• • • • •
ALMANN gzd'~ f'OaT OFFICE .oX 144 • I"UEHOt.D, JrlEW J EftSfY
o
(201 ) 1>31-2429 nn.
/ll1!!au til 'J eU"~f'u. U '76U-t .Le~tt/,u,
ftbteJ
PROGRAMI NG THE MENTAL SHOW 1 . A fas t opene r effect .
Fo l lwed by you r lecture .
2 . A s ec ond a tt ention getter .
Mi ndreaing effect .
J . A 10 minute (or l onger) audience par t icipating effec t. 4 . A de sign d uplicat ing effec t . 5. A men t al ca r d trick . 6 . The gra nd fi nale . A ver y strong psych i c t es t . I n de t a il : 1 . Th e opener effec t. Here I wi ll do my favorite opener e f fec t f rom The Tesserac t:
Copy r igh t by AL MANN EXCLUS I VES
EFFECT, The mental i st displays an i ndex eard a nd shows it to be blank on both s i de s . He t h en state s tha t h e 1s going to write on t hi s card a number or two digits , Perf ormer do es thi s s ecretly a nd then folds the card twi c e and s ecures the folded card wi t h a paper clip. He then calls on any person to call out a numb er between 10 and 50 and also a second person to callout a number in like ~nner . A third person 1s asked to add the two called
numbers together . Performer next calls att ention to the fold ed card he has held at his fingertips all the whila , He shows t h e card on both sides devoid of any marks BUT does not call attention to this fact. Performer next removes the paper clip and pockets it and opens out the card and shows it to anyone and asks that pereon to read the two-digit number on it. The per90n that added the two called numbers 1s now asked to call ou t the total and both numbers matchl
.~
E.T. THE OPENER EFF ECT
AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVl cont .
••
The total of the two numbers called by the two spectators is written with the swami gillllllick on the outaide ot the card .s shown in PiS. tour. This number is of course kept toward. the performer and i. neyer seen until the card ia opened. In operation, the folded card 18 held with the single ed,es ot the right .ide towards the audience. but this i8 not nece.sary Ths move to open the card is shown in Pig. 5. The card is taken with the tips of the thumbs and lirst linger. and the hands are twisted at the wrist in the direction of the arrows. The right hand turns away from the body and the left hand turns inward. Please note that it is not necessary to make the move hurriedly. The move is made with a snap . What happens in essence is that the performer executes an ftumbrella move with two hands and climaxes by allowing the 'umbrella' to turn inside outl What's important is that this simple movs deceives the eye. After many performances with this effect no one has suspected that the card was not opened as stated . Everyone ie satisfied that the numbers wera indeed written in the inside. ft
NOTE, When wri t ing the number on the outside of the folded card, hold the card with both hands, and a8 motionless 88 possible . ',;ri te while looking at the audi ence. Since no s uspicion can be directed at the folded card as the audience thinks that you already wrote In the number no one will be on gaurd. The numbere are of course made of a aise to hide under the gimaicked paper clip. With a little practice the performer can . v'e. draw & line under numbers in the act removing the paper
(/
/1 Fl,. 5
3
7
E.T.
AN At HANN EXCLUSIVE
A billet t •• t i • • m08t interesttng test to a lay audienee. The following billet. t.at. are highly recoaaended froc the AHE Catalogue, ACIDUS, page 8. ACIDUS PLUS, page 9. The OONGYOK PAPERS, PAGE 10 . THE TEST OF THOTH page 11. THE APODOSIS page IS. J. An audience participating effect. Here the author will demonstrate THE LEXICON PHENOHENA. This t •• t is • brain buster that completly captivates an audience. It I, • book t •• t dona in the form of • dialogue. U••• up about 10 ainut •• of time. Other tests rec~ended are The "rt a•••• 8111et test, page
12 , called the Bert R.... Doc . . . .y . THE IRIGIrl"S GAHBIT, page 31 . 11fE KOLOPHON, a teat with borr01Md aovelopes. ~&. 42. The strong•• t t •• t that can be perfor..d with plenty of au-
dience participation ia of course the Que.tion ADsvering act which should fill about 20 .inutes. Recommended ia THE INNER-SPACE ODYSSEY , pa,e 43, and the HIGHT OF THE NEPHILIH, pege 69. 4. THE DESIGN DUPLICATION EFFECT. This test thrills an audience . During the lecture and show , the author will perform a dasign duplication test . The best way to preaent this t.st without the need of specially printed books or cards is by the use of an impression gimmick . Here I will recommend two, ea.y to construct.
