B a n n y P a d
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Th T h e B a n n y P a d A Q&A Ut ilit y Devi ce by David Moses
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Effect
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The performer asks the audience to write down information about themselves on pieces of card. They are gathered up and a number are chosen as “test” cards. The performer, writing in a sketch book that he has been using the whole show, begins to reveal the thoughts of several audience members-- as well as the thoughts of the “test subjects”.
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Me M etthhoo d Using a simply, yet ingeniously (if I say so myself), gimmicked sketch book, the performer is able to force one, or several, thoughts on the audience, as well as have access to several more of the audience members’ thoughts.
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Pr P reeppaa ra ti t ioo n The performer will require cards and pencils for the audience. I use Bob Cassidy’s ubiquitous half index cards but you can nd lovely and colourful pre-cut cards at whatever local version of Michael’s Craft Store you have near you. You’ll also need something somethin g in which to gather the cards (I use my hat when I perform on the street, but a box, or an envelope, or a bag would work just as well.) You’ll You’ll need your Banny Pad, which you use, during the show, as your regular regular writing pad. It also works as both a switching and hold-out device.
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H ow yo u ma ke i t
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You You get a nice spiral bound hard cover sketch book. I’ve done this using everything from a pocket spiral note pad up to an 11” x 17” Artist’s Sketch Book and you’ll have to nd something that suits you: gure 1 shows you everything you need. If you’re doing a stage or parlour show, something 8”x11” and up
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will be ne. That said, I wouldn’t use one that’s too big. The really large sketch books can be a bit unwieldy and the whole purpose of this device is to create the feeling that it’s a simple and sensible thing that you use every day. To transform your Artist’s Sketch Book into a Banny Pad is a simple procedure. You will require: 1. 2. 3.
your Sketch Book
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a tube of repositional glue stick
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the manual dexterity dexterity required to dog-ear a page.
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You You are going to dog-ear the corner of one of the pages of your Sketch
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Book to facilitate the handling
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and add repositional glue to one side of that same page to help make the switch and holding-out of the billets possible. possible. (gure 2.) Once upon a time I would count down a specic number of pages in my Sketch Book so that I would have my choreography all worked out-- I would have my act worked out such that that I would use and tear out eight pages by the time I reached the Q&A portion of my show and I would be right where I needed to be. I don’t do that any more. more. It’s too fussy fussy for me. Instead, I would would recommend that you ip about about half-way through through your sketchbook, pick a page and dog-ear one of its corners. Since
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these sketch book don’t don’ t really have a front or a back, we’ll say that the direction you’ve bent the page is toward the back of the sketch book. Phase One complete! Phase Two: Apply a generous amount of repositional glue to the “frontside” of that page you just dogeared (as seen in the same gure). This is where the quality of your sketch book will pay off: it doesn’t
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have to be thick watercolour paper
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but nice, better-than-newsprint better-than-newsprint
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pages will take the glue without any tell-tale warping. I apply apply a
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series of lines of repositional glue the length of the page. This will be our “hold out page”. page”. Now, close the book. It’s okay. The page will adhere to the page facing it, but that’s ne. There’s only one last bit of preparation to be done. Open the Sketch book again and on the page following the “glued double-page” double-page”,, apply apply three small, light dabs of repositional repositional glue and place upon them your three pieces of card that have the thoughts you want to force face down (gure 3). The small bit of glue holds them in place during the show so that they will stay in place until they’re needed. That’s it... you’re ready to go.
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B aacckkggrroouunndd This method is a bastard child of Banachek’s portfolio and Docc Hilford’s Questa binder, I’ll let you gure out which was the mom and which the dad. Like most variations it came about from trying to solve a problems with existing methods. When I perform I like to use a sketchpad, a big one preferably, I use it all the time, for jokes, gags, predictions, drawing dupes-- everything and I didn’t want to change what I was using in order to do another routine when there was no good
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reason. Banachek’s portfolio can totally totally do the job I wanted, except I
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didn’t want to use a portfolio-- I wanted to use my damn Sketch Book!
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After several weeks of playing with the tools described above I soon
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discovered that not only was it possible to switch out the pieces of card, that, because of the unique properties of repositional glue I was able, with a simple pull of the hand have access to the cards that
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were held out too! And so the Banny Pad was born.
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T h e H a n d l i n g 1.
You have your Banny Pad ready with your force card(s) in position.
2.
You hand out your papers and cards and give instructions to the audience as to the kind of
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information you want them to
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provide. 3.
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As that is happening you use the dog-ear to separate the the pages that have been stuck
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together. You can either leave
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your sketch book open on your table or place a pen or pencil between the pages to prevent them sticking together again. (gure 4) 4.
The
lled
out
cards
are
gathered up in an appropriate container. 5.
You
pick
up
your
opened
sketchbook and offer it to an
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audience member to place three cards down in the same relative position of your force cards-- which are hidden and waiting on the next page down. (gure 5) 6.
Under the misdirection misdirection of having having the audience member that just just put the cards down choosing another audience member on the other side of the performance area, you close and squeeze the sketchbook. (gure 6: It should just look like a casual closing for a second so the cards don’t spill out.)
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You move to the second spectator as you reopen the sketch book,
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revealing the three force cards and hiding the three real cards,
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sandwiched between the two pages and held in place by the
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repositional glue. The second spectator will choose one of the three force cards. (gure 7) And you’re ready to start reading some
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minds.
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W he re yo y o u’ re at You’re You’re now in the enviable situation of having one spectator with a forced thought that you can reveal at any moment. You also have three genuine thoughts from random spectators sitting prettily in your sketchbook waiting to be revealed. (gure 8) I prefer to use the force thought as my nal revelation for obvious reasons-- it gives me a sure re, multiple revelation ending to the
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routine. Feel free to ignore my suggestion for what I do next-- but I promise you, if you try it a couple of times you’ll want to do it all the time too.
“M Miinndd Re R e aaddiinngg”” fo r RReeaall:: d a v i d m
With one spectator in the audience holding a forced thought, and three other real thoughts hidden in my sketchbook on the table, I start by trying to real people’s minds for real. Just short things, little things. Sometimes they’re psychological psychologic al forces, but usually they’re straight up works of the imagination.
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M y Pr e mi se My presentation for the Q&A is that as a writer, I see people as characters. character s.
They’re
motivated
by what they love, what they hate and what they need. I throw out thoughts and names and places and if anyone responds I do a character
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prole. “I see a man who’s in love
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with somebody and he wishes he could shout it from the rooftops-- but
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he can’t... he’s afraid.”
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“There’s was a woman who had a face like a swollen apple, deep lines around her cheeks and mouth, she smelled of powder powder and herbs” These
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are genuine acts of the imagination and I try not to care if they “hit”
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or not because that’s not their function. In the basest, practical sense their function is to eventually get me back to my sketchbook, so I can start making notes and pull open that page to reveal those sweet little little bits of paper so I can start to riff on the data they provide. I just rip out the pages as I go and I’m left clean as a whistle. ... except for the force thought.
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T h e F o r c e T h o u g h t Banachek suggests three cards with the same thought described in several ways... which is what I usually do... but sometimes I challenge myself by putting three different force items. I know which is which because I see see which one they pick... but if I happen to miss it I can just pump for which of the three it is and I’m left entirely clean.
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T h a n k s a n d C r e d i t s :
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I couldn’t do my Q&A without the work of Banachek, Bob Cassidy and Richard Webster. Webster. There are many other people I studied along the way- and who I still study-- but these three are the three pillars I use for this method and presentation.
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