BY DR. BILL
6/17/10 Trybil : AKA The Multi-Bob Book is dedicated to the “Companionage Community” of mentalists and magicians who put together and contributed to the amazing ebook fundraiser on the behalf of myself and my family. Without you, and of course those who responded by purchasing Companionage and/or Companionage and/or making a donation, it is unlikely u nlikely Trybil would have ever seen completion. Linda, Joni and I thank you all and want to take this opportunity to let you know how important and meaningful your support was to us during a very difficult time in our lives.
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FOREWORD BY TONY RAZZANO Dr. Bill is a good friend of mine, despite never having met in person. Certainly such relationships are a product of the times within which we live and the tremendous impact of the Internet. I first heard of Bill not long after I bought an original Zingg wallet. In a subsequent book of routines put out by Allen Zingg, Bill contributed an effect that is so good and fit fi t my performance requirements and philosophy so perfectly it became the only routine I used with the wallet from then on. That’s when I first saw the brilliance of Bill Cushman, and I have been a fan ever since. Our friendship grew and continues to do so through phone calls and emails. When Bill first mentioned that he was writing a book about Multi-Bob pendulums, I was very interested. The pendulum is i s a tool which I use frequently in my mentalism appearances. Everything from f rom cabaret to close up to house parties. They are received exceptionally well at house parties! I also use pendulums pendulum s in my private and group readings. There are some very well known mentalists who use them one on one with great success. The pendulum is a wonderful tool. I always liked the idea i dea of Multi-Bob pendulums as they abound with possibilities, especially in cabaret and close up settings. The problem that I had was that there were no Multi-Bob pendulums, save one and that was Viking’s Burmese Bells. They did exactly what the ad said they th ey did, but were attached to a terrible acrylic plastic rod that screamed “magic trick” as loud as it metaphorically can be screamed. Not being handy about making making things, I abandoned the the idea of using a Multi-Bob. Then along came Dr. Bill and Rich Hennessey. Problem solved. You have that solution before you now. Rich Hennessey has a great site called Mentalcraft (mentalcraft.com mentalcraft.com)), from which you can buy some beautiful pendulums, now including Multi-Bob styles. Within these pages, Rich also teaches us how to make our own Multi-Bob pendulum using items obtainable at any office supply or arts and crafts
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store. The method is easy, and while the result may not be of the caliber of Rich’s own “objects de arte”, these Multi-Bobs are attractive and have their own advantages. For example, later you will read about leading workshops for the public on using pendulums. A popular exercise at these workshops is the creation of their own pendulum by the students during which a connection is forged between the two. The same “bonding” process will obviously occur with Rich’s homemade Multi-Bob. Everything else you need to know about handling the Multi-Bob is right here in Trybil . In his typically clear and entertaining manner Dr. Bill teaches you how to properly hold the Multi-Bob. He explains how to first learn to master stillness and why this is so important. Next are the secrets of evoking all the different motions and combinations of motions possible with the Multi-Bob. Dr. Bill will explain, sharing some unique insights, the all important methods of assessing potential participant’s responsiveness that you will be able to apply to any kind of performance. This is priceless information. Then the routines! Dr. Bill has some very creative, talented and generous friends who share their routines alongside Bill’s own preferred presentations. These are excellent items from the repertoire’s of working pros, most of whom you know. Even more gold is there for the taking by those who look beyond the routines into the philosophy, history and psychology provided throughout Trybil . Dr. Bill provides, “The History of the Pendulum in Three Easy Movements,” a wonderful piece you can perform as is or use as a solid foundation on which to build your own routine. In any case, be sure to “mine” the routine for all the nuggets within. There are so many choices! My first thought was to use the Multi-Bob in a séance setting with the sitter(s) holding the pendulum and having its movements manifest in a manner that they call upon the spirits to produce. You may perform the many contributions in this book as written, but I predict they will also serve as a springboard to stimulate your own creativity. You know the old cliché the possibilities are endless? Well here it is not a cliché. You know something is going on when in one ebook so many major players in mentalism are involved. People like John Riggs, Keith Barry, Gerard, Michael Weber and Marc Salem all readily come to mind.
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Trybil ends with a superb section courtesy of Jerome Finley. Those of you familiar with his work will not be surprised at Jerome’s high level thought processes on refining pendulum work alongside the language and objectives of hypnosis. You have a real gem before you. I am honored to be a part of Trybil . Tony Razzano May, 2010
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication
2
Foreword
3
Introduction
9
Rich Hennessey Making Your Own Multi-Bob
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Dr. Bill Tea For 3
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Coming To Grips
24
Stillness
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Motion
30
Gauging Responsiveness
35
THE MULTI-BOB MOVEMENTS Jerome Finley A Few Brief Notes
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John Riggs From A Slender Cord, Swinging
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Stage Right, Enter From The Shower
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Gerard Charmed
43
Dr. Todd Landman The Mystic Triad
46
Faucon of Sakin’el Pendulum Adept
49
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Ron Martin A Brief Note On Ron Martin's Multi-Bob Routine
52
Dr. Bill The History Of Pendulums In Three Movements
53
Mental Workout
57
The Multi-Bob Hummer
60
Mauricio Jaramillo The Dead Test
64
Onstage Multibobber
66
Bobbing For ESP
70
Michael Weber A Branch From The Tree Of Knowledge
72
Pull My Swinger
74
Greg Arce Digit Swing
78
Invisible Swing
79
Pendulum Line Up
80
Contact Swing
81
The Pendulum Judge
82
Dr. Bill Trybilyte
84
Marc Salem The Living Pendulum
86
The Pendulum Proposal
88
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SWINGING SOLO: EFFECTS WITH A SINGLE PENDULUM Docc Hilford Dead Or Alive
91
Brad Henderson The Everlasting Pendulum Trick
96
Kenton Knepper Sealed Pendulum
100
Dr. Bill The Bill And The Pendulum
104
Faucon of Sakin’el Pendulum Adept, Part II
108
Tony Razzano The Pendulum Party
110
Keith Barry Dochreidthe
113
Jerome Finley My Pendulum Routine Angel Pendulum
116 127
In Conclusion
134
Appendix I Acidus Novus
138
Appendix II A Suggestion For The Use Of Suggestion
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INTRODUCTION I know there are lots of theories about enhancing imagination and stimulating “aha” moments but I’ve never found them to work for me. Right now I have Lou Reed playing in the background instead of Mozart or Bach like I’m “supposed” to listen to when trying to increase my creativity. And I seem to remember reading somewhere that Stephen King listens to heavy metal when he writes. I look at what I see as my most illuminating experiences when creating mentalism; at those effects or methods that I immediately knew were on track, unique, useful and had powerful entertainment potential. Inevitably, these are the creations that have resonated with the mentalism and magic community and gone on to find places in the repertoires of many performers. And inevitably went on to stimulate their own creativity as th ey made them their own. Of course my ideas were influenced by the inventiveness of those before me as well as my contemporaries. I believe there is a progressive path of creativity with no end in sight so long as we refuse to settle for less. There are those gestalt moments, as they’ve been referred to, where an idea materializes seemingly out of nowhere. I like to refer to these inspirations as appearing “whole cloth,” presentation and method arriving together, wrapped in a pretty package. I joyfully experience these instances as if I’m listening to someone else tell me a story. It is receiving a gift and as much evidence as I need to demonstrate the power of the subconscious mind. Then there are the “aha” moments as mentioned above. These are the times that begin with a partial inspiration. I know it is good but after a certain amount of work I find myself stuck. The idea is left fallow, for days, sometimes weeks, months, even years. It can apparently be forgotten altogether. But, once again giving evidence to the power of the subconscious, it isn’t truly forgotten. The proof being in that seemingly single moment where it bursts through layers of fog, half formed memories, thoughts and ideas complete and ready to claim its right to be.
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So where does the Multi-Bob fit in? It arrived via the disposal of an old rod that held our paper towels. The screw that attached it to the base of the contraption had become stripped and it just seemed easier to toss the whole thing. I salvaged the rod just before it hit the garbage can and fifteen minutes, three pieces of yarn and three nuts later, I held my first Multi-Bob prototype. Of course I knew right away that I hadn’t come up with a new idea. But I also knew that an old idea had occurred to me with a sudden clarity as the result of a rather neutral stimulus. And that it fit very well into the Zeitgeist of the current mentalism renaissance and would meet the criteria and impact described above. Not quite a gestalt or aha moment, ultimately the nature of its development fell somewhere in between. I immediately knew that the Multi-Bob pendulum deserved a greater presence in the mentalism community. I believe this of all pendulums and I’m far from alone. For many years several expert performers have said, or used words to the effect, “The pendulum is among the most underutilized instruments in the mentalist’s repertoire.” I have loved pendulums since I was about ten years old and began to experiment with the one that came with the Kreskin board game. It was a tacky plastic contraption, its size way out of proportion to its purpose. You can see the game and pendulum here:
This photo brings back so many great memories! The pendulum was suspended from the kind of cheap “ball-link chain” usually reserved to hold keys temporarily and in the most economical way possible. A cool feature was that you could feed the chain into the pendulum itself for easy storage, perhaps why it lasted as long as it did.
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But the coolest feature, especially to an impressionable ten year old kid in love with all things magical, was that it actually worked! The Kreskin pendulum really moved when and where I mentally told it to! I had that pendulum for over 35 years and only in the last few have I come to fully appreciate what a powerful role it played in forming my own views of both mentalism and the human mind. Next there was a quartz pendulum bought at a new age store. I carried this with me for years, never tiring of experiencing its impact on others, particularly when held in their own hand. Though I didn’t know it right from the beginning, this pendulum was refining my techniques of suggestion as well as teaching me to identify those most responsive to its use. Then two years ago I came to know Rich Hennessey and his artful line of pendulums. Befriended over the Internet, as I hope many reading this have or will be, Rich introduced me to a wide range of pendulums, eventually culminating in what is now a longstanding relationship with The Celt as I like to call it (Actually The Neolithic Component Pendulum – Stone): http://www.mentalcraft.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&produ ct_id=17&category_id=6&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=4 Which brings us right back to the Multi-Bob. Even more important than a long standing relationship with an ancient stone cutting tool suspended from an elegant chain, is my relationship with Rich. We have kept up a lively correspondence about many things, not all mental or magical. Rich has been a great source of inspiration during difficult times. Without a doubt he is one of the kindest and wisest mystery performers I have the privilege to know. As far as things mental, Rich has generously contributed his own precious methods and effects to some of my previous eBooks. It was only natural for me to turn to him first about reviving the Multi-Bob pendulum. Several days later I received an email with three pictures attached. You can see Rich’s first Multi-Bob prototypes here:
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The Three Legged Alligator
The Five Chinese Bobs
The Three Keys To Successful Bobbing A few days after that came the first “Mini-Bob,” this time in my mailbox! Here is a photo of this smaller, but deceptively powerful tool:
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MINI-BOB As Rich and I brainstormed various options to improve the Multi-Bob, I asked if there was a way to make the individual chains and pendulums removable. I was interested in this for several reasons. I wanted the Multi-Bob to be easily customized. I wanted to increase its utility and value by providing owners with three additional high quality standard pendulums. The latter feels like a late night TV pitch: “Order now and receive not one, not two, BUT three extra pendulums!” Seriously, I saw many benefits besides quantity in this aspect of the MultiBob. I considered how this made it possible to create routines where you begin with standard pendulum work then assemble your Multi-Bob and rise to your crescendo. Or perform an effect with the Multi-Bob and be in the wonderful position of having the option to disassemble it and immediately present routines using the individual pendulums. You will have to try it yourself to see how much this charms and captivates a small group that you’ve caught by surprise.
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As I suspect won’t surprise you by now, a few days after this brainstorming session Rich sent me a photo of a Multi-Bob prototype with detachable pendulums! He ingeniously applied the magnetic system he already uses with some of his individual pendulums, most notably in concert with the Haunted Key. The result of Rich’s creative solution can be seen here.
Shortly after the photo, I received one of these beauties to work with and help fine tune. The aged bamboo rod is an especially nice touch and the whole Multi-Bob, weight, length of the chains, use of pendants and bobs simply looks and feels great. The neodymium magnets which attach the chain to the rod are powerful yet allow for a quick, clean and silent removal or reattachment. Remember, though, it is a prototype so will not necessarily be the same as the model Rich eventually decides to add to his line. However, as always eager to please the customer, Rich is willing to customize as requested within reason. I feel like I’m doing an ad for Mentalcraft! Which is fine as Rich deserves it but my purpose in including this information and the photos is multifold. I want you to get a sense of the joy in how creators interact during the evolution of an idea. I want you to be inspired regarding what you can craft on your own if you have the necessary talents. Later in this book there are instructions by Rich for creating your own Multi-Bob (John Riggs’ and I offer methods as well).
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Also, there is at least one other rod with multiple pendulums on the market that I’m aware of (see Viking Magic’s “Burmese Bells” that Tony referred to in the foreword). Comparing this with Rich’s work demonstrates the vast distance in style that is congruent with my aims in writing this book and including the particular routines I have chosen. Though my first prototype was nothing to write home about, elegance and mystery were always what I had in mind for the Multi-Bob. And as you can see from the above, Rich shares the same goals. The true origins of the Multi-Bob’s entrance into the realm of the mage remain shrouded in mystery despite consulting some of the best minds in mentalism. Kenton Knepper and Tony Razzano each shared that Galileo used a version for scientific experimentation and applications so we know it has existed for a very long time. According to Tony Razzano’s research the Multi-Bob style was first mentioned in Galileo’s "Dialogues Concerning the Two Chief World Systems" and "Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences". Here is a quote from the latter that Mauricio Jaramillo sent along suggesting Galileo was aware of the impact on the observer of the Multi-Bob and wasn’t all work and no play! "Seeing that you have derived so much pleasure from these novelties, I must show you a method by which the eye may enjoy the same game as the ear. Suspend three balls of lead, or other heavy material, by means of strings of different length such that while the longest makes two vibrations the shortest will make four and the medium three; this will take place when the longest string measures 16, either in hand breadths or in any other unit, the medium 9 and the shortest 4, all measured in the same unit."
One would expect that some purveyor of mysteries worth his salt would have long, long ago adapted Galileo’s device to more nefarious uses. While this is probably so, the effect and secret appears to have been well hidden for centuries. The earliest mention in the magic literature I have located is in David P. Abbott’s, “Behind The Scenes With Mediums,” published in 1909. An excellent (and glowing) description is given and Abbott writes that he believed “the trick was unknown to the dealers of secrets of use to mediums, and to the best of my knowledge has never become known.” Abbott also describes variants involving pendulums hanging from frames and suspended in bottles. Some work in this area will be taught by Mauricio Jaramillo and Michael Weber in a bit.
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Despite my difficulties in finding other early source references in the literature of magic, the secrets obviously got around even if only subsequent to Abbott’s description and endorsement. This is evident from the presence of individual routines in various books since Abbotts, some included here. One that particularly captured my imagination is from Docc Hilford. He wrote on the Multi-Bob thread on the Café, “Mine were various Voodoo items attached to a small, black, New Orleans parasol. Each item was, of course, on a different length string and each represented a different topic. A coin for money, a glass heart for love, there was a tiny skull, a die, an animal tooth, a rabbit's foot and most were from key chains. The subject thought of a question, concentrated on the item that revealed her topic and held the parasol over her head. The odd trinkets danced around her head, until all but one stopped moving. Then, as if pushed by an unseen spirit hand, her item swung crazy! The magick man interpreted the swings to answer her unknown question.” Ingenious and what a great visual in an art that is often so bereft of props that capture the eye of the audience. Much like Docc himself! However, nowhere have I found a thorough examination of the Multi-Bob like I would expect. When I rescued the paper towel rod from certain premature disposal and shortly thereafter held a Multi-Bob prototype in hand, I suspect I was working from a childhood memory. As a nerdy preadolescent I was drawn to books with subtitles like, “Use Science To Create Magic!” on their covers. My instincts tell me that I first encountered the idea of the Multi-Bob pendulum in this kind of a book. But I’ve had no luck in finding the ideas behind the Multi-Bob in such books spanning the last 60 years, though did come across one reference to the bottle version. I’m sure someone will read this and steer me in the right direction. You know who you are! OK, this is not a book on the history of pendulums. This is not a book on the mechanics or science of pendulums. This information is readily available elsewhere. Trybil is a book inspired by the mystery and beauty of the Multi-Bob pendulum and the interest it generated when I sought out information on its
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origins. Many pendulum aficionados felt a work addressing the Multi-Bob in detail was called for. As I described above, I have always been entranced by pendulums. So I have also included effects using standard pendulums that I sought out and their creators generously contributed. Or their creators offered to contribute when they heard I was writing a book on pendulums. This part ultimately grew almost as large as the Multi-Bob section but I don’t think anyone will mind! Time to move on to the meat of this ebook! First are Rich Hennessy’s instructions on making up your own Multi-Bob then some tips on the best way to handle this incredible tool to get the most out of it. And, finally, the routines!
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Rich Hennessey: For almost my entire life I have been interested in and fascinated by all things “Magical” By “Magical” I am not just referring to entities related to the Magical Arts. For me Magical covers a much broader spectrum, including but not limited to the following: Nature; Animals; the Cosmos; Ancient cultures; Fossils, and of course the Art of Magic itself. I try to meld these subjects whenever possible into my performance of Magic and Mentalism. I started my journey over two decades ago as a magic bartender, and that eventually evolved into performing tableside magic at local restaurants. I am proud to say that this is my 20th year at my original restaurant. I also perform stand-up magic and mentalism at private parties. I truly love being a local entertainer, and I never had a desire to go bigger, or travel to perform. For the past couple of years I have enjoyed creating unique pendulums and other props for members for the Magic / Mentalism community.
MAKING YOUR OWN MULTI-BOB PENDULUM BY RICH HENNESSEY Hello friends in the Mystery Arts. A while back, Dr. Bill contacted me regarding an idea he had for a functional Multi-Bob pendulum. My initial reaction was along the lines of "say what"? I had been creating unique pendulums for a while, but in all honesty, I had never heard of a Multi-Bob pendulum. Dr. Bill provided me with a link to a product known as “The Burmese Bells” I quickly surmised what the good doctor had in mind: A cross rod with two or more pendulums of various lengths hanging from the rod. I will be the first to admit that my knowledge of actual pendulum use is quite limited. Until recently, I just made them; I enjoy creating unique pendulums. However this is changing and I am learning!
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I believe this ebook will provide knowledge and ideas from experienced pendulum users that will enable performers of all skill levels to include both single and Multi-Bob pendulums in their performances. I do hope that you will join me on the “journey of enlightenment” regarding the “Power of the Pendulum in Performance”....especially Multi-Bob Pendulums. Now here are some simple instructions for making what I like to call:
The Office Store Pendulum All items can be obtained at almost any office supply store. Needed:
1. A Pencil : I selected a pack of holograph decorated pencils made by Ticonderoga. They are shiny and metallic and compliment the silver binder clips nicely. In addition these pencils are factory sharpened, and a little longer [7.5 in.] than a standard NO.2 pencil. The underlying wood is black as is the eraser making for a very attractive rod. 2. Three small binder clips: I chose the silver metal clips. (3/4 in.) 3. Some string or cord: I had some black satin rattail cord on hand so I used that. Most office stores have white cord available. This is perfectly adequate but the black cord coordinates nicely with the rest of the set-up. Simple construction method:
Nothing written in stone...however, I like the longest pendulum to be slightly longer than the cross rod. So 8 inches is about right. 1. Tie the end of the spool string with a tight double knot around one of the binder clip handle loops. 2. Cut off about 10 inches of string. 3. Tie the other end of the cut string around the pencil, again with a tight double knot. Remember to measure so that the total length after tying is about eight inches.
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4. I like the second longest pendulum to be about 75% as long as the longest pendulum so approximately 6 inches will work. Again go through the tying process. 5. The shortest pendulum should be 60% of the longest...so about 4 3/4 inches is fine. Again, these are my own preferences. 6. Clip off any excess string as close to each knot as possible. First make certain each knot is tight and won't come undone. You can also secure the knots with a clear drying white glue. Comments:
This Multi-Bob pendulum may not appeal to all; however, it is compact and can fit in a jacket pocket. It is great for strolling and tableside. The binder clips can be used to hold billets or other small objects. Or possibly even as a Multi “Witness” Pendulum. Being that the cross rod is a functioning pencil, I am sure creative performers can envision the possibilities of use in conjunction with a secret writer. Each Pendulum will easily slip off the pencil for individual use. I will be glad to make up this version at a very reasonable price. Here is what the final product looks like:
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TEA FOR THREE BY DR. BILL
BOBBING FOR TEA I first used a teabag as an impromptu pendulum many years ago when out to dinner with a group of friends. It wasn’t something I did often and hadn’t thought about it for a long time having taken up the habit of carrying a pendulum with me. A routine with a teabag, “Tasseography,” is also described in Richard Webster’s Pendulum Power. However, steeped as I’ve been in Multi-Bob work, I guess the following was just inevitable. As was that pun. An order of carry out Chinese food arrived with several sets of chopsticks. The selection of Szechuan Beef led to a steak knives being on the table. I suspect you can see where this is going! The photo is also a good hint. A couple of points and we’ll move on. First, the darn thing works! I really didn’t have high hopes, given the need to shorten one teabag string considerably. But with a bit of attention to detail, you’ll have a fully functional, impromptu Multi-Bob. With a bit of acting you can definitely make this appear to be inspired on the spot. Especially when not having had to act the first time!
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Use the steak knife to “saw” notches into a chopstick at appropriate distances from one another. Cut the teabag strings as needed to create three different length bobs. You don’t tie the strings around the chopstick but instead tie a knot large enough at the top so that once the string is inserted in the notch (you may want to wrap it once or twice) the teabag pendulum will stay put. Yet also be easily removable. You may also leave the tags on and just wrap the strings around the chopstick as many times as needed to achieve the appropriate lengths. The tag will help keep things in place and the bags are still removable. One of my reasons for including this here is it occurred to me that Rich’s Office Store Pendulum can be constructed the same way rather than tying the strings to the pencil. Also, if you use a piece of dowel rod, notching works fine. I redid my first prototype (the paper towel rod), which is actually quite thick, using notches done with a “pocket saw” and it worked perfectly. It turns out Rich also has experimented with constructing a Multi-Bob using a high quality, ornate chopstick. It will be available via custom orders so please see Rich for details.
But back to my modest, impromptu version. It i s all “armchair” from here but let me include some thoughts that occurred to me for your inspiration.