.se .. ee· A Hentalist should always use a slate in his
?It. (JU!'
act if possible . A slate is an attention getter and adds a bit of mystery to the show. Here is detailed the clip slate from Haster Slate Secreta Part III. The Clip Slate is simply a slate that can take a carbon imprea.ion of anything drawn on its aurface! In constructing a 'clip' slate we muat atay aa far away aa possible from anything that resembles 8 Fig. 1. clip board. W. muat not use clips regardless of the disguise. The alate must resemble a slate pure and ai_pIe and it should take chalk .arks. Fig . 1 shows 8 alate with red trimmimgs around the edges (optional~. It also shows three pieces of peper, although only one piece need b. used, which are hald in place by button magneta . The slate should measure about 9 by 11 inch.s. CONSTRUCTING THE CLIP SLATE: For this you will need the slate l some black pencil carbon paper, some thin black silhouette paper sold at art stores . about five used razor blades, soma button magneta obtainable at hardwbre stores or houseware departments, plua whi t e paper , short hard pencils and 80me rubber cement . Fig . 2 on the next page show8 the construction of the c l ip slate . Four razor blades are cemented to the surfece of the .lat. proper as ahown by the arrows at "A." The fifth blade is cemented to the back of the black paper flap as shown at ItB . It A sheet of black carbon paper is then cemented to the bae.t of the black art paper by spots of cement on the four cornera.
8
E. T. THE CLIP SLATE
AN AL MANN cont.
~XCLUSIVE
..
And the black art sheet is cemented to the slate at the lower edge only as shown in Fig. 2. Please note that the carbon paper covers the razor blade at "B" in Fig. 1 and that the carbon paper is carbon side out . All you need do now is to close the art paper flap against the slate after inserting a sheet of white paper to take the impressions. Then fix the bla~k art flap in place with the button magnets. Your clip slate should now look like Fig. 2 in Fig. 1 after you have placed slips of paper under the button magnets. As many as three persons can be asked to draw designs. DURING THE PRESENTATION, the Mentalist calls attention to the slips of paper on the slate and asks for voluteers to come forward who draw on the slips of paper while the Mentalist holds the slate behind his back. The Mentalist places his thumb on the top edge of the art paper to prevent the flap from being lifted. After the spectators draw on the slips, they are asked to remove them and pocket them. To see the impressiQns, the Mentalist moves the button magnets to the middle so that all three magnets sre now attached to the one razor blade at "B" Fig. 2. The weight of the magne_ts will open out the flap when the slate is tilted. This the Mentalist does as he turns the slate so that the magnets are away from the audience . The flap falls against the coat sleeve of the Mentalist and he duplicates on the slate ' s visible side the designs as glimpsed. NOTE: Both sides of the slate must be covered with the black silhouette paper so that it looks normal. Chalk dust must be placed on the art paper with 8 blackboard duster so that it resembles chackboardl The effect is enhanced by giving slates to the spectators for them to draw their designs on. Then all slates are shown to the audience for the climax.
,,
Fig_ 3, shows ,, U ' a fast way of getting a carbon impression of a secretly drawn design. It shows a book with a dust jacket. ! _ __.J Clipped to it is a piece of paper. The dash lines represent The Jupiter Gimmick. It is hiding under the dust jacket . It is made of a very thin piece of metal which has a piece of white paper and carbon attached to it. When the paper clip is removed, the gimmick Fig . 3 will fall down and is taken by your hand behind some envelopes! For the presentation the book can be held behind your back or it can even be placed on a table. The spectator removes the slip of paper as y~u take the book and throw it •• id•• The book could be one that contains many designs, etc.
,
9
E. T.
AN At HANN EXCLUS I VE
THE CLI P SLATE
, cont.
••
Other des i gn d up li cating e f fec t s highl y recommended f r om t he AHE Ca t a l ogue a r e : WHEN THOUGHTS COLL I DE , page 10 . The Te l epath i c Ar ti s t in Mas t e r Slate Sec r ets I, page 49 . TR- ID- ELL page 53 . O' OANEVEN ' S SECRET , page 60 .
