s in between the “B” and the “D” . . . I’m only seeing three more letters in between. Is that correct?

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If they say “yes” you know it’s “Board.” If they say “No” you know it’s “Barefaced.” In the case of the 45/54 combo, I would rst nail the rst letter (“C”) then either go for the last letter or focus on the number of vowels: . . . I’m seeing quite a bit of vowels . . . it looks like I’m seeing three vowels. Is that correct? If they say “yes” then you know it’s “Cease.” If they say “no” then you know it’s “Cock.” If the word is “Cock,” I would (after revealing it) make some comment about how when I saw the word, the two C’s looked like O’s, so I thought I was seeing three O’s and thus my statement that I saw three vowels. If you do happen to perform Becker’s effect with the big dictionary and 3 people, you could apply this shing technique as well. It would be a little more complicated. Each set would contain six possible words. I personally have not taken the time to do this. Allow me to leave it as an exercise for the readers who happen to be cursed with OCD. This may seem like a lot of extra work when you could simply ask them the page number. However, I think the fact that they never tell you the page number adds another mural to the wall of wonder. Where is The Magic?

How dare you look inside my mind! That’s my private space. Nothing feels more invasive and wonderful at the same time as having a thought plucked from your mind when you know that there is no possible way that it could happen. The pen is mightier than the sword. A picture is worth a thousand words. These are clichés that we all know and love. The clever combination of them with the feeling that you’ve removed something cerebral from their brain is a pure moment of wonder.

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Where is the magic? It’s found in the moment when you reveal the nale using the most powerful thing in the world . . . a picture; after all, it is worth a thousand words, and words are more powerful than swords.

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Stone Cold MagiCard H

For the longest time I carried, in my wallet, Mark Jenest’s MagiCard. For those unfamiliar it’s a fake credit card that has ve gags/effects built into it. • Revelation of the Eight of Diamonds • Revelation of 1089 • Grey Elephants in Denmark • “Your Name” gag • She Loses the Loot The logo of the credit card is a modication of the old MasterCard Logo; it’s modied to look like an 8 and a Diamond shape. The expiration date is 10/89. The credit card is shown to be drawn on the Bank of Denmark with a Grey Elephant as the bank’s logo. In the place where the customer’s name should be is the phrase “Your Name.” And nally, when the card is turned upside down, the numbers of the credit card spell out the phrase, “She Loses The Loot.” Typically, these are used as either a gag or two, or a trick or two. I’ve built a script that ties the whole thing (almost) into a full routine. Here goes . . . I once did a card trick where I told the lady to pick a card and she said, “I’ll take your credit card.”

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[Remove MagiCard from your wallet while delivering the above line.]

I told her she was pretty clever, but she can’t have my card. However, maybe we can use it as part of a card trick [Place the Credit card on the table face down with your wallet on top.]

Take a card from the deck here, not my credit card. [Force the Eight of Diamonds using your least favorite method.]

Take a look at the card and place it face down on the table next to my card. For the time being, let’s only focus on the suit of your card . . . in fact, just the rst letter of the suit. So if you picked a Spade, think of ‘S.’ If you picked a Diamond, think of ‘D,’ a Heart, ‘H,’ and so forth. Do you have a letter in mind? Great. Now, I want you to think of the rst country that comes to mind that starts with that letter. Are you thinking of a country? So we started with a random suit that you chose which led us to a random country which will now lead us to a random mammal. Think of the second letter of the country’s name. For example, if you chose a Club, you may have thought of Canada. The second letter of Canada is ‘A.’ So think of the second letter of your country. Got it? Now think of the rst mammal that comes to mind that starts with that letter. Got it? Now think of the color of that animal. So now you’re thinking of a card, a country, an animal and a color, correct? For the rst time, tell us all what Country, Animal and Color you’re thinking of.

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[They say, Denmark . . . Elephant . . . Grey.]

Interesting . . . Denmark. You’ll notice that my bank here on my credit card is actually the Bank of Denmark. [Pick up the card and point out the bank name.]

. . . and their logo is a Grey Elephant . . . [Point/gesture to the elephant.]

. . . the really weird thing is the credit card’s logo looks an awful lot like an Eight and a Diamond. As you say “Eight and a Diamond,” turn over the selected card and display it next to the credit card logo. Wait for response to die down . . . then on the offbeat . . . As amazing as this, the really weird part is that this isn’t even my card . . . it’s yours. [Point to anyone in the group that you think will play along and has good vision.]

Do you believe me? We’ve never met before right now, correct? [S/He agrees.]

Yet this credit card has your name on it. I don’t even know your name, yet “Your Name” is on this card. Would you be amazed if that were true? [Hold the card in front of her and point to the words “Your Name” as you say . . .]

Yes or No, is “Your Name” on this card. 9 times out of 10, they’ll say “Yes.” If the crowd seems blown away, then don’t reveal the gag. However, they usually gure it’s a gag.

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Of course, it’s a joke, see it says, “Your Name,” Y-O-U-R N-A-M-E. [They laugh.]

The fact is, it’s not your card; it’s my wife’s card. You know how you can tell . . . [Turn the card upside down and point out the message.]

See, it says, “She Loses The Loot.” Don’t tell her I have it. Post Effect Palaver

I pretty much never do the 1089 force. In my opinion it’s way too contrived, and I’ve never really felt comfortable with any presentation that justied the math. Briey, however, the force is this: Name a three digit number (with each digit being different – e.g. 486, not 477) Reverse that number – 486 becomes 684 Subtract the small number from the large number (684-486 = 198) Reverse the new number (198 becomes 891) Add those two numbers together (198 + 891 = 1089) If you wanted to continue on with the 1089 effect, with some connection to the previous routine, you could – after making the “she loses the loot” joke – say something like: I had to take it away from her. She has really weird spending habits. I guess it was less her spending and more her math that was a problem. For example, give me a number that’s less than 10 [He says “4”.]

4 dollars . . . yes, she spent an amount that started with four the other day. [Gesture to another person.]

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Let’s have another number . . . [He says “8”.]

Yes there was an 8 in the amount she spent. [Gesture to a third person.]

Ok sir, and what was the nal number of the product she purchased? [He says “6”.]

You are correct. She spent $486 dollars. Etc. . . . I’ve never performed it this way, and have not really put much thought into how the above script would progress in such a way that the math would not be too contrived. Feel free to take the above script and run with it. Let me know how it turns out. Regarding the force of the animal, you could tell them to think of an animal that starts with the rst letter of the card’s value rather than the second letter of the country’s name – “eight” starts with “E.” And nally, keep in mind that you don’t have to do all of the components of the presentation above. You can stop anywhere you want, and you can even change the order of the revelations. For example, sometimes I reveal the “lost loot” gag before the “your name” gag. Sometimes I’ll do both of those rst, and then while they’re laughing at the two gags, I draw their focus to the card logo or the bank logo/name, etc. Try various arrangements and see what gets the best impact for you. Thank you Mark Jenest!

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Alternate Presentation I’ve Also Used Phase 1:

Hi my name is Jeff, and I’m the Hired Entertainment. Most magicians want to borrow money from their audience, but I’m going start by using my own money . . . well my own credit line. [Pull out MagiCard.]

This is my credit card. However, would you be impressed if your name was on my card? We’ve never met, and I don’t even know your name, yet YOUR NAME is on MY card. [Show her my card.]

Yes or No, is “Your Name” on My Card. [She says yes . . . then we laugh, and I show it around to everyone at the table.] Phase 2:

I keep saying that this is my card, but actually, it’s my wife’s. You know how I can tell... “She Loses The Loot.” [More Laughs.] Final Phase:

Actually, her card is very magical . . . It makes my paycheck disappear every month. But it can also do card tricks. [Hand it to the spectator face down.]

Insert the card anywhere in the deck. [Perform Bill Simon’s Prophesy move to show front logo 8 of Diamonds.]

Look at the logo on my card, doesn’t that look an awful lot like an 8 of Diamonds? Turn over the card you placed the credit card on.

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[They reveal 8 of Diamonds.]

Well it looks like you’re as magical as my wife’s credit card. Alternate Final Phase:

Actually, her card is very magical . . . It makes my paycheck disappear every month. But it can also do card tricks. [Place credit card face down on table and force 8 of Diamonds.]

Now you have a card that I have not seen. Concentrate on the card. Think of the suit. In fact just think of the rst letter of the suit . . . Now think of the rst country that comes to mind that starts with the same letter you are thinking of. Great, now focus on the second letter of the country... quick, think of a mammal that starts with that letter . . . Now visualize the color of that Animal. So you are now thinking of a country, animal and its color. For the rst time, tell everyone what you’ve imagined. That’s interesting, because my wife’s credit card is from the Bank of Denmark, and their logo just happens to be a Gray Elephant. [Turn card over to show. Pause for applause and laughter.]

You’ll also note that the logo on the card looks an awful lot like an 8 of Diamonds. Did you happen to think of the 8 of Diamonds? Well it looks like you’re as magical as my wife’s credit card. Where is the Magic?

You, me and a credit card and you get all that “stuff” from it? Wow! Packs at; plays big; ts in my wallet. Probably my favorite thing about the above presentation is how it ows from one part to the next. It’s got timing and rhythm. Some of the bits are funny and some are serious. It’s the perfect blend to let the audience know that you’re good, but you don’t take things (i.e., yourself) too seriously.

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Where is the magic? It’s found in the human nature of you; your anecdotes about your wife; your bank; your life. You’ve opened yourself up, and that is real magic.

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No ESP Cards . . . No Problem H

This effect is based on Jim Sisti’s effect, Mixed Symbols. Really the only thing I changed is the shufing procedure, and I use business cards instead of ESP cards and one other little special something. Also the presentation I use is my own as well. Sisti’s effect comes with jumbo ESP cards and the printed instructions. If you don’t already have it, I highly recommend it. Meanwhile, here’s my handling. Sisti’s effect would appear to be a “version” of Banachek’s effect Telephone Russian Roulette published in Psychological Subtleties Volume 3. According to Banachek, the principle that makes this effect work is rooted in an effect published in Sam Dalal’s Swami Magazine, issue 21, October 1973. The effect is Eddie Joseph’s Psychic Identication which used pockets and seven rings. If you haven’t read the three volumes of the aforementioned Banachek book, they should be your next purchase. You’ll nd that this book is very similar in spirit to those books. They certainly inuenced my approach to writing this book. Effect:

You divine a thought of ESP card even though the spectator shufes the cards before and after thinking of the card. Nothing is written down.

No ESP Cards . . . No Problem

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Per-faux-mance:

You’re sitting on the bus minding your own business reading The Denitive Sankey Volume I, and someone (actually everyone) notices the bright yellow book and asks you what it is. You inform her that it’s a magic book which she interprets as “wizard’s handbook.” She asks you to show her a “trick” to which you retort . . . silly rabbit, tricks are for kids. I do not do tricks. I, like my dear friend Boris Pocus, can read the mind, predict the future, cause the tornado, etc. She opts for option 1, read the mind. You borrow a pen and bring out 5 of your own business cards and draw an ESP sym bol on each one as you briey explain that these simple shapes (which could be any 5 shapes) are simple shapes that help you connect your subconscious mind with hers. You hand them to her to shufe so that neither of you know their order. While she’s shufing, you further explain that the second most powerful subconscious connector is numerology or numbers. When she’s content that the cards are shufed, you ask her to look at the cards and think of one of them. She obliges. She is asked to shufe again. She obliges, again. You then take the cards in left hand dealing grip shape side down. “Now that you’ve thought of a shape, next we need a number to connect our minds. Let’s also connect that number to your shape.” You then show her the cards one at a time as you count, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5.” She is asked to remember the number that her card fell at. She obliges, yet again. You then further shufe the cards and mix them to death and hand them back to her as you briey comment on the fact that nobody could know where her card is at this point. As a nal attempt to have her connect with you, you say, “As a nal attempt to connect with you, hold the cards in your left hand like you would a deck of cards with the shapes pointing down. Whatever

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number you’re thinking of, deal that number one at a time underneath the packet. Believe it or not, she obliges a fourth time. As you turn around, you spread the cards on the seat next to you (or hold them in your hands) . . . never looking at the faces, you “feel” each card’s aura as you discuss the fact that you are trying to tap into the link that you and she just created. Ultimately you decide to place one card aside . . . yep. You guessed it. It’s her card. Method:

This effect is darn-near self-working. Mostly you’ll do exactly what is described above. First, as you are making the cards, nail nick, or crimp or somehow mark one of the cards. It doesn’t matter which card it is, and it doesn’t matter which symbol is drawn on it as long as you can see it if you were to spread the cards shape side down. My recommendation is to just put a discrete mark (in advance) in the design of one of your business cards - a mark that can be seen when spreading with the card’s information side up (shape side down). Next, have the spectator legitimately shufe the cards. She really freely thinks of any card and really shufes again. When you receive the cards back, lift up the rst card and count 1. Then lift the second card (placing it below the rst) as you show it and count 2. Continue to the end making sure that the order of the cards does not change. You’re essentially just counting the cards without reversing the order while showing each card to the spectator. In our example we’ll say that the top card (number 1) you showed her was the star. The second card was the wavy lines, third was the circle, fourth the square and last was the cross. Let’s say the shape she thought of was the square, and the number it fell at was 4. Thus she’s thinking of “square” and “four.”