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Tea leaves have been used for centuries as an oracle for divination. I know next to nothing about this practice. For someone who does, that and a bit of imagination could morph into a tasty presentation. What about attaching three varieties of tea rather than three of the same? And leave on the tags that identify i dentify the flavor. Now instead of having your guest concentrate on moving bag 1, 2 or 3, have h ave them imagine enjoying a cup of their favorite blend. A whiff of aroma stimulates their senses and that teabag is the one that moves. Via this shift in meaning the effect completely changes. Also, this is perfect for f or the good responder to perform in their own hands. And this can still be handled as an impromptu effect. Variety packs of delicious teas are readily available avail able in many homes and even offices. Some nicer restaurants bring out a chest ch est for the customer to select one of several flavors. OK, I’m getting ahead of myself. Before the routines must come information on handling the Multi-Bob to get the most out of it and shorten sh orten your learning curve.
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COMING TO GRIPS At first, writing this section secti on seemed to me like it was going to be gratuitous. After all, who needs to be told how to hold the pendulum rod? Overkill, right? Then I learned that three colleagues were effectively holding the Multi-Bob rod in completely different ways from what I thought of as the obvious position. Sure, I had realized reali zed you need to adjust your grip to match the size and shape of your fingers, like li ke with almost any other move or prop in magic and mentalism, but these differences were far more distinctive than that. For a long time I held the rod in what seems to me the th e intuitively logical manner. I simply take t ake each end between my thumb and forefinger adding support by placing my middle mi ddle fingers beneath the rod. If seated, as I usually u sually am these days, depending what size I use and where I am (so ( so says Captain Obvious!), I may or may not rest my elbows on a table or my knees. But that is about it. Then a friend wrote that he held the Multi-Bob one-handed like it was the most natural thing in the world. He’d never considered holding both ends! Food for thought; if you have a steady hand, there really isn’t a reason not to. Plus, it allows all ows you to steady the pendulums with your free hand more readily if needed or desired. Or emphasize which bob is moving most with your free hand. OK, one handed, that’s an option, but that’s it, right? Wrong again. Another friend sends me a photo, as you’ll see later, of his Multi-Bob Multi- Bob made from a tree branch. A smaller branch extending at close to a 90 degree angle serves as his means of gripping the Multi-Bob, Mul ti-Bob, providing a handle of sorts. All the pros and cons of the one handed han ded grip on the Multi-Bob as mentioned above, plus the singular quality of using a tree branch! Then I read Kenton Knepper, in his wonderful book Pendulum Programming which I will be referring to often, (http://www.wonderwizards.com/product_info.php?products_id=455 http://www.wonderwizards.com/product_info.php?products_id=455)), suggests holding the rod between your open palms. I like this a lot especially with the full size Multi-Bob, allowing me a level of control that
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supersedes recent physical limitations. Here is a photo of Mauricio Jaramillo using this grip with a 5 pendulum Multi-Bob made for him by his girlfriend:
Mauricio “Palming” A Multi-Bob Pendulum In a similar fashion, I’ve found that with a mini Multi-Bob, it is effective to hold the rod between the tips of your first fingers. Your remaining fingers can be closed or spread out; this hold works both ways with equal facility. Using the palms obscures too much of what is happening while using your fingertips makes for a fine display, highlighting the Multi-Bob movements.
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STILLNESS Paradoxically, fine tuning your control over the pendulums movements is first gained by mastering stillness. That sounds very “Zen,” and perhaps it even is, but was simply derived from personal experience. Any of my Buddhist readers feel free to send me comments, I strongly recommend you resist the urge to bypass this step. Begin by entering a state of calm relaxation where the pendulums rest with as little movement as possible. You will then use your ideomotor response to decrease and ultimately halt their movement. Learning this now will help you later when you move one or more pendulums while the remaining ones stay still. Many factors will determine exactly how still you can maintain the pendulums, particularly when you are engaged in moving a single one, as your work with the Multi-Bob progresses. Don’t let this absence of perfection interfere with your practice. Recent circumstances have left me with an unpredictable slight tremor. As you can imagine, when this is going on maintaining stillness becomes somewhat more of a challenge! Think and speak of pendulum movement in terms of relativity. You may not be able to maintain the two “neutral” pendulums perfectly still but rest assured that you can make it more than obvious that the chosen pendulum is moving in an entirely different way, with greater vitality and distinctively in the desired direction. And most intriguingly, as you do get in tune with the chosen bob, the others grow in stillness as they come to a complete rest. A large part of the mystery with the Multi-Bob is that the two neutral pendulums are serving as a kind of “control” relative to the one in motion. If you were moving the rod with your hands in any way, intuitively all three would move in concert. There is no need to state this unless it is inherent in your premise or part of the back story of why this odd device exists in the first place, which is perfectly valid and can be used effectively. I do so indirectly in “The History of The Pendulum; In Three Movements” below. And please see the ad for this book at outlaw-effects.com where I begin with a rather atmospheric
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story about the Multi- Bob’s ability at identifying those who qualify for entrance into a secret organization. Another benefit of obtaining stillness first in performance is that it serves to offer a visual process, “explaining” what is necessary to achieve your ends. It gives meaning to what you are doing and helps build suspense and expectation, something we can always use more of in mentalism. Besides the ubiquitous Smash and Stab! Doing so begins to demonstrate that what I’m doing isn’t some stunt but rather something deserving of the audience’s complete attention. Plus it shows there is a method to my madness! As Millard Longman writes in Psychic Skills Workshop (http://www.mevproshop.com/psychic-skillsworkshop.html), “When you use your pendulum, you are in a trance!” You would be wise to remember this. It has many useful implications. Obtaining stillness imparts useful indirect suggestions that will enhance your success when having an audience member handle the Multi-Bob. The importance of the incorporation of tangible process is emphasized by many successful mentalists. It helps to create and initiate the “irresistible illusion,” as I like to call it. This is a term I coined during many long explorations with Enrique Enriquez on another way to conceptualize the phenomenon usually referred to as “sacred deception.” Sure enough, with the irresistible illusion initiated, the pendulum begins to move when the proper moment arrives. Remember, you are doing something of significance that has required the acquisition of knowledge and the application of discipline to master. Never “throw away” the use of any pendulum. What a waste! I can’t emphasize enough that you are modeling what you want from the audience members who in many effects will handle the Multi-Bob or an individual pendulum later in your performance. This will make your task, and theirs, much simpler. Working on stillness is also effective in helping to master the standard pendulum. This seems like a good point to mention that the Multi-Bob is a low tech yet sophisticated form of a biofeedback device. More so than a standard pendulum, which also serves as a tool for biofeedback, the Multi-Bob
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requires even greater receptivity to minimal cues. Conversely it demands more sensitivity and precision in responding to these cues and feeding back signals from your brain to create the movement and stillness you desire. This is a premise you can draw on to create a routine or to do it for real. I have very successfully used the Multi-Bob with several clients so feel free to help yourself or someone you’re working with relax and/or fine tune their concentration (The usual caveat; no playing doctor unless you are one!). I’ve considered “attaching” a brainwave to each pendulum as a performance premise but have yet to do so. Should any of my readers decide to adopt this theme, Beta waves are associated with a high level of mental activity such as used when problem solving or decision making. SMR waves are found when the mind is at attention and storing and sequencing information for later use. Alpha waves are typically found in an alert mind in a state of rest. Theta waves are linked to mental creativity and inspiration. And Delta waves are found during deep relaxation. Feel free to run with it and let me know what happens! Let me offer some final thoughts on achieving stillness. Where you want to take yourself both mentally and physically is strongly related to the states evoked by relaxation techniques, meditation, mindfulness practices, guided visualization and hypnosis, self or otherwise. You want to use your breathing as you would with any of the above practices to begin by centering yourself. Scan your body for any areas of tension and allow these areas to relax and let go. I learned to use the phrase, “relax and let go,” to accompany each step of a progressive muscle relaxation technique many, many years ago. Over time it has become “attached,” “linked,” or “anchored” to the experience of relaxation so I only need to note an area of tension and internally tell myself to relax and let go. It works fine as a whole body method as well. Of course you need to anchor yourself to a phrase or image that works best for you though I do find “relax and let go” an excellent all purpose option when helping others achieve a focused and relaxed inner state. The phrase is especially well suited for a group setting where you are dealing with a variety of people from diverse backgrounds. It doesn’t seem to invite
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resistance, allowing just about anyone to accept it both consciously and subconsciously. Whether for yourself or when guiding others, time such internal statements with exhalations. If identifying a specific muscle to relax, first remember a muscle is more relaxed subsequent to tensing it and time the phrase with the releasing of the muscle tension and the exhalation. Once in an appropriate state internally state “Stop,” and/or visualize the pendulums come to a rest. After sufficient practice you can accomplish the necessary steps quite quickly. But take 10 to 20 seconds to allow you the time for adequate positioning and emphasis of the importance of the journey your audience will soon join you in taking. You are then ready to begin moving the desired or chosen pendulum.
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MOTION For me, activating the ideomotor response is a source of pleasure. With the Multi-Bob pendulum the ten year old boy I wrote about in the introduction resurfaces, feeling real magic that is communicated to those observing and participating. And this time there is the additional sense of “the unexplained” offered by the impact of working with multiple pendulums and the happy/crazy experience of one moving as desired while the others stay still. Depending on the presentation, you now focus your thoughts and imagination on a pendulum either you or a participant has chosen. Where you earlier visualized stillness and internally said “stop,” you now visualize the desired pendulum making the desired movement. You can accompany this with the interior verbalization of the desired direction. For example, “left/right,” “forward/backward,” and “circle.” Many of you will find the visualization alone suffices. A hurdle some people encounter is their own negative thoughts. Kenton Knepper writes eloquently about this in Pendulum Programming mentioned above: When a student happens to have little response, insist they are stopping the communication by using too much conscious effort. It is never the conscious mind that ought to move the pendulum. We want subconscious communication, not a mental brute forcing of the conscious mind. Worry and conscious effort will stop the movement. This is not due to a lack of failure to communicate with the subconscious mind. It is quite the opposite. If a person thinks, “This won’t work” or “I can’t do this” then the subconscious will go to work on this instruction as it is given. The result will be that the pendulum will not move. The subconscious is of course reacting perfectly. Be sure to point this out to a student having trouble.
Pendulum Programming is designed as a course to instruct mentalists how to offer laymen a workshop on pendulums hence the language in the above quote. It is also written for the standard individual pendulum but don’t let any of this distract you for a moment. There is way too much valuable information to learn just in this one paragraph. What applies to the single bob pendulum applies even more to the MultiBob. If you are running into any difficulties operating the Multi-Bob, imagine
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Kenton is speaking to you. The same ideas apply whether to one pendulum, a Multi-Bob, a Haunted Key or any effect utilizing ideomotor responses. The point I want to emphasize the most is that the subconscious is working perfectly. There is no failure on this level; only the perfect response to negative thoughts. This concept is invaluable in all areas of suggestion and hypnosis. I am very grateful Kenton emphasized this in Pendulum Programming and allowed me to share his concise and powerful words on the matter. Knowing that the subconscious is responding perfectly will save you from a lot of wasted time and heartache. It is a concept that will transform your ideomotor and suggestion work immensely. Just as you can try to force yourself while maintaining negativity and gaining unwanted subconscious cooperation, you can do the same with your participants. This sets up a recursive loop creating the exact opposite of what you are attempting. Relax and let go! Put your focus on the pendulum you want to move and in the desired direction. The others may begin to move, though generally to a much smaller degree. I recommend you maintain your attention on the chosen pendulum rather than trying to stop the mavericks. As you become more in tune with the one, the others will find their proper place and slow to stillness. Don’t grant them unwarranted energy. What is known in hypnotic circles as The Law of Reversed Effect can also come into play both in our own learning and teaching. It is very closely related to what Kenton says in the beginning of the paragraph quoted above. Too much conscious effort interferes with the areas the su bconscious exists to serve, such as ideomotor functioning. Let’s hear it one more time…relax and let go! Again, when we are at ease, such as in a light trance or alert relaxation (hint, hint) it is a much simpler task to navigate the line between confidence in achieving our goals and putting too much pressure on ourselves or others. In my essay, “Suggestions On The Use Of Suggestion,” from my ebook Suggestabilities (http://www.outlaw-effects.com/store/the-arsenal/ebooks/suggestabilities.html), I offer the advice to put yourself at the receiving end of any form of suggestion you are struggling to achieve. This advice holds equally well with the Multi-Bob so if need be do not hesitate to
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find someone skilled in guiding you through a pendulum experience. As the Multi-Bob is not as common (yet!) anyone who works well with a standard pendulum will suffice. Given the nature of this book I’m putting my essay, “A Suggestion On The Use Of Suggestion,” as the second appendix of Trybil. While there is a small amount of overlap, the essay makes a great adjunct to the material I’m teaching here. I think it will speed up and strengthen your learning process regarding a central aspect of this work. As mentioned in the essay “Suggestions….” ideomotor response and suggestion have a certain amount of overlap. Some of my ideas on enhancing ideomotor response connect well with enhancing suggestion. The reverse is also true. Plus, it is just a good read! Another move Kenton and I share in common when instructing a participant is to move your index finger in the desired direction. Kenton writes about this with an individual pendulum. I first did this with the Haunted Key but found it also is very effective in shortening the learning curve when engaging participants with the Multi-Bob or standard pendulum. Kenton refers to this as “visual education” and we both conceptualize it as a subconscious kick start for a struggling participant. A few notes on cheating…shhhh! OK, you shouldn’t ever have to do it but we all have our off days. Kenton mentions it in Pendulum Programming, Richard Webster in Pendulum Power (http://www.deceptionary.com/webster.html#pendulum) and I have my own technique so it occurred to me if I’m in such good company it is worth addressing, albeit briefly. Kenton states, “Not everything needs to be rushed in mentalism.” This is certainly true and rushing the person to person connections and awe inspiring impact of pendulum work, seems an especially grievous offense. However, there are times when things just don’t go as planned. And some routines can take quite a long time to complete, for example spelling out words using charts. Kenton suggests taking advantage of the fact that the smallest physical movement or pressure can “jump start” the pendulum’s movement and to just be sure to be extremely subtle. My own technique is to take a deep breath, drawing attention upwards toward my face. The expansion and
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contraction of your lungs/chest will lift your arm and provide all the assistance the pendulum may rarely require. ‘nuff said. Now for a cautionary tale. I was in my third year of grad school. Mentalism had been on the backburner for quite a while at this point. I had a fascinating course on psychology and literature. Somehow I found a rationale my professor accepted to let me perform a mentalism effect for the class rather than writing a final paper. I decided to perform a wonderful Max Maven effect, “Onstage Bender,” from the Green Book of Mentalism that can now be found in the collection of all the color books, Prism. I won’t say more than it involves both a key bend and a pendulum in combination. Overconfident as these were two of my most performed and powerful effects a few years back, overwhelmed with “important” papers and exams due, I didn’t exactly put too much thought into the more subtle aspects of what would be required of me. Oh, and I’d never performed the Maven effect but didn’t think I had to worry as I was so certain of my skills with each individual component. Such hubris! I completely forgot pretty much everything I write about above. I also gave no thought to the participant I selected. I failed to first demonstrate a pendulum in action. More on both of these points later, but I think you can see what is coming. First off, nothing. Zip. Nada. Pendulum interruptus. I started to get nervous and felt pretty stupid standing there. Winging it, I just told my helper to swing the pendulum in a circle above my hand. At this point I realized that I hadn’t bent the key as I’d planned when all eyes were on the moving pendulum during the instruction phase I failed to do. Oops! No problem; recovering from mistakes was the test of the skilled performer. I’d just bend it now while the pendulum was being purposely and somewhat wildly swung and I was standing there with a stupid grin on my face. No pressure at all! Except on the key. Instead of bending it, I snapped the tip off and it went flying into the classroom. At about this time I was wishing I’d just written a
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damn paper. I don’t even remember how I brought the “performance” to a close. I think the many lessons from this experience are self-explanatory. I won’t beat you over the head with them and just allow you to enjoy my humiliation.
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GAUGING RESPONSIVENESS You can begin to measure which audience members are the best responders during your initial spiel, noting interest levels and degree of concentration. Similarly check out who reacts positively to your bringing out the Multi-Bob or one of the individual pendulums depending on your routine. Someone sharing a story about their own familiarity or experience with a pendulum is a good measure. And pay attention to which audience members are most interested and least cynical when you demonstrate the first adjustments with the pendulum, beginning with when you take deep breaths and center yourself. Gauging responsiveness to suggestion is an important skill to cultivate and not nearly as difficult as some people seem to fear. As a matter of fact, starting off with a pendulum has long been a classic way to judge suggestibility for later effects. But fortunately it doesn’t matter if the pendulum is the later effect and you take another route to the same end. Jerome Finley offers some ideas in his contribution below that some may see as going to the outer limits but the initial question he suggests asking (Do you believes in angels?) can be used on its own in the right circumstances or another question, similar in pr oces s may easily be substituted. In an Ormond McGill show captured when he was 85 years old (!) on the tape McGill’s Secrets of Magic & Stage Hypnosis he presented his Guardian Angel Hypnosis Show as part of a larger workshop. I kept waiting to see some form of suggestibility test before he went into the hyp act. Unless there was some seriously deceptive language including the cooperation of his host, he hadn’t had any opportunity to do so before his show. I watched to no avail. Of course he was performing for a group who paid to be at such a workshop so he had what we refer to in psychological research as a “biased sample” right off the bat. Still, I expected Ormond to harvest the best subjects. I decided I had to watch it again as something was nagging at me. During the second viewing I caught the same process Jerome describes above with virtually the same question. Ormond asked instead, “Who here has a guardian angel?” Awesome and even more exacting!
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He distinguished those who were interested in such subjects from those who believed they were already protected by a guardian angel. Given the biases inherent in the venue, he w as harvesting the best responders! At the risk of insulting any of my reader’s belief systems, this strikes me as a quick and definitive measure of suggestibility across the continuum with which he was dealing. But again, if you don’t want to delve into the outer limits of beliefs that might exclude some perfectly acceptable audience members, remember you can substitute any question similar in process and of content relevant to your circumstances. Let me offer some examples. A favorite tactic of mine is to ask the audience members for their definitions of the nature of the subconscious mind. First off, you will engage the room which in itself is a valuable accomplishment. But consider all the valuable information you will gather from the answers to this question. You will identify where people fall on a wealth of continuums: the scientist to the artist. The negative minded to the optimistic. Freudians through Post-Freudians. Pragmatist to idealist. The concrete thinker and the more abstract dreamer. It is a wonderful verbal Rorschach. And that is only the beginning. I’ll leave you to identify more distinctions on your own. Besides identifying people along various continuums you will gather a wealth of information about what is important to the respondents. Fears, hopes and dreams will become evident in many cases. As someone with an interest in this kind of material you may be surprised at the number of people who put little stock in the existence of the subconscious mind at all. I know I initially was when I began asking this question. Given the presentation I’m using in “The Bill and the Pendulum,” below, exploring audience member’s beliefs about the abilities attributed to the subconscious serves the same purpose just as well. After speaking about my take on how powerful the subconscious mind is, I ask a question such as, “Who here has struggled with finding an answer to a problem only to find you have the solution upon waking the next morning? Or it just suddenly appears to you, seemingly out of nowhere when you aren’t thinking about it?” Alternatively to a question, you can share stories about the power of the subconscious and pay attention to reactions. Sharing such stories is
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standard operating procedure in creating an atmosphere to cultivate suggestibility such as when using hypnosis. It also serves well in this instance to identify those most open to suggestion. In his hyp act, Richard Osterlind speaks of driving past your exit while on “autopilot” but it being perfectly safe due to your subconscious mind protecting you. He doesn’t blatantly ask who has had this experience; it is more a rhetorical question thrown in quickly amidst his general observations and presentation. But several audience members spontaneously share that they have, either directly or via their reactions to Richard’s story. Even the fact that some members of the audience are raising their hands to a question that really is never asked is telling. Brilliant!
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THE MULTI-BOB MOVEMENTS It is time for the cast of characters to share our routines utilizing the MultiBob pendulum! What follows is a wide and wild assortment of presentations and themes around which to showcase the potentials of this wonderful instrument. There is quite a bit to digest so take your time and enjoy as you decide upon one or two effects to devote your energies to. It is best to master a single routine than to dabble in several. Jerome Finley was one of the first people I shared my thoughts with about this project. He was more than a little bit excited and I can’t resist sharing part of an email I received in return. No full blown routines but leave it to Jerome to generate so many fine ideas in so few words! And he will return later with some of the most elegant and intriguing work on individual pendulums and hypnosis I’ve ever come across. For now….
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A FEW BRIEF NOTES FROM JEROME FINLEY ON MULTI-BOB POTENTIAL Via Personal Communication (raw and unedited) The uses for a Bob in mentalism are astounding. Think of a “TERASABOS” type routine (or a “Darker Dai,” etc) wherein the most commonly chosen position in a row of 5 objects is the 4th position. The very bold performer could hold the rod and have the participant THINK of a bob or number between 1-5. With nothing spoken or written down the appropriate pendulum would start to move... Personally, I've used pendulum work to effectively choose/force objects and even people when necessary. It's a very free way to ring in a stooge - the pendulum is led to them, not the performer! This would be a great use to force a particular book in a book test. A stack of books are laid out by the participant in any order they wish and to choose the best one to work with the performer holds the rod and allows the pendulum to swing over the appropriate selection. Since we have 3-5 pendulums to work with this would be PERFECT. This would also be an effective way to force a number of items or choices. For instance, I offer card, palm and bone readings in my private work. Some days I just want to read cards while other days I'm stuck on the bones. I always present the sitter with a choice AND with a tool such as this I could effectively “ask” the Bob which tool is best suited for the client in front of me and simply force it to swing over the oracle of my choosing. In doing this I take my own preferences out of the equation (apparently) and yet still get exactly what I want...bad...I know:)
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At age six, John Riggs decided he wanted to be a Wizard when he grew up. He's been studying magic since -- 44 years later! Today he is a professional entertainer, author and strange person. During the 1982 Knoxville World's Fair, he successfully solved the Rubik's Cube while blindfolded. Professor Erno Rubik thought this was the most amazing thing he had ever witnessed. The most common remark made during this time was "Heck, I can't solve it with my eyes OPEN!" He is a popular guest on television and radio programs. He has even read palms over the radio! His books R u n i c P alm i s t r y , K ar m i c P a lm i s t r y , a n d A L ov er ' s G u i de to P alm i s tr y have been published worldwide in five languages. His books and DVDs for mentalists--13 books and 15 DVDs--are available only from him. His product line of impression devices is available when he has time to make them between shows, so quit whining (http://www.jonsaintgermain.com/books.htm ). John Riggs was the first person to contribute a routine when I sent out requests for information on the background of the Multi-Bob Pendulum. “From a Slender Cord, Swinging” was first published in John’s book, P s y c h i c S oi r ees , and to me sets the gold standard for everything to follow. In addition, John shares a splendid answer to the question, “Can you perform with a Multi-Bob on stage?” It is short and sweet and in the typical Rigg’s fashion will put a big smile on your face!