S. A MENTAL CARD EFFECT : The whole wor l d loves a ca r d t r i ck . So do a good one . I wi l l demo ns tra t e some br a i n- bus t ing car d e ff ects us i ng t he Di p l oMent a l Pouch, plu s I will also do t he fo l lowi ng wh ich is done with enve l opes :
Gentlemen, the .trect about t o be described det!e . all rational analysiS, unless you giT. the operat or oredit for being a true psyohic displaying his power. of tele pathy and olairvoyanoe all at onoe. The etf eot expounda the aeldom used two-ahead prin_ oipl •• EFFECT: While the per f ormer is out ot the r oom, speotat ors shutfle a deck ot cards and then select f our cards and seal them in opaque envel opes. The pe rformer returns, talks about telepathy and c lairvoyance and without t ouching the envel opes or the r est of the deok. or without asking any questions divines the f'o\U' card s I 1'he efte ct is strong . I n fact t h e performer does t ouch t he enve l opes but only after h e has identified the c ard s inside and h e oall s a t tention to that fa c t. For t h e purpos e at d emonstrating telep at hy , the ~pec tat or s are t old t o l ook and r emember two of t h e car ds. To demonstr ate olairvoyance, the pe r former t el ls t h e spec tators t o sele ot two mor e c ards but n o t to l ook a t t h em and to se al t h am si ght unseen. METHOD: Pleas e r eter t o Fig. 9 , Three envel ope a are
B Pig. 9
10 E. T .
AN AL MANN EXC LUS I VE
TIlE MOUNDS OF IS HTAR
cont. ..
En?elop.. 4 and B are totally unprepared. Envolo~. C 1. • double oompartment anvelope. To prepare anvelope a-, the flap and address .1da or one envel ope 15 out ott and tnaerted into • whole envelope. Two known carda are inaert ed into t he book cOIII.partaent at lie" anyelope, S&7 the lo-ot-hearts and the Sot-apad•• per the Fig . Tha two flaps are than ••• 1ed to~_ ther. Eb:nlope "C II 1a t'urther prepared by cementing about "s
a.
inch or t~ tront ccmpartzant together at the right alde ... shown by tla d ••h lin•••
NOTE: FIg. 9 show. t he ton-ot-hearta and the rinor-spad • • oo.1og out or t h e secret back compartment or en_ vel op e "ell taoe_up tor illus tration purpoaea on17. Actually t he carda ar e ••• 1ed int o t h e back oompartment face-down _ ~HE PRES ENTATION: Two decks ot cards are ~ed, one r e d-back and the other blue-back. Performer hands out the blue d eck and l e aves the r oom. l'he t hre e envelopes are in plain sight on the tabla and should be marked A, B and C. Prom t he other r oam~ pertormer instructs spect a t ors t o thor oughly shuffle t he deck and then to spread i t down on t he ~ab l e f a ce down. One spectator is then to choose any ,ard! l ook at it and r8memb ~r it and seal it fa c e-down into onve ope "A U• • A secon d s pe c tat or is t o do t he same wi t h a s econd card and seal i t face-down int o envelope uBtI . A thi r d speotat or i s t o choo se any two cards but must n ot l ook a t them and s eal t hem face-down. at course , int o enve l op e "e " .
As per t he Fig . lie will assume that the two known oar ds ch osen wer e t he 3- of-diamon ds and the Ace - of- clubs. Upon returning the pertormer waves his h ands over the en ve l opes, with out touch ing them and t ell s t h e first. spe ctat or to con centrate on h is chos en card. The performer then r emove s t he 10- or-he arts from his red de ck and places the c ard s ight uns ,en fac e- down on t he table. He t h en does the same ""ith the s econd envel ope "e" and then takes out the $- of-s pa de s tr am his deok and plac es it over t h e f i rst oard face down. and s i ght unseen. Pertormer n ow oute open the firat two e nvel o pes~ "A" and "a" and pla08s the two oards on t he table fac e-up. 4h. envel opes are opeoned with a pair at s cissors DY outting ott the right s ide at t he envel ope tor about 1/4 inch. All en_ v el ope s mus t be openn ed in thia fashi on f or cons i s tenoy • .t'er tormer t h an cOMments that no one knows t he n ext two oar ds since they wer e cho s en s i ght uns een s o that he mu.t ~ e hi s power s of olairvorance t o divine t h e oard •• ntter making a t ew passes ove r t he "e " envelope without t ouohing it, Per f ormer t akas out from his re d de ck the two card, showi n g f ac e-up on the t able. The ) - ot-diamonda
11
E. T.
AN AL MA NN EXC LUS IVE
THE HOUNDS OF I SHTAR
con t.