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If you were to stop here and move two cards, one at a time, to the bottom, then move her number (4) to the bottom one at a time, her thought of card will be in the middle every time. In my opinion, that’s pretty deceptive. However we can make it look even more impossible. Before handing the cards back to her, execute a Charlier Shufe or any shufe that doesn’t affect the cyclical order of the cards. In other words, anything that merely cuts the cards. The Charlier Shufe (which you’ll need to learn elsewhere – beyond the scope – The Royal Road to Card Magic is an excellent source) looks like a legitimate and messy shufe, but the end result is that the deck has merely been cut. If you don’t want to do the Charlier Shufe, you can just do several cuts. The Charlier, however, is particularly deceptive with a small packet, so if you don’t know it, I’d recommend that you learn it. Its applications are vast. Before executing the “shufe” or cut, notice where your marked card is. Let’s say it’s on the bottom. Then perform your cuts and/ or the Charlier Shufe. When you’re done, spread the cards so that you can see the marking. Cut the packet so that the marked card is back where it started (in our example, the bottom). Once you’ve

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got it back to the bottom, cut 2 cards from the top to the bottom. It’s always two cards every time, no matter what. Then you hand the cards to the spectator and either have her deal her number one card at a time from the top to bottom while you’re not looking. The rest is acting. Her card will be in the middle. You don’t even have to look at the face of the cards. In fact, if you had one of the cards marked such that you could feel it (e.g., crimp, nick, etc.) rather than having to see it, you could do this entire routine completely and legitimately blindfolded. I’m not necessarily saying that you should, but you could. Post Effect Palaver

You could have this even a bit more hands off. Rather than having the spectator hand the cards back to you, you could have her keep them. Then have her fan the cards toward herself and explain to her that the left card is 1, the next is 2, etc. Then have her square up and place the cards on the table. Of course, while she’s looking at the shapes, you are looking at the backs (the side with your contact info) to see which position the mark is in. Once she’s squared up the cards and tabled them, have her cut and complete the cut as many times as she wants. When she feels good about it, have her spread the cards out on the table. Notice where, in the spread, the marked card is. If it’s in the correct spot (2 places removed from where it started), then you’re golden. If not, you start by hovering your hands over the cards and acting as if you can’t get a sense of the cards, so you start moving them a bit. All you do then is count off the appropriate number of cards from the top and move them to the bottom to get the marked card in the correct place. Once the mark is in the correct position, have her square up as you say that you can’t quite get the feeling. Then have her count her number one at a time to the bottom of the packet as before. Her card’s now in the middle, and you’ve hardly touched the


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cards. The nice part of this is that when she does the original cutting, you might get lucky – one in ve chance – that she’ll put the marked card (unbeknownst to her) in the right place. Then you have a miracle because you never touch the cards. To be clear, below shows the starting position of the marked card, and the position it needs to be in just before the spectator counts her cards (i.e., after you moved the needed number of cards – or got lucky and it ended up there by coincidence after her cutting).

Note, that you’ll still need her to count her number to the bottom of the packet even if the marked card ends up in the right place. The marked card landing in the right place (i.e., two places removed from its starting point) simply eliminates the need for you to move two cards to the bottom. Another thing to keep in mind is that you do not have to use ESP symbols. Use whatever you want. Have her write down ve different things (one on each card) that you never see. Have her write the name of four past boyfriends and her current boyfriend. You can do a living/dead test with this concept as well. You could have ve members of the audience write something on a card; then have a sixth member think of one of the ve things. In the case of 5 different spectators, just make sure that they look at each other’s cards so that you don’t get more than one person writing the same thing. Trade show workers can easily adapt this to company brands.

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Have images or drawings of 4 competitors. Go through the procedure and prove that you are always in tune with XYZ brand, and that they are always in tune with their customers as you “nd” the card with their logo. One last thought: you could also do this with 5 different (borrowed) business cards from ve different people. Then you don’t have anything written on the cards, you simply use the business cards themselves. The spectator thinks of a business card and you proceed with the effect as described. However you’ll be turning the business cards so that the information side is down and the backs are up. In this case you may not have the luxury of marking the card with a pen or pencil. Rather, you’ll need to crimp a card on the y or nail nick a card. Or if one of the cards stands out as looking a little different from the others, then you could use that as your key card. I’ll often hold the spectator’s pulse with one hand and move my other hand back and forth over the cards on the table as I “get a sense” of which card she thought of. What’s freaky about this is that I claim that her pulse raced or jumped when I passed over her card. This is crazy because the cards are face down and she truly has no idea where her card is, so to claim that she still intuitively felt the card’s presence is a miracle. My claim is that it’s the power of symbolism and numerology connecting. The beauty of the proceedings is that you never have to see or even know what is written on the cards. Oh and P.S., for the love of all that is good and holy, do NOT turn this into a card trick. Where is The Magic?

I like to do magic naked. Er . . . um . . . I mean . . . I like to do magic that you could do naked if you were so inclined. This is one of those pieces. You can literally just borrow 5 business cards and go. I’ve done this effect many, many times, and it always feels like real mind reading or real psychometry.


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Where is the magic? It is found in that moment when you’ve turned over each card that is not hers, but just before turning it over, you announce it is NOT her card. With each additional card that is turned over, you can watch her breath being slowly taken away. It is truly beautiful.

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Gemini Shopping H

This is based on Eugene Burger’s effect, Gemini Money, which was based on Allen Ackerman’s Gemini Mates, which is based on Karl Fulves effect called Gemini Twins (a.k.a., Stop Twice – from 1979). Also Peter Dufe’s effect Four Most is similar and uses this principle. All of these are based on a concept from the 1930’s . . . a way to get the cards to match up the way they do. Basic Effect:

A stack of index cards (or blank face playing cards if you prefer) is shown to have various exotic items written on each card. You then claim that this is a list of things that you’ve bought over the years in your travels. The deck is thoroughly shufed by the spectators. You then bring out a stack of cash from various parts of the world. Some of the bills are handed out to various spectators. Three of them are asked to place their bill in the stack of cards anywhere they’d like. Each of them do so. When all is said and done you spread the cards to show where the bills were placed. In each case, the bill was placed (by the spectator) next to an item that matches their bill. For example: The Italian money is placed next to some Italian shoes. The Indian money was placed next to an Indian rug, and the Chinese money was placed next to a Chinese Robe. There are no switches. The spectators really choose where to

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place the bills. There are no duplicate cards, and the deck is normal in every way. Everything is 100% examinable. Preparation:

Get a bunch of blank face cards (or even better, blank face and blank back). Write a bunch of different things you might purchase in various parts of the world. It doesn’t need to be a full deck of 52 cards. Even half that is plenty. Go to a local coin shop and dig through their pile of foreign currency. Find three bills that you like that are from three different countries to use for your predictions. Additionally, get a handful (10 or so) bills from other parts of the world that will be mixed in with the three prediction bills. The bills are dirt cheap. I picked up about 10 or 15 bills for just a couple of bucks. Make sure that three of your cards have items that match the bills you get. Also, on the three cards that match the bills, be specic. Use the name of the country . . . Italian Shoes, Russian Doll, Dutch Shoes, Japanese Kimono, etc. Make sure that none of the other cards use the names of the countries that match the prediction bills. The rest of the bills do not have to actually match any of the items written on the cards. At the end, if someone looks through the deck, they’ll nd that that there is only one card that says “Germany” and only one card that says “Japan”, etc.” The other countries/places can be duplicated. At the end of this description you’ll nd a sample list of what you might use for items on the various cards. Finally, put the three cards in an order you’ll remember. Let’s say Japan on top, Mexico below that and Germany below that. So just remember J, M, G (Japan, Mexico, and Germany). Of course, the cards don’t just say the country name; they also say the name of the product. Next, place four indifferent countries between the last two cards. You should now have from the top down a small packet of 7 cards: Japan, Mexico, four indifferent, and then Germany. The im-

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age below shows the cards in the order they need to be in. They are spread for clarity. Also, the force cards are in purple ink for clarity. The four black ink cards can be any four. Square up the cards and turn them face down. Then place the money beneath of the stack of cards. Place everything in a pocket that you can easily access in preparation to palm them and secretly add them to the top of the deck.

Method:

In Eugene Burger’s handling, he uses four dollar bills to nd the four Aces. The dollar bill idea belongs to Dean Dill. I’ve changed it from using four cards to only using three. This makes the handling ten times easier . . . in fact, it makes it so that there is pretty much no handling. Here’s the basic idea. Hand out the cards to be examined and shufed. Have the spectator place the shufed deck on the table as you reach in your pocket and palm the 7 cards while grabbing the bills at your ngertips. As you remove the bills from your pocket, grab them from your right hand with your left hand, and give them to a spectator asking him to distribute them to a few spectators. Make sure you see who gets your force/prediction bills. While this is happening,

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place the right hand (still concealing the 7 cards) on top of the deck as you load the cards on and drag the deck off the table into your awaiting left hand. Double undercut the top card to the bottom of the deck. This whole sequence is done very casually casually.. You’re just reaching in your pocket to get the bills and picking up the deck while the money’s being handed out . . . that’s the attitude you need to take. As a matter of demonstration and explanation, randomly point to any spectator (actually the one with the Japanese bill – or whichever bill was rst in your original stack – remember J, M, G) and say that we’re going on a world shopping tour and that she’ll show everyone the proper way to spend money. As you say this, deal 5 cards, one at a time onto the table face down. During this deal, you’re explaining to everyone that they’ll get a chance to deal cards just like this and that they’ll be able to stop whenever they want.

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When they want to stop, they are to place their bill on on top of the tabled cards. Demonstrate by having the Japanese bill person place her bill on top of the tabled cards. You then drop the remainder of the deck on top of that. At this point the deck (with the bill inside of it) can be handed to the spectator, spectator, and you won’t need to handle the cards again. However,, before that, we need to contrive to get the Mexican However bill spectator and the German bill spectator to be the ones who put their bills in the deck seemingly under the direction of the Japanese bill person. person. In a moment I’ll explain how to get them involved, but for now, now, let’s just assume that they have been chosen, and we’ll proceed from there. Position check from the top down: • German card • Whole bunch of indifferent cards • Japanese card • The Japanese bill • Four indifferent cards • Mexican card (on the bottom) You’ll now have a spectator deal cards face down one at a time until she feels like stopping. When she does, have the Mexican bill person place her bill on top of the tabled tabled face down pile. Then have the balance of the deck dropped on top of that. Have the procedure repeated: deal, stop, drop the German bill on the ta bled pile. Replace the balance. The work work is all done. All that’s left is to spread the deck face down on the table. Of course the display shows, three different bills in three different parts of the deck.

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From there, openly remove each bill and the card above it, and place it forward of the spread.

Do not reveal what’s on the cards yet. Then you may turn over the remaining cards in the deck and show, one more time, the various items and places you’ve shopped. You may even point out that you don’t see any Japanese, Mexican or German items in

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the spread, but you say, “I swear I remember purchasing stuff in those countries.” Then you turn over the cards next to the bills to reveal that the spectators seemed to have the same taste as you: The Japanese bill person “bought” the Japanese Kimono, and the Mexican bill person bought the Sombrero (tongue in cheek), and the German bill person bought the German Lederhosen (tongue in other cheek). The Spectator Force

If you do this correctly correctly,, pretty much everyone with a bill will play a role, and everyone will feel as though it could have been their bill that was put in the deck. What additionally sells this is the fact that the place they put the bill really is a free choice. They really do deal until they want to stop. Combine that fact with the following Equivoque techniques and you’re left with a very convincing illusion and a darn near untraceable method. I’ll give you the basics on this, but you’ll need to play around with it to fully understand it. Let’s just use an example where you have 5 bills that you bring out, 3 of which are the force bills. You will start by openly choosing the rst person (the one with the Japanese bill). From there everything else is ambiguity and manipulation. Start by understanding that the spectators can have different roles. For example, they can be a “bill placer” or they can be a “stop caller.” caller.” When we announce that our Japanese bill holder is our guide, don’t draw attention to her bill, just her. After you’ve dealt the cards and had her place her bill down, you tell her that she’ll make the rest of the decisions . . . after all, she is the guide. Then ask her to pick a person to help her out. The idea is to get two teams, two “stop callers” and two “bill placers.” When she picks the rst person, it’ll either be a person with a force bill or not. Regardless, have her pick a second person. The end result will be that she will have picked one of the following combinations:

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• Both people with the force bills • Neither people with the force bills • One of each Either way, you’ve got your teams. Your wording just changes slightly. For scenario 1 (both force bills), you say, “Great, you two will be our shoppers. And you two (the ones not picked) will be our spending limits . . . you get to say when to stop.” For scenario 2 (neither force bill) you say, “Great you two get to represent our spending limits, and the two of you (the ones with the force bills who were not picked) get to spend the money!” For scenario 3 (one of each), you say, “Great you two are a team and (pointing to the two not picked) and you two are a team.” Then for each team, you just designated who is the spender and who is the person who will control the spending. Obviously you choose the person with the force bill from each team to be the spender. Now you have the Japanese bill person deal the cards one at a time as explained. If you ended up with scenario 1 or 2, just pick one of the “stoppers” to call out stop at any time while the Japanese bill person is dealing the cards. It’s fun to have them say, “Stop Spending!” Then have the Mexican bill person place her bill on the tabled cards as you say, “She said stop spending, so you’re out of money . . . place it here.” Repeat for the German money having the other “stopper” call stop. If you end up in scenario 3 (one of each), the dealing is slightly different, but not much. You just choose (as though it were a random thought) the “Mexican team” to go rst, and just point to the non-force-bill person and say, you get to stop the shopping as the cards are dealt. The Japanese bill person (i.e., the rst volunteer – our guide) deals until “Stop Shopping!” is called out. Then the Mexican bill is placed down. Repeat with the “German Team.” That’s it. Of course if you use more than 5 bills, you have to play

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around with different presentational “angles,” but I like the 5 bill set up. Post Effect Palaver

If you want, you can have four predictions rather than 3, but the handling changes quite a bit, and you don’t have the freedom to let the spectator handle the cards the whole time. However, if that interests you, I highly recommend you check out Gemini Money from Eugene Burger’s Magical Voyages Volume I. This shows the four card handling for using money with the four aces. The presentation is completely different and worth your time and effort to study. If you can contrive to get the force bills in the hands of women and the non-force bills into the hands of men, then you can call the “stoppers” husbands and the “spenders” wives if you don’t feel that violates the political correctness of it all. This certainly opens up the doors for funnier presentations. You may also want to consider using post cards from the various places you’ve travelled rather than blank stock playing cards. Just a quick thought . . . A fun way to do this could be to use the Monopoly Chance & Community Chest cards and Monopoly money. Then you could use (for example) these three cards: 1. Your Xmas Fund Matures: Collect $100 2. Bank Pays You Dividend of $50 3. You have won second prize in a beauty contest, collect $10 You’d have to mix both sets of cards together. Of course the force would be that the $100 Monopoly bill is found next to the Xmas fund card; the $50 is found by the Dividend cards, and the $10 bill is found by the Beauty contest card. For bigger gigs, you might want to consider having three gifts wrapped and in each box contains one of the three force objects.