FROM A SLENDER CORD, SWINGING BY JOHN RIGGS EFFECT: Very strong. A wooden dowel is shown with three different pendulums hanging from it. The entertainer asks the audience to call out one. It starts swinging! One of the other two pendulums is called out, and it, too, mysteriously swings. The first pendulum stops. The bar is handed to a spectator, and everyone is asked to concentrate on the remaining pendulum. It starts swinging!
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METHOD: As you know, the pendulum works itself. You make the pendulum “monkey bar” by obtaining a 1/2" dowel, about eighteen inches long. Drill three equidistant holes through the bar, and hang three different pendulums from them with cords of varying lengths. This is important to get the effect to work. I recommend you use three easily-identified objects for the pendulums. I use three small rubber balls of different colors. This way, the audience can call out their favorite color, and that ball starts to swing. Experiment with your bar. Hold it horizontally, by the ends. If you concentrate on one of the pendulums, it will eventually start to swing. I'll not bore you with yet another discussion of the ideomotor response. It just works. Now, shift your focus to one of the other pendulums. The first pendulum will stop, and the second one will start to swing! This is aided by the differing length of the cords. I also won't bore you with a discussion of frequency, pitch, and wave cycles. Read Pythagoras for explanations of frequency being determined by string length (the Octave theory). The entire demonstration can be conducted in a spectator's hand, if their concentration is good enough. Use this wisely; this is real magic, with no trickery!
STAGE RIGHT, ENTER FROM THE SHOWER BY JOHN RIGGS For years I carried around for stage use a collapsible seven-foot long version that uses the shower rod cover used to construct the collapsible "7 foot pole" and two end caps. You also use three different colored rubber balls on cords (different lengths of course so the Octave effect works) and have two audience members hold the ends. The same goals and means as used in “Slender Cord” above, some hypno-talk and voila! A miracle.
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Gerard was influenced at an early age by his family. Although his father was a classic magician, it was inevitably his grandfather and namesake "Gerard", a card cheating pickpocket and flimflam artist, who fascinated Gerard. Today, Gerard has fused psychology, hypnosis, and the street sense he inherited from his grandfather to create his unique and fascinating brand of performance art. “I want everyone to walk away from my show knowing they had experienced something completely unique and entertaining.” Gerard has two separate but fascinating shows that he brings to the stage. First, an interactive fast paced mind control show titled "Matters of the Mind". The second is his hilarious hypnosis show he calls..."The Hypnosis Show”. Gerard has appeared on National TV and radio and worked as a consultant and cast member on "MIND FREAK" with Criss Angel. Gerard worked with friend D a v i d B la i n e on his ABC special Dive of Death in New York. Gerard was also a co-writer and consulting producer on K e i th B a r r y 's special for Discovery Channel in Los Angeles due to air in 2010. HYPNOTIST Gerard is a certified hypnotist with the National Guild and is regarded by many as the best in the world at what he does. Gerard brings his skills as a Master Hypnotist to the stage where he takes up to 20 volunteers from the audience to "star' in his hilarious h y p n o s i s s h o w . This is a clean show and Gerard makes sure the volunteers step off the stage feeling better than they ever felt. M E N T A LI S T Gerard has been a student of human behavior patterns, lateral thinking, neurolinguistic programming (NLP) and hypnosis for over a decade. Gerard demonstrates his extraordinary ability to influence people’s decisions, thoughts and actions through the powers of suggestion and subliminal persuasion, predicting the outcome of situations he apparently has no control over. Mind reading or mind WRITING.... y ou deci de. His many effects can be purchased from leading dealers of magic effects and supplies. To learn more about Gerard, search for "hidden pages" on this site.
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Check out Gerard on myspace at w w w . m y s p ac e. co m / g e r a r d th e h y pn ot i s t www.GerardTheHypnotist.com
CHARMED BY GERARD The ever inventive Gerard sent along this contribution. Meaning is what makes for powerful mentalism and is an attribute I’ve always been impressed with Gerard’s attention to. As you’ll see the title is apt. When presented with style and flair, this i s the response you will engender. Gerard wrote, “I have found through my experiences that EVERYONE has silently questioned if they are with or married to their true soul mate.” Charmed takes this question to heart providing your audience with a true mystery and your participant with, “always a smile, sometimes even a tear of joy and relief.” Let’s say your participant is a l ady from the audience. Have her write her partner’s name on a business card that has been pre-folded into quarters. This card needs to be marked. Nothing fancy here at all, a simple pencil dot or corner crimp will more than suffice. You may have it pre-marked or with a crimp take care of it on the spot. I’ve also found in such situations that a slight variation of the fold suffices. Besides meaning providing power to mentalism, it also provides for powerful misdirection. “Charmed” provides a variety of layers of meaning that will allay any concerns of marking but be as careful as you need to be to feel comfortable. On two other cards, also pre-folded into quarters, have her write down the names of two other men. These may be the “what ifs?” that she has pondered over the years, a universal human experience. Once again, meaning enters the picture.
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Have your participant or another audience member mix up the three cards “so no one can know which is which.” Of course you are the exception since you know what to look for to distinguish the card with partner’s name. Spread the three folded cards out in a row, separated from one another by an appropriate distance so that when the Multi-Bob is held above, one resides under each bob. Hold the Multi-Bob above the cards. One bob will commence to swing after allowing an appropriate amount of time to build tension. This will vary from performance to performance. One pendulum swinging while the other two remain still adds another layer of meaning and mystery. The implication is obvious. Simply ask if she really wants to know the answer to her question. Allow her to open the card under the swinging billet. You’ll want to connect with her at this moment. Make eye contact, match her smile if that is her response. Nothing corny but this is a heartfelt moment. Effects exploring love have the benefit of such moments and are long remembered in my own experience. A final note from Gerard suggests the possibility of setting up the first card for Millard Longman’s Acidus Novus (See Appendix 1 for the original AN instructions. Also there is a video of Millard teaching the basic move included with Trybil . The most thorough exploration of AN can be obtained at http://www.mevproshop.com/acidus-novus.html). This way, not only can you identify which card contains her partner’s name but at the end you can reveal the name as well. One way you might handle this, tried and true by many a professional performer in a variety of ways fitting with the scenario at hand, is to ask her to visualize her partner. Ask her to say internally something to the effect of, “I’m glad I chose you…..Andrew?” The question mark is for your benefit as you aren’t certain that you have read her mind accurately. A bit of tension, then relief to end the effect. Some might make the case that revealing the name dilutes the effect. That too many abilities are being demonstrated. Others might make the case that the surprise of identifying her partner’s name is worth the risk. And that the “rule of three” comes effectively into play via the pendulum moving, the pendulum identifying the correct card and the name being revealed.
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These are the kind of performance issues that we each must decide for ourselves. I have seen the best performers of our generation follow both paths successfully. Decide what works for YOU!
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Dr. Todd Landman is Professor of Government and Director of the Institute for Democracy and Conflict Resolution at the University of Essex in the United Kingdom. He has studied and performed magic and mentaliism since 1974. He is creator of Cogito Ergo Sum and The Condemned, co-creator of Luna and the Ink Blot Cards, and author of a new book series on 'theatrical mentalism' launched with its first volume entitled M etaph y s i cal M ag i c: E s s ay s f or t h e D i s c er n i n g M y s t e r y E n t er t ai n e r . Over the years Dr Todd's parallel lives have become increasingly intertwined as he explores deep philosophical questions through his performances and uses mentalism to teach topics in the social sciences. He specializes in performing his theatre shows, which are steeped in mystery and dripping in Victoriana. In the tradition of Cornelius Agrippa, Pico De Mirandola, John Dee, and Isaac Newton , Dr Todd is forging himself as a scholar magician who is fascinated with exploring unknown worlds and leaving open the possibility for real magic...
THE MYSTIC TRIAD BY DR. TODD LANDMAN www.metaphysical-magician.com This routine is based on the assumption that the performer has already introduced the pendulum setup and explained the basics of how it works. I am not a fan of actually explaining the ideomotor response idea, and it would be a huge mistake to explain pendulum resonance theory from physics, since we want to create the illusion that the pendulums speak for the inner mind. The performer begins: “Since the beginning of time, the number three has had particular significance across ancient religious, metaphysical, and mystical belief systems. For Pythagorean numerology, the number three denotes a person who is artistic, effervescent, happy, charismatic and drawn to entertainment, while the Platonic solid of the pyramid is a series of triangles joined together into a perfect harmonic geometric shape (the tetrahedron) that relates to element of fire. “For the spiritual alchemists, the number three is the symbol for the psychic eye, or that chakra that lies just between the two eyes in the middle of the forehead. For Christians, the number three most notably relates to the Holy
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Trinity but also that of the altar, offering, and offerer. For the Elizabethan scientist, mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, and magician John Dee, the number three features in his famous and some would say, most opaque essay, the Monas Hieroglyphica.
“The top horned circle of the figure is the union of Sun and Moon (Sol and Luna, or the Chymical Wedding); the middle cross represents the four elements; while the curved sign of Aries at its base represents primal fire. For ancient Jeiwsh Kabbala, the meditation mantra ‘AUM’ can be broken into A for man and power , U for creation and passage, and M for woman and mother . “But one need not consult the occultists for such deep meanings for the number three. Indeed, Sir Isaac Newton, the father of modern science laid out his three laws of motion in his Principia Mathematica, Rene Descartes explored the power of the pendulum in his Meditations alongside his famous musings on the separation between mind and body, and the French Revolution was committed to the ideational trio of liberté, égalité, and fraternité. Moreover, modern Western music has at its core the major triad consisting of the first (I), third (III), and fifth (IV) note of any major scale, which when played together creates perfect harmony.
“With these background details in mind, we can contemplate our three pendulums as comprising a serious and significant mystic triad in which all of these meanings and more are invested. At any one time, we can concentrate on this vast history of meaning and symbolism, or concentrate on that which appeals to us most; tapping into the collective unconscious that transcends time and space. For our present purposes, however, think of the pendulums as different ways in which we relate to our world and how we make decisions in our everyday lives. “The pendulum with the long cord is related to our gut instincts, the solar plexus chakra if you will. How many times have you simply decided something through an appeal to your gut? The pendulum on the medium
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cord is related to our heart chakra which influences our emotional centre for decision making. How many times has your heart ruled over you and dictated your choices in life? “Finally, the pendulum on the short cord relates to our psychic third eye chakra, or that area of decision making that draws on our inner psyche in a true Jungian sense of the word. How many times have you moved beyond your gut and your heart to a place that only you know for help in your decisions?” Turning to a volunteer: “Please hold the rod with both hands, close your eyes, and concentrate on the ways in which you make your decisions in life. You may rank these different ways in any order that you choose. “Good. “Now, with your eyes still closed, concentrate on the most usual way that you make decisions and allow your mind to reveal this mode of decision making to us through the relevant pendulum. “Good. “And now move to the next preferred or typical mode of decision making and allow the relevant pendulum to speak for your mind. “Very good. “Finally, please reveal your least favorite or least common way of making decisions and allow the pendulum to speak once again. “Excellent, that was simply sublime…
“I do hope that our little demonstration today illustrates the deeper meaning behind what appear to be simple objects made of simple matter. Do think about the multiple ways in which the number three appears in your everyday life. Remember the mystic triad. And please reflect on your gut, your heart, and your inner self, as you make your way in the world. Thank you.”
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“faucon of Sakin’el” is one of the pen names for Ken Muller, a Nevada native who now resides in Knoxville, Tennessee, with his wife “Lady Emrys,” . Their special 1920’s home and acres of grounds serve as an informal retreat center, always open for those needing a place to escape, teach a metaphysical class or just chat. Sakin’el means both “Silent Breeze” and “Search for Inner Peace.” Plans for a more organized center there called “Heartwood Haven” are on hold as Ken and Emmie care for his 90 years old parents. Being housebound allows him to write books and her to produce musical CDs. Since 2009 Ken has focused on creating eBooks for performance magic effects drawn from his years of explorations into all facets of magic. Metaphysically they describe themselves as “Eclectic Compassionists” with a focus on healing. Emmie has been severely visually impaired from birth and is adept in many forms of healing and magick traditions. For fifty years Ken has explored practical applications of divination and magic starting at age five with his father locating metal underground with bent coat hangers. As a business consultant he has helped thousands of small business owners using disguised divination techniques to deal with real issues and problems. Amongst his books related to divination are M ag m en t of F i g m en tat i on , P h i n o m i n a l P r o p e n g i c s , F a i n - F a i r e - S o ot h , D i v i n u n i t y , a n d E ld e r S e e d . In the works is G a r d e n V a r i e t y D i v i n a t i o n b a s e d o n t h e A b u n d a n ce C y c le a n d P l an t H u s b a n d r y as models for personal actualization. He often says, “Magic happens all around me and sometimes I get blamed!”
PENDULUM ADEPT BY FAUCON OF SAKIN’EL When using this for divination it can be a powerful extension of your adept ability. There are many of you who can use your empathic or sentient skills for healing and assisting people to make difficult life decisions. The pendulum can be used to emphasize the choices, or to limit the choices one has. Personally I would always say something like, "The solution may be more memorable for you if demonstrated visually. In fact, you already perceive the answer. All I am doing is allowing it to come forth. As this pendulum is guided by your subconscious thoughts, it will it give you courage to follow." As in all forms of divination, watching the "petitioner's" reactions and listening to their responses will guide you in your work. RESTRICTIONS: Each of you must follow your own Path in “doing the work.” I am not being judgmental, but am critical of anyone who misrepresents what they are doing. This even
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extends to doctors giving placebos to diseased patients. I also know the “magick” may be in the eyes of the beholder, and no amount of disclaimer will dissuade them from believing you have “special powers.” Unfortunately, this can lead to fear and power issues. The key issue for me is that since you, the adept person can obviate your abilities without deception, why wallow in it? For me, gifted abilities come with obligations as well. Here is a photo of a Four Object Pendulum with leather thongs and a knife, talisman, bell and key for bobs. The rod is a tree branch and the branch extending from the center is the “handle” I use to hold it as Dr. Bill referenced above.
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I hold it in my right hand with my thumb underneath and my elbow supported by my left hand. I have a spectator call out which object to activate and ‘still’ the others between demonstrations. If it seems appropriate I have a spectator hold my right wrist for support. I have rarely had a spectator hold my other, free wrist and mentally focus on an object, but only as a test of their ability to be a ‘medium’ in a Hellstromism demonstration to follow. As a finale and while I have one pendulum swinging well, I activate a second swinging the opposite direction. (I decided not to comment after each contribution but I have to point out one aspect here that would be a shame if it were missed. Ken’s suggestion for a finale at first seemed unrealistic to me. Probably because I couldn’t get it to work! But with practice, there is a rhythm
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that you’ll establish that will make you wonder why it ever seemed the least bit difficult. I can now with ease have one pendulum move clockwise while another turns in counterclockwise circles. Though almost just “tossed in” by Ken at the end, I think this is a brilliant option with untold potential. Please check out how I apply this original move in Mental Workout below. An entire routine could be developed around what is even more of a seeming impossibility than one pendulum moving while the rest stay still. While a fine finale, I encourage all of us to explore this “dual movement” to its fullest extent. And don’t forget to offer your appreciation to Faucon of Sakin’el!)
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A BRIEF NOTE ON RON MARTIN’S MULTI-BOB ROUTINE I wrote Ron about the Multi-Bob and he said that while he’d worked with one very successfully it had been many years and he didn’t think his routine would be of interest to people. Then he described it to me! I couldn’t convince him to traipse back in his memory for specific details but he was kind enough to let me share what strikes me as a killer performance piece. So, in brief…. Ron wrote me that he’d do a basic handling with a Multi-Bob, demonstrating that the individual pendulums moved upon command. Knowing Ron, and how he ends the routine, I’m going to guess the motivation had a spooky component. Next he brought out a table and a bottle with a suspended pendulum. Ron didn’t say how many participants he had join him up front but use your imagination. Similarly use your imagination once again on the motivation and function of the isolated pendulum swinging within its bottle. Ron is upping the ante. The routine concludes with the same table that held the bottle tilting and taking a little walk. I have this strong feeling this happened when the “spirit moved” Ron! You be the judge. Do you think an audience would find such a presentation interesting? Ron is far too modest and though this effect isn’t limited to the Multi-Bob I felt it deserved to be included. As a matter of fact, this is really a spook show in itself! And it doesn’t require any fakery whatsoever, just suggestion and ideomotor responses. Nothing hidden to be caught out on and I suspect the impact on the audience to be nothing short of tremendous. Thank you Ron for sharing such an uninteresting idea!
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THE HISTORY OF THE PENDULUM IN THREE MOVEMENTS BY DR. BILL This is my primary performance piece with the Multi-Bob pendulum. However, until recently I have performed it unscripted, still with the purpose and emphasis being on sharing the three main explanations I prefer for pendulum movement and my bias for ideomotor response without getting into a debate or long drawn out details. What you have before you represents my belief system so may not work for everyone. Rather, I prefer to say how ideomotor response provides us with an awesome example of the power of the subconscious. It is also an inherently honest presentation, a topic for further exploration at another time and one I’ve been discussing with Jason Messina. All this is done as I demonstrate the different pendulum movements with the Multi-Bob as well as its unique qualities. I feared this might not be clear without this preface. I had also always wanted to refine the presentation and write out the script since I do believe in the importance and value of scripting effects as well as setting out the timing. You are reading the exact script I’ve been using of late. I realized this might be confusing without some preliminary comment. Everything outside the parentheses is script. The basic timing is presented in the parenthetical comments. This is the story of the stories told about the kinds of forces that cause a pendulum to swing! Early tales spoke of spirits and how they would prove their presence by moving a pendulum when properly invited. Playing the part of the medium, or Occularus Limitate*, I enter a trance and ask, “If there is a spirit present, announce yourself by causing the first pendulum, and only the first pendulum, to swing back and forth between me and Rich.”
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(Enter a trance/establish process. Have the first pendulum swing between you and a person directly opposite you. After a few solid swings…) Boo? Fast forward, oh, half a century. The heyday of parapsychology and the laboratory study of E.S.P. Another paranormal, yet this time enticingly pseudo- scientific explanation is given…telekinesis! Playing the part of the test subject, or Labatorioum Rodentia, I concentrate and use telekinesis to move the third pendulum, and only the third pendulum, back and forth between my left and right hands. (Concentrate, slow the first pendulum to a stop if it is still swinging and have the third swing left to right, between your two hands. After a few solid swings…) Recognized before the heyday of the medium and the parapsychologist, a natural force known as ideomotor response described how our thoughts are converted into actions. Ideomotor response is a truth stranger than fiction, speaking to the extraordinary powers of the human mind.** Regarding the pendulum, it explains how impulses can travel from our brain to the chain, via movements too small to see. At least until shown by the swinging of the pendulum like the movement of leaves shows us the wind. Playing the part of myself, or Skepticus Americana, I imagine the middle pendulum, and, say it with me now, only the middle pendulum , swinging in a circle. (You can omit “say it with me now” but having used it twice it already makes for a nice moment to have the audience join you in “only the middle pendulum” before you finish with “swinging in a circle.” Concentrate, slow the third pendulum and have the middle pendulum inscribe circles in the sky) Anyone care to take it for a spin? OPTIONS: 1. Work with a guest and the Multi-Bob. 2. Conclude and put Multi-Bob away.
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3. Conclude, break down Multi-Bob and work with two or three guests at a time on individual pendulum phenomena. 4. Break off one pendulum and segue into billet or card work that begins with a pendulum. Examples include Docc’s “Dead or Alive” from the Monster DVD series and explained in Part 2, Brad Henderson’s “Everlasting Pendulum” and Kenton’s “The Sealed Pendulum” as described later. 5. Continue the above presentation with a counterclockwise movement before selecting an option from 1-4 above. 6. A bit off the wall, but some may find it fits their style. The spirits never arrive. In other words the first pendulum never begins to move. You accept your failure and move on to the second and third movements. As the third movement ensues, it suddenly changes direction and swings back and forth as requested while in medium guise. You are unsettled but don’t attribute any meaning to this until one of the guests suggests…….the spirits have come a calling! The more they argue for it the more you argue against it. *Pronounced Auk-you-lair-us Lim-a-ta-tay **Recognized in the beginning of the 19th century, if not earlier (pendulums date back to at least 371 CE and I have to suspect someone caught on in the intervening centuries) but not named as such until 1852 by William B. Carpenter. In Principles of Psychology (1890) William James defines ideomotor movement in a way useful for our purposes as follows: “Whenever a movement unhesitatingly and immediately follows upon the idea of it, we have ideomotor action. ... we may lay it down for certain that every mental representation of a movement awakens to some degree the actual movement which is its object; and awakens it in a maximum degree whenever it is not kept from so doing by an antagonistic representation present simultaneously to the mind.” A favorite personal example of mine aside from those in mentalism, occurs when I’m engrossed in reading an engaging
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piece of fiction. The author writes something to the effect of, “And Jimmy scratched his temple,” and the next thing I know my hand is moving toward my own. Has this ever happened to you? By the way sharing this kind of example is also another way to harvest good responders. Current research is examining the postulated existence of “mirror neurons,” in the human brain that would create such an effect. One path of exploration maintains that mirror neurons are the source of empathy, making them crucial to human cooperation, survival and evolution. Again, the purpose of this book isn’t to explain the science behind pendulums or ideomotor functioning. That is done more than adequately elsewhere. But these ideas give us some food for thought and can be incorporated into presentational themes if not overdone in a didactic fashion. Whatever the truth about mirror neurons, I can personally attest to the importance of demonstrating the Multi-Bob in action in your own hands before attempting to have a participant give it a go. And this holds just as true for a standard pendulum. See my cautionary tale above. There are many theories and factors that could just as well account for the importance of modeling movement before trying to elicit it in others. The very fact that it is accepted children learn by modeling is one of them! Environmental press, response to authority figures, the need to please in simplest terms, all can be argued as possible motivating forces. In any case you don’t have to understand why it works to use it. If that were the case, this computer I’m writing on would be useless to me! Allow me the opportunity to stress this again; please do not skip this step! Once you have reached a high level of skill you may experiment with handing a pendulum or Multi-Bob directly to a participant.