and tho Ace-or-olubs and plaees these carda sight unseen over the two ot her red oards on the table. Nov the performer reaorts to .. bit ot sh owmanship. He ploka up his tour red-baok carda tram the table and talks some more or h is powers. He r&marks that no one knovs what
tho two othe r oarda in envelope "e" are but that h. haa a.l ... ready received an impressi on. Uuring his talk the performer haa managed to place the tWO top carda under t h e other two. So n ow he deal. face-down the two top carda in tront ot the ge aled "0" envel ope and then he also deals the other two cards face-dawn in front the two face up carda on the table.
or
Performer then takes envelope nail and opens it with his sciasora by cutting 1/ 4 inoh from the right aid e . This maneuver opens up the rear compartment but due t o the 1/ 2 inoh or oement inside the front canpartment, the front oan_ partment remains sealed, so that the two t oree car ds CDDle out onto the table race-down. Everything i. n ow in order. All the cards matoh.
No doubt t hat the readsr is think~ ab out t h e possible examination of t h e mat erials used • ..'he impact and the presentation or the eftect should in all pr obability silence the audience. Atter all they did h andle and see ins ide all t h e envelopes. Nevert hel e ss, envelope s are alway s suspect. Many persona know ot 'magio' envelopes wi t h double compar t ments. 30 t h e performl r lIlay uish t o pas s out all ma t erials a s SOUVeneers. ~o do s o you mus t pr oceed as t ollows: Four envel op es ar e us ed in s t e ad of thre e. The performer intr oduc e s a t ourth envel ope wh e r e he places his r ed cards I '! 'he envelopes us ed must be s elt-sealing. They must be marked with designation letters or marks on the insides ot the fl aps so t h at wh en the env el opes are s e aled t h e y all l ook alike. The three envel opes that are used first have their flaps openned out. It may be neoessary to break t h e or e as e of the fl aps backvards s o t hat t he envelopes r emain with t he flap exten ded. 'l.'hh wi l l make it eaS l f or the specta tors to insert t he car ds int o. The f ourth envel ope is also secretly marked with the l et ter "C". At t he end while t h e specta tors are looking at the oards, t he pertormer picks up t h e t hree envel ope. and tears them up s o that they oan be e.xamined, BUT the pr epared "C 'I envel ops is held back and pocketed I T'C', e f ourth envel ope als o has a sliver out trom t h e ri ght si de like t h e ot h er envelopes. but this openning i. never se en .s t h e envel ope i s only handled by the performer I This e ffeet c an be done wi t h a borrowed de ok pr ovided t he ope rat or has t ilne t o ste al t wo c ards and pr epare tm nC" envelop e I
12
E. T.
AN AL HANN EXCLUS IV E
6.
"~e C'e~A.i.f4?-
ellel!t
The c l os ing effec t mus t be a s t rong one . One tha t wil l l eave a l asti ng impress i on. Fo rtuna t e l y a l mos t any menta l e ff ec t can be made i nto a bi g production, mere l y by pat t er and presen t a t ion. A book t es t, f or exampl e can be given an awesome aspect . But i f you a l ready pr esented 8 book t es t d uring t he show t hen yo u mu s t do some thing d i f f ere nt . The c l assic se nsa tiona l c l os i ng e ff ec t is of cou r se The Headline Pr edic t ion . Amaz i ng l y , you can do a head l ine pr edic tion wi t h inexpensive e nve l ope s as well as with t he $2000 boxes . Ano t her ve r y s trong c l os ing effect i s PK whe r e matte r is affected by the power of the mind . The Sha tt e ri ng f l ask , t he pape r t hat catches fir e , the tumbli ng bl ock , e t c . The c l osing e ff ec t ca n a l so be a fa bu l ous ' Ca r d Trick l' l ike The Hounds of Ish t ar, or the 5- St a r Hi racle . Dr . Jaks d i d a s l a t e t es t t ha t l eft the a udi ence awed . (see Dr. Jaks ' Act) . Dunninger c l osed with th e s ixt een digit e f fec t! He par l ayed thi s simp l e tes t i nt o a bra i n c r i ppl er, see Dunninge r' s ACT . An th ony Raven c l osed wi th an e f f ect f rom DEATHWATCH and made t he head l ines ! The fo llowing it ems fo r the c l os ing ef f ect from the AHE Cata l og ue a r e recommended : HEAD LI NE PRED I CTI ONS : LIMELIG HT, p . 