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These gifts are then given to the spectators to keep. Maybe you’ve got a meeting with three key people in the company. If you’re working a trade show, you could modify the routine for that venue to include the products of the company which you would give out as gifts at the end of the routine. Maybe you’re performing for an anniversary party . . . give the lucky couple the gifts (even if they weren’t involved in the effect). You could work out in advance with the host throwing the party to have a huge gift (that they paid for) like tickets for a trip to Germany (or one of your force countries) inside the gift box. The gifts accomplish two things. First, it further punctuates your powers of prediction. Second, it shows that you’re a nice person, a human who cares. Finally, in more intimate events you may be able to get the inside skinny on where some of the audience members have travelled or would like to travel. List of possible “items” and countries

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Where is the Magic?

Shopping, spending, exotic products from exotic countries . . . what else do you need to make magic? It’s fun to say “ok Husband, tell your wife when to Stop Shopping!” The props are simple; the effect is big. Is it the most mind-blowing mental effect there is? No, but it’s powerful and fun and entertaining and memorable. Where is the magic? It’s found in the memorable nature of the effect. The fantasy of travelling abroad and returning with souvenirs from the culture is one we can all relate to. It’s a fantasy that most people will not fulll, but for a brief fun and wonderful moment, you fullled their fantasy in their very own living room.

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Memory Relapse H

One of my all-time favorite effects from Jay Sankey is his effect, Memory Lapse, from his DVD 22 Blows to the Head. First, if you don’t own that DVD, get it. It’s got a ton of killer ideas and routines on it. Memory Lapse is one that I’ve worked on for years and have performed a ton of times with great success. Over the years I’ve developed different presentational subtleties and additions that have made this one of the strongest things I do. So one night I snuck into Jay’s house and stole his thumb tip and held it for ransom and tortured it until he nally gave in and let me publish my handling of his effect. Before we get there, however, let’s look at the basic effect and basic method . . . and I do mean basic. The effect is that you bring up one person in front of the group and show her a business card with four shapes that you’ve drawn on it (e.g., circle, star, square and triangle). Then you show the audience the same card. Using your mastery of mind manipulation, you cause your volunteer to forget one of the shapes. No matter how hard the audience tries to help her remember, she just won’t. That, folks, is a killer effect. The method utilizes the old “séance gaffs” from over 200 years ago. The so called “Out To Lunch” principle is a phrase that caught on based on a marketed effect (by Clare Cummings and Bob Ellis from 1947 called . . . wait for it . . . Out To Lunch. The principle used in this form (with cards) is

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actually about 24 years older than the aforementioned marketed effect. As far as I know, The Sphinx was the rst place this method (using cards) was found. It comes from an effect called Finger Prints by William Larsen Sr., published in the July 1923 issue of The Sphinx. The principle itself predates even Larsen’s effect. It was used with spirit slates at least 25 years prior to Larsen’s publication. In the 1898 book by William Robinson, Spirit Slate Writing and Kindred Phenomena, is an effect entitled The Interrupted Flap which seems to be the very rst time this concept found print. However, it likely, is even much older than this. Simply, you have a small stack of business cards. On the top half of the back, you’ve drawn the four shapes. However, on a half piece of a business card, you’ve drawn only three of the shapes. The half business card is placed on top of the full business card that has the four shapes. A thick rubber band is wrapped around the stack thus covering the fact that there is a half-card on top of the stack. The images below show an alternate method of using 3x5 note cards and a money clip.

During performance, you show the three shapes to the volunteer and have her sign the bottom half of the card. Of course unbeknownst to her, she is actually signing the card with the four shapes on it. You then grab the card by the bottom where she signed it and pull it out, thus pulling out the full card with all of

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the shapes. You, of course, turn your hands just so, such that she won’t see that you’re really pulling out the second card. You then show the four-shape card with her signature to the audience and place it on the table face down. Next you do whatever patter/action/etc. that will “cause” her to forget the shape. You then ask her to name the shapes. She’ll say (for example), “Circle, Triangle and Square.” Because the heart was never shown to her, she’ll never name it. After she names the three shapes, you then act as though you’re waiting for her to nish and say the fourth shape. So you say “. . . and . . .” When she says that there are only three, you look at the audience (who will be a bit stunned) and you then say to the audience, “on the count of three, name the shape she’s missing. One . . . two . . . three . . .” In unison, they will all name the heart. That’s the basic effect. Once it’s over, you have to convince your volunteer that you really did show her all four shapes. That convincing is where I pick up. What follows is a list of ideas and tips that have drastically improved the impact of Memory Lapse on both the “forgetter” and the rest of the audience. Enjoy. USE THIS AS AN ENCORE

When I’m strolling and nish a few effects with a group, if they are very receptive and are having a good time, I’ll set the stage for the effect as follows: “Thanks for being such a great group. I’ve got to go hit a few more tables, but I might have time to come back. If I do, I want to try an experiment with one of you. Have any of you ever had the experience where you walk into a room and can’t remember why you’re there? If any of you are relatively susceptible to forgetfulness, I’d like to try to actually cause you to forget a thought. While I’m gone, gure out which of you will be the victim.” Of course, I don’t do that word for word, but you get the idea.

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USE A FEMALE

Before I leave the table the rst time, I try my best to inuence the conversation so that they are going to pick a female from the group. Women just seem to be more willing to believe, and you’re not dealing with a macho ego of a guy. PLAY IT STRAIGHT

By nature, my personality and my show is very loosey-goosey, funny and very interactive and kind of laid back. However, when I do this effect, I make it clear that it’s a serious experiment that may or may not work. I set up the seriousness when I come back for the encore. DON’T FAKE DRAW THE SHAPES

I have the shapes pre-drawn on the cards and I make a point of telling the audience that I’ve drawn “some” shapes on the back of my business cards. I do this for 2 reasons. Reason number one is explained in the next “tip” regarding multiple performances. Reason number 2 is that I don’t want to fake draw in front of them. I want everything to seem as legitimate as possible. HAVE YOUR BUSINESS CARDS SET UP FOR MULTIPLE PERFORMANCES

I have pre-drawn the four shapes on the back of several business cards. The reason for this is that at the end, I steal off the “gimmick” and lay my business cards on the table (drawing side down). If they happen to pick up the cards, they will see that there are many cards with four shapes. I inform them that those are the ones set up for the next time I try the experiment. This really sells the idea that the “forgetter” actually saw 4 shapes. After all, all of the cards have 4 shapes, and I’m about to go to “that table over there” and show someone the next card in the stack which has four shapes.

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DON’T BE AFRAID TO ARGUE WITH THEM

Obviously convincing someone that they had a thought and lost it is not an easy task. Don’t be offended or nervous if the “forgetter” argues with you. First of all, it’s ok to argue back, or better said, “sell” the fact(?) that she forgot. Believe me; the audience will be on your side if you do this right. Don’t be confrontational, but don’t be afraid to use the “evidence.” KEY WORDS AND TRICKY PHRASES

When doing this routine, there are a few things to say that really help sell the illusion: • To the “forgetter” – “If (key word being “if”) this works it will be very disorienting” (right from Jay’s patter). • To the “forgetter” – “The few times this has worked, the person didn’t believe that it worked. They just argued with me. That’s why I have you sign the card to prove that you saw the shapes on this card.” • To the audience – “I will need absolute silence while I lock these images into her mind.” • To the audience – “Be careful not to focus too hard when I make her forget because I’ve actually caused other audience members to accidentally forget a shape as well.” MAKE THEM “FORGET” A HEART

This is, in my humble opinion, the most valuable thing that I’ve added to this routine. The “forgotten” shape is a Heart. Here’s why – when I show the “forgetter” the three (supposedly four) shapes, I make the following comment to her, “You can tell by the shapes that I’ve drawn that I’m a bit of a romantic.” I even point to the shapes when I say it as if I’m pointing to the Heart, and that’s exactly what the rest of the audience thinks I’m doing –

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pointing to the Heart. The “forgetter” is only looking at a square, circle and triangle, so the comment may seem a bit weird to her at the time, but trust me, at the end when she’s denying that she actually forgot, I have “proof.” Also, when I show the four shapes (apparently the same ones that I just showed the “forgetter”) I also comment about being romantic to the audience, and it makes perfect sense to them because they see the Heart. I even point to the Heart as I say it. This becomes the strongest argument in my favor. Depending on the participant I have helping, I may even go as far as saying “I Heart You.” I say it in a sort of silly/cheesy manner. I may even point to my eye (I) and then to my Heart and then to her. So in this case, it goes something like this: “You can tell by the shapes that I’ve drawn that I’m a bit of a romantic . . . eye Heart you.” (Tongue rmly planted in cheek.) STAGING

Have the “forgetter” stand a good 6 to 10 feet away from the rest of the group and facing the group. I stand to her left sort of half facing her and half facing the audience. The business cards are in my left hand. In my right hand is the sharpie that she will use to sign the card. I also use the pen as I gesture to the card to point out the shapes. PERFORMANCE

After coming back to the table, I ask if they found a good candidate. I will then explain that I’m going to show her a few shapes I’ve written down and that I’m going to try to cause her to forget one of the shapes. I need absolute silence for just a minute while I lock the shapes in her mind. If you would Jenny (forgetter’s name), stand over here with me. Now look at the shapes. You can tell by the shapes I’ve drawn that I’m

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a bit of a romantic (tongue in cheek). Focus on them and lock them in your mind. Do you have them locked in? Okay now that they’re locked in, I want you to sign this card because so far, the few times that it has worked it was very disorienting for the person, and they actually didn’t believe that they saw the shapes, so please sign the card as evidence that you’ve seen them. Begin pulling the card out of the stock. Start by grabbing the signed car with the signature side facing her. Then as you turn your body more fully toward the audience, turn the pack down and continue pulling out the card. Then immediately display it to the group and ask them to also remember the shapes. Then place the card signature-side down on the table. Next, using your right hand with the shape-side of the cards facing down, steal off the “gimmick” into your right nger palm by sliding it off the pack with your right ngers. Your right hand is palm down with the palm of your hand touching the face of your business card and the right ngers curled around the long side of the card. The pad of your right ring nger slides the gimmick toward your pinky and into nger palm. This feels much like doing the glide with a pack of playing cards. In fact, that’s pretty much all you’re doing. This only takes an eighth of a second if that. As your right hand pulls off the gimmick, your left hand takes the rest of the pack and sort of tosses it onto the table. This is done as you turn back to the “forgetter.” So any movement is hidden. Then when you make her forget, you stand sort of to her left. Basically, her left side is pointing to your chest, so you are looking at her left ear. But you’re sort of at an angle so you can face the audience. The idea is that your right hand (holding out the gimmick) is sort of behind her, but your left hand is in front of her so you can snap your ngers right in front of her face. While your right side

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is sort of behind her, pocket the gimmick. I prefer to put it in my back pocket as I place my right hand on my hip. “Stare directly ahead and look at my left hand,” you say to her in her left ear (nothing irty or sexy, just say it to her). “Concentrate on my hand. On the count of three, I will cause you to forget one shape. Ready . . . 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . (snap). You just forgot one of the shapes.” Now I step back to a position between both her and the audience sort of forming the three points of a triangle (me, her, audience). I then say, “Name the shapes.” From there it’s pretty much Sankey’s wording. I have the audience, as a group, tell her the name of the missing shape. Of course when she argues and claims that the shape was never there, hopefully somebody else will make a comment along these lines, “it had to be there; remember, he told you that it was a romantic shape, so you must have seen it.” That’s sweet when that happens. If it doesn’t I just bring it up and say, “Of course it was there; I even pointed to it and told you that it was a romantic shape.” Notice that I lie to them about what I said. In reality, I said that I was romantic, but I tell them that I said that the shape (not shapes, but shape) was romantic. FINAL NOTES

Believe it or not, I’ve actually had someone in the audience who really saw all the shapes forget one of them. It was awesome because she became my biggest selling point. When the audience all saw the four shapes as a group and one of them forgets, they really believe that the “forgetter” actually saw the four shapes. So when I warn the audience to be careful because they might forget, I’m actually telling the truth. Sometimes, if the audience doesn’t actually pick up the pack of business cards and see the stack of pre-drawn shapes, I may pick it up and point it out as more evidence that she really did see all

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four shapes. Remember the argument that the “forgetter” will use is that the heart was never there in the rst place. You can “com bat” this by using these lines as ammo: • To the “forgetter” – “Of course the Heart was there; remember, I said that it was a romantic shape.” • To the audience – “Remember, I even pointed to the heart and told her that it was romantic.” • To everyone – “Of course the heart was there. I always pre-draw the four shapes. In fact, you can see here on my business cards that I’ve got the same four shapes drawn on a few more cards for the next few times that I try this.” • To everyone – “Remember at the beginning, I told you that you wouldn’t believe me; that’s why I had her sign the card because they never believe me.” All of these things are things that I actually use that really work. As I pointed out earlier, don’t be afraid to argue with them. In fact, the key to this effect is the post-effect selling, and you need to get the rest of the audience to “argue” on your side. Each addition I’ve made to Jay’s original routine is specically designed to do just that. It gives all of the proof/evidence needed for the audience to ght my battle for me. I’ll leave you with one last idea about this effect. This is something that I have never tried, but I think it could be worked out to really nail this thing down. I’ve considered making the heart with red ink, but the rest of the shapes with black ink. Then do one of two things (or maybe both): Thing 1:

While making comments about being romantic and making my cheesy line (I “heart” you), I might say something like “I

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‘heart’ you. Get it . . . ‘heart’ . . . like the red heart.” Upon saying that phrase to her, I would imagine that she would just assume I was being a bit silly, and in her mind she’s just assuming that “red heart” refers to the fact that hearts are red. Thing 2:

The other idea would be to make the half card that she sees have a black square, a black triangle, and a red circle. Then I would point to the circle as I said all of my “romantic” jokes/ lines. The idea being that she’ll think that I was just referring to the fact that I used red ink and thus I’m romantic because red is the color of the heart. I would use the same lines as mentioned above in “Thing 1.” Of course, the card that she signs with the full four images will be all black except for the heart, so you’ve added another dimension to the illusion. Further, when showing the card to the rest of the audience right before causing her to forget, I might actually point to the red heart on the card and say, “see . . . romantic . . . red heart.” This could really sell this pretty hard. When it comes to arguing with her and selling it to the audience, you’ve got so much more proof. You can point out to the “forgetter” that you showed her the red heart (even though she really saw a red circle) and made comments about the red heart and that you’re a romantic, etc. Of course you could denitely do both “Thing 1” and “Thing 2.” I think doing this would really close the deal, and the “forgetter” is going to go home completely confused and will likely “ght” with the audience as they convince her that the heart was there the whole time. FINAL FINAL NOTE

Jay recently released a brand new version of his original effect and called it “Memory Relapse” as well. You can nd it at

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Sankey Magic. It uses a whole new method, so you may want to check that out. The scripting used here can easily be applied to his new version. Where is the Magic?