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MENTAL WORKOUT BY DR. BILL I have a theme that I often like to “work in” to a performance. Sometimes it is the perfect solution for an entire presentation. A question I often hear from audiences of all kinds runs something along the lines of, “How do you acquire and/or practice your abilities?” I smile inside and out because I’ve just been handed the lead in to a favorite topic; the mental workout. Many performers have an answer to this question always at the ready or for introducing as the theme of an effect in its own right. Comparisons to a musician practicing his scales have shaped many performances. The need to exercise the muscles of the brain as much as those of the body is another approach. Ray Carlyle performs “The Haunted Key,” described in The Carlyle Touch (http://www.carlyletouch.com/), as “an exercise to loosen up the muscle called the brain.” I have often used a magic square or my own “Cross Eyed” from Subliminally Squared as an example of such a process. “The Jumping Pulse” from Suggestabilities has played this role though now I have too many other preferred uses for JP (both books available at outlaw-effects.com). Other performers have their favorite plots along these lines and many kinds of effects can be shaped in such a way to answer the question. The Multi-Bob Pendulum has proven an excellent means to demonstrate my “morning routine” to keep my mind in shape and well tuned. While I’m sure you’ve gleaned where this is going from the above and everything else you are learning in Trybil , let’s get a bit more specific. First, as introducing an unusual prop, this plot offers an explanation of why such an object exists in the first place. I know performers who will be reluctant to work with the Multi-Bob just because it isn’t something found in the everyday world. But we are not everyday people so it isn’t farfetched that we have our own, specialized, “exercise equipment.” My first theme for explaining how the Multi-Bob came into existence was to paint it as an ancient tool that was once used to test for latent mental abilities needed to gain entrance to a secret society. In this back story, when
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telling the tale of meeting the owner of this oddity, the narrator notes that he “slips up” and uses the present tense to describe this function. And so a tale of the nature of a “heroes’ journey” begins, the narrator being drawn into the obsession of obtaining entrance into this underground group. By the way, while the storyline was entertaining and may yet have possibilities, it began to strike me as a bit too contrived and, more importantly, en route to becoming one of those Bizarre effects that would never be performed no matter how well it read. And so it was abandoned though a remnant can be found in the ad for Trybil . Which brings us to our “Mental Workout.” I begin by speaking of ideomotor abilities (always briefly) and the possibility of taking control and developing such skills to a degree where the difference from telekinesis is negligible. I can certainly see other performers dropping any mention of ideomotor activity and concentrating solely on telekinesis. And vice versa. The Multi-Bob is brought out or, even more intriguing, i ts presence is explained after being on display from the beginning of your performance. The latter is a remnant of the discarded tale described above and was one of my favorite parts as the narrator kept being drawn back to the Multi-Bob in a stand on his host’s desk. The gentleman explained the origins and uses of every other unusual acquisition in his office, obviously avoiding the one thing the narrator is most interested in. Following the theme of ideomotor abilities and/or telekinesis, I describe them as a “weak force” though implying the possibility of a talent that has devolved from lack of use. This is another classic literary plot drawn from the realm of Sci Fi and fantasy. In appearance, the effect is not that different from John Riggs’ “From a Slender Cord, Swinging.” Though I do not allow the audience to select which pendulum shall move as that wouldn’t be consistent with demonstrating my “personal workout routine” and what my “reps” look like as I strive to become mentally ripped! I explain how since it is a weak force we are working with its physical manifestation is minimal in nature. I’ve used a similar theme when working with a PK pen in terms of moving something light in weight. This is also consistent with the work of many mentalists who purposely move an object just a bit where their magician cousins would levitate the same item!
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With the Multi-Bob, I’m able to demonstrate starting slowly and building up to exercises with more “weight” involved. The weight being the “increasingly difficult” movements of the pendulum while refining my skills so as to affect only one pendulum at a time. In this way a purpose for this particular design is also brought into play. And the concept that if one pendulum is moving the others also should be, and in the same direction, is made explicit but in an indirect manner. I’ve taken to concluding with the wonderful idea introduced at the end of “Pendulum Adept.” I have worked on these skills to the point of developing thus far that I can control two pendulums moving at once in opposing directions. Interestingly, this skill does require some serious practice to master so is congruent with your presentation. I have found what looks the most difficult is actually the easiest and I suspect this is because of the physics of pendulum movement beyond my comprehension! I have one pendulum move in a clockwise circle and the other in a counterclockwise circle. You will not be acting when showing the audience Faucon of Sakin’el’s ultimate expression of Multi Bob pendulum control! I’ve taken a long time to explain the ideas behind “Mental Workout” as I hope they provide a context and variety of themes each reader can choose from and develop in their own way. But in performance this needn’t be an exceptionally long piece. My presentation is designed in segments with several discrete stopping points allowing me to keep my “Mental Workout” as flexible as possible.
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THE MULTI-BOB HUMMER BY DR. BILL There is a genre of effects that utilize the Hummer Principle to allow the performer to know how the order of 3 or more objects turns out after the participant, following a series of instructions, moves the objects about. In these routines, the starting order is unknown by you so even in following your instructions, the participant and audience believes there is no way for you to know the ending positions. These all involve mathematical principles that I needn’t go into here, having been explored by Karl Fulves and others. Phone or internet effects are possible and derivations of Koran’s “Note Under Cup” from Koran’s Professional Presentations have also played a role. Alain Nu has a wonderful effect he markets called “Nu Sense” (available as an instant download from Lee Asher at: http://www.leeasher.com/store/online_downloads/nu_sense.html),” that uses The Hummer Principle removing the one inherent risk of failure. Nu Sense also adds a great deal of humor, part of Alain’s means of disguising the effect from being seen as mathematical in nature. I mention elsewhere in Trybil , as do many others who have written on pendulums, that one of their strengths is how they can be applied to so many standard effects of mentalism. John Riggs, for example, wrote in The Messiah Effect , about making it seem like a pendulum is the modus operandi when finding an object hidden beneath one of several cups. Thinking about this, in particular Koran’s “Note Under Cup” and Alain’s “Nu Sense,” I came up with the following routine with the Multi-Bob. All you need in addition are three business cards and a pen. These may be borrowed. Hand the cards and pen to a volunteer. Have him write the name of something he desires on the back of one of the cards. On the backs of the other two he is to write the names of two things he wouldn’t be thrilled to get as presents. For example, let’s use money as the desired item and coal and dirt as the unwanted items. Turn or walk away so you can’t see what is going on and have the participant lay the cards out face up in any order he chooses. Stress that
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there is no way for you to know the starting order and encourage him to change it as much as he wants to be assured of this. Explain that you need to “tune in” to his thoughts and ask him to hold his right hand a few inches above either card with an unwanted object. Emphasize his free choice and ask him to take a deep breath, hold it and slowly exhale. As usual, you are inserting process to create an unspecified meaning. Once he has done so, tell him that if there is an object (a card but I start using the term object to get away from focusing on the cards) to the right of the one he is holding his hand over he is to swap it with that object. If there is no object, he is to leave everything as it is. Next tell him you want to continue tuning in to his thoughts but this time you want him to hold his hand above the object of his desire. Repeat the breathing process. Tell him that if there is an object to the left of the money he is to exchange the places of these two objects. Otherwise he is to leave all as is. Now have him do a final tune in with the unwanted object he didn’t hold his hand over the first time. When done, if there is an object to the right, he is to exchange them as per previous instructions. And if not, to leave things as they are. At this point the money has to end up on his left. The other two cards (oops, objects) can be in either position (one of the conflicts Alain cleverly resolved) but the money will always be on the left. Ask him to turn the cards face down exactly where they are. Tell him to move the close together, so that there edges are touching. Have him tell you when he is done so you can turn around. Once turned around you are in the position to use the Multi-Bob to identify the money by holding it above the three cards. After explaining how if all works out it will display an affinity to his desire, simply move the left most pendulum in whatever direction you desire while the other two remain still. I wouldn’t repeat the effect with the same group of people, at least not immediately, but if you want to perform it for another group in the same
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venue you can eliminate the risk of their talking afterwards and discovering the same outcome. Just ask the participant to make one last move. If there is an object to the right of the money, have him exchange the cards as per usual and if not, leave everything alone. You know there is a card to the right of the money card since it is on the left. So you know it will end up in the middle and you can finish accordingly with the Multi-Bob. Another option along these lines that can also be inserted into the original presentation is to offer the participant an additional absolutely free choice. He can make one more move or stop where he is after the third time. This adds a greater sense of overall freedom to the proceedings. If he chooses to make one more move, proceed to instruct him to tune into the money again. It is a nice extra that this forms a pattern of unwanted item, desired item, unwanted item and desired item in a logical alternation. You can even say, should he choose to make one more move, “Since last time you tuned into an unwanted item, let’s have you tune into the money again.” Of course, end with him swapping the money if there is an object to its right. Again, you know there is and that the money is now in the middle. Or, if you know you will only be performing this once and want to maintain the right, left, right pattern, you can instruct him to make the exchange with the object on the left if possible since you know there isn’t one. Some final thoughts. You can of course use any theme you like so long as you follow the pattern of movements described above. This way it can be tailored to an event, crowd or person. You can proceed like Docc Hilford in his effect “Dead or Alive,” and peek the desired object secret via a wallet. Then after using the Multi-Bob to find the right card, end on the reveal of what was written. When doing this, and I recommend it for Docc’s effect as well, there is a stratagem C.L Boarde describes in his book One on One Mentalism. Once they have written the item or whatever down on the first card, explain that you don’t want to get it mixed up with other cards that are needed (and “invalidate the conditions of the experiment” if you want to play it to the hilt). For this reason you place it in the wallet. Remove the, in this case, two
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other cards and get the wallet out of play, peeking as appropriate to circumstances and type of wallet. Once the unwanted objects are recorded, remove the object of desire from the wallet and give it to the participant to keep with the other two cards. From this point on proceed exactly as described above with the kicker of revealing the item written on the first card after the Multi-Bob finds it. By the way, knowing this item gives you reams of information about the participant that you can weave into your presentation if desired. But that is another book! You can also begin with a phase where the participant discovers they can use the Multi-Bob to identify their own card first. Have the items written out as originally described then turned over in place so that he or she knows the position of the desired card. Give the participant the Multi-Bob to hold over the three cards and instruct them to think “Move” over and over in their mind, directing their thoughts to the pendulum that is above the money card. You can use the movement of your finger back and forth as described earlier to help “jump start” the participant toward the desired outcome. And remember there is really no failure. If they get no movement or the wrong pendulum moves, explain that this is something that takes practice and that they will succeed in time. Then go into the initial presentation where you find the card “without knowing” its placement. If they do succeed, you still go into the original presentation. In either case, you can emphasize the need for tuning in to your helper’s thoughts given your not having any way to know where the card is via normal means since you have no way of knowing the order the cards started in. The holding of their hand above each card, breathing and direction for movement takes on the aspects of a necessary ritual. Emphasizing this point is even more relevant when they fail given they now know how difficult a feat you are attempting.
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Mauricio is the outcome of an international upbringing. Born to Colombian parents, he has lived in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Peru, the United States, Bangladesh and the Philippines, spending most of his life in Asia. His father was a diplomat and for this reason, Mauricio has been to over 30 countries around the world in his 28 years of life and is completely fluent in several languages. Thousands of people in several countries have been witness to his performances which are mostly based on his own personal creations. He has been experimenting with Mentalism since he was a young child and was entranced by the performances of Uri Geller. Now a full time performer based in Bogotá, Colombia, Mauricio specializes in corporate events with clients including The Fox Channel, Pfizer and Microsoft and is often seen performing at the private parties of local celebrities. He is also a well known leader of seminars in persuasion, motivation, memory and relaxation techniques. Mauricio frequently appears on television and radio and plans on presenting the Multi-Bob on an upcoming talk show that will take place shortly before the publication of this book! www.mauriciojaramillo.com
THE DEAD TEST BY MAURICIO JARAMILLO Effect:
A Multi-Bob witness pendulum is introduced. The Mentalist explains how each of the pendulums can be opened to reveal a hollow chamber inside where liquids and other small objects may be inserted. After a brief talk about how this type of pendulum has been used to find oil, water and even missing people, the Mentalist asks a sitter to write down the name of someone close to them who has passed away, someone who brings only happy memories.
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The name is peeked via center tear, and then the sitter is asked to slightly burn the pieces of paper. The sitter is asked to select a pendulum, unscrew it and the Mentalist picks up some of the ashes, depositing them inside that specific chamber. This pendulum is screwed back to the chain lid and the sitter is asked to hold the Multi-Bob. The sitter is asked to focus on where they placed the ashes and to concentrate intently on some memories of the person being thought of, as well as the name. The selected pendulum will eerily begin to move as if to react to the sitter trying to connect with that memory. The Mentalist instructs them that the pendulum will now come to a complete halt. As it does, the name is revealed. Extra Thoughts: •
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While this follows a rather bizarre theme, the presentation can easily be changed to a happier one, with the name being replaced with a country they’d like to visit or even with an emotion. The paper burning and ashes doesn’t make much sense this way, but it can be handled in the following way, via a regular Multi-Bob with no witness pendulums: Simply tell the spectator to think of something, an emotion for example, and ask them to transmit this emotion to one of the pendulums (they can rub it if they like). If possible, use detachable bobs that you can give away, like crystals for example. You now have a beautiful and memorable gift to hand them. Witness pendulums can be purchased cheaply, but if you’re having trouble obtaining any, simply find a little box or locket than can be attached to a chain. Kenton’s Sealed Pendulum method (In Part 2) will also work admirably.
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The presentation can easily be turned into one of the performer finding the pendulum with the ashes in it. As you introduce the Multi- Bob, unscrew each individual pendulum and leave them that way. After the paper has been burnt, “randomly” hand the sitter one of the empty chambers (which has been subtly marked) and ask them to place a few ashes inside. Turn around, ask them to screw it in any of the Multi-Bob positions and then ask them to screw the rest of the pendulums back in. Now you pick it up and concentrate, making the marked pendulum move, before continuing with the name revelation. Make sure to have a clean tissue available for the sitter to wipe their fingers.
ONSTAGE MULTIBOBBER BY MAURICIO JARAMILLO I love psychokinetic effects; they really add a memorable and visual experience to any Mentalism show. Here are 2 ideas I really enjoy for stage work, inspired directly by Max Maven’s Onstage Bender idea, originally published in, The Green Book of Mentalism. This is perfect for close up, parlor and stage shows. For stage presentations I like to have my cameraman zooming in on all the important bits so they are projected on a big screen. Basic Setup:
The Multi-Bob is placed on a stand on the narrow end of a table, facing the audience. By simply placing your hands firmly on the table and pushing down or to the sides a little bit, enough “vibrations” will be sent all the way to the opposite end, affecting only the one pendulum that you’re focusing on moving. This is hard to believe until you actually try it; you’ll be blown away at how effective it is. I have videos doing this and it has never failed to work. Remember, it looks even more impossible when the table is long.
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1st Effect:
The Mentalist wishes to bend a small metal object, such as a key or coin in a spectator’s hand. The onstage spectator will be describing the heat they feel in their hand or how much the object pulses inside. Besides this, the Mentalist wants everybody present to visibly witness the process of telekinesis. Following is the Max Maven inspired solution. Set up the table with the Multi-Bob pendulum as shown above. After doing the required work to the object about to be bent, place it inside a spectator’s hand and ask them to hold it tightly in a fist. You then have them stand on the side of the table so all pendulums are visible to the audience and you stand on the opposite end, far from the Multi-Bob setup.
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Ask the spectator to choose one of the bobs by number, clearly naming each number out loud to prevent any confusion afterwards. Make sure it is clear that this is a free choice and they are free to change their mind. After they name a number, ask them to place their fist underneath the chosen pendulum, as shown in the image above. Place your hands on the table and begin your suggestions so they can feel something happening. After about 45 seconds tell them they will start to feel the subtle movement even more now and tell the whole audience to pay close attention. Slowly, the selected pendulum begins to move and with every second, it seems to get faster, moving in huge circles! This is pure telekinesis in action. When it seems appropriate, have them open their fist, revealing the bent object. After this surreal experience, everything can be examined. 2nd Effect:
This is something I came up with 4 years ago while experimenting with a single pendulum. It works perfectly with only 1, but is taken to another very visual level with the Multi-Bob. The basic effect is this: Using the same table setup, you place a fork or similar object in front of the Multi-Bob stand. You have a spectator randomly selected and ask them to choose one of the pendulums by number. You then stand on the other side of the table, concentrating intently on that specific pendulum and begin moving it. A few seconds after it eerily begins to move, the fork is also affected by the telekinetic wave of energy being sent from your mind; it slowly spins by itself! You then walk over to the fork and take advantage of the energy you’ve been transmitting finishing off by performing a series of PK bending, ultimately twisting the fork into a very bizarre piece before giving it away to a deserving spectator. This is actually a very simple and practical method. All you need is a tiny piece of invisible thread with a little ball of wax on one end. One end of the thread is tied to the fork and the waxed ball end is conveniently stuck behind the base supporting the Multi-Bob.
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As you begin the routine, casually show the fork and ask someone to name one of the pendulums, it’s that easy. Whatever number they say, you set it up in front of them! Simply say, “A free choice, number 4! Let me transfer some energy from my hands to this pendulum you selected”. As you rub it, you secretly apply the wax ball to the bob. Absolutely nothing odd about that, simply explain that you’re going to try to affect that pendulum telekinetically and hopefully transfer some of that energy to the fork. The image above should make this idea very clear. Stand on the other end of the table and place your hands on it firmly. Focus intently on the selected pendulum and after moving for a few seconds, it will affect the fork. Since you tied a knot on the fork, it can immediately be handed out for examination with a quick snapping of the thread. You may also prefer to have a waxed ball on each end. If so, a quick flick with your finger will remove the wax and allow the fork to be examined right away. Extra Thoughts:
Even though I only show 4 pendulums in these images, I currently use a 5 pendulum setup. Also, if you’re having trouble coming up with a stand, simply get 2 tall objects that won’t look out of place or suspicious and place
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the pendulum setup between them, each end of the Multi-Bob rod balanced on top of the objects. The fork should have the concave side of the tines facing down. Place it on the table and see if it spins freely. If it doesn’t, just give it a tiny bend until the center of the fork spins properly. The length of the thread depends entirely on the size of your multi bob stand, so you’ll have to experiment with it, something that shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes. Since every pendulum is of a different length, you’ll obviously have to place the fork a different distance away each time. Subtly marking these spots on the table will give you all the confidence you need during performance. This is a very flexible setup. I’m sure you’ll come up with plenty of other ideas using it; have fun! Don’t forget to use Dr. Bill’s “Suggestion on the use of suggestion” from his book Suggestabilities in order to really get people’s minds feeling your telekinetic effects.
BOBBING FOR ESP BY MAURICIO JARAMILLO This is a quick and fun effect you can do with either the Multi-Bob table setup or in your hands. All you need is a 5 bob pendulum and some ESP cards. Place one of each symbol face up underneath every bob. Proceed by having a spectator freely select an ESP symbol, unseen by you. Secretly find out which one was selected, via the marks on the back of the cards, a stacked deck or a control and a peek. I personally just stack the symbols in a known order and do a Charlier shuffle, though on occasion I’ll ask the spectator to mix the cards very well and just look at the marks on their selection. Now I simply stand on the opposite end of the multi-bob pendulum and place my hands flat on the table as described in the other effects. Ask the spectator to stand next to you and have them place their right hand on your left shoulder and focus on the correct symbol. Within a few moments, the correct pendulum starts swinging above the thoughts of symbol! This is very cool to see.
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While I don’t find it necessary, you may also opt to have the symbols face down for more suspense. After one of the pendulums is seen to be swinging, you ask them to name their thought of symbol out loud and proceed to dramatically flip the card over. Also, if the spectator has proven to use a single pendulum very well in a previous effect, get them hold the multi-bob in their own hands and have them find their own symbol.
VIDEO
Mauricio’s Pendulum Stand
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Michael Weber is this year’s recipient of the Creativity Fellowship Award from the Academy of Magical Arts and Sciences. His company Deceptive Practices designs special effects for film, theater and television including all the magic seen in films like The Prestige and The Illusionist. These two offerings are far from Michael’s only “discoveries” with pendulum, and a small collection of even stranger ideas is in the works. Those interested in such things may send a note to
[email protected].
A Branch from the Tree of Knowledge © 1989, 2010 Michael Weber All manufacturing, lecture, explanation, sales and television and/or recorded performance rights withheld.
The Wonder Worker unwraps a most unusual artifact—it is a dried branch which has been cut from a tree. Three lengths of natural cord are wrapped around the circumference of the limb. Slowly the Mystic turns the branch between his hands, allowing the cords to unfurl to their full length. Small acorn-like seeds act as a finials, one threaded at the end of each cord and all hanging to an equal endpoint. The Seer explains that this is a branch from the Tree of Knowledge, not the apple tree of Biblical fame but a rare variety which is the source of a common superstition—knocking on wood. It was believed that spirits lived inside the tree and could be summoned to act upon one’s behalf by knocking on the trunk of the tree to awaken and invoke the spirits. This act of “knocking on wood” is a modern vestige of the age old tradition, and is thus believed by some to promote or maintain good fortune. This branch, taken from that very tree, is possessed of a different power; the ability to answer a single question for he who holds the branch. The branch is held horizontally between the hands of the participant, the three cords hanging still and calm from the length of the branch. The Mystic points to each of the cords, explaining that one indicates a positive or “yes” answer, the second a negative or “no” answer and the third indicating uncertainty. Focusing on a question he hopes to have answered, the participant holds the branch absolutely still and concentrates, watching the cords intently. Soon, it happens—one of the cords begins to swing, back and forth, the arc increasing in size and speed until the participant understands that the spirit of the tree has spoken—he has his answer.
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The method is the age old series of 3 differently lengths of cord, therefore
three different and independent frequencies of resonance are required to make any one of the pendulums move. But herein lies the difference— the three cords hang to exactly the same length. And therein lies the deception—the branch is not perfectly straight and even, but is knotted, twisted and differing in circumference at various points along its length, and the three cords are inset into the wood at three different points. Each of these connection points lies at a different distance away from the true center of the branch, therefore, although each of the finials hangs to the same level, the length of each of the cords is unique.