19 ; HASTERHIND HEADLINE PREDICTIONS , p . 26 ; PANDORA "S BOX , p . 27 ; BREAKTHROUGH , p . 28 ; PIECES - OF- EI GHT , p. 29 ; DR . JAKS ACT , p . 41; SI X COLUMNS , p . 48 ; EN BLOCK PREDICTION , p. 65 ; THE BOOK TEST : THE LEX I CON PHENOHENA , p . 6 ; UNIWORD , p . 12 ; PUBLICITY SECRETS , p . 22; CLASSIFIED , p . 29 , THE KNIGHT ' S GAMBIT , p . 31 ; CODEX- X, p . 32 , THE DAHNED THI NG , p . 34 ; OF WORDS AND WIZARDS, p . 37 ; CERO - HENT I CS , p . 38 ; OF GI FTS AND TALENTS , p . 39 ; EFF-OES , p . 63, THROUGH A WALL, p . 64 a nd 101 PSYCHIC TESTS . PK: PSY- CLOCK , p. 18 ; DEATHWATCH , p . 40 ; PSYCIIO- MENTISIS , p . 55; THE SHATTERED CHALICE , p . 62 ; 101 PSYCHIC TESTS, p . 66 ; and SEANCE . FABULOUS CARD TRICKS : THE TH I RD ECSTASY . p . 50 ; THE KN I GHT ' S GAMBIT , p . 31; ARCA , ~ . 30 ; DR . JAKS ' ACT , p . 41 ; NON - TOCCARE , p . 51 ; BRA I NBUSTER ' S 83 , p . 52 ; THE DIPLOMENTAL POUCH , p . 58 ; THE " H" FACTOR , p . 61.
13
E. T.
AN AL MANN EXCLUI SVE NOTES
THE
M AG~EYE
MOVE , A REF I NEMENT :
After pe r fo r ming th e Mag - Eye move several dozen t imes t he operato r may no t ice a s l ig ht bug i n t he me thod . This bothered me a l so whi l e lect ur ing in Europe so I came up wi th t he fo ll ow i ng refinemen t: Fig . 23 represents the slip of paper 8S used in t he Hag - Eye move (also shown in Fig . 16) . The paper h as been p r e f o l d ed a nd we l l creased to make it easy fo r tearing . Also a sma ll s lit has been cut 88 shown by the so l id line and t he arrows . The slit is made with a s harp -I knife . The person tha t 1s t o l d t o wr i te on the l ine neve r no t ices t he s l it. but if it 1s noticed i t appear s irre l evan t. This s l i t in the paper makes it mos t easy when mak i ng t he second t ear 8S s hown in Fi gs . 20 Fig . 23 and 21 on page 6 .
~LIT<:I_-_L_-_~_V_E_-_
BI l lET TESTS: Du ri ng my l ec ture t ou r I ~as asked ~hich ~as the best bil l e t tes t tha t I knew. The bes t and easies t bi l let test tha t I kno~ is ca ll ed The as of Oxy l us a nd is fou nd in The Donovon Papers . In this t ea t i t appears tha t the bi ll et is never opened . Only one bi ll et i s used and t he hands are other~ise empty and obvious to the a udience •. I ~as also asked if He n tal i t ems should be performed in combination with s t a ndard magic t ricks . Hy a n s~e r t o t hat is " Yes ! " The audience wan t s t o be en t ertained . A mag i cia n ca n do h is regu l ar magic show and at the end a st r ong men t a l effec t (or t wo) is presented to comp l e t e l y mys t ify t he a udie nce . PRIVATE READINGS : I was also asked abou t how to do private readings . Here you mus t use t h e me t hod wh ich you have studied best , l ike cold readings , cards pa l ms , gr apho l ogy, etc . BUT t he Menta l ist should a l ways baffle the s itt er wi t h mindreading . This can be done with a bil l et test or a sea l ed ques t ion t est . The mind reading bi t is the f r os t ing on the c a ke . Any reader can give good readings, bu t on l y a Men t a l is t can read t he mind . The mi nd reading effect is very baffling to the lay sitter .