As mentioned previously, nothing is more intimate than our private, secret, untouchable thoughts. And somehow you’ve not only gotten into those thoughts, but you’ve taken one of them away from the spectator. You made her forget something. She’s so confused by it that she doesn’t believe that it happened. Where is the magic? It’s found in that moment where the rest of the audience insists and “knows” that the “forgetter” actually saw four symbols, and that she actually forgot one. You’ve planted all the seeds, but the audience does all the selling. They do all the convincing. What’s more convincing than 10 of your friends telling you that something is true? I dare say that nothing is.

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Tower of Babel H

Remember folks; this book is all about the moment, the magic, the wonder and is (as are my other works) meant to inspire you and show you how and where to nd inspiration. This particular effect was inspired by watching TV (technically I was watching Netix) an excellent source of inspiration. When I was a kid there as an awesome show on TV created by Steven Spielberg called Amazing Stories. For some reason, as a kid, I thought they were based on true stories, which in hindsight is pretty silly, but as a kid, it seemed plausible. Recently I wanted to go back and watch that show again. Enter: Netix. Netix has the entire series available to stream instantly, so I dove in and watched a bunch of episodes. Season 1, episode 23, entitled One For The Books, really got my mind spinning, and ultimately inspired this idea. Let me rst tell you that this is a completely un-completed idea. I have some ideas on how to make it work that I think are very much doable and would work, but I’ve never attempted any of this. The effect is simply this: You cause the spectator to speak in tongues. The basic method that I think will likely have to be employed is essentially this: Give them something to read out loud that is written in some language other than English. Then switch the paper (or card) that has the writing on it when showing it to the audience. Stay with me; it gets better. If you haven’t already done so, read the effect Memory Relapse.

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The method for that is essentially the method for this. It’s extremely powerful and effective. So here’s one solution for Tower of Babel. Have your business cards (or some notecards) prepared in the Out To Lunch manner. The half card is blank. The card below it has a simple sentence or phrase written on it: You are Very Suggestible – or something like that.

Using Google, translate the phrase into another language. It has to be something that anyone could pronounce and therefore must be a language that uses the Latin alphabet. Memorize this phrase in whatever language you choose and learn how to quickly write it with no effort. You’re ready to go. You’ll need a medium sized group (5 to 10 people) for this to work.

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Presentation: MAGE: Who here is like me and can only speak one language – Eng-

lish? [I would insert my own jokes about speaking several languages, C++, etc. Or I would joke about barely even being able to speak English, let alone some other language.] SPEC: Me! I speak English and nothing else. MAGE: Great! How would you like to learn to speak another lan-

guage? SPEC: I’d love to. In fact if you taught me that, I won’t kick you in

the head at the end of the show like I was planning to. MAGE: Excellent. Nothing’s worse than a kick in the head. I’m actu-

ally going to hypnotize you into thinking you speak, or at least read, a foreign language. I’m not sure what language it will end up being. It’s different with everyone. SPEC: Yay! MAGE: Please come up here and join me in front of the group. Before

we try this experiment, I’m going to have you sign this note card (or business card) before I hypnotize you. If this works, it’s very disorienting, and often you won’t believe that it really worked, so your signature will help keep things above board. [She signs the card below the rubber band on your set up a la the Out to Lunch principle.] [You briey show the signature to the audience as you comment about it and place it signature side up on the table.] MAGE: Now I need absolute silence and cooperation from the audi-

ence. Becky (or whatever her name is) I need you to place your hands to your side, look straight ahead, and close your eyes.

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[She does so.] [In as deep and monotone and soothing of a voice as you can muster, begin your faux hypnotic induction.] MAGE: Becky, take a deep slow breath in through your nose and out

through your mouth . . . and another. [Have her take a few (4 or 5) breaths in this manner.] MAGE: I want you to focus on the sound of my voice and relax your-

self completely but remain standing. As I count backwards from ve to one, I want you to feel your entire body relaxing and your mind opening up completely. 5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 [In between each count, toss in some lines like “feel your cares leaving you” . . . “relax your entire body” . . . “open your mind completely”, etc.] MAGE: Now in your mind I want you to imagine for a brief moment

that you no longer speak English. You can understand it, but you cannot speak it. You can speak any other language, but not English. It does not matter what the language is, but it’s not English. [This entire time you are addressing only Becky. You now turn your attention to the audience as you pick up the notecards you left on the table.] MAGE: Becky, I’m writing a sentence on the notecard you signed.

I’m writing it in English. However, in a moment, I’m going to show it to you and you will not recognize it as English. It will appear to you in another language, a language that is NOT English, but a Language that you can read. [On the card, write your Latin (or whatever) phrase that you memorized. Then hold the card in front of her where she can read it (once she opens her eyes) but yet not in a position to block her face from the audience.]

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MAGE: Becky . . . I’ve written the phrase on the notecard and I’m

holding it in front of you. When I count to three, I’ll snap my ngers. When I snap, I want you to do three things. 1) Open your eyes; 2) read the phrase as best you can; 3) verify your signature. Then close your eyes again. [You count and snap. She opens, reads – hopefully is able to pronounce what you’ve written and closes her eyes.] MAGE: Excellent job Becky. Now I want you relax again. Listen

carefully to my voice. You are losing the ability to speak and read this foreign language. But you are regaining your ability to speak English. You are able to speak, understand, read and write exactly as before you came up here to help me. [Pause.] MAGE: Take a deep breath in through your nose; out through your

mouth . . . and again . . . [Have her repeat this 4 or 5 times.] MAGE: In just a moment, I will count backwards from 5 to 1. With

each count, you will become more and more awake. When I reach the number one, I will snap my ngers. At that moment you will open your eyes and I will hand you the notecard. When I do, I want you to read it out loud. [During this explanation, remove the card from the stack . . . of course removing the one with the original English phrase on it, and pocket the notecards and slip the half card off while the cards are in your pocket. You are now left holding just the signed card in one hand and nothing in the other. As you count (below), hold the card up so the audience can read it. Leave it held in that position as you are speaking to Becky.]

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MAGE: 5 . . . waking up . . . 4 . . . you are becoming more alert . . . 3

. . . you are alert and energetic . . . 2 . . . all faculties returning . . . 1 . . . wide awake, alert and refreshed . . . [Snap your ngers and hand her the card after she opens her eyes.] MAGE: Please read the card out loud again.

[She reads “You are very Suggestible” or whatever.] MAGE: Thank you for having such a wonderfully open mind. Re-

member, like Doc Brown always told Marty, “If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.” Post Effect Palaver

Obviously, the scripting here is key. This one is all about presentation. You want to properly set up the scene and the tone. One thing to consider is to mention that often times when spiritual instances of speaking in tongues occur, the people speaking don’t even know what they’re saying. If you’ve read Memory Relapse , then you’re familiar with all of the post-effect selling you’ll have to do. Most of the techniques used in that routine will also work in this routine. Also, of course, you should not use both effects on the same audience. They are too similar in style and technique. Make sure you read that routine thoroughly, however; it talks about body placement, what kind of person to pick, where to stand, how to stand, how to sell the effect, etc. Another thing to consider is that if you’re using the script I’ve included, be very careful. You may actually hypnotize someone. Remember to “pull them out” properly with the nal counting and scripting I’ve included. Whatever phrase you decide to use, it might be fun to memorize it in multiple languages. Then during your introduction,

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when you’re asking if anyone speaks multiple languages, you may encounter a person who speaks French (let’s say). Don’t use him in your demonstration, but when you bring up the uni-language person in front of the group, write the phrase in French. Then when the non-French speaking spectator reads the phrase in French, the Frenchy at the table will recognize or understand what your hypnotized spectator is saying. You might even have him translate it to English. Then in a moment when your volunteer is no longer “hypnotized,” and is able to read English again, it will match up with what Frenchy said. Later you can claim that you may have inadvertently inuenced her to see French because it came up in the conversation earlier. Another idea would be to memorize a gibberish phrase that sounds like something legitimate. For example, “blaverot spandle felz.” I just made that up right now, but the phrase, though totally unfamiliar, is relatively easy to pronounce. If done properly you may be able to get it to look like the spectator is not able to control what she’s saying. The effect to the audience may be that she’s trying to say it in English, but it only comes out in gibberish (i.e. in tongues). If she has a hard time pronouncing the phrase, you can comment along these lines: MAGE: It appears that you’re able to see in another language but

maybe you can’t quite read it. Can you just say each letter out loud and we’ll write it down. Then you have an audience member write down what she says. [All the while, remember that you are not supposed to be able to see it in whatever language she sees it in, so when you look at it, pretend to be a little bit confused by what she’s saying because you see it in English (supposedly) and she sees it in French (or whatever).]

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I imagine the look on her face when she opens her eyes and sees a non-English phrase will go a long way to sell the effect to the audience. There it is again, that look of Astonishment . . . Where is the Magic?

Moments where the spectator seems to not have control over their actions (i.e., forgetting a memory or speaking in tongues) are few and far between. You can read their mind or cause their card to come to the top of the deck all day long, but ultimately, that’s about you. It’s something that you are doing. However, when a spectator opens her eyes and looks at a piece of paper (supposedly) written in plain English, yet she cannot read it . . . that’s got nothing to do with you. That’s her. Her very eyes are deceiving her. You can’t control her eyes; only she can. Where is the magic? It’s found in that moment when all of the comedy fades away and the spectator is left staring blankly at a piece of paper that she should be able to read in English, but she cannot. That’s magic folks.

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5

P A R T

H

The Malini Effect This following section is full of very powerful effects that will absolutely send the participant to “wonder” land in the truest meaning of the phrase. The effects take a lot of preparation. We’re not talking about full deck stacks . . . we’re talking about Max Malini-esque stuff here. You’ll be so prepared to immerse your participant into wonder that you may never actually get to do it. These are special moments that require a lot of work, but will be so powerful that you’ll never be able to repeat them or top them. Though not everything in this section requires a monster set up, I chose to honor Malini’s name because many of the things he did (which DID require the elaborate setups) created the most powerful moments of wonder that are possible in the world of one on one magic. Yes these are big claims, but once you read them, you’ll understand their power. We’ll start off with MOAB, UT an oddly titled effect that was inspired by an out for the Mother Of All Book Tests that took me on a journey from a cool effect to a pure connection with the spectator. Where we ended up is nowhere near a book test. Next we’ll check out Everything Fades. This is just about as im-

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possible as it gets. Essentially, any object a spectator names materializes in your hand. Yep . . . Finally, we wrap up this section with two effects where the magic is so powerful that you aren’t even there when it happens. With Don’t Try This At Home , you perform a strange experiment where you mail a prediction to the spectator and it proves to contain everything she is thinking of. Very weird and a very powerful way to market yourself. Last, but far, far, far from least, is Ode to Charlie , where a coin literally materializes from thin air when the spectator is in another room, or even at home.

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MOAB, Utah H

Here’s a simple idea that is so generic others have certainly thought of it or entertained it or used it, but here’s my take on it. Basically the idea is simply to have some sort of force word prepared on your left arm ready to do “Ashes on the Arm.” Additionally, have another word on the right arm. You could, depending on the choice of words (i.e., their length), have two predictions on each arm. There’s more to it than just having some words ready on your arm. Keep reading. This started for me as an idea for a couple of nales for the Mother of All Book Tests. Those of you familiar with this brilliantly built book test know that there are a couple of words that are more commonly selected than others. I had the idea of having one word on each arm ready to go in case I got lucky during a performance. If neither word was selected that’s ne because nobody knew what I was planning, so it was just an extra added bonus I had up my sleeve (pun fully intended) to make a lucky moment even more magical. Obviously I’m not the rst guy to think of having stuff set up in advance waiting for a lucky moment. Study Malini. He was a master at this idea. It’s something I’ve always loved. In his excellent booklet, My Favorite Card Tricks , Harry Lorayne had an idea called Any Four of a Kind where, in advance, he would stack three or four sets of four of a kind (2 sets on top and 2 sets on the bottom). Then through minimal verbal manipulation he gets the

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spectator to name one of the four of a kind. Then he does some fancy nger inging and quickly/magically produces the named four of a kind. If, however, one of the prearranged four is not named, no worries; he just pulls out the named four of a kind and does a different effect with them. The audience has no idea that he didn’t do a production and they don’t miss it. Of course, Max Maven’s brilliant idea Disposable Color from The Red Book of Mentalism and PRISM is another example of this line of thinking. There are too many samples to site them all. Just know that this is a concept worth exploring. So, how can we exploit this? Well . . . I have several friends who, like many of us, have a problem. That problem is that they repeat the same stories or talk about the same people over and over again and don’t realize that they’re doing it. I have one friend in particular who’s told me the same anecdote about a jar of salsa from when he was a kid 2 or 3 times. The story is about how he thought the lid was supposed to be secure but it wasn’t and it spilled. There’s more of a point to it than that, but for the purposes of this essay, we’ll leave the anecdote details to a minimum. Imagine that the next time I know I’m going to be hanging out with my salsa story sidekick that I prepare my arm for “Ashes on the Arm” with the phrase “Spilled Salsa.” Then I subtly use a few trigger words that make him remember this childhood story and tell it to me. Once he tells the story, things would go a little like this: Jeff: “Bill, that was a great story. Very funny.” Bill: “Thank you Jeff.” Jeff: “You’re welcome Bill. It’s weird; it kind of left an impression on

me . . . I’ll likely never forget that story. It’s kind of burned into my mind. It’s sort of become part of me.”