I have used this discovery for close to 25 years in several forms. I will share a few more of them with you now:
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If you use a tapered “Harry Potter” style wand, it is easy to have the three cords of different lengths as the taper provides the natural difference in starting points of each cord. You can arrange a row of bottles along the table, each containing a pendulum of seemingly similar length. In actuality, though the finials hang to a common level, the strings are different lengths because the necks of the bottles are different lengths.
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Any straight stick with strings of decreasing length can be held at an angle to make all the finials hang at the same level.
The participant does everything. Their thoughts are communicated as undetectable ideo-motor actions which are imparted to the cords through the length of branch. As they are unwittingly answering their own question, if they are unhappy with the answer, they have only themselves and the spirits in the wood to blame. Note that this can be framed to determine if the mental question pertains to the past, present or future, or more cords could be added to allow for determination of the subject matter of the unspoken inquiry— love, money, health, travel, ad infinitum.
Pull My Swinger © 1989, 2010 Michael Weber All manufacturing, lecture, explanation, sales and television and/or recorded performance rights withheld.
There is a classic physics demonstration utilizing two pendulum suspended side by side from a single horizontal cord. One pendulum is pulled back and released. It swings freely, the other pendulum hanging still by its side. Suddenly and quite mysteriously, the swinging pendulum begins to slow and
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its arc diminishes as the stationary pendulum starts to swing in an every growing arc. This phenomenon will continue for a length of time long beyond its intrinsic entertainment value. The explanation is known as coupled res onance. The motion of the first pendulum “annoys” the other a little bit through the string which couples them at the top. As both pendulums have the same length, both have the same self resonant frequency and each cycle transfers energy constructively (very little loss due to phase difference.) After a while, the second pendulum acquires enough energy to 'take over' and start drawing energy from the first one. Then the process repeats, in reverse. I first encountered this mystery in a volume of the Tarbell Course. It used a red and green ball suspended between two chairs and a folksy tale of a rural traffic signal whose action would indicate stop and go. My only contribution to this mystery was to take if off the chairs and place it into the hands of an audience participant. The two pendulums of equal length are tied a few inches apart from each other, in the center of a 20” length of string. The participant holds the ends of the string, one in each hand, and pulls the cord taught. You then indicate that they should relax and move their hands towards each other about an inch. This will allow the two pendulums to swing freely, but still permit the mysterious energy transfer. I construct the object in front of the spectators– tying the two pendulum to the main cord, placing it between the hands of an audience member and then sliding the pendulum apart to the correct distance. The participant stands sideways, his elbows resting on his sides, his hands held away from his body. Pulling back on one of the pendulum, I release it, allowing it to swing back and forth, left and right, between me and the member of the audience. I then “suggest” that the pendulum is beginning to slow, but before it comes to a stop the other pendulum is now starting to swing, back and forth, taking the place of the first. Eventually the first pendulum comes to a complete stop. I “suggest” this cycle three times, from the first to the second, back to the first and then back to the second one last time. By taking the hands of the participant and moving them towards each other, the two pendulum will collide and stop all movement.
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My performance of this precedes taking the two pendulums off of the common cord and handing them to two different spectators for a further effect using the devices. If you are unfamiliar with the natural phenomena, you are in for a startling treat. Those who are aware of the resonance transfer will be pleasantly surprised at how much more magical it appears when placed in the hands of a member of the audience.
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Greg has been performing magic, in one form or another, since the age of five. Anything that has to do with entertainment will entice Greg. He's no stranger to stage, video, comedy, writing, producing, directing and just about anything that involves making a fool of yourself in front of a large group of people. That's why he restricts orgies to no more than five participants... not including the goat.
TRY ING TO ADD TO BILL’S EBOOK Okay, so I talked to Bill awhile back when he was first working on this book. I had NOTHING for him. I thought he had a great idea and I knew many would jump on board, but at the time I couldn’t think of one thing I could add to his tome. I had one pendulum effect that I use but it was based on a Ted K. idea and wasn’t mine to share. Besides it was something I had scrapped because the presentational spin I had added was so strong it seemed real. I got the kinds of reactions that said, “So of course it works. Why wouldn’t it?” It was weird. Then the other idea I’ve had for some time is not even a work in progress. It’s written up in notes and I’ve played around with it on my own, but it’s the type of effect you just have to do on someone to see if it works. Unfortunately this effect requires a minimum of 5 spectators to try it out. Because of what I’m going for it could end up being a killer routine or fall flat on its face. One day I’ll have the balls to try it out and then I’ll write it up somewhere. For now I’ll share some ideas I had after reading a late draft of Trybil. I’ll warn you that some of my ideas ended up similar to ones already in the book. I didn’t know this at the time. Some I have my own slant on and some are all mine. Hopefully my additions will find homes. I thank Bill for letting me insert my ideas within his fantastic new ebook. Rev your pendulums and let’s get started.
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DIGIT SWING BY GREG ARCE The What: You show off your new pendulum. It has three lines and at the
end of each line there is a metal number hanging from them: 1, 2 and 3. A spectator is told to think of a 3 digit number using these digits, but they can repeat digits if they want like 313. They write down their number and keep it hidden. Now you hold onto the pendulum and slowly one bob swings… it’s the 2 then it stops. Then the 3 starts to move then stops. Finally the 2 moves again, then stops. The number the pendulum made up is 232. The spectator reveals their number and it’s 232. The How: Well, first, as I read the ebook I found that Keith Barry had put in
a similar idea. Curse you, Mr. Lucky Charms! Anyway, since I didn’t know that at the time, I’ll easily describe this one: a peek and your pendulums. So, the person writes their number on either a billet that you peek, or use peek wallet, or do a center tear, or use any of the impression pads out there. Or just choke him as you scream, “TELL ME YOUR NUMBER!!!” Whatever works for you. Once you know the number then set your pendulum off on a digit finding adventure. By the way, Bill added an interesting thought. Once you get the first or second number you can have the spectator grab hol d of the pendulum and produce his last digit himself. One other thing, you can do this in reverse. You write a number on a card and put it in your wallet. They create a number and it turns out to be the one you wrote down. Use an SUC wallet and either nail write the number they created or pocket write it and slip it back in. Or just hold up a card that you supposedly wrote your number on and nail write it as they create the number in front of you.
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INVISIBLE SWING BY GREG ARCE The What: A spectator picks four cards at random. You place one card each
onto the clips that hang from your pendulum. Now you show another deck of cards and say that you turned one card face down in that pack. You have the spectator hold the Multi-Bob and just think of one of the cards. You tell him that when he thinks of that one card it will slowly start to swing. He stares at the cards and suddenly one begins moving. Let’s say it’s the 5 of Clubs. You say, “So you thought of the 5 of Clubs. Look, only that card swung and even the card next to it – the 8 of Diamonds – did not move. Interesting.” You take out the pack from the other box. You spread the cards and there is one card face down and it’s next to an 8 of Diamonds. You turn the card that’s face down over and it’s the 5 of Clubs. The How: This combines an Invisible Deck with a force of four cards from a
regulation deck along with a four clip/pendulum Multi-Bob. You have a pendulum with four lines and each line has a clip attached to it. Now you force four cards from the other deck. I’ll leave the force up to you: dribble, fan, cross cut, etc. You’ll be forcing two sets of cards. Each set has two cards that are back to back in your Invisible Deck. So you can do 8 of Clubs with 5 of Diamonds and 10 of Spades with the 3 of Hearts. If you have or have used an Invisible deck then you get the point. After forcing those cards hang them so that one set is hanging from the first two lines and the other set from the last two lines. You get the person to think of one of those cards and using the pendulum he will make his thought of card swing. You mention that the card next to his did not move, but you mention the card that is back to back with his card in the Invisible Deck. So just simply spread the pack and point out the one card that did not move that’s next to the one facedown card. Taa-daa!
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PENDULUM LINE UP BY GREG ARCE The What: You have four photos swinging from the pendulum. Each photo
is of a different person. You explain that this is your new system for crime detection. You explain that there are three criminals hanging from that line. One is an arsonist, one is a robber and one is a murderer. They will try and detect which is which plus free the innocent man. On the table there are three envelopes: One says Arsonist, another says Robber and another Murderer. You tell the person to think of who is the Arsonist and make that photo swing. He starts to think and suddenly the second photo from the left starts to move. You open the Arsonist envelope and dump out the photo that’s in there and it’s a match. Now you have him think about the robber. The first photo starts to swing. When you open the Robber envelope, a matching photo drops out. Finally he makes the Murderer swing and that same photo is in the last envelope, so one photo is left as the innocent person. You point to the pendulum that they have been holding and have them read the inscription. It says that the photo hanging from line 4 is the innocent guy. The How: Each envelope is double walled. In each side there is double sided
photo so any envelope can produce any photo chosen for the type of crime picked. At times you might have to turn the envelope over so that one particular side of the photo shows instead of the other side. As for the final prediction, it’s just a multiple out. You can come up with various outs. Here are some: inscription on the pendulum/one photo hanging from the pendulum has innocent written in a hidden way/the entire set is in a larger envelope that has other outs to show/etc. Of course, if you don’t want multiple outs then just produce the last photo from your pocket. Simply have a different one in each of your four pockets or have a Himber wallet that can show all four photos. Or pocket write on a
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billet the name on the photo and produce it from an SUC case. Or nail write the photo’s name on a card as you turn it over. I leave the end to your imagination.
CONTACT SWING BY GREG ARCE The What: You show a pendulum with 5 lines attached to it. Each line has a
metal letter hanging from the line. The letters are L, R, F, B and S. You explain that R is for right, L is for left, F is for forward, B is for backward and S is for stop. A spectator is told to hide an object somewhere in the room after you have stepped out. Once the object is hidden you come back into the room. You tell the spectator to stand at one end of the room and look at the pendulum as he holds it. He is to guide you by mentally making the pendulums swing to make you move in a particular direction. So if he wants you to go left then he is to think about making the L pendulum swing. Through this process you eventually find the object. The How: Well, what more can I say. This is long distance contact
mindreading. Basically you are just following instructions by watching the pendulums move. After you’ve done it the first time it might be interesting to tell the person that you will try it a different way. Now you do the standard contact mindreading and remove the pendulums from the process. This first process will at least show you if the person involved is a good candidate for the official contact mindreading process. Oh, and you could add one more step in the process by having something hidden one more time and use an idea from Bill: “You could move on to you holding it and him clasping your shoulder. It wouldn't be real long distance CMR but might add a nice bit of texture.” If I added Bill’s idea I would do it as second piece then move onto a complete CMR without the pendulum.
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THE PENDULUM JUDGE BY GREG ARCE The What: From a briefcase you take out the following items: a large
pencil, three cords and three little bulldog clips holding pieces of paper. A story begins about these items: “A few months back there was a horrible event in an office. Three of the workers there were found dead. Two had been killed by the third and the last one committed suicide. A week later a note was found that explained the event. It seems that these three guys had been dipping into the company funds and they knew they were going to get caught.” “They wrote a suicide pact and promised to go through with it. Apparently they randomly chose straws and the winner, as it were, was going to kill the other two then take his own life. They followed the pact and met their tragic ends. What you see before you are some of their last notes and the supplies found at their desks. We will try an experiment.” You tie the cords on the pencil and hang the clips on the cords. You explain that each slip within the clips are the last notes made by the three gentlemen. You point to the first clip and say that was Greg’s and second clip is Bill’s and the third is Tony’s. The spectator is told to hold onto the pencil and concentrate on one of the clips. Eventually he will make one move. Let’s say it is Bill’s clip. You take out the slip from Bill’s clip and it says, “I will be the first one to die.” Now the spectator concentrates again and Greg’s clip swings. When that slip is removed it says, “I will be the second one to die.” Finally, Tony’s moves and the slip says, “I killed the others and now I must die.” The How: I got this idea when I first read Rich Hennessey’s instructions on
making “The Office Store Pendulum.” I immediately loved that idea. What’s happening is that each clip is a tiny Ostin Clip. If you don’t know what an Ostin Clip is then you should not be reading this and go buy a manual on new double lifts.
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Anyway, you have palmed three other slips that say the three final words and just switch the appropriate ones as you remove them from the clips. By the way, I was thinking of other methods. You could just do some billet switches and not use Ostin Clips. You put the slips in 1, 2 and Murder order from right to left on the pendulum. If they end up swinging the pendulums in that order, then you’re set. But what if they are wrong on two or all three? Well, just have two extra billets in a convenient place: one says First to Die and the other one says Second to Die. With these two billets and a couple of switches you’ll be able to correct any order they pick as you pluck them off the clips. Think about it and you’ll see what I mean. Now for the knuckle busters out there. How about using pocket writing to add a bunch of stuff? So in the story you say that each person was killed with a different method and the murderer even did away with himself with a unique method. They start to make one pendulum swing which indicates the first person to be killed. You ask them how that person was killed. They say, “A lawnmower.” Inside your pocket desk you have your first billet that already has written, “I was picked to die first by…” and leave a space to write “a lawnmower.” You fold that up and steal it out to switch on the Ostin clips. Yes, we’re back to the Ostin clips for this. The second pocket billet has, “I was picked second and will be killed by…” and you write whatever they say and switch it. Last slip has “I killed them then killed myself by…” and write that. Work, work, work.
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TRYBILYTE BY DR. BILL One inspiration leads to another and if I’m not careful Trybil will never end! I have a very popular effect called “Mentalink” that was publi shed in my ebook Mind Index . It is a great, apparently impromptu business card effect that you can always carry with you. Reading some of Greg Arce’s ideas led me to realize a version could be done more formally with a Multi-Bob. You lose the “impromptu” aspect but you gain in other ways. The effect is as follows: You have a five pendulum Multi-Bob with Bulldog style clips, as described in Rich Hennessey’s “Office Store Pendulum” and Greg Arce’s “The Pendulum Judge” both in Trybil . You also have five squares cut out from index cards of the size to fit the bulldog clips in an open position. It doesn’t matter if some of the symbol is obscured by the clip. You borrow a pen and draw the five Zener symbols one per card and attach them to the clips. A member of the audience holds the Multi-Bob and concentrates on any of the symbols. It begins to swing. You explain that they have invested this symbol with their psychic energy and have them hold the Multi-Bob above either a lit candle or the flame from a lighter depending on your setting. They move the dangling symbols one by one over the flame and when they get to the one they made swing, it promptly disappears! The method should be obvious to most mentalists and magicians but I think this has some nice touches. As you probably surmised “Trybilyte” uses the popular Frixion pen. The Frixion pen is applied in my preferred manner which I like to call “stealth” where you don’t even need to carry the pen with you. Using a Frixion pen, draw the five Zener symbols on matching pieces of index card to those you will be using in performance. Index them in a simple fashion; they could easily be in a known order in your pocket, slightly trimmed so they are staggered for easy access. Once you know which symbol your guest is concentrating on, obtain and palm the matching Frixion drawn version. You have plenty of time to do this since the guest announces their choice and then will take a bit of time to get it moving and you can
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take your time, encouraging more concentration and stronger movment. Plus all eyes will be on the Multi-Bob. For even further cover, if performing for a small group, simply stand behind the rest of the audience to “give them the best view.” In other settings you can utilize the classic ruse of using an audience member to obscure the side of your body with the hand entering the pocket. This should be familiar to most readers of Trybil . Allow the guest to get his choice swinging for several good, strong beats then reach out and stop it, removing the card with their chosen drawing. Show it around, perform a switch and return the Frixion drawn version to the clip. I haven’t tried this, but you could find the right size pieces of index cards to fit an Ostin clip for the switch. See Greg Arce’s “The Pendulum Judge” for ideas about this method. Have the participant “invest the symbol with further energy” by making it swing a few more beats. Then have them move the Multi-Bob over the flame, exposing each card to the heat. When they get to their chosen symbol, it will vanish. That’s it! Another interesting effect with the Multi-Bob set up that I’m sure will inspire other ideas. Obviously you don’t need to use Zener symbols; exploit whatever best fits you and your performing circumstances. Oh, as for borrowing the pen. Don’t sweat this. I’ve done Mentalink literally hundreds of times and you don’t have to worry about an exact match for the ink other than color. By the time you’ve switched in the Frixion version it will soon be in constant motion. If you want you can have two sets of Frixion symbols, one black and one blue, indexed in different pockets so you can borrow a pen of either color but I don’t recommend this. With Mentalink I always kept an eye out for someone with a black pen or just used my own. A lay audience isn’t going to find it out of place for you to use your own pen plus you can leave it sitting out for the more curious or magically inclined to check out.
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He knows who he is!
THE LIVING PENDULUM BY MARC SALEM So what do you do when you send Marc Salem a draft of an ebook for comment and he writes back that he really likes it and wants to contribute an effect or two? Once you pick your jaw up off the floor, you thank him profusely over the telephone then take copious notes while he describes his presentations for the Multi-Bob! Marc said he saw the seeds for “The Living Pendulum” in a presentation by Marc Sky years ago and was inspired to develop the idea to new heights. What follows is truly brilliant. Two participants are needed, one to hold the Multi-Bob, say Joe and another to serve as “The Living Pendulum.” Let’s call him Ted. Use the tips from earlier in the ebook, as well as in the appendix, to insure that both are good responders. Have Joe hold the Multi-Bob and face the audience. Instruct Ted to face the audience but at an angle. He must be able to see Joe and the audience must be able to see both of Joe’s arms. Explain to Ted that he is going to experience a mental connection with Joe and the pendulums. His arms and head will be in synch with the pendulums. Throughout this ebook, particularly in Jerome Finley’s contribution at the end, are examples of the use of suggestion and hypnotic language to help a participant “tune in” to pendulums. Read these thoroughly and create your script of instructions for Ted to relax, fixate on the pendulums and respond in concert to their movements with his arms and head. A thought that occurred to me after talking to Marc, is to first do an effect with an individual pendulum with Ted then call up Joe to assist, bringing out the Multi-Bob for him. This way you can assure both understand, on a conscious and subconscious level, what is expected of them. Similarly, you could perform John Rigg’s “On A Slender Cord, Swinging,” with Ted and after he successfully moves a single pendulum at the end, as
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per John’s routine, ask him if he’d h e’d like to “share in” the experience from the pendulum’s perspective. I like this line li ne a lot and would consider posing the question with all of the presentations. Then call up Joe J oe and have him take over the Multi-Bob. Once both Joe and Ted are primed, so to speak, you need to begin by guiding and reinforcing Joe’s activation of one of the pendulums. pen dulums. By now Ted already knows subconsciously, at the very least, what is expected of him. hi m. Let Ted know that he may begin to experience a sensation in the matched body part and whatever he feels is i s exactly as it should be at this moment. Again, you want to utilize all the language patterns taught throughout this book so that Ted is in rapport with you, Joe and the pendulums and wants to succeed. Point out and reinforce any movement of the matched mat ched body part with the swinging pendulum. A “non-specific” movement can be descri bed as going in the same direction as the pendulum, leading Ted to calibrate more specifically. From what Marc described to me, as well as from the reports of others who have seen this effect performed, the audience response is awesome and will also serve to reinforce Ted’s cooperation and success. For example, if the right hand h and pendulum begins moving between Joe and the audience, Ted will begin to swing his right arm in the same direction. If it is the center bob swinging, Ted is i s to nod his head in the non-verbal n on-verbal equivalent of “yes.” Similarly if Joe’s center pendulum is i s swinging side to side, Ted is to to move his head in the non-verbal equivalent of “no.” With the arms, because you haven’t been more m ore specific than “matching” either arm will be correct. In other words, if Joe moves the right pendulum and Ted moves his right arm it is a match. If Joe moves the left pendulum and Ted moves his right arm, it is a match. Both “inner” arm and pendulum moved together. The same for Joe’s right side pendulum and Ted’s left arm; “the outside” pendulum and arm are a match. Point out that they also match m atch in moving side to side, back and forth f orth or in a circular direction. If they don’t, focus on the initial match but be prepared to emphasize getting the same direction di rection on another try. Once you’ve milked this for all it is i s worth, ask Joe to focus on moving another pendulum, in another direction, while the first comes to a stop.
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Again, you will guide Ted in moving the corresponding body part in the corresponding direction. Finish with the final pendulum on the Multi-Bob and the matching body part on Ted! Marc shared another presentation of “The Living Pendulum” that he has performed. This may be perceived as more risky but the reward is greater, you have verbal outs and this is i s mentalism after all! Everything is the same, but instead inst ead of having Ted face Joe, have him stand with his back to him. Again, do not verbally correlate the right pendulum with the right arm or left l eft with left, so as to allow all ow for flexibility of interpretation. Do not guide Joe in moving a specific pendulum (which needn’t be done in the first version either) and suggest to Ted that he will feel something in one of his arms or his hi s head and to “go with it.” He will know what you mean. Should Joe move the left pendulum and Ted swing his right arm, you can call attention to the fact that if they were facing one another their responses would be “mirror images.” Follow the same logic l ogic with the other pendulum and arm. If you get a head movement to one of the outside pendulums, just take the loss and move on to t o having Joe move another pendulum. Also do not worry so much about what direction the pendulum and body part move. Simply play up the movement of the match or mirror image. Of course if the directions match, point this out. And if you get a head h ead movement to an outside pendulum but they are moving in the same direction, you can point this out before proceeding. So swings The Living Pendulum! Thank you Marc for letting me include this wondrous effect in Trybil .
THE PENDULUM PROPOSAL BY MARC SALEM Please blame or credit me for f or the title! This can be performed with anywhere from a 3 to 6 pendulum Multi-Bob.
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An audience member assists by holding h olding up a Multi-Bob, center stage. The performer, to the participant’s left, kneels down on one knee and holds his hand under one of the pendulums. Vary which hand and knee as needed for your performing circumstances to allow the best “frame” and view for your audience. The performer then calls out the direction directi on he wants the pendulum to move; back and forth, right and left or in a circle. The chosen pendulum begins to move in the called for direction, directi on, increasing in arc as encouraged by the performer. Next, ask the audience to call out another pendulum and direction. The performer places his hand under the t he selected pendulum. Again, the pendulum above his hand moves in the desired direction in an ever widening arc or increasingly large circles! ci rcles! The entire secret to this effect, along al ong ideomotor response, the requisite use of participant selection methods and verbal warming up, is that the performer is not only holding his hi s hand beneath the desired pendulum but is also subtly moving it in the desired direction. This non-verbal, and invisible to the audience suggestion, insures insu res cooperation. Remember, if you allow enough time, build up rapport and have created an affirmative environment, the audience member is rewarded by succeeding! He or she wants to please you and an d have a positive experience. As Jerome points out, you can pretty much tell them what to do, still having it seem to be their free will. Along with the effect, it is i s the dramatic stance that makes “The Pendulum Proposal” play so well. You needn’t move all of the pendulums; end on a “high note.” Don’t try to prove something by moving moving six pendulums while losing an entire audience! Marc has shared some golden gol den nuggets with us. Let’s do them the justice they deserve, make them our own and remember to thank Marc when we perform them!