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[Pick up a napkin or whatever paper is handy, and burn it catching the ashes on a plate or in a bowl – whatever’s handy.] [Of course you time the word “burned” to the timing of burning the paper.] [Pick up some ashes, and rub them on your arm revealing the magic phrase “spilled salsa”.] Jeff: “See, Bill . . . it’s become part of me. I’ll never forget this story

. . . and you’ll never forget the time you told it to me.” The beauty of this, beyond the magic, is that Bill will likely never tell me this story again. There are many other ways to pursue this idea. For example, if you know of a person that you’ve seen on occasion at parties or work activities but you don’t know the person very well, you can really set up a miracle. Just pick someone and observe them for a while . . . a while could be over multiple events. After a little time, it won’t be difcult to pick up on a phrase or subject or person that they frequently talk about. There are many other ways to gather this type of information. What I’m suggesting is that rather than gathering the information moments before using it, I’m suggesting that you put some time misdirection in there . . . time . . . as in days, weeks or even months. Patience grasshopper. Once you have the info, the arm set up and you’ve arrived at the appropriate social gathering, you may have an amazing opportunity . . . or not. Play it as it comes. Let’s say, you’ve discovered that Jerry (some guy you’ve seen at a couple of parties but never really spent much time with him) likes to talk about his girlfriend Jeannie. Next time there’s a gathering where he might be there, get your arm prepared for “Ashes on the Arm” with the name Jeannie. During the party, spend a little more time in the circles Jerry is in. Strike up a conversation with him. Show some interest in

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him. Before he starts talking about Jeannie, try to t into the conversation that as part of what you do for a living or a hobby is that you dabble in the paranormal. One of the things you are interested in is connections between people. Einstein talked about this . . . the concept of one thing being linked to another thing somewhere completely across the Universe. He called it “Spooky Action at a Distance.” Ask him if he has someone that means a lot to him that he wants to think about for a moment. Have him concentrate on the name. Have him then say the name out loud. If it matches your arm – we’ll talk about what to do if it doesn’t in a moment – then proceed as follows. Mage: “You know, Jerry, when you said her name, it felt like you re-

ally care about her . . . the way you said her name . . .” Jerry: “Of course I care about her. I love her.” Mage: “This is good. Nothing is more powerful than the burning

power of love. Sometimes this abstract feeling can push its way from the intangible to the tangible. The burning of this paper could represent the impression that’s been imprinted or burned into your soul.” [Pick up a nearby napkin while talking. Burn it. Let the ashes fall to a plate or bowl nearby.] [Perform Ashes on the Arm.] If, however, the name does not match your prediction, fear not. There are a couple of outs. First you can have him name two or three other people that he’s close to and hope that he names Jeannie as one of the three. If so, you can proceed by writing down each name on a scrap of paper and forcing the Jeannie paper . . . have him peek at it. Then burn it and proceed with Ashes on Arm.

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You could just play it up by claiming that of the four names he named it seemed he put the most emphasis on the name Jeannie. “Just now when you said all four names, I really felt some power when you said ‘Jeannie.’ I felt a strong connection there. Let’s have you just focus on her name. Burn her name in your mind . . . “ You get the idea. What if, however, the preplanned name never comes up (may be they broke up)? Then what? Easy. Remember, you started the whole thing by talking about how you’ve studying paranormal behavior and connections. Let’s say the name he mentions is “George” rather than Jeannie. It might go something like this: Mage: “ . . . one of the things I’m really interested is the concept that

Einstein referred to as Spooky Action at a Distance, the idea that people can truly be connected in a very real physical way through the power of love. Is there someone you’re really close to?” Jerry: “Sure. I’ve got a few people I’m really close to.” Mage: “Good. Well let me show you something kind of interesting

about those connections. Think about the person you feel you have a close connection with. Just think about them for a moment.” [He pauses to think.] Mage: “Now, what’s this person’s name?” Jerry: “George” Mage: “Great. Ok as I mentioned, I’m very interested in this so

called spooky connections. And as you spoke the name “George your tone reveals a lot.” [From here you can do some standard cold reading techniques about the person who said “George.” The idea becomes that Jerry

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(the spectator in this case) really tapped into his inner self by connecting with his close friend “George.”] Mage: “A lot can be revealed about a person by their tone of voice

that easily relates to their emotions. For example, just now when you said, ‘George’, I really felt your love for him. In my line of work this is very helpful at getting a baseline so that I can ‘read’ you better.” Jerry: “What do you mean by ‘baseline’?” Mage: “I now know how your voice and body language behave when

you think positive thoughts. Now I’d like you to think of a person you dislike.” Jerry: “Newman” Mage: “Good. I could denitely feel the tension in your voice as you

said his name. I could also see your body language change as you tensed up a bit when you thought of him. This further assists my baseline. Now think of one more person that you neither hate nor love. Someone sort of neutral.” Jerry: “Cosmo” Mage: “Interesting . . . see in this case you stayed mostly neutral in

your tone and posture, however, there was a slight sense of similarity to your feelings toward Newman. Nothing strong; quite subtle in fact, but maybe subconsciously this person slightly bothers you.” [You can of course leave out that last part depending on how things go. You can also, of course, do the opposite and point out that his tone seemed to indicate that he likes the person more than he’s leading on.] Mage: “Now that I have a solid baseline for three different emotional

ranges, I’m able to use your strong connections to your emotions to create the illusion of reading your mind. In reality, of course, I’m reading your tone, attitude, inection, body language, etc.”

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[At this point you perform your favorite “mind-reading” effect as you claim that you were able to divine the information from his posture, voice, etc.] If you are prepared with the name (in our case, “Jeannie”) and the name never comes up as mentioned above, you’ll follow an alternate path that is essentially a set up for a mind reading effect. However, keep in mind that when you ask for a name that he hates or that is neutral, he may say “Jeannie” at that point. Remember back to the beginning of this essay; the reason you chose the name “Jeannie” in the rst place is because Jerry (our spectator) had spoken of her many times in past encounters. If they’ve recently broken up, her name may come up when you ask for someone he hates. It also may come up as the neutral name. These two scenarios are better than when the name comes up as someone he is close to. Let’s look at each case and how you might approach it. First the case where her name comes up as someone he doesn’t like. The Name has a Negative Association:

Returning to our presentation from earlier . . . Mage: “I now know how your voice and body language behave when

you think positive thoughts. Now I’d like you to think of a person you dislike.” Jerry: “Jeannie” Mage: “Interesting. Say her name again.” Jerry: “Jeannie” Mage: “This is strange. I’m sensing quite a bit of mixed emotions

around this name. I hear one thing in your tone, but quite another in your posture and body language. Is this someone that you were once

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close to? Maybe a recent girlfriend? Or maybe a current girlfriend that you’re not getting along with?” Jerry: “@$%^&* How the %^# did you know that!?” Mage: “You told me by your actions, tone and posture. It’s clear that

you have strong emotional ties to this person. Whether for the good or bad, she has burned quite an impression into your being. Sometimes these abstract feelings can push their way from the intangible to the tangible. The burning of this paper could represent the impression that’s been imprinted or burned into your soul.” [Pick up a nearby napkin while talking. Burn it. Let the ashes fall to a plate or bowl nearby.] [Perform Ashes on the Arm.] Be prepared for a heck of a response, especially if you’re performing this for a female whose ex-boyfriend is the name revealed rather than a male with an ex-girlfriend. Let’s now examine what happens when the prepared name comes up as the neutral person. First of all, it will start very much the same. You’ll claim that the body is saying one thing while the voice and tone are saying another. The Name has a Neutral Association:

Mage: “I now know how your voice and body language behave when

you think positive thoughts, and I’ve seen how you respond to negative thoughts. Next I need you to think of someone that you neither love nor hate. Someone sort of neutral.” Jerry: “Jeannie” Mage: “Interesting. Say her name again.” Jerry: “Jeannie”

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Mage: “This is strange. I’m sensing quite a bit of mixed emotions

around this name. I hear one thing in your tone, but quite another in your posture and body language. Is this someone that you were once close to? Maybe a recent girlfriend? Or maybe a current girlfriend that you’re not getting along with?” What I like about the neutral name scenario is that if he admits that he once loved her (or that he once hated her, but now is tolerant of her), then we can take the angle that although he feels neutral now, the feelings still linger. From there you’d go on like this: Mage: “Your actions, tone and posture revealed that there had been

something more than neutrality with you and this person. It was clear to me (and you admitted) that you have strong emotional ties to this person. Whether for the good or bad, she has burned quite an impression into your being. Sometimes these abstract feelings can push their way from the intangible to the tangible. The burning of this paper could represent the impression that’s been imprinted or burned into your soul.” [Pick up a nearby napkin while talking. Burn it. Let the ashes fall to a plate or bowl nearby.] [Perform Ashes on the Arm.] If, on the other hand, he claims that he has never loved, nor hated her and that she truly is a “neutral” person that’s ok too. Here’s how you proceed: Returning to our presentation where he said her name after you asked for a neutral person . . . Mage: “Interesting. Say her name again.” Jerry: “Jeannie”

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Mage: “This is strange. I’m sensing quite a bit of mixed emotions

around this name. I hear one thing in your tone, but quite another in your posture and body language. Is this someone that you were once close to? Maybe a recent girlfriend? Or maybe a current girlfriend that you’re not getting along with?” Jerry: “No. She’s just some girl I work with. I don’t really know her

that well.” Mage: “Perfect. This will be perfect for this experiment. As I men-

tioned, I sensed a little bit of mixed emotions when you said her name, so I just wanted to be sure she truly was neutral. I want you to focus your energy on her and I’m going to show you how powerful our thoughts and imagination can truly be. Jerry: “Imagine that you truly love her (or hate her). I want you to

harness that feeling. Burn it into your Heart and mind. If you really focus, you can cause your body and voice and attitude to really portray these feelings. Sometimes these abstract feelings can push their way from your imagination to reality, from the intangible to the tangible. The burning of this paper could represent the impression that’s been imprinted or burned into your soul.” [Pick up a nearby napkin while talking. Burn it. Let the ashes fall to a plate or bowl nearby.] [Perform Ashes on the Arm.] I know that was a long ride to get here, but I think you’ll agree that this effect truly has the power to create real wonder. Even in the so-called worst-case scenario where the name never comes up, you still have a solid effect (assuming you’ve got some solid mind-reading effects at your disposal) with a very real hook . . . emotions. One nal thing: In each of the above scenarios I simply stated “Perform Ashes on the Arm.” Let me clarify that. Once you’ve

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stated that burning the paper is the physical version of the emotions that have been burned into his Heart (mind, soul, etc.), you burn the paper and allow the ashes to form in whatever handy receptacle you have (e.g., plate, bowl, ashtray, etc.). Then proceed as follows: [Roll up your sleeve that is covering the prepared arm.] Mage: “These ashes are a physical reminder of the burned paper that

once existed. The ashes remind us of the burn. The burning of the paper was something physical that was symbolic of something not physical, but emotional. Like the burning of the paper, this person is burned into your Heart (soul, essence, being, etc.).” [As you’re talking, you’re touching and gesturing toward the ashes. You then pick up some of the ashes.] Mage: “As I mentioned before, sometimes these abstract feelings

[gesture toward the ashes in your hand.] can be pushed into the real world and become physical.” [Rub the ashes over the prepared part of your arm and allow the name to reveal itself.] Mage: “Your strong feelings toward Jeannie have not only been

burned into your being, but now they’ve been burned into me [gesture toward your arm] and now we’re connected . . . Spooky Action at a Distance.” Whew! If that doesn’t astonish, nothing will! Post Effect Palaver

If you were watching closely, you’ll have hopefully noticed 2 key points. First, once the spectator speaks the prepared name, I never say the name. I always refer to her as “This Person” until after I’ve revealed her name on my arm. Throughout the presen-

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tation I’m asking the spectator to think of this person. I’m hoping to create the false memory that he never told me her name. Of course, if he remembers that he told me the name, it’s no big deal. The moment of wonder is still very powerful. However for that small handful of people who forget that they told me, the wonder is even deeper. The other thing that you may have noticed is that pretty soon after the name is mentioned, I start trying to use the word “burn.” The intent here of course is to create a logical leap from burning feelings or impressions burned into the soul to burning a piece of paper. Just note that none of this was incidental. The above script is very much planned and calculated. Yet, as you know, it must be delivered as if it were completely unrehearsed if you want to create a true moment of wonder. Where is the Magic?

We’ve never met; you mention the love of your life and burnt ash forms her name across my forearm. The passions of love and hate and people and relationships, Love that is lost; love that is found . . . Where is the magic? It’s found in the connections between our audience and their loved ones.