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SWINGING SOLO: EFFECTS WITH A SINGLE PENDULUM There are many, many effects in the literature using a single pendulum. However they tend to be spread about, one here and one there, with a couple notable exceptions. I wanted to provide you a collection of what I consider some of the strongest standard pendulum work available, with a little help from my friends!
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DEAD OR ALIVE BY DOCC HILFORD Docc’s series of Monster Mentalism DVDs (DoccHilfordProducts.com) are a source for wonderful effects, all with his distinctive touch. “Dead or Alive” is one of the best and just happens to use a pendulum! Docc gave me his permission to write it up for this ebook. From Docc greeting his helpers to his concluding remarks, “Dead or Alive” runs almost 15 minutes. It is perfect for when you want to perform a single piece for a group of people, actually containing three parts that build to a devastating climax. Docc sets up the atmosphere for a good five minutes before even bringing out his pendulum. He presents “Dead or Alive” as a serious piece though his performance is seasoned with humor throughout. He speaks of poltergeists, apparitions and hauntings and of a friend who investigates haunted houses. This all serves to establish the mood before Docc brings out the pendulum, a tool that can be used to test for poltergeists. The opening five minutes of classic Docc storytelling is essential to setting the stage for the effect. His use of non-verbal communication, via his hands, eyes, upper body movement and vocal inflection, serves to engage the audience in a manner we can all learn from. If you have the opportunity, watch this routine. “Dead or Alive” begins with a version of Richard Webster’s “Across The Divide” from Pendulum Power . This is the same effect I explain my variation of later in the book but for Docc it is only the beginning. He brings out a pendulum, talks about it for a bit then gives it to his helper and guides her in how to think only about the pendulum and reinforces any and every bit of movement. Docc brings out two old copper coins and employs a brilliant strategy to give the appearance that they influence the direction the pendulum swings. He places the coins on the table, so that the already moving pendulum is swinging between them. Docc then goes on to talk about how in the past, people actually believed the copper was pulling the pendulum but how now we know it is the force of the mind that moves the pendulum.
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He now takes out a business card case that will play an important role later, removes one card and places it down between the coins at a 90 degree angle. Docc asks the woman to imagine a wall several inches high on top of the card. He asks what will happen as the pendulum smacks the wall over and over then states it can’t go through the wall so it stops. Which, of course, it does. The card serves the same purpose as the line drawn in Webster’s routine, as well as getting it into play early on for the second phase of the routine. This is a very smart ploy. Docc then explains the pendulum can move in the direction the wall runs, illustrating the desired path with his finger. Due to the verbal suggestions, direct commands and non-verbal suggestion using his finger to “point out” the direction for the pendulum to move, the woman’s subconscious is engaged and cooperates. As throughout the routine, he points out the smallest successes and encourages applause for his helper. How could she do anything but follow his suggestions? Wonderful! Docc then asks a second woman at the table if she’d like to use the pendulum. He removes the “wall” and in her hands the pendulum now starts swinging again between the coins. The suggestions are strong, both verbal and via the setting of the coins. Plus she has watched her friend succeed and of course wants the same for herself. Her cooperation is virtually assured. Now Docc places a single copper coin beneath the pendulum. He directs his second helper to move the pendulum in a circle but, as always, with the use of several subtleties. Docc says the pendulum won’t continue in a line, that something completely different will happen. The round coin suggests a circle and Docc immediately begins to define and reinforce the new movement as circular. Sure enough, the helper complies. But Docc isn’t done! He points out that the penny is heads up and asks what will happen if the pendulum is held over a penny that is tails side up. As he does this he slides the coin in use out of the way and the other coin, conveniently tails side up, under the pendulum. The pendulum slows, haltingly stops then reverses direction. The impact on the audience, especially the woman holding the pendulum, is obvious. This is the kind of work with a pendulum that I love and is fantastic in itself, but Docc is just getting started!
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He has the pendulum placed down on the table and says they will now do something else, along the line of a haunting. Docc turns back to his first helper and asks her to think of someone who has passed on. Docc is very clear that this should be someone she has happy thoughts about. As he explains in the method section in his discussion with mentalist David Alexander, he doesn’t want to dilute the power inherent in a living and dead routine by substituting another theme. At the same time he doesn’t want the woman to think about someone who she is grieving for so asking in the way he does achieves both ends. The case and the card used for the “wall” are already out, saving time. Docc hands her the card and asks that she print the person’s name on the back as he turns his head away. When she is done, he directs her to place it name side down on the table. Docc turns back to face her and picks up the business card case which is Mark Striving’s SUC. Any good peek case or wallet will work. He picks up the card and puts it in the case. Next Docc removes four cards from the wallet and hands them to the woman helping him. He then peeks the card as he places it away in the breast pocket of his jacket. This is a move that is associated with Docc and offers the advantage of justifying your gaze as you first “struggle” with finding the pocket without looking. This also offers the advantage of allowing for an extended peek if need be, say if the writing isn’t clear, when you naturally look down at the pocket to help guide the case inside. Turning away, Docc instructs his helper to write the INITIALS of four living friends on the backs of the other cards. This is a great strategy on many levels as will be seen later. But for now, it speeds up the process, minimizing any dead time as opposed to having her write out full names. Even with this safeguard in place, Docc has an anecdote to tell while the cards are being initialed, further minimizing what would otherwise be dead time. This is the kind of attention to detail we should all apply when structuring a routine. When his helper acknowledges she has completed initialing each card, he turns back toward her and removes the SUC from his pocket. He casually
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takes out the card with the dead name and hands it to her to mix with the other four cards so even she doesn’t know which is which. Docc has her spread out the five cards any way she wants and hands her the pendulum. The card that was used in the first phase of the routine as the “wall” and now holds the name of the deceased person was very subtly marked before the routine began. A small pencil dot or a nick will suffice. The woman holds the pendulum over each card and the movement of the pendulum is categorized. When it is held over the marked card, Docc emphasizes the movement, or preferably lack of movement, and defines it as the one they are looking for. Any slight distinction in movement will suffice. He has her place the pendulum down on this card. Docc turns the other four cards over, reading out loud the initials. This is the other advantage of the strategy of having her initial the living cards. He doesn’t have to ask her if it is a living person since by virtue of the initials everyone knows it is. The dead card is under the pendulum, found by the helper for which she receives applause and the second phase concludes. The third and final phase is the revelation of the name. Here Docc uses a lot of nice touches. He has her imagine the friend walking toward her and evokes several senses as he encourages her to note the sunshine, what he is wearing, the color of his hair and any aromas she associates with her friend. He then tells her to put her hand on his arm and “say hello…Phil.?” The questioning intonation at the end conveys uncertainty, and raises tension before she confirms that Phil is indeed the name of her dead friend, releasing said tension. Docc does one more thing to “clean up” at the end and make sure he attends to any residual emotional impact on his helper that might leave her even the least bit uncomfortable. On the DVD, though she denies it, you can see that the woman who thought of her dead friend was tearing up. Docc tells her to keep her card and all the good memories of her friend. And to give “this card to,” naming aloud the initials, “and this card to,” again naming the initials until all four cards have been dealt with in this fashion, “and tell them that you met the most remarkable guy you ever met in your life!”
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The audience chuckles then applauds at the conclusion of this rollercoaster ride of an amazing, powerful and ultimately, heartwarming, routine. I knew I wanted to perform “Dead or Alive” the minute after I first watched it. I knew I wanted to include it in my ebook the minute after I first performed it. Thanks so much for making it happen, Docc!
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Brad Henderson has been practicing magic since age four, though he didn't get serious about it until age ten. He has no idea if the intervening years were a waste of time. Currently, he is based in Austin, Texas. Brad performs mind reading, sleight of hand, and hypnosis at private events throughout the world, and regularly designs unique, fully immersive theatrical experiences for a handful of eclectic clients. He has written for each of the major magic magazines, is one of the outspoken reviewers for Magic Magazine, and is the author of The Dance, one of the most critically acclaimed texts ever written on the art of cold reading. He collects magic posters, Disney animation art, and lives with a cat named Jinx who is currently laying across the keyboard as he types this.
THE EVERLASTING PENDULUM TRICK BY BRAD HENDERSON I began working with the pendulum around 1992. I always wanted an effect where the spectator found his or her own card by employing the pendulum. I wanted it to be sure fire, without having to “coax” the pendulum’s motions out of the spectator. This was my answer. It solves the critical pendulum problem: how to guarantee the pendulum will swing in the proper direction while in the spectator’s hand. I originally released this effect to the Shadow Network (back when it was still on paper) in 1992. Jeff McBride came to me for sources on pendulum magic to be included in one of his commercial releases. After sharing this effect with him, he asked to be able to include it. He dubbed it the “Everlasting Pendulum Trick” stating that once an audience member had experienced it, he or she would never forget it. Just this year I was performing at Timber Lake Camp near Woodstock, NY. A young lady approached me; she was celebrating her sixteenth birthday. She asked if I would show her a birthday trick, which I did. She then commented that of everything she had ever seen me perform that one thing I did with her bracelet 5 years ago was REAL magic. The effect to which she was referring is presented to you now. I think you will find it is an excellent performance piece with which to practice your cold reading skills. The 22 cards of the Major Arcana are introduced. The audience member is instructed to cut the deck in half. The magician partially completes the cut and explains that in a moment the spectator will view the chosen card. They will then, together, determine if indeed that card is the one properly intended for their reading.
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A marked tarot card (I use the Wheel of Fortune) is controlled to the bottom of the pack. Force the card using the Cross-Cut force. (Two digressions: First, the mark is merely a pencil dot. I have different marks on the devil and death cards as well. This way, in a reading situation, I know when they are about to be turned up and can gauge my reading accordingly. Some people freak out on the Death card. I do not advocate removing it from the pack. I do suggest conditioning your sitter and treating their apprehension respectfully. Second, some magicians consider the CrossCut force hoary. These magicians are idiots. It is a tremendous conceit and an incredibly deceptive one. The problem is that many inexperienced performers do not understand what is required of them to pull it off successfully and hence have no basis for evaluating its merits accurately.) After the sitter is allowed to see their card, they may shuffle the pack. The pendulum will now become a vehicle for our 22 card equivoque. Deal the cards into two piles, face down, noting which contains the selection. Hand the pendulum to the sitter instructing them on how to hold it. They are requested to hold it over each of the two piles. They are told that over one it will move in a line and over the other in a circle. Take your time, and the pendulum will begin to move. Of course, moving your finger back and forth beside the pendulum, or instructing the spectator to imagine the pendulum moving either in a circle or line will help expedite matters. However, the pendulum will move. It does not matter if they decide (which is in effect what they are doing) which will be the circle pile and which the line. As soon as the direction is determined I say, “Excellent, a line means Yes.” (Assuming the card is in that pile) Whatever direction occurs above the pile with the chosen card is defined as the “‘yes” direction and the “no” pile is discarded. In other words, we do not tell them the significance of the two motions until after they have defined each pile with their motions. Only then do we define the motions. For example, when the pendulum is held over the first pile (let’s say the card is not in that pile) and swings in a line, the magician then informs the sitter that a line means “No” and this pile is discarded. From the beginning, we have told them that it will swing in a line over one pile and a circle over the other. Even if they are not hard core believers, at this point half of the suggestion has taken effect, and you will be pleased to
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know that the second half will follow suit. By giving this suggestion at the beginning, we insure that once it starts moving, that it will move accurately and consistently. Once the sitter sees and feels the pendulum move, it is proof enough to “subconsciously coerce” the proper motions out of them. I was recently asked, “But what if it moves the same way over both piles?” I would say that this has never happened and for the reasons stated above, I don’t think it will, barring someone just trying to be a jerk. If the sitter is suggestible enough that we can coerce movement out of them, I think it is safe to say they will continue along the pattern we have prescribed. I have had people who produce very un-dramatic swings early on. As the process continues these invariable become more pronounced. However, should you worry one could always pre-qualify one person out of a group with a preliminary suggestion test. The sitter now deals the cards into two piles and the magician holds the pendulum over each. The magician makes the pendulum swing as appropriate, maintaining consistency in the “leave/take” actions. In other words, if circle has been defined as “Yes,” then be sure to make it swing in a circle above the packet containing the card. The magician now deals the remaining cards about the table, á la card stab. I place them in a spiked, star-like pattern each end overlapping the other. Imagine the spokes of a wheel emanating from a central hub. This is what my pattern looks like. The ends of all the cards are touching and overlapping at the hub, the outer ends are separate. At this point, the sitter is instructed to move the pendulum, holding it over each and every card. They are then told to drop the pendulum on a card or group of cards. Our wording allows for a miracle revelation or at least a sensible ploy to remove yet another batch of cards. If they place the pendulum on their card, quit. However, if they miss, you will either keep the card(s) the pendulum is touching or remove them. Notice we didn’t say in advance what we would do. I have them drop the entire pendulum, stone and cord. By having the ends of the cards overlapping, I’m almost guaranteed that the pendulum is touching more than one card. It is a simple manner to use this one procedure to eliminate all but 2 or 3 cards. These will be kept in play on the table.
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For example, if the pendulum lands next to the selection I can say, “You have been drawn to this half of the cards.” I take the card that the pendulum is touching and the two on either side. Sometimes, it will fall on the correct card and one other. We would use both of them. Sometimes it will snake around and touch 3 cards that are NOT the selected card. In that case you would just grab those three cards and move them over to the discard pile. You don’t have to verbally explain every action one performs in an equivoque. If you merely perform that action with confidence, it will be taken as intended from the outset. Regardless of the circumstances, you are now left with 2 or 3 cards on the table. If they have placed the entire pendulum only on the selected card, I comment on this, and have them pull out another “for comparison.” The magician takes the pendulum and holds it over each card in turn. Of course, you will make it swing in the proper direction over each of the cards. Sometimes I will say under my breath, “Yes” when I’m moving in a line when it is to mean yes and vice versa for the circle. Now, here is the payoff. Look at the sitter and say, “Go ahead, you try it.” Because we have conditioned their responses, provided a model to emulate, and created a methodical atmosphere, the spectator will respond by moving the pendulum in the direction which means “no” over each of the wrong cards and “yes” over the correct one. Further, they will completely forget that you “showed them the way,” so to speak. They will remember that the pendulum, in their own hands, found the correct card. At this point, you can look at the card and give a brief reading using the techniques taught in The Dance. Close by asking if they felt what you had to say applied to them. When they respond in the affirmative, congratulate them on finding the card that was meant for them, the Wheel of Fortune.
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Kenton Knepper is a name most mentalists will instantly recognize. Kenton's principles of Dual Reality, Linguistic Deception, Trance-Illusion, Definition = Creation, suggestion and much more have become the standards of modern mentalism. Kenton's works include the classics Wonder Words, Modern Miracles of Suggestion, Mind Reading Lessons, Kolossal Killer, S.A.R., Completely Cold and Pendulum Programming. Kenton has consulted for other well-known mentalists including Keith Barry and his shows for the RTE, MTV and CBS. Kenton was awarded the Andruzzi Award in 1998 and The Psychic Entertainers Association's Creativity Award in 2008. Less known to performers are Kenton's more esoteric works, including his work with Tibetan and Crystal Bowls, which were handed down to him mystically. Kenton has been deemed a Lama by another Lama (though Kenton has had no such formal training) and, of course, a modern day wizard. You can learn more about Kenton's works which are the foundation of so many other works today, at www.WonderWizards.com You can read and hear more about Kenton's mystical work for the Public at www.BowlSounds.com
SEALED PENDULUM BY KENTON KNEPPER This was the very first trick Kenton sold to a magic company. It stunned many names at the time, back in the 1970s, and still is a fooler when presented properly. A pendulum is made that has a pay envelope attached, or a pendulum is made as a pay envelope attached to a string. A deck of cards is cut into four piles by a spectator who then takes the pendulum and touches TWO of the piles they made. The mentalist offers the choice to the person of eliminating these two piles from play, or using them as their choice. This is fair and whatever the spectator wants is how the piles are used . Either these two piles or the other two piles if the spectator wishes, are used for the next choice. The spectator places the pendulum on one of the two piles selected so that pile cannot be touched. Only one pile is left open to be turned over. This pile is turned over and the bottom card that was cut to on the face of that pile is noted. The envelope on the pendulum is opened by the spectator. Inside the envelope is the chosen/cut to card. All the other piles are shown to contain different cards. Is it Mind Reading or pendulum influence?
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Believe it or not, the way we just described the effect is the very worst situation possible. The reason ”Sealed Pendulum” amazed so many well known performers is the utter fairness that could be pointed out throughout the process. Sadly this notion was taken over by others many years later, but it was in fact the very first idea Kenton successfully sold so very many years ago now back in Iowa. Here is the correct original handling. To perform this you will need a prediction card inside an envelope attached to a pendulum. You will also need a deck of cards and one duplicate card. Perhaps the card in the envelope is the Two of Hearts. Put an extra Two of Hearts on top of the deck, after cutting the other Two of Hearts in the standard deck to the bottom or face of the deck. With the deck face down, you now have one force card secretly on top of the deck and one on the bottom of the deck. You may shuffle legitimately all you wish as long as you keep the top and bottom cards in their places. Table the deck and have the spectator cut the cards into four piles. You secretly keep track of which two are your force card piles. You have two out of four piles that are force piles. That allows for some devious psychology masking as fairness. Have the spectator touch any TWO piles they wish. Make this clear from the start, before you even begin. The spectator will first choose TWO piles using the pendulum. They might feel something, or not, or use their intuition as they touch the pendulum to TWO piles. Once they have touched two piles only three things could have happened. 1) They touch the two force card piles. In this case you eliminate the
other piles, showing the faces as all different as you set them aside. “As you did not choose these I will set them aside. Note that you did NOT choose any of these cards. Now touch the pendulum to one of the two remaining piles. That one? Just as before we will eliminate the other one...but wait! I m going to give you one last chance. Are you certain? Do you want to change your mind?” Of course it matters not how many times the spectator changes their mind as both piles are force piles! Eventually one pile is chosen and the other pile is set aside. Show the pile eliminated but be sure to shuffle or spread the cards so that the one duplicate card does not show. In any of the situations that may happen in the end the force card will be either on the top of the pile, or on the bottom of the pile. In both cases you say, “Let s turn over the card you cut to...” and then add “...the top card” or “...the bottom card, just turn the whole pile face up so we can see where you cut.” That s why you need to keep track of the piles too, as you need to know whether to tell the spectator to turn the entire pile over, or simply the top card. ʼ
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2) They touch a force pile and a non-force pile . In this case you ask if
they want to keep these two piles and eliminate the other two piles, or vice versa. You really don t care as you will end up with one force pile and one indifferent pile either way. Once they have chosen which two piles to use for the experiment, show the other cards as all different as you set them aside. No one will recall seeing a duplicate card because they don t know to look for that specific card yet. If you feel nervous however, you can shuffle the duplicate card to the top and hide it as you show the rest of the cards before setting them aside. “Place the pendulum on top of one of the two remaining piles so we are absolutely certain.” If they place the pendulum on the force pile you say, “Great, that way there is no way I can touch it or manipulate your pile in any way.” If they instead put the pendulum on the indifferent pile you say, “Only one pile is left that can be turned over. Look at the card you cut to and see what the card is based on your choice.” Of course have the spectator turn over the top card or the entire pile as needed. This seems very fair, yet as we have stated this is the “worst case scenario” which means this trick is very clean in appearance indeed. ʼ
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3) They touch the two non-force or indifferent piles. In this case you
say you will eliminate the two piles they touch. It is important from the start of this effect that you say the person will touch two piles first, as they use the pendulum for an “intuitive elimination” or something along these lines. Even if another performer is present and thinks maybe you are using equivoque, the next move throws that possibility out. You secretly have two force piles remaining. “Now just as we did before, move the pendulum over the two piles. Touch one that you feel should be eliminated. Remember, just like before, the pile you touch is the pile we will eliminate. No funny business. As fair as can be. That one? Are you certain? Do you want to change your mind?” Of course you eliminate whichever pile they wish. It matters not as both piles are force piles. Show the pile the spectator wants eliminated as all differing cards, and then have them turn over the “card you cut to” and see what it is. When the spectator finally opens up the envelope and discovers a card inside that matches the card they chose with the pendulum, it is a real shocker. The envelope being on or used as the pendulum subtly keeps the prediction in view the entire time.
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This, combined with the utterly fair appearing choices, and the performer remaining mostly hands off in the procedure, makes for a very memorable intuitive experiment. Kenton later did a variation he called “Cardinal Choice” to throw off those who knew “Sealed Pendulum.” The handling was nearly the same although there were no duplicate cards. This was made possible because the card in the envelope was a double faced card. A card was placed on the bottom and top of the deck that matched the double faced card, and the rest of the handling was the same. The only catch to this was that the performer needed to open the envelope, although it could be examined afterwards. Kenton still prefers the original version as it seems more hands off.
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THE BILL & THE PENDULUM BY DR. BILL (WITH APOLOGIES TO E.A.P.) EFFECT: This effect is best suited for close up, seated at a table or a desk if
in an office. A pendulum is brought out or created from “tools at hand.” A dollar bill is borrowed and placed on the table so George is face down. The abilities of the human mind and the pendulum are demonstrated using the dollar bill as a means to assist by indirectly suggesting the directions for the pendulum to move. The bill also subtly “implants” the boundaries that limit the pendulum’s movement. All the while the power of the subconscious is being celebrated! The performer begins these demonstrations, amazing the audience. But when one of their own members takes over and is equally successful, everyone is utterly astounded, especially the participant holding the pendulum! METHOD & PRESENTATION: My first introduction to an effect of this
nature was “Across the Divide” in Richard Webster’s book Pendulum Power . More recently Docc Hilford did a variation as the opening to a three phase effect, “Dead or Alive” on his DVD, Attack Of Monster Mentalism, and is the first effect in Part 2 of Trybil . In my version, a dollar bill is placed on the table, George Washington facing down and the pyramid to the performer’s left. I start off by explaining that our subconscious minds are so powerful they can influence the movement of inanimate objects despite consciously holding them still. I go on to explain that at the same time the subconscious mind is subject to being influenced by indirect suggestion when “spoken to in the correct language.” I offer to demonstrate these phenomena. All this time I have been holding a pendulum or I remove it from its pouch while I speak. I suspend it over the bill, centered between the pyramid emblem and the eagle emblem and state that while holding my hand perfectly still I will use the remarkable, yet natural, abilities of my mind to move the pendulum.
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Further, the direction it moves will follow the orientation of the bill and the arc of the pendulum’s swing will be bounded by the two emblems. Depending on the circumstances and my intentions I may go on to briefly explain ideomotor functions. Sure enough the pendulum begins to move. It swings left and right, increasing in strength and distance but never exceeding the restriction of the emblems. Now it is time to offer to let an audience member try it out. As usual, you want to select someone who displays signs of responsiveness to suggestion and an open mind. Instruct them in the basics of holding the pendulum, breathing and using their imagination to see it moving in the desired direction. As explained earlier, practices involving breathing, visualization and the like impart an importance to the process that should not be overlooked or minimized in any way. Encourage the slightest beginning of movement of the pendulum. Compliment the participant on the powers of their mind while noting their receptivity to the suggestions implied by the position of the bill and the boundaries of the emblems. When it is clear they have succeeded, ask them to stop. Here you have a choice and it will depend upon your assessment of the participant as well as your own preference. You may want to reorient the bill in the vertical position and again demonstrate the pendulum responding to the bill’s position. Or if you’re confident in the receptivity and cooperation of your participant you can reorient the bill and guide them directly through moving the pendulum in the vertical direction. This speeds up the tempo of the entire routine and increases the emphasis on the participant’s ability. I like to demonstrate the second movement myself more often than not. And I always demonstrate the next movement; holding the pendulum over the eagle emblem and having it move in a clockwise circle. I also give a short spiel about eagles flying in a clockwise circle when surveying their territory as I first hold the pendulum over the emblem. Following their previous
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successes it is certain the participant will evoke the clockwise circle when it is their turn. I DO NOT demonstrate the final counter-clockwise movement. I do show the other emblem to the participant and the audience and comment about how odd it is that a pyramid and an eye have found their way onto our currency. Comments of the Illuminati conspiracy are likely to crop up on their own, especially given recent books and movies. I mention that these symbols are often associated with the occult and that they subliminally influence the pendulum to move in a counter-clockwise direction. I have found this to be more than sufficient, along with the usual directions to imagine the “desired” movement, to insure cooperation from the participant. They have succeeded three times so far and are not about to fail at this point. The participant is certainly by now working with you and wants to prove your assertions, as well as their new found abilities. The “demand characteristics” of the situation are working in your favor. Even in the US, this only works exactly as described with a dollar bill. Variations can be done with other bills but you lose the pyramid/eye shtick which I really like. I’m not familiar with many foreign currencies but at the very least you can do the vertical and horizontal movements. I suspect many bills of the world will also have a circular design. If there isn’t such a design on your currency to suggest the circular movement, my foreign friends, I strongly encourage you to seek out Richard Webster’s Pendulum Power . His routine “Across the Divide,” upon which the “The Bill and the Pendulum” is based, is by far my favorite in the book. And as mentioned above, Docc Hilford’s 3 phase routine, “Dead or Alive” is nothing short of extraordinary. For my American friends, I think you’ll discover that “The Bill And The Pendulum,” is a most captivating routine. Personalize it with your own ideas and try it out. I suspect you’ll have a routine that will find a permanent place in your repertoire. One last thought. You are in position to do a serial number revelation, or at least a partial revelation. Of course this is best with a borrowed bill! Have the participant place it on the table in the desired position.
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Go through all of the pendulum movements until you reach the counterclockwise finale. Do not lift the entire bill to show the pyramid/eye emblem. Instead, just lift up enough of the bill to show the emblem to the audience members sitting close enough to you. The serial number will be staring you in the face. As you point out the emblem on their side, you have a perfectly justified gaze at the number on your side. “Justifying the gaze” is a topic I cover in depth in my ebook Mind Index (http://www.outlaweffects.com/store/the-arsenal/e-books/mind-index.html). Memorize as much of the serial number as you can in a few seconds. You don’t need the whole number. Allow the bill to drop down flush with the table. Explain the influence of occult symbols and have the participant do the final pendulum movement in the counterclockwise direction. This gives you a nice bit of time misdirection which will help you reinforce a blatant lie in a moment. It also creates a moment of meaning that will captivate the audience, helping sell the veracity of your lie. As usual, congratulate the participant on their success. Using an “organic recap” comment on how the participant placed their bill directly on the table and describe the various pendulum effects that occurred. State that you do not want to touch the bill at any point and have borrowed a bill and avoided all contact for this reason and what is about to happen. This is your blatant lie as you already have touched the bill but in a congruent fashion when showing the pyramid/eye emblem. Step or turn away. Ask the participant to pick up their bill and look at the other side “for the first time.” Emphasize that this is the side with the serial number, unique to every bill. Have them concentrate on the serial number. Reveal all or as much of the number as you recall. Again, some may object to ending the routine with demonstrating another ability. Some may see this as a grand finale as adding a welcomed element of surprise. And, again, this is a personal decision.
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PENDULUM ADEPT PART II BY FAUCON OF SAKIN’EL I have used a Pendulum for magic and psychic demonstrations for almost sixty years. I first saw it done with a needle and thread, so still use that construct with a “magic” addition as described in my book Phinominal Propengicks. I pass out two objects; a needle suspended from a thread, and a half dollar coin enclosed in a folded piece of paper. After examination, I again wrap the coin inside the paper envelope and push the needle through the center such that the thread apparently ran through it with the needle suspended below – a pendulum. The impression of the coin is clearly visible and I give it to a spectator to hold and feel. I offer no explanation as to how this might be possible. After retrieving the wrapped coin and holding it rather than the thread, I now proceeded to give some ‘pendulum’ demonstrations. This includes allowing a spectator to hold the coin and suspended thread while I held their wrist. The pendulum moves as I direct. Typically the result is silence and some nervousness. At this point I explain what was happened. “There is nothing magickal here. The passing of the needle through the coin is a magic trick that can be learned in any conjuring book. The movement of the pendulum can be done by anyone with practice. While there are arguments over why this can be done, it is acknowledged to be unconscious control over tiny muscles and skin tension. As such, it can be a way of allowing subconscious thoughts to surface, or to allow adept abilities to be accentuated. I have done nothing more than make the desires and energy of this group manifest in a fun way.” One evening a woman approached me to give thanks for my explanation – not the performance. A year before she had let
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someone tell her fortune using a pendulum that had been amazingly accurate. Yet she had become afraid, for it led to thoughts of fate rather than personal control, which disturbed her greatly. When she observed my effect, accentuated by combining the “impossible” trick with the pendulum, she became even more afraid of anyone’s ability to control her or direct her life. Then she heard my explanation and realized that the “incredible answers” she had discovered a year ago had actually come from her. A situation had been created in which she was able to listen to herself – the “seer” had merely been the vehicle – the pendulum but a tool. She laughed and walked confidently away. THAT is magick!
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Tony Razzano has been a professional mentalist/psychic entertainer since 1991, performing under the stage name Anthony Rose. Tony was the spirit medium in the very successful and critically acclaimed Cross Creek Graveyard Séance which he co-created with EvilDan Terelmes and George ‘Rocky” Colavito. Performing all over the north east, especially from NYC to Philadelphia, Tony does a full stage show, a cabaret act, as well as close- up performances. He also is a professional reader, using the tarot, palmistry, numerology and, of course, the pendulum. Tony is a member of the Psychic Entertainers Association (PEA) and has served as a Board of Directors member for four years. Tony served the PEA as its secretary, vice president, membership chairman and its president. Right now, Tony is a regular columnist for the PEA’s monthly journal, Vibrations. Before pursuing mentalism full time, Tony was an English teacher in his home town of South River, NJ. Tony and his family currently live in South River.
PENDULUM PARTY BY TONY RAZZANO Tony Razzano is one of the most talented and devoted mentalists I've never met! As a Past-PEA president and so knowledgeable about our art, he is used to being bombarded with frequent requests. I promised to bombard Tony with but one request and that was to write up the wonderful pendulum routine he described during his interview on the Conversations with MindReaders CD set (unfortunately off the market though sets do show up for sale on occasion via Ebay, etc). Shortly afterwards, Tony sent along the following: After my introductory remarks, I take out a rather ornate pendulum that I bought from Brother Shadow. I briefly discuss the history of its use. At a psychic party attended by primarily older women, (those who were kids before sonograms!) I ask the gathering if they remember as teenagers trying to figure out if a pregnant woman was going to have a boy or a girl using a needle and a string. If it's a younger group, I just leave that part out. I ask the pendulum a question and it moves either in a circle or a straight line. I explain that a circle is "no" and a straight line in any direction is "yes".
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The pendulum moves one way or the other and I call attention to the fact that the pendulum is moving but my hand is not. After another question, the pendulum moves in the other direction and again, I bring attention to the fact that my hand is NOT moving. The audience usually thinks that's pretty neat just by itself! Then I say, "I have something for each of you. I have brought you all the absolute best pendulums that money can buy. I have spared no expense in bringing these pendulums tonight.” I have them distributed. What each person gets is a white envelope. As they are being passed out I reiterate just how these are among the most accurate pendulums in the world. Inside each envelope is a string with a paper clip tied onto it. As i get looks of bewilderment and a few cynical remarks, I say," Yes, they actually are highly accurate. Let me tell you how a pendulum works. It’s one of two ways. You see, it's not the pendulum itself. It is, as I and many others believe, the Universe coming through you into the pendulum and making the pendulum move in the proper direction thereby giving you the answer.” OR "It’s what scientists call ideomotor response, meaning that your subconscious mind already knows the answer, even though your conscious mi nd does not. Your subconscious, through your nervous system, lets your hand know and moves the pendulum imperceptibly, in the proper direction. "So it's not the pendulum at all. It's either the Universe or your subconscious. And you know what? It doesn't matter which one you believe it is, because either way, it's going to work! "I'll show you. Notice that on your envelope, there is a circle, with a cross drawn inside, much like the sight on a rifle. Hold the pendulum between your thumb and first finger like this (demonstrate) over the center of the crosshairs, just about half an inch above the envelope.
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"Now remembering that if the pendulum moves in a straight line in any direction that means 'yes"... Now, think YES. Just think it and watch the pendulum move back and forth in a straight line. Back and forth (most will begin to move and you point some of them out...get excited about them). "OK, steady the pendulum over the center again. Now think NO. Just think it. The pendulum will start going round and round" Again as they do, point them out. "Now, each of you steady your pendulum once again. Silently ask the pendulum a yes or no question and see what it answers." Allow this to go on for a minute or so and congratulate them. Tell them they can use a paper clip, ring or anything else that has weight, as it is the Universe or subconscious at work and both are very effective. With this routine, I involve the entire audience and they have fun with it. Everybody is interested in their own pendulums, and toward the end, they are looking at each other’s and laughing and commenting on what was asked, and so on. You will get a few that do not move. No matter. If I do comment on them, I just say that “the Universe/subconscious isn't ready to work with you just yet. Give it a couple of days.”
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Since 2003, Keith Barry has performed on his own television show in Europe entitled Close Encounters with Keith Barry. The show has been played in 28 countries worldwide. In 2004, Barry had an MTV television special entitled “Brainwashed.” 2005 ended with Barry performing a live Christmas special in Europe, “Keith Barry Live With Friends” which featured Billy McComb as a special guest (this was Billy's last televised performance). Barry's success throughout Europe coupled with his MTV special led to a prime time special, “Keith Barry Extraordinary,” which aired on CBS in 2006. After headlining in Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas in Nov 2008 he received the Merlin award for “Mentalist of the year” and was also was awarded 'Magician of the Year' by the critics of the Las Vegas Review Journal. He has just finished another 1 hour special for the Discovery Channel “Deception with Keith Barry” which will air later this year.
DOCHREIDTHE BY KEITH BARRY The word “Dochreidthe” is Gaelic for “unbelievable.” That's the word which most comes to mind when people respond to this effect. I've been using pendulums for many years now, more in casual scenarios than paid performances. Each performer has his/her own unique way of introducing the pendulum and describing the actions and motion which are about to take place. I almost always use a brief description from Bob Cassidy's work The Pendulum of Fate to educate the audience on pendulums and their history. For this effect I use a bulldog clip on a chain as my pendulum. I explain and demonstrate the workings of the pendulum leading the spectator into believing a straight line is a direct response to them thinking the answer “no” whilst a circular motion represents a “yes” response. There are of course other ways of calibrating the spectator. My preference is to gently lead them so there is no room for confusion.
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First they are to merely think the word no - of course the pendulum responds accordingly in a straight line to their amazement. This is a moment not to be rushed - remember, the second the pendulum moves in a straight line in response to their thought is truly mind-blowing to them. I then ask them to think yes and once again the pendulum responds accordingly (in circles). As a final part of their calibration process I tell them I will ask them a number of questions - they are merely to think the answer. I may ask them their age/name/whatever and the pendulum will respond once again accordingly. Having now gained their trust I ask them to write down their pin number for their ATM card. Of course I peek their number, usually using Millard Longman’s Acidus Novus but any peek will do. I’m going to explain how I approach the ethics of using a PIN number at the end Here's where things get interesting - the card is folded once more and placed on the bulldog clip. They hold the pendulum and I ask them to concentrate on the first number in their pin - out loud I ask “Is it zero, one, two, three,” and so on up to 9. Of course the pendulum moves in a straight line UNTIL you say the first number. Immediately to their absolute amazement the pendulum responds and moves in circles. This really blows them away and works 99% of the time. I then repeat with the second digit. In order to really fry them I now take the pendulum and ask them to concentrate on the third digit. I lightly place my hand on their shoulder and once again ask out loud “Is it zero, one, two, etc.” Trust me when the pendulum correctly moves in circles on the correct number they go nuts. Finally I don't touch the spectator at all and once again repeat the process revealing the last number. Due to the structure of the routine not one person in hundreds of performances has even suspected a peek.
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One final thought. When they are holding the pendulum I sometimes ask them to think of ANY digit in their pin number - it still works. I do it for another digit and it works again. Of course since I've peeked the information I know where the digits are in their pin number and can now reveal the other two myself. The only reference I’ve seen which comes close to this method is in Craig Browning's “The Reading” which uses a similar method to gain information but for a completely different purpose. I discovered this long after I put this together but wanted to mention it for completeness. Oh, and I did mention this will work 99% of the time with them - if for any reason the pendulum does not respond the way you want it to i n their hand simply take it from them and do the entire routine in your own hands - it will still be Dochreidthe to the spectator!!! To introduce the piece I ask the person when was the last time they changed their pin number on their ATM card - 100% of the people I’ve asked, without exception have replied “never.” I then laugh out loud and tell them they must be mad as identity theft and ATM card fraud are among the fastest growing crimes. Banks advise we change our pin numbers and passwords regularly. Large criminal gangs have trained their members to not only be able to pickpocket people without detection, but also to use ancient dowsing and psychic skills to figure out what a person's pin number is. “Here, write down your pin number but please don't show me - this is just for you.” The person always looks strangely at me when I say this but they also always do it (and truthfully too!!). I then proceed with the effect and at the end tell them to change their pin number (having also given a l ogical explanation as to why they should do this anyway!). For those of you who are worried about this you could just reveal 3 numbers OR you could use a word/name and reveal the word or name letter by letter using the same principle. For me - the pin number is the ultimate as it's the one secret even our partners don't even know (usually).
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Jerome Finley is a prolific author, creator and shamanic practitioner from Salt Lake City, Utah. He currently spends his days working as an Intuitive Life Coach & Reality Engineer using palms, cards and bones to assist his clients in the process of self inquiry; setting clear, well defined goals and looking at their unique life approach and special issues from a new perspective. Jerome supplements his work with psychic development classes, group meditations, private seances, energy work and hypnotherapy sessions. In his free time Jerome shares his personal vision for contemporary mentalism and direct mind reading through works such as Cloud Busting Secrets, Thought Channel 1&2, Random Acts of Kindness, Thought Dial, Guerrilla Q&A, The Taboo Treatise, T&R, The Professional's Choice, SOS and other offerings. The following are from Jerome’s upcoming release Thought Veil, his landmark course on hypnosis for mentalists. I’m extremely honored to have these contributions and encourage everyone to study them closely. You will find more with each reading. Jerome’s books are available at: http://www.sangomahealer.com/performersonly.html
MY PENDULUM ROUTINE BY JEROME FINLEY I use a number of different pendulum routines, effects and demonstrations in my regular work. I cannot stress how remarkably effective the proper use of a pendulum is in hypnosis, private readings, mentalism and guided meditation processes. The pendulum is a powerful tool with which to create MIRACLES. Here you’ll find some of my all time favorite pieces with a pendulum. The only one I use one a regular basis that I’m NOT including is “The Curse” from my book The Taboo Treatise.’ Using a pendulum during or prior to contact mind reading (or NON CONTACT mind reading!) and muscle testing is another one of my favorite uses for these miracle tools and for obvious reasons will not be discussed in this book but covered in depth in a forthcoming manuscript. In my classic pendulum test and demonstration I show my participant HOW a pendulum works and offer to show them a few simple ‘tests’ we can use with it.
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Most of my pendulum work begins with a simple calibration exercise as described prior in which the pendulum moves in my participant’s hands in straight lines (back and forth as well as side to side), in clockwise and counter clockwise circles, ovals, looping flower petal patterns an d then STOPS. Based on the amount of time I have to work I might only demonstrate and ask for a few of the movements such as simple straight lines and “one way” circles. Once the pendulum is moving correctly and effectively in my participant’s hands I say, “And as the pendulum swings back and forth NOW I want you to breathe and time your breaths WITH its movements.” To show the client what I mean I instruct them to breathe in and out through their nose ONLY. As the pendulum moves to the left they inhale. As it moves again to the right they exhale and do this same thing over and over again until I say stop. Obviously these directions and movements can be reversed to suit your own needs at the time. There is no “wrong way” to do this. These instructions will cause mild hyperventilation in my participant as the pendulum movements are very short and fast. Because of this my subject will begin inhaling and exhaling rapid ‘puffs’ while the pendulum moves. This only needs to continue for a few moments – perhaps 12 to 15 short breaths. By breathing in such a manner my participant will alter their brainwave patterns and increase their natural levels of suggestibility via hyperventilation. As a person hyperventilates they will begin to see, feel and experience things most verbal suggestions cannot ever accomplish. Hyperventilation is another powerful tool with which to create gigantic si zed miracles and create open, suggestible participants. Use caution here so as to not make your subject uncomfortable by OVER hyperventilating as this will create anxiety in some. Should your participant become uncomfortable during any part of this process or demonstration they should stop the special breathing and resume normal breathing at once.
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If for some reason a subject DOES panic simply have them fold their arms, press the soft areas under their armpits and resume normal breathing. You can use EFT and the ‘Swish’ pattern to remove excessive anxiety if necessary, though you should never allow your participant to get to such a point and 12 – 15 short breaths IN AND OUT THROUGH THE NOSE (!) isn’t too much for most people. Moving on… After the subject has made it through a certain number of short breaths I use the EFFECTS of this short “power breathing” sequence to induce trance. I know my subject is lightheaded at this point and open to suggestion. I KNOW these things because their pendulum has been moving AND they have followed my instructions up to this point (conditioning) AND have just finished this series of breaths. Once 12 or 15 breaths have been completed I instruct my subject to begin BREATHING NATURALLY at their own pace and comfort and, “As you continue to focus on the pendulum and its movements now MENTALLY command, will, intend and desire for the pendulum to begin slowing down…slowing down… slowing down completely… until eventually it STOPS. WHEN the pendulum stops simply close your eyes and when you close your eyes ALLOW YOURSELF to enter a deep state of peace and relaxation – listening closely to the sound of my voice and my instructions – continuing to hold tightly onto the pendulum…feeling perfect in every way…that’s right…just allow your eyes to close down now…PERFECT...” As I’m delivering the above script I can see my participant’s pendulum slowing down and coming to a stop. I do my best to time my script with the pendulum’s movements and at all times match my words to the process and phenomena taking place. Doing this links my mental suggestions with physical actions and the participant’s reality. Once the pendulum has stopped and my subject’s eyes are closed I proceed with my routine and hypnotic/suggestion based pieces as detailed in PART TWO.
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For this particular demonstration (and many ma ny others) I really prefer my “It’s “It’s NOT Hypnosis” induction, induction, script and technique techni que taught elsewhere in this course. ANY induction or deepening technique will work with a pendulum and for the remainder of this routine. You may also include visualizing the seven colors of the spectrum, progressive relaxation and deepening techniques and more. I highly recommend Bill Cushman’s Cu shman’s “The Jumping Pulse” and and a few of my variant touches for the most incredible, perfect results resul ts possible. One thing I really used use d to enjoy is calling out the various movements m ovements and having my subject control, will, intend in tend and desire their pendulum to follow foll ow suit and keep up with my commands. As this happens I would give instructions for the subject to VISUALIZE the 7 spectrum colors while the pendulum moved in different patterns. This can be done with the participants eyes open or closed – it’s i t’s your choice. For example, as the pendulum moved back and forth the subject would imagine the color RED. It often helps if you will suggest and instruct your subject to imagine RED as the color of the pendulum or LIGHT shining from it while it moves. These ‘tracers’ can be made any color you desire. After my subject sees the color red in i n their mind (and/or the pendulum) I would suggest that AS THIS HAPPENS the pendulum would naturally begin to move side to side. While the pendulum moved side to side the color would change to ORANGE. As the subject moves m oves the pendulum in the proper direction and SEES the color orange the pendulum would then begin to move in clockwise circles with the color YELLOW YEL LOW and so on and so forth. My basic pendulum induction ends with the above script and technique – it’s very simple. Once the pendulum begins to move successfully in my subject’s hand I use eye fixation (focus ( focus on the pendulum as it moves back and an d forth, back and forth, around in circles, etc), breathing timed with the movements, slowing the movements down via direct commands and suggestion su ggestion and as the pendulum STOPS instructing my subject to close their eyes and relax. Easy! Like many other inductions there are many wonderful variations using this technique. Sometimes I’ll instruct my subject to t o raise their arm and keep it there as they allow the pendulum to swing back and forth at eye level while they watch and focus on it. This is a combination of eye fixation and an d an arm
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levitation/suspension induction, both of which I favor. Instead of suggesting the subject’s arm will begin to fall BUT ONLY AS FAST AS THEY ENTER TRANCE I change my wording and instructions inst ructions to, “And very soon now the pendulum will begin to slow down and stop completely BUT ONLY AS FAST AS YOU ALLOW YOUR SELF to enter a deep state of peace and relaxation.” Like the arm levitation induction taught tau ght in this book the above techniques work really great. I’ve often combined the two – pendulum movements m ovements AND the arm levitation induction. NOBODY is going to sit there and keep a pendulum swinging (or hold h old their arm up) to avoid entering a peacefully relaxed state! Rather, their own mind and body will work together via the ideomotor response to cause the pendulum to STOP swinging sooner rather than later l ater SO they can enter such a positive state of being even faster. Remember to give the simple instructions that as the pendulum stops swinging (or slows down significantly) the subject is to allow their eyes to close gently as they continue to listen li sten closely to the sound of your voice and your simple instructions. To prevent your subject from dropping your pendulum give further suggestions that they will continue to relax and hold securely onto the pendulum as they follow your instructions and respond perfectly to your suggestions.