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Everything Fades H

There is a wonderfully beautiful routine by a Japanese magician named Tomoyuki Takahashi that Eugene Burger and Larry Hass (and likely others) are known for teaching and lecturing about. The effect is called Fading Coin. The basic effect is that three imaginary coins are placed on the table and whichever coin the spectator pretends to pick up is pretend-placed in the magician’s hand where it becomes a real dime (or whatever coin the spectator chooses). The effect and method both are truly beautiful. I love the effect and have performed it on occasion. The concept - mostly the method - was what really spoke to me. Frankly, it’s nothing really new. Essentially it’s just a multiple out for the method, but it was just used in such a way that it really “speaks” to those performers who “get” it. I decided to play around with applying the method to a different (but similar) effect. The main difference is that this new version has a lot more potential for many more audience members to be involved. It also lends itself to some cold reading moments and some pretty sweet psychic moments. But . . . my favorite part about this new version is that it’s not limited to coins. It’s pretty much anything you want it to be. So imagine this: You ask the audience to name (no force) three small objects. Let’s say they name a paper clip, a button and a key.

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You then ask them to pretend to place one of these three (no force) imaginary objects (let’s say key) into your empty hand. After a few moments of squeezing the invisible object and just as the vein in the center of your forehead is about to burst, you breathe again. You open your once empty hand and reveal a small key in your hand. Their imagination has become real. That’s the effect I wanted. And what you’re about to read is just about as close to that as you can get. In fact, very often, the effect is exactly what you just read. Basic, Basic, Basic Method

The method for fading coin which will be applied to our new version is simply this. You start by secretly nger palming a nickel and a dime. You then tell the spectator that there is an invisible dime, nickel and quarter on the table. You ask them to pretend to pick one up. If they choose the quarter (the one you don’t have palmed) then you have them squeeze it in their hand while you squeeze your two hands (each with a secretly palmed coin). Before squeezing your hands, you pretend to pick up the remaining coins, one in each hand. After squeezing the imaginary coins in your hand, you open your hands to reveal that you materialized the two coins they left on the table. Or The other possibility is that they pretend to pick up one of the coins you have nger palmed. In that case, you ask them to place the coin in your hand. You hold your hand out (whichever one that is concealing the real coin that matches their imaginary coin) while keeping the coin in nger palm. Using the Ramsay Subtlety your hand appears empty as they place the imaginary coin in your hand. Of course, you then squeeze, grunt, burst your vein and “materialize” the imaginary coin they placed in your hand. That’s the very basic stripped down method.

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So how do you do that with any named object? I surveyed some friends, both magi and non-magi. I asked them (in a variety of ways) to name three small objects that would t into a coin purse (I showed them the coin purse in the image below). I also told them not to name a coin. I got a lot of different answers, but the three most common answers I got were key, button, and ring. Paperclip was another fairly common one. It’s all in the scripting which I’ll cover in a moment.

Just for a moment, imagine that you could guarantee that at least two of the objects from that list will always be named. Let’s say that the two objects will always be a button and a paperclip. If you carry those two objects with you (one in each pocket) you’ll be able to perform a miracle. Again, we’ll cover the scripting in a moment, but for now, if they name a paperclip, a button, and any other object, you’re set. Remember, with the coin version of the effect, you never have the quarter, just the other two coins. Thus, you would have the button nger palmed in one hand and the paperclip nger palmed in the other hand.

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You have the spectator name any three objects (again, how to inuence this is coming up in a moment). When they name the three objects, you ask them to place them invisibly on the table. Then ask them to select one. If they select one of the two items in one of your hands, then you materialize the named object. If they name the third object that you are not palming, then of course, you’ll have them pick up the imaginary object while you pretend to pick up the paperclip and button. You then materialize the “two objects left on the table.” Let’s examine the ways we can increase our “hit” odds. First there are verbal methods, and secondly there are physical methods. Physical rst: if you want to carry 3 or four objects around, you can increase your odds. Let’s say you have a button, paperclip, ring and a key. While your spectator is naming the objects and pretending to place them on the table, you can steal out two of the objects . . . one in each hand in nger palm position. Having a couple of extra items increases your odds. However, I don’t recommend this method. It’s too much stuff to carry around. What follows is the script that I prefer. As you read it, you’ll realize that the odds of them naming the two objects are highly in your favor. Briey, however, before I get to the script, keep in mind that I did my research here in Utah. You may nd that where you live and/or perform, the most commonly named objects are different from mine. What I recommend is that you do what I did. You survey people. Survey people using basically the same script (shown below) that you would use in performance. After you read the script, we’ll go over how to use it as a survey.

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The Script

“I’d like to do an experiment in imagination . . . that place where reality and fantasy often mix. I’m sure you’ve all seen those little squeeze coin purses that people often get as souvenirs. “I want you to imagine that I’m holding one right now and that it contains three small objects. However, lest you think I’m trying to inuence you by mentioning a coin purse, let’s imagine that the items are NOT coins. Rather, they are other small objects such as a key, a ring, a small sewing needle . . . something along those lines or something that you might nd on your desk. Also, these are not bizarre items, but rather, three plain ordinary items that are very common. “I want you to imagine what you think those three items are. Now please name aloud what the three items are that you are thinking of. And would you imagine that you are placing those three items on the table right here in front of us.” That’s the basic script. Modify it for your taste, but you can see that I openly eliminate coins by telling them that they are not coins. I then subtly eliminate a couple of the common items (e.g., ring and key) by naming them. Then I subtly point them (pun fully intended) in the direction of a button by mentioning a sewing needle. It’s very likely that nobody would name a needle in the rst place. However, this gets their head thinking about sewing stuff: buttons, thimbles, etc. I also mention stuff “you might nd on your desk.” Again, this is another ploy to inuence them. Paperclips are found on desks; everyone has seen them; they’re common objects. The hope is that this basic script will inuence them to think of the two target objects. However, do not fret if they don’t think of them. We still have options. First, you could just stop after they name the objects and tongue-in-cheek tell them that they’re wrong and a make a joke

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out of it. Remember their answers. You may get them again. You’ve added their answers to your survey data. But if you don’t want to cast it aside like that, then you have to be a little bit more prepared. You’ll need to have some pens and paper handy for one of the solutions. As soon as the person names the three objects and none of them match the two palmed objects, you immediately have the person write down the two objects, one on each billet (i.e., sheet of paper torn from a small notepad). Then direct your attention to another member of the audience and ask them to name two more objects and write them down. Continue until you have the items you need. At this point, rather than trying to get both nger palmed objects named, you only need to get one of them named. You’ll then take back all of the “billets” and place them on the table and have another person (one who was not involved in naming the objects) help you. You will, of course, use Equivoque to arrive at the object that you are nger palming. You then materialize that object. Before you break out the paper and pens, if the spectator names only one of the two secret objects, you won’t need the paper. So for example, let’s say you’re nger palming a button in your left hand and a paperclip in your right. The ideal is that they name three objects, two of which are a button and paperclip. However, let’s imagine that they name a button, an eraser, and thimble. You don’t have an eraser or a thimble, but you do have a button. At that point, just use Equivoque to force the button, no need to have them write anything down. So as you can see, it’s very unlikely that you’ll ever have to use the paper when you take into account the proper scripting and the fact that they need only name one of your secret objects. Another option you can do if they only name one of the objects is a bit stranger, but I think it will appeal to some of you. Let’s go

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with the same set up (nger palmed button and paperclip; audience names button, eraser & thimble). The moment you know that the paperclip was not in play, secretly ditch it in your pocket or lap. Let’s say it was in your left hand. After you’ve ditched it, you now have an empty left hand and a button secretly nger palmed in the right hand. With the right hand, pretend to pick up the eraser and announce that you have the eraser. Pretend to place it in your left hand and squeeze . . . open your hand and say “Nothing! Let me try it with the thimble.” You then pick up the imaginary thimble with your right hand and place it in your left hand and squeeze. Again, you open it and exclaim your frustration that nothing has happened. Of course the audience is wondering what you’re talking about. You then explain that sometimes your imagination is so good that you can actually cause any named item to materialize (much like Green Lantern). While you’re pretending to squeeze the thimble, you’ve secretly let the button fall to your ngertips. You then pretend to pick up the button with your right hand and place it in your left hand. Of course this time you really place it in your hand. During this procedure be sure to not reveal that you really do have a button and that you really did put it in your left hand. You’ve tried and failed twice, and then explained to your audience what you were trying to do. They, likely think that you’re messing with them at this point. You suddenly have a look of shock on your face as you claim that you think it worked that you feel something in your hand. You open it to show that it really worked. The entire preceding section of this effect was all geared toward an approach where you go into it hoping that they’ll name at least one of the 2 (or more) objects that you have in your pockets. If you don’t get a hit, you go for the notepad out.

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However, there is another approach that has a totally different feel to it that starts differently and you don’t go into it hoping that the spectator names the two objects. Rather, you get the entire audience involved. In this variation, you start off by setting the premise about imagination as in the previous version. Then rather than have one person name a few objects, you have everyone in the audience think of (not name) an object. You’ll still want to script it as before in an attempt to narrow it to your 2 target objects. However, this time you’ve got the entire room thinking of an object. The odds of someone thinking of your target objects are very much in your favor. Here’s how you play it: “I’m getting the sense that someone is thinking of a small button. Is that correct? I’m also picking up a key over here in this part of the room. I think I can also see a paperclip, an eraser . . . “ Just name 3 or 4 items, making sure that two of them are your target items. As you claim to be sensing that someone is thinking of this or that object, you invite those spectators to acknowledge that they thought of it. You can even give each one a brief reading if you’re a cold reading kinda guy – I’m not. Have them stand up. Then you claim that since you were able to pick up on their thoughts, they must have a very strong imagination and that you want to take it to the next level. Let’s say you’ve got four people standing. They each thought of one object (paperclip, button, eraser and key). Button and paperclip are your target items. The idea is to use one of the nontarget people to select one of the three objects from the other three volunteers. So you ask either the eraser guy or the key guy to name one of the other three objects (not his own object). Then you perform it just like before. If they name the non-tar-

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get object you have them imagine that they’re holding it while you imagine holding the two target items (button and paperclip) and materialize them. There are dozens of other ways to end this version. For example you could ask the four volunteers to decide amongst them who has the strongest imagination (or ask the entire audience to choose one of the four and agree on it). If the person they decide on is one of the target items, then just materialize his item and be done. If the person they pick is one of the non-target people you then say that you’ll use him to help you with his strong imagination. Then you perform it as before (like the original with the coins) but when you materialize the object(s), you give him all the credit. The wording might go like this: “Since you have the strongest imagination, I’ll need to have you help me out. Of the three people standing, which person would you like to use?” If he says the non-target person, then you say something like: “Ok, ma’am he chose you. What object are you imagining? The eraser? Ok. Hold onto it tightly in your hand. Now you sir (addressing the guy who chose her), I want you to reach over and grab the imaginary objects from the other two and place one in each of my hands.” Make sure he puts the imaginary button in the hand that is holding the real button, etc. “Now you’ve placed an imaginary button in this hand and an imaginary paperclip in this hand. I want you to place your hands over my closed hands and imagine that these objects are real . . .” You get the idea. You then reveal that the objects have materialized. Remember what the effect is. In the mind of the audience

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and what they’ll remember when they go home is that you had the whole room think of anything they wanted. Then the audience chose one person to be the spokesperson. The spokesperson then helped you materialize one (or two) of the objects that the audience was thinking of. Deep breath folks . . . that’s wonder. Post Effect Palaver

I mentioned earlier that you could have four objects in your pocket to up your odds of getting two hits. That’s ne, but consider this problem. Let’s say you have a die (singular of dice) and a key in your left pants pocket. In your right pants pocket you have a paperclip and a button. If they name a die and a key, those objects are both in your left pants pocket. You have to secretly get them out of your pocket and get one of them nger-palmed into your right hand. Whereas when you use only two objects, you can start well in advance with one palmed in each hand. However, you could have the two most common objects in your pocket (one in each pocket) and then each arm prepared for ashes on arm for the next most popular items (say a key on one arm and die on the other). The cool thing about this (ashes on arm prep) is that if all three objects named are targets, then you can build to a beautiful ending. You can start by causing the name of one (or two – depending on what objects they name) of the objects to appear on your arm (using ashes or coffee grounds). Then you can “take it a step further” as they say, and materialize one of the objects. Of course if they only name objects that are on your arm and not hidden in your hand, then I would just force one of the items and reveal it on my arm. The effect then changes and becomes . . . “I thought of any word I wanted and it appeared written on his arm.”

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Where is The Magic?

Stop and think for just a moment . . . what is the effect? Any object named materializes. Ok, you don’t even have to use a fancy word like materialize for this to be amazing. How ‘bout this: he showed his hand empty. I named any object. When he reopened his hand, the object was there. When this is done correctly, everything feels very fair . . . that’s because it basically is fair. They truly can name any object; you just say a few things here and there to subconsciously inuence the choice that they want to have. Further you add to the impossibility by having multiple outs. All this comes together and creates a powerful effect. Where is the magic? It’s found in that beautiful moment when the spectator KNOWS that she had a free choice of any object in the world, yet somehow that one object is the only thing found in your hand. That’s about as pure of a moment of wonder as you can get.

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Don’t Try This At Home H

Remember as you read this book that I’m trying to inspire you to focus on effect, the moment of magic that the audience mem ber feels. This one is very much about the effect. Once you’ve read that (the effect), I’ll offer several possible methods, but the bottom line is that this has the potential to be a reputation making miracle if done correctly. Imagine This Effect:

I’m on the street killin’ peeps with my coin through nipple routine. Once the ladies stop screaming, I ask one of them to write there address on a sealed envelope which I immediately stick in the mail box right in front of them. I then say something like this: “It’s weird that we met right here at this exact time because I had a dream (or some other word – premonition, vision, etc.) about meeting someone matching your description. We met on the corner of Vine and State Street at 12:15. Also I asked the person in my dream to name three random items. So, here we are at the corner of Vine and State and it’s 12:15, so I guess you’re supposed to name three random items out loud.” She says, “Dental Floss, Burmese Python and Lizard Lips” I say, “Man . . . that is sooooooo weird. Those are the exact three things you named in my dream. I know you probably don’t

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believe me, but the proof is already in the mail. That letter I just sent is a letter I wrote to you last night.” 3 days later, she opens a letter that says: Dear Jessica, My name is Jeff Stone. I know we haven’t met yet, but we will tomorrow. Currently It’s 2:30 in the morning July 29, 2013, and I just woke up from the most vivid dream I’ve ever had in my life. I was standing on the corner of Vine and State Street in Salt Lake City. I happened to glance at my watch and it said “12:15 July 29th.” That’s tomorrow afternoon (technically later on today). I plan on being there to see if there’s any truth to the dream. According to my dream, you’re about 5’2” with medium cut red-hair, and you will be wearing a blue T-Shirt from Coy Clothes with a patch about bacon on the chest. The weird part was that for no apparent reason, you randomly said “Dental Floss.” It was one of those bizarre dream moments where it seemed to make sense in the dream world. It was like you were trying to tell me something. Then to further clarify you said something about a “Burmese Python” and “Lizard Lips.” It all meant something to me in the dream, but when I woke up, it was gone. I didn’t have a chance to ask for your address, so I can’t mail this letter until we meet - if we meet. When/if we meet I will ask for your address and I will mail the letter right in front of you before you have a chance to say anything else. Of course by the time you read this, we will have already met, and hopefully this letter will make some sense to you. I also will have probably introduced myself as a magician. If you are impressed by this letter, then please contact me at . Sincerely, Jeff Stone Pretty snazzy if I do say so myself. This is straight out of my brainstorming journal. Before I divulge the method, let me have

Don’t Try This at Home

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you read the exact original journal entry below. It’ll give the basic method, but I want you to see how the idea evolved. So here’s the journal entry. Work out a card trick (or any kind of trick) centered around being on the streets and mailing something to someone. – Maybe a two card transpo. Using OTL you can mail envelope rst . . . then have something selected . . . then later mail the real envelope with real object. Open by saying . . . this trick will take a week. It could be a card you openly put in the envelope. It could be anything you borrow and vanish. A signed bill . . . they key is to mail envelope rst. Then really emphasize the fact that they chose their object after mailing the envelope. Write a letter with it in “future” tense. Because, remember, you supposedly wrote the letter before meeting them. Also, make sure they note the date (postmark). In fact, hand out a card on the spot w/ all the information for them to think about while they wait for the envelope. The possibilities are endless. • Psychic Readings • Describe Scenery • Clothing • Personal info • “Accidentally miss on a couple” So that’s the original entry. The opening description was from an email I sent to Jay Sankey to get his feedback on the idea over seven years ago. As I wrote the email to him, several components of the presentation (particularly the letter to the spectator) came to me on the spot while writing the email. This is another reason that I’m a huge advocate of writing things down. As you write them, they become clearer and the gods of creativity visit your pen.

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What is the Effect?

The effect is simply that you meet someone on the street. Somehow you convince them to write their mailing address on an envelope. You mail it right in front of them. Then you do some sort of trick (more on the trick later). All during the trick you emphasize the fact that they’ve already mailed the letter to themselves before even starting the trick. I should point out that wherever you are performing this effect, it needs to be near a mailbox, obviously. A few days later in the mail, they get the letter in the envelope with their address with their handwriting. They open it, and it’s a prediction that was written before the trick even started and was mailed to them before the trick started. So the downer is that you’re not there to see the look of wonder on their faces. The upper is that it’s a freakin’ miracle. So What’s The Point

Well it could be many things. The sort of altruistic approach would be that you’re simply blessing their life with a moment of wonder . . . a thing of beauty, and you selessly gave it to them where they could experience it by themselves in the privacy of their own home. Another “angle” could be to include your business card and a note (see the opening presentation listed above) to get them to call you back for a paying gig. If you want to get a bit crazy and stalker-ish, maybe you know someone who is an event planner or a solid contact that you need to land a particular gig. Maybe you know what ofce she works in. Maybe you know that she always walks past a certain street corner every day on the way home or at lunch . . . Bring along a couple of magi friends one day and “stage” a performance. Have your magi buds be your stooged audience and try to draw her in. You could even go as far as talking to someone else who works where she works and get them to help out. Maybe


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this co-worker could plant the seed that they should go check out the magician that performs on the street there on occasion. Bottom line, work out a way that ts you to get her to your “show” out on the street. Then get her to write her work mailing address on the envelope. Mail it. Do the trick, etc. Within the next day or so when the letter arrives, it will contain a very specic letter that details the events that happened when you met (as if they had not happened yet). Plus one additional thing, something like: “. . . not only did you say those weird random words in my dream, but you also mentioned (in my dream) something about being an event planner. Maybe that’s why I had the dream in the rst place. I am, after all, a psychic entertainer. This wouldn’t be the rst time I booked a show through a dream. So if you’re impressed by this letter, give me a call and I’ll make sure your upcoming events are as astonishing as this letter is.” So how does it work?

The basic concept is that the spectator thinks you mailed the envelope that they wrote on, but you really switch it and mail a letter that is addressed to yourself. You then (later when they’ve all gone home), write the letter that talks about the dream, etc. and put it in the envelope that the spectator actually wrote on. Then you mail it. In a few days, they’ll get the very envelope that they addressed, and you’ll get an empty envelope that you sent to yourself. So the question is, how do you do the switch? How Do You Switch?

I’ve got several methods to solve this problem. I’ll share a few below. Most of the methods are ones I’ve experimented with, but let me rst make it clear that I’ve never actually performed this for a real person. It’s all very theoretical, yet at the same time, I think it’s very doable.

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Method 1 – Tricky Stamp

One idea I had was to have some sort of easy to remove stamp. Then as I drop the envelope in the mailbox, I can just ick the stamp off quickly and secretly. Then later that day (after I’ve written the letter), I can hang out and wait for the mailman to show up and tell him that I accidentally dropped a letter in without a stamp. Have him open the box and give you the envelope. Then quickly slip the letter in and seal it and add a stamp. In this scenario, you’re actually placing the envelope from spectator in the mailbox rather than switching it for a self-addressed envelope. Method 2 – Out To Lunch (OTL)

The original method I came up with was to use some form of the OTL principle. Take a look at the pictures from my journal below. In the rst image is a stack with two rubber bands. The lowermost band has the OTL principle set up. In the second image, the OTL principle would be done at one of the corners. I’ve only briey played with this second idea. Basically, I would have them write their message on the top envelope; then using the OTL principle, I would grab the envelope behind theirs, but it would look like I grabbed theirs.


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The problem with this basic method is that in order to t the OTL stack, you have to fold the envelope that’s going to eventually arrive at their home. Then when they receive it, it’s not as clean of an effect. The best version of the OTL principle that I’ve gured out for this is to use two different sizes of envelopes. Buy two boxes of envelopes. Make sure that one set is about an inch longer than the other set, but they’re all the same width. If you can’t nd this, it’s ok. You can just make a bunch of envelopes that are longer than the “short set.” The spectator will never handle the longer envelopes so they can be homemade. So here’s the idea: make a stack of 10 or so envelopes (the long ones). Then on top of that, place the short envelope. Cover the fact that there is a short envelope on top of the long envelopes with a rubber band (a la OTL). Once they ll out the address, grab the envelope beneath the one they lled out (apparently the actual lled out envelope). Begin to pull it out in front of them while standing next to the

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mailbox. Then turn the stack over in as you reach for the mail box lid. Continue pulling the envelope out (while upside down) and place it in the mail box. Of course, you may see the inherent aw in this method . . . if you truly had the dream the night before, why would you have a stack of envelopes with you? Wouldn’t you just have the letter that you wrote and that’s it? Method 3 – Top Change

If you don’t mind having to justify the stack of envelopes – maybe you mention that in your dream you were holding a stack of envelopes – then you can simply do a top change. It might go like this: Have them ll out the address on the envelope. Remove it from the pile and place it to the back of the pile with the opening side up. While it’s on the stack, insert a folded up letter (it doesn’t matter what’s written on it – as long as the paper looks like the paper the spectator will eventually get in the mail) into the envelope. After placing the letter, lift the whole stack to your mouth to lick (or apparently lick) and seal the envelope. Then remove the envelope from the stack (writing side down) with your right hand while the left hand holds the stack in a sort of dealing grip. With the right hand, lift the envelope up briey showing the face (writing) of the envelope to the spectator. Don’t make a big deal of this. It’s just a sort of gesture. Then bring it back down and in the act of gesturing with the envelope toward the mailbox, do a top change as you ask her to open the mailbox. Method 4 – Cahoots

I happen to have a friend who’s a mailman. I asked him if it’s legal and/or appropriate to ask a mailman to remove a letter from the mailbox. He said that it was ne. So one option (which is what I would do if I ever do this effect) is to actually have the spectator


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write the info on the letter and have her stick it in the mailbox. I would already have the letter (actually just a fake letter) sealed in the envelope. I would then have her write her address on it and have her put it in the mailbox. Then I’d have the mailman grab the letter for me when he did the pick-up that day. I would make sure that the envelope I used was bright or colorful or something so that he can easily nd it in the pile. I would make sure we met somewhere else on his route at a certain time. I would then get the letter from him, take it home, steam it open and put the real letter in the envelope and drop it back in a mailbox. The question is can you schmooze the mailman. I would just pick a mailbox and hang out there around pick-up time. Then just stand there hanging out ddling with my cards or something and just try to strike up a conversation with the mailman. Then you could strike up a conversation with him and explain to him that you’re a magician (maybe you’ve already shown him a trick or two) and explain that you need his help with a trick. Then on the day that you’re going to perform it, get in touch with him ahead of time to let him know that there will be a purple envelope with your return address on it. Have him grab it and meet you somewhere so you can get it from him. Method 5 – Nest of envelopes

This method has its virtues, but there will be a problem with the postmark date. The idea would be to secretly slip the spectator’s envelope into another envelope that is addressed to yourself. Then the next day or so, you’ll get it. Open the outer envelope. Then carefully steam open the inner envelope and put the real letter in it and mail it again. Instead of another envelope, you could have a repositionable sticker palmed in your right hand (sticky side out). The sticker would have your mailing address on it. The spectator then writes

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her address on the envelope. As you go to put it in the mail box, you secretly add the palmed sticker to the envelope directly over her address. The letter will arrive at your place in a day or so. Remove the label; unseal the envelope (steam) and add the correct letter and re-mail it. Method 6 – The Crazy Way

Here’s a list of crazy ideas that just won’t work (I don’t think), but they popped into my head as I was brainstorming this effect, so I thought I’d include them for fun: • Have some sort of string secretly attached to the mailbox way ahead of time. The other end of the string has something like wax or tape on it. This is all set up way ahead of time. As you put the envelope in the mailbox, quickly grab the other end of the string and stick it to the envelope. Then drop the letter in the mail box. After the effect is done, you quickly go over to the mailbox (when the spectator leaves), and use the string to pull the envelope out of the mailbox. • Come up with some sort of contraption that catches the letter inside the door so you can retrieve it later (yeah right . . . I have no idea what this is, but it popped into my head – It’s probably illegal). • This next idea is probably the most doable. The doors on most public mail boxes pull down. Maybe ahead of time, you’ve stuck some magician’s wax or other sticky substance (double stick tape, etc.) on the inside of the door. Then as you place the letter in the box, you open the door and press the envelope onto the sticky stuff and shut the door. Moments after the trick is over and the spectator is gone, go to the mail box and remove the letter from the inside of the lid.


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• Frixion – I wonder if the spectator used a Frixion pen to ll out the info if you could have some sort of hidden heat source to cause the ink to vanish before placing it in the mail box. Maybe the surface of the mailbox itself would be hot enough on a summer day. Merely holding the envelope on the hot surface for a moment might cause the ink to vanish. By the way, if you don’t know what I’m talking about regarding Frixion, you must pick up my DVD, Stone Frixion Fire. If the ink vanishes and you drop it in the mail box, then you’re back to asking the mail man to dig out a letter for you because you “forgot to address it.” Of course, when you get home, re open the envelope and insert the letter. Reseal it. Then put the envelope in the freezer to cause the ink to reappear. • Carbon paper – if you were using OTL and some carbon paper, you could have the carbon paper between the top and second envelope. Then when you removed the second envelope, it would have the handwriting of the spectator on it, so you could briey ash it as it’s placed in the mailbox. Just make sure that this one has no stamp so it doesn’t actually get mailed to the spectator . . . frankly I wouldn’t risk this method (if it’ll even work) because the mail man might accidentally mail it without the stamp or be a nice guy and add a stamp or something like that. I’m sure there are a thousand other ways that others will come up with as well. But I’m tapped. Here are a few other quick points to keep in mind, however. You will either be switching the envelope (and thus dropping a dummy envelope in the mail box) or actually putting the real envelope in the mailbox (and thus retrieving it later, somehow).

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In the case where you put a dummy letter in the mail box, use an envelope that is addressed to yourself. That way the letter just comes to you, and you can throw it out when you get it. Some of the methods involve having the envelope already sealed; while others have you sealing it up in their presence. In either case, you’ll need to “unseal” it later. For that you can either steam it open or you can treat the envelope ap and the part of the envelope where it contacts the ap with rubber cement. Just a light coat on both parts is all you need. They’ll stick to each other just ne. Then you can easily peel them apart later. After peeling them apart, you can remove the rubber cement by rubbing your nger back and forth over it. Discard any glue boogers that may form on your ngers and just wet the envelope seal (after you put the letter in it) with a wet sponge or something and reseal it. In all cases, there should be a letter in the envelope that the spectator sees or at least feels through the envelope that is placed in the mailbox. After all, that is the premise . . . that you wrote a letter the night before. The Letter

Let me just mention a few points about the letter you write. First, you must remember that in the mind of the spectator, you wrote the letter the night before (or two days before, or whatever). So you must write it in future tense. Imagine that you just woke up from actually having the dream. You would speak of the dream itself in the past tense, but you would speak of meeting the person in real life as if it hasn’t happened yet. Of course, the reality is that when you write the letter, you’ll be writing it moments after you randomly choose some spectator to perform this for. Write the letter as quickly as possible after the effect happens. Capture as many details as you can. Use the sample letter I wrote earlier in the description as a guide.


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Also, you’ll note that in the letter, I mention something along the lines of “if this letter impressed you, call me.” I chose that wording because it takes the sting off of the effect a little bit. Think of how powerful this effect really is . . . so mentioning that she might be “impressed” by the letter helps to sort of hint at the fact that it was some sort of illusion/effect/etc. and that I’m willing to astonish her audience, family, friends, etc. as powerfully as this letter astonished her. Pulling it all Together

There are a lot of pieces to this effect, so let me sum up (in super brief bullet points) what happens from the spectator’s perspective. Then I’ll sum up what goes on from your perspective. Spectator’s perspective

• She was told that you dreamt about meeting her. • She writes her mailing address on a sealed envelope that is mailed. • She participates in a trick. • You write down a small note on your business card as a reminder of the trick that happened and give it to her. • She leaves. • Three-ish days later she receives the letter that she addressed. • It contains a prediction of what happened. • She compares the prediction with the business card you gave her. It matches. • She calls you for a date or for another gig

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What you do

• Choose your switching method for the envelope. • Write a phony letter and put it in an envelope. • Convince a spectator to write her mailing address on the envelope. • Put it in the mailbox (or do some sort of switch). • Perform a trick (more on that in a moment). • Write down the results (more in a moment) on a business card for her. • When she leaves, get her envelope back from the mailbox (or your pocket if you used a switch). • Quickly scribble some notes about the trick and the environment on a scratch piece of paper. • Get to a place (likely home) where you can use the steam from a teapot to open the envelope. • Write the prediction letter and put it in the envelope and reseal it. • Drop it in the mail. • Wait for your phone call. Effects

There are many effects that you can do with this. I kind of like the basic presentation that I outlined where you claim you had a dream about a certain time, place and person, and the person said some strange random words, etc. However, as my roughly sketched out journal entry points out, you could borrow an object and vanish it only to reappear in an envelope that they themselves mailed to themselves before they even loaned the object to you. Of course, with this approach,


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don’t borrow anything of real value. Borrow a quarter that they mark up. Have them sign a playing card. Have them sign a business card. Whatever it is you borrow, you have to keep until you can secretly mail it to her. She’s not going to let you walk away right after you’ve made wedding ring vanish. Convincing:

Obviously, it’ll take some convincing to get a total stranger to write down her mailing address in your presence. So this effect may work best with a coworker that you know really well. In that case, however, the effect is a bit different. It’s more about creating a moment that you’ll be able share with her a few days later at work once she’s received the letter. Of course, the letter will be slightly different. You may still consider using the dream premise, but you’ll leave out all the parts about “maybe we’ll meet in the future,” etc. because you already know her. When you’re doing this for the event planner that you’ve “stalked” for a few days, she’ll likely be willing to give you her work address at least. Additionally, you could just call an event planner over the phone and tell her that you’re a magician and that you need just 10 minutes of her time on X date at X time. Ask her to meet you at such and such place (somewhere that has a public mailbox). Tell her to bring a friend or two. This will ease her mind so that she knows you’re not some weirdo trying to lure into your Johnny Depp Themed Cave O’ Lust. Additionally having a couple of people there will help create a good environment for a mini show. When they all get there thank them for coming. Perform a couple of effects (super strong). Then apologize to the event planner and say, I have to confess that the reason I called you is because the other night I was drifting in an out of sleep and suddenly I woke up in a cold sweat and there was a phone number in my head. It was

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999-999-9999 (or whatever her number is). So the next morning I nally had the guts to call it. The fact that you were an event planner was kind of freaky since I’m an entertainer. That might be why I sounded a little funny on the phone the other day. I didn’t know who I was calling, and when you said you were an event planner, I was kind of shocked. Anyway, I wrote down the number, and I fell back asleep. Then I woke up again with a name in my head. It was Anna (or whatever her name is). Imagine my surprise when I called that number and asked for Anna, and you existed. I was a little freaked out, but I was awake enough to write everything down. The other weird thing was that a couple of random words (or the name of a card, etc.) jumped in my mind . . . A Pain-Free-But-Less-Impressive Variation

You could, of course, just seal up a letter that predicts something that you are going to force . . . a playing card, a year, one object of several choices, etc. The advantage of this is that you can hand the envelope to the spectator and have her write her address on it and mail it. There is no need for switches, extra envelopes, etc. She can even write her address secretly without you knowing what it is. Of course this makes it a bit easier for her to be willing to write her address on the envelope. The downside to this is that you can’t be as specic as the other versions. In other words, if you’re doing it this way, you can’t start the letter off by saying “Dear Lisa” or whatever because you won’t know her name until well after you’ve written the letter. You also can’t describe anything specic about the event other than maybe the location or approximate time of day. Whereas the other versions allow you to be as specic as you want because you write the predication after you’ve discovered the information. It’s a matter of style, personality, and how many bean burritos your Chihuahua had for breakfast.


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Post Effect Palaver

You may be wondering why bother with mailing the letter. From the audience member’s perspective, why not just open the envelope right after the effect is over. It’s a good question. In my opinion this is much better theatrically. Your attitude to the spectator (not your words) needs to be that you can’t show them the prediction before the trick because then it will inuence their behavior. You can’t show them right after the effect because you might somehow sneak the information into the envelope. So the best way to protect the prediction from tampering is to isolate it somewhere until the effect is over . . . What better place to isolate it than the United States Government. It’s in the mailbox . . . the ultimate safe-haven. Additionally, I think that theatrically, the build-up and anticipation of waiting for the letter is suspenseful. They have your business card with the three random words (or the name of the card, etc.) written on it. They’ll keep a death grip on that card until the letter comes in the mail so they can compare it. Also, I really like the intimacy of the spectator being alone in her home opening this bizarre letter with nobody else there. She alone experiences the moment of wonder . . . nobody else. It’s a very private and special (even sacred) moment for the spectator. The key to selling this is to make absolutely clear that the letter was mailed before you did anything. Make sure you sell the fact that the letter is clearly in the mailbox long before you perform the effect. As mentioned, this can be used just as a beautiful way to create an intimate private solitary moment of wonder for the spectator. It can additionally be used on a specic person that you target to get booked for a gig or at least to get some top-of-mind awareness for the event planner. It can be used as a marketing tool in general for the single random spectator.

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Furthermore, this could be a publicity stunt. Make a big deal about the whole thing. Do the effect on a news reporter. Have her bring the camera crew and lm the envelope being placed in the mailbox. Film the effect where she names three random things (or whatever effect). Then have her work it out so that the camera crew is at her home a few days later when the letter comes. Film her opening and reading the letter . . . lm her reaction, etc. Those guys are pros. They’ll know what to lm and how to cut it together to get the message across. This could be a beautiful piece of television and publicity plus something for your personal video archives to use for promotional material on your site, etc. If you go this publicity route, I would suggest that you work with a partner. Have the partner do all the dirty work of retrieving the letter from the mailman (or whatever method). That way, you’ll never be caught near the mailbox doing anything sneaky. Have the mailman meet your accomplice somewhere to get the letter. Or use one of the methods where the envelope ends up coming to you (e.g., the palmed label method). You’d have to denitely go out of your way to make sure that everything was above suspicion. As far as an accomplice goes, you may want to consider using an accomplice even for the nonpublic version. Alright . . . I’ve gone on long enough. Even if you never do this effect . . . even if you think it’s a bad idea . . . at least, recognize the value of honoring an idea. What started as a rough sketch of an idea has developed into a huge entry in this book with several ideas and concepts that would have never been explored (by me) had I not made a point of capturing the original idea. Honor your ideas . . . their existence is a source of wonder. Where is The Magic?

Honoring your ideas is magical. Letting them develop themselves is magical. But more magical than that is a dream that


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comes true. Think of this crazy effect. If it were real, it would be like this: You wake up from a dream about meeting someone later today at a certain time and place. You write down all of the details of the dream. Then you go to the place at the time, and lo and behold, the person from your dream shows up. You mail the letter to her in her presence. Then you tell her everything that happened that you wrote in the letter. A few days later, she gets the letter and everything is legitimate. Where is the magic? I think I just told you.

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Ode to Charlie H

Like Don’t Try This At Home, this is a beautiful moment that happens when you’re not around. However, you might get lucky and experience it from a distance. This was a favorite of mine when I worked as a cook at Denny’s (no not the magic shop . . . the home of The Super Bird®). The effect is about as stupid simple as it gets (and so is the method). Per-Faux-Mance

Jeff comes out of the kitchen all greasy and sweaty from the 2:00 AM the-bars-just-closed-so-let’s-all-go-to-Denny’s rush. One of the waitresses, in a gesture of appreciation, gives him a little peck on the check and a shiny half-dollar. “Gee Thanks,” thinks Jeff as she walks away. “Hey patronizing waitress,” Jeff Continues. She responds by returning to him. He then stands directly in front of her and clearly shows his newly acquired treasure (i.e., the shiny tip she just gave him) in his hand. He then closes his hand as he says, “thank you but I want you to keep this.” He looks her straight in the eye as if to say, “I’d rather have another one of those peck-on-the-cheek things than this coin.” Nevertheless, he opens his hand and clearly shows that the coin has vanished. Both hands are empty. In fact, he could be strip-

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searched by the entire staff of the Utah State Prison and the coin would be nowhere to be found. He knows . . . it happened once. After the prison staff leaves, he reassures the waitress, “The coin . . . er . . . um . . . wonderful treasure . . . is not gone. It’s just waiting . . . waiting for the right moment. When you need it, it will appear out of thin air. When it does, you will faint, and give me another peck when you awaken.” She leaves. Jeff continues to slave away in the greasy kitchen. Several – Nay – A Gaggle of minutes pass by and suddenly Jeff hears a scream coming from the waitress station. A moment later the astonished waitress appears in the kitchen. Through her tears she whispers the beautiful phrase, “It appeared out of thin air just like you said.” She then gives Jeff one nal well-deserved peck. Jeff realizes that she smells like soup . . . she smelled exactly like beef vegetable soup. The Truth

Yep. It happened just like I said. All references to So I Married an Axe Murderer aside, the trick does play just like that. You show a coin. It clearly vanishes. Moments later when the spectator is alone, the coin literally appears out of nowhere. The coin can be signed. There is no switch. This is object to impossible location taken to the nth degree. Do not overlook this effect because of the simplicity of the method. Method

Using whatever vanish you prefer, apparently place the coin in one hand while secretly retaining it in the other. A French Drop, Retention Vanish, etc. will work. Let’s go with Retention Vanish. The waitress (i.e., spectator) thinks the coin is in your left hand, but it’s really in your right hand. With your right hand (holding out the coin), touch her left shoulder in a friendly gesture as you look her in the eyes.

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Draw her attention to your left closed st as you tell her that you want her to keep your “lucky coin” or whatever angle you’re taking. As all this is happening, you secretly leave the coin on her shoulder. After a moment, remove your right hand and gesture to your left hand (the one that apparently has the coin). Then cleanly open your left hand, followed by your right hand to show that it has vanished. As in the per-faux-mance shown above, you let her know that the coin will reappear when she needs it most. Then she leaves. Sometime in the near future, the coin will fall off of her shoulder. And when it does, holy freakin’ cow, the reaction is over the top. From her perspective it just sort of fell from the sky and landed on the table or oor or whatever. Post Effect Palaver

If she has a collar on her shirt, try to get the coin near the collar so that it’s slightly under the collar. This accomplishes 2 things. First, it obscures the coin from view a bit, but secondly, if you get the collar to rest on the coin, it’ll kind of hold it in place thus delaying the moment of wonder even further. Additionally, her build, and the shirt material play a role in the delay as well. A cotton shirt will have more friction than a silk shirt. Of course the preferred material is either burlap or sheep liver. But even when you don’t have such exotic shirts, most material is ne. Worst case scenario: she never nds it because it falls off somewhere outside and she never notices. You still did a great coin vanish, and if she ever asks why it never reappeared, you can just say that she doesn’t truly need it. It only appears when she truly needs it. Another “bad case” scenario is that later, someone asks her why there is a coin on her shoulder. To me, this is awesome. She will not remember that I touched her shoulder an hour ago, and

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even if she thought of that, she won’t believe that the coin just sat there for an hour. If you’re really lucky, someone will reach on her should and grab the coin and then (after grabbing the coin) say, “This was on your shoulder.” That makes this other person look like a magician who plucked it out of the air. Maybe she’ll nd it on the oor at home when she changes her clothes. So you won’t be there to witness her nding it. You still created a wonderful moment that she’ll tell everyone about. Where is The Magic?

This is another one of those rare effects where you seemingly have no control over the moment of astonishment. This effect is rarer still because not only does it seem like you have no control, you truly do have no control. The magic will happen when it happens, and you may never be there to witness it. Where is the magic? It is found in that moment when the spectator realizes that the coin truly did appear at exactly the moment she needed it, and she realizes that magic is real.

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Final Thoughts H

You made it. Thank you for taking the time to read and (hopefully) study this book. There’s a lot of crazy stuff in here (Dedicated to the Art comes to mind). In the time it took me to nally nish this project, the Rubik’s Cube speed solve record for the 3x3x3 cube has been broken again. The new record is now held by Mats Valk. He beat Feliks Zemdegs’s record by .11 seconds. Feliks was 5.66 seconds. Mats is now 5.55 seconds. I think it’s a tting end to this volume of my work. It brings us full circle. What started as an impossible seeming world record has now been broken. Much like the cube, this book has puzzled me, and taunted me, and what (at many times) seemed like an impossible task or an impossible solution to an effect is now possible and captured and here for you to enjoy. Use this book to grow in the art of magic. The whole point of this book has been to expand your boundaries . . . how far will you really go to create a moment of wonder? Remember . . . Astonishment Over Moves!

793.8 jeff stone

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