PART TWO The Suggestions & Phenomena It’s up to you whether you wish to use u se further deepening techniques to create the following effects. Because of the proceedings in this particular routine there is very little you’ll have to do. If you’ve followed my instructions your participant is now relaxed, altered, al tered, aware, open and suggestible. They will CONTINUE to follow foll ow your guidance and your suggestions at this point.
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Your subject is already playing along perfectly and given that proper rapport has been established (and I’m sure it has!) you’ll be able to create ALL of the following effects exactly as I do using what I’ve taught you in this thi s book. Drawing upon the techniques of waking hypnosis, the psychology of suggestion and hypnotic language patterns patt erns I now engage my subject in a “rapid fire” sequence of hypnotic demonstrations. If combining the pendulum induction with the arm suspension and levitation the first thing I do here is alert my subject (count them out from 1 to 3) and draw attention to the fact their arm has remained suspended in the air all this time and that when I snap my fingers and ONLY when I snap my fingers they can lower their arm and sink even 10 times deeper into this conscious, relaxed state. I snap my fingers, fin gers, the arm goes down and voila! My subject is i s naturally more relaxed (or at the very least more receptive to the IDEA of relaxing deeper!). Taking the pendulum in my own hands now I instruct my subject to hold their LEFT palm out facing the ceiling as I say, “In a moment when I place pl ace the pendulum into your hand I want you to IMAGINE it becoming lighter and lighter. And as you imagine the pendulum becoming lighter and lighter you may find the urge to raise your arm slightly…go with it! The more you imagine the pendulum becoming lighter and lighter IN YOUR MIND the lighter and lighter light er it becomes. The lighter and lighter li ghter it becomes the higher and higher your hand begins to lift and rise up into the air. Go ahead and allow your arm to begin rising NOW…as you imagine the pendulum getting lighter and lighter with each passing moment.” You can see here how I’m telling my subject EXACTLY what I want and expect for them to do. EVERYONE can imagine an object getting “lighter and lighter” IN THEIR MIND. As my participant partici pant IMAGINES this happening I instruct them to raise their arm. I continue with a few binds and an d then blatantly TELL THEM to begin raising their arm now! Get used to your subjects just DOING D OING whatever it is you tell them to do. Handled correctly and following my instructions in this thi s course will yield the
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proper results. As long as your subjects are doing what you want/ask/command/suggest for them to do, they are following your instructions and complying with your suggestions. Once my subject has their arm (and pendulum) raised high into the air I tell them to STOP and take a deep breath as they continue to ALLOW their arm to hang in the air, invisibly suspended and supported by the power of their mind and thoughts only! At this point I congratulate my participant for having such a powerful mind and praise their ability to follow my simple directions and enter a deep state of relaxed focused awareness at this time. I use this position to relax my subject even deeper and more completely now. Just as before I continue with, “And while you allow your arm to hang in the air I want you to IMAGINE it’s growing heavier and heavier, BECOMING heavier and heavier still until your arm wishes to descend, fall, relax and drift slowly and peacefully down…ALL THE WAY DOWN into your lap BUT ONLY AS FAST as you ALLOW YOURSELF to TRIPLE your level of peace and relaxation at this time. Expect it to happen, allow it to happen and it WILL HAPPEN easily and naturally. Imagine your arm and the pendulum both growing heavier and heavier still with each passing moment and with each and every breath – HOLD THAT THOUGHT IN YOUR MIND - and begin to slowly lower your arm down NOW…” NOTE: Many times I’ll turn this phase into an arm levitation induction
(detailed later in this course) and instruct the subject to close their eyes as their hand passes their face. Said in the same manner and fashion as I do and have written here these suggestions will work pretty much every time. Again, I’m using hypnotic language and subtle coaching to make my subject respond exactly as I wish. I tell them EXACTLY what I want them to do. The beauty of these verbal techniques is that I can use them with anyone hypnotized or not (!) and so can you. This routine and ones to come are PERFECT for waking hypnosis demonstrations. As my subject’s arm begins to lower and approaches their lap (or the table if standing) before it touches I add,
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“And as your hand meets your lap take another deep breath for me and just allow your eyes to close – sinking deeper and deeper into this relaxed, peaceful state.” You’ll notice I’m inducing and re-inducing trance, deepening the relaxed hypnotic state, affirming and re-affirming my subject’s perfect ability to respond to my every suggestion. I continue to congratulate, thank and praise their natural ability to do these things. At this point as my subject remains sitting with their eyes closed, listening to my suggestions, continuing to relax and following my instructions I’ll begin to implant suggestions that ANY TIME for the remainder of this demonstration and process (and/or now and in the future!) whenever I say the words “Deeply relaxed” (Or “Sleep” if you prefer) my subject will instantly take a deep, cleansing breath, close their eyes and re-enter this same deep state of relaxed focused awareness and perfect hypnotic trance easily and naturally. I might also anchor into this suggestion by pressing firmly on my subjects hand, knee or forearm, tapping them lightly on the head or use another method. I’m going to use a few more suggestions with hypnotic phenomena before I free my participant to use the pendulum in their altered state to communicate directly with their subconscious mind and answer one or two PERSONAL QUESTIONS they might have at this time. Continuing the routine as follows… Now that my participant has their hand (and pendulum) in their lap I continue with the “HEAVY” suggestions to stick their hand fi rmly into their lap and pin it down through the power of suggestion and their mind unleashed. “And as you continue to feel the weight of your arm and pendulum in your lap now I want you to IMAGINE an invisible force is emanating from the pendulum… I like to think of this force as a pure, clean, odorless anesthesia.
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With each and every breath you take imagine inhaling this powerful anesthetic which flows throughout your body now and creates a warm, numb, tingling feeling inside of you and all around you. The more you breathe naturally the better this anesthetic begins to work and helps you to relax so that eventually you can start to FEEL BETTER NOW than you’ve ever felt before. The more you relax the better you feel so go ahead now and relax even more…feeling even better…breathing even deeper…you’re doing perfectly… Nod your head when you can feel this warm, numb, tingling feeling radiating throughout your body.” (They do). Wonderful. In a moment I’m going to ask you to try and lift your arm while you continue to will, intend and desire that it remains stuck firmly to your leg. And the more you try to lift your arm the funnier life becomes because now your arm is stuck securely to your lap (leg, chair, table, etc) and the harder you try to lift your arm the more this wonderful anesthetic works for you and keeps it pinned down securely to your leg. The more your arm remains securely pinned to your leg the deeper you relax… and the deeper you relax the better you feel so TRY NOW to lift your arm and see for yourself how tightly and securely it can remain bound to your leg at this time.” The participant “tries” to lift their arm and finds it bound securely to their leg or the object I’ve pinned it to. Following with this powerful anesthetic suggestion I begin to give suggestions of the anesthetic moving, flowing, becoming stronger and then wearing off with various effects. If I choose to use different suggestions I might forgo the anesthetic bit of business and simply continue to give suggestions that my subject’s arm and pendulum becomes so heavy now they are unable to lift or move their arm at all. Following this suggestion that same “heaviness” begins to move, spread and flow to their legs and sticks them firmly to their seat. Keeping in line with the anesthetic suggestion I continue… “And now imagine this anesthetic has spread to your waist, your legs, your knees and your ankles…all the way down to the tips of your toes and the bottoms of your feet.
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JUST LIKE BEFORE in a moment I’m going to ask you to stand up and walk around and when I ask you to stand up and walk around you’ll notice your arm becomes UNSTUCK very quickly and in its place your legs become stuck securely to the floor and bound to your chair NOW easily and naturally. As your arm becomes unstuck you can even hand the pendulum back to me and as you hand the pendulum back to me you’ll become even TEN TIMES more relaxed and stuck securely to your seat. Your mind and thoughts are powerful things and because your mind and thoughts are powerful things the harder you try to stand up or move around the tighter, more securely bound and stuck into place you’ll remain. You could try in vain to stand up at this point or you might simply realize there isn’t any reason to, as you feel perfect in every way exactly where you are. I don’t know which one it will be, but when you’re ready to proceed simply nod your head ‘YES’ and we’ll continue.” This is hilarious because my client has no idea at this point if they are supposed to nod their head yes and then TRY to stand up OR if they are to simply nod their head yes to signal me to continue. I could give them a prompt to TRY and stand up and see the suggestion working perfectly though I much prefer at this point to simply MISINTERPRET their signal and proceed with my suggestions and other hypnotic effects. To everyone watching it appears exactly as though my subject is bound securely to their chair and is unable to move. The words “JUST LIKE BEFORE” in the prior script suggests that my subject is to keep doing exactly what I want for them to do and follow my suggestions perfectly. I give them the option to TRY (in vain) to stand OR simply remain in their seat relaxed and REALIZE there is no reason to stand which presupposes they couldn’t even if they wanted to – which they don’t! As my client imagines the anesthetic flowing into their waist, their legs, their knees, their ankles, toes (etc.) IF appropriate I might firmly touch, grasp or tap their knees, ankles and feet as I give these suggestions. I press their feet firmly into the floor with suggestions they are unable to move. Do what you feel is appropriate! Instead of anesthesia you could use whatever suggestions or imagery you wish to incorporate. I like to change it up a bit myself and here is an opportunity for you to be creative with your suggestions and imagery. Often
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times I like to suggest an invisible energy which flows through all things is emanating from my palms, my eyes and the pendulum which keeps the participant glued firmly to their seat. The choice is a personal one. When I give the suggestion that my subject’s arm becomes UNSTUCK I use this opportunity to receive the pendulum in turn. This allows me to condition the participant, lead the process and keeps them responding to my every suggestion. I periodically use SIMPLE commands and suggestions such as “take a deep breath” or in this case taking back the pendulum to secure this compliant state. Depending on how much time I have I will continue with my suggestions causing the participant to laugh out loud, forget their name or telephone number, glue their eyes shut and more. You’ll learn the exact series and sequence of events in my “7 Minute Hypnosis Show” later in this book. It is there that I’ll provide you with the exact scripts and outlines I use. After I’ve demonstrated the power of suggestion and trance states appropriately I like to bring the client out of their state with positive suggestions and then re-induce trance instantly using my anchor and the words “SLEEP NOW” or “DEEPLY RELAXED.” At this point I continue to give suggestions that my participant is completely in tune with their subconscious mind and able to communicate directly with it through the pendulum. It’s here that I will hand the pendulum back and allow my client to ask one or two personal questions, receive their answers through the pendulum and then immediately afterwards become fully awake, conscious and aware – feeling perfect in every way and in a state of awe at the power of their mind and natural ability. Naturally this entire sequence can be done with or without a pendulum as can the subject communicating directly with their subconscious mind to receive personal answers (enlightened and inspired) to their questions. You could just as well do this entire bit with a coin, a pen or paperclip or NOTHING. I will often use demonstrations such as this one in my walk around and strolling work at banquets and cocktail parties, on the street, in bars and clubs and other venues. I also favor using more than one person and often perform these short demonstrations with many people at once and/or blend it with my mind reading bits.
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I liken these routines and suggestions to a short little hypnosis show with many positive suggestions afterwards, lots of praise for the participants and powerful post hypnotic suggestions and affirmations.
ANGEL PENDULUM BY JEROME FINLEY This is another of my preferred pendulum routines. I begin by asking my participant a VERY important question and that is… “D o you believe in A n g els ? ” This simple question by itself will tell you many, many things about the person you’re working with. Their answer is a good way to gauge how open minded and/or skeptical they are and will normally produce an answer that is linked to a story featuring them or a friend and family member at the center of some experience. If they answer “YES”, we’re off and running. If they answer “NO”, that’s okay and I handle this a few different ways. Sometimes I’ve said, “I really didn’t either…until someone showed me what I’m about to share with you…” Other times (facing a “NO”) I’ve replied, “That’s perfectly okay and I’m not asking or expecting you to believe in anything here…we’ll be using the pendulum to connect with angelic archetypes locked deep within your subconscious mind.” STEP ONE: Relax the participant.
To do this I have them sit in a comfortable position, close their eyes and take a few long, deep breaths. Three of these works out well. Borrowing a suggestibility test from Ormond McGill (and a bit from my “Crimson Wall of Lictalon” from RAOK ) I explain to my audience/participant, “Over half the world believes in Angels, and many say for good reason! Our relationships to them span across thousands of years and predate Christianity by millennia. Their images and energy are something we can all associate with and regardless of whether or not we believe in them, I find they are helpful figures in relaxation, protection and guidance and that THEY believe in US!
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I was taught that we ALL have angels who protect, bless and guide us. My grandmother stressed the point that our Angels cannot intercede and act on our behalf unless we specifically ASK them to. When we ask them properly, she also believed they could even heal us in miraculous ways, no problem being too big or small for them to reach – no request or question too absurd or impossible to ask or share with them. Today we’re going to ask YOUR Angels to draw near us for a time, if that’s okay with you…” NOTE: I’ve had people be very skeptical at this point but the majority are all
for it! I’ve NEVER had a person tell me “No” at this point or ask to stop. Once I’ve been given the green light to proceed I follow with, “Close your eyes for a few moments and take some deep breaths with me. As you breathe in, imagine yourself expanding in size and filling your mind and body with pure, White Light. As you exhale, imagine breathing this Light into the world and your own personal Angels drawing near. During our time together you might begin to feel a bit lightheaded – this is from the special breathing and perfectly normal. You might also begin to feel tingly, warm, cold or very peaceful. That’s also normal… Pay special attention to what’s going on within you and around you as we work together now…notice any tingling or touches, any taps upon your body…perhaps even visions, whispers or heavenly scents wafting through the room as I speak to you and connect you with the Angels. You may even experience visions of Angels in your mind, or hear their whispers and messages to you in your ears…some people believe this is your subconscious mind speaking and interacting with you now through the IMAGES of Angels while others believe these are actual Beings and Heavenly Energies drawing closer to spend time with you…the most important thing is that you intend to communicate with them and welcome their presence as they make themselves known…” At this point I get my participant breathing and visualizing Angels. This could be the classic image of a White Light Being with wings and halo, or it could inhabit some other form or image…I’ve seen Angels who look exactly like humans do; also towering 9 foot winged beings, Angels with the head of a
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Lion and the body of a Man and even my own Spirit Guides and loved ones who have passed from this world and are now Angelic Ancestors operating from the World of Spirit. I explain all of this in my own way. However and whatever your participant chooses to see/imagine and decides to focus on is perfectly fine and should be encouraged. I instruct my participant to call out to their Angels, in their mind, by saying, “With my full permission, love and respect I now invite my Angels to appear. Draw closer to me now and give me a sign of your loving, healing presence.” As I repeat these words aloud, my participant repeats the words in their mind. I repeat the above “request” three times in this fashion, instructing my participant to breathe thus: INHALE SLOWLY AND DEEPLY – “With my full permission, love and respect I now invite my Angels to appear…” At this point I instruct the sitter to hold their breath. This is important! I have them hold their breath to a count of three and then instruct them to exhale slowly while mentally repeating (after me)… “Draw closer to me now and give me a sign of your loving, healing presence…” I repeat this inhale/exhale sequence and mental “Angel Calling” three times. At the end, I give my participant a few moments to bask in this deep state of relaxation and ask them to notice any changes in their thoughts, mood, inner and outer states of being, any changes in the environment, etc. It only takes a few moments and offered exactly as written here will produce powerful, positive results! When finished, I instruct my participant to open their eyes and ask them very directly if they can understand what I’m talking about and if they could REALLY feel the energy. 9 times out of 10 they will say “YES!” This short, beautiful sequence can be used by itself with a lone participant or with an entire audience as a suggestibility test as Ormond used it. I won’t get into my own personal beliefs about angels here but I DO believe in them and feel this exercise helps us to get in touch with them very quickly. By using powerful imagery, the widely held belief in angels, deep breathing and visualization, repeated requests (affirmations/direct suggestions), suggestion, hypnotic techniques, an air of expectancy and other psycho-
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spiritual gambits nearly EVERYONE will have some amazing experience with angels produced as a result of this work. Some people become very emotional at this point, they might even cry. This is often in joy, weeping because of the beauty and depth of the connection made here. I let them know the angels love them, support them in their choices, are proud of them and what they’re doing (Angels never judge us!) and their Angels WANT to be close to them to hold, lift up and inspire them. I might ask the emotionally charged person if they are open to a hug. I want to be there for them and share an experience that can change their life. This is NOT out of place with the work I do. This is certainly not mentalism. If working with a group I ask anyone who felt or saw or otherwise experienced their angels, a profound feeling of peace and healing, a loved one or family member (Angelic Ancestor), energy or any other phenomenon to raise their hands. These are the people you want to work with. They are open and ready to go. At this point, proceeding with my pendulum demonstration is something I may or may not even do. I carry a nice designer crystal pendulum with a gorgeous carved Amethyst angel on top but used a normal, plain looking pendulum for many years. IF I move forward with the pendulum demonstration I find this is some of the most potent and beautiful pendulum work I can do. The sitter/participant is completely open and receptive at this point. For those who do not wish to use the Angel experience I’ve provided the outline for a “psychological” dowsing demonstration using science and the ideomotor response as a foundation above. When I continue with the Angel Experience and pendulum work the first thing I do is get my participant to hold the pendulum and ask their Angels to move the pendulum, thereby showing us another sign of their presence. This movement takes place in a participants hand and is extremely powerful. I’ll ask the Heavenly Hosts to move the pendulum back and forth, in circles (both ways), to stop the pendulum, etc. Less is more with the Angel
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Pendulum exercise. Just a few movements to show their presence is very effective and awe inspiring. This is pure magic. Together we can proceed to communicate with the Angels via the pendulum. The participant can ask personal questions about themselves, their life or loved ones and receive an intelligent, direct response. Few things are stronger. Think of the Angel Pendulum demonstration as a hand-held Q&A for any sized group and you’ll begin to realize its power. No “effects” are necessary at this point. It’s more than enough to connect a person to their angels and have them move the pendulum, feel the energy and end the session. If I do decide to proceed with some revelation it’s usually in form of a zodiac sign divination still with the pendulum in my participant’s hands. Astrology is based on the stars and planets – the heavens and cosmos are the playgrounds for angels, so this works out beautifully. To end the Angel experience I ask my participant to close their eyes and take a few deep breaths as they visualize the White Light all around them and allow the angels to fill their mind and heart with love and perfect peace, healing and blessings. During this moment of “quiet time” the participant can speak to the angels in their mind, ask them questions or make special requests, tell them about their life (mentally, for comfort) and something they may need help with and more. When my participant is “complete” with the experience I instruct them to fold their arms across their chest (right over left) and verbally say “THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU” to break the connection. I love this piece and it’s one of the most powerful and profound things I can share with a person. I have a deep love and respect for angels AND people and love helping to connect the two. Whether this is real or not is up for you to decide and doesn’t matter. The effect and experience it produces IS real, pure and beautiful. Once the connection has been temporarily severed I ask my participant if they would like to talk about their experience, what they saw of felt, how
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they feel now and more. Use your natural knowing and intuition to deliver a few heartfelt messages or a short reading, a “Holy Moment” or tell the person before you about all the gifts you see in them. They will love and appreciate you. Often times a person will see loved ones, angels, hear voices, receive messages, feel energy (or see it!) and experience other unique and interesting phenomena. This is not a demonstration to prove how powerful you are or that you can read minds or about displaying your superior gifts. This is something tender, heartfelt, sincere and special. It’s all about the person you’re working with and helping to make a sacred connection for them. This is something they will cherish forever and never forget. Many times I carry a few Angel pins – a guardian angel token you can gift to the person to anchor into and remember this experience by. You can get a lot/bulk supply of angel pennies online, simple tokens a person can keep in a pocket, purse or wallet to draw upon their angels. These gifts are inexpensive and have deep meaning and purpose. People keep them forever. Sometimes I carry an “Angel Box” for use with my Angel Q&A presentation. Inside this box are a few dozen cards all bearing different written messages, poems and quotes about angels…it’s nice to open the box and let your participant take an angel card to keep and reflect on. There is a book available called The Dictionary of Angels that I also carry at times in my work bag. Using the pendulum, a person can dowse over the angels to find who their particular guardian angel is. I would advise against using it as a book test – while certainly possible I want to keep this experience as above board and REAL as I can, as with my angel Q&A wherein no trickery or deception is utilized. I often use the two experiences together. Deluxe angel pendulums are available here: http://www.jankiexport.com/angel-pendulum.htm You can find even nicer and more expensive ones too. I have several.
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These pendulums listed are available in assorted stones and housings. I use these ones myself and have them in rose quartz, amethyst and clear crystal. These dowsing tools are gorgeous, perfectly weighted/balanced and fi t with the theme. I highly recommend them. Realize that other pendulums (any really, even impromptu ones) can also be used. Because this is such a special experience I like to use an Angel pendulum dedicated specifically to this purpose. Use well. This demonstration has become a hallmark of my work and I share it with special people wherever I go (they’re ALL special).
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IN CONCLUSION Many thanks are in order. Each contributor went above and beyond the call in their generosity and my appreciation goes beyond words. I feel exceptionally fortunate to be involved in a community that is so selflessly giving. A few behind the scenes folks deserve comment. My wife Linda and Dom Twose provided their usual excellent editing skills and also deserve a great deal of gratitude. Also, Thomas Baxter for his creation of the delightful word “Trybil ” to give this book its title. I’d like to say a word about Mauricio Jaramillo. I’d never even heard of this gentleman before he offered some experiences and insights about the MultiBob. He took the idea and ran with it, my hope whenever I release an ebook. Mauricio has been, and is, incredibly supportive. I am glad to have found one more new friend through winding paths of the world of mentalism. And I know you will be glad to work with his contributions to this book. Furthermore it is Mauricio who completed the layout and conversion to pdf for Trybil. I am extremely grateful for the superb job he did. Then there is Luke Shield, my mate from Australia. I cannot say enough about his kindness and creativity. He designed the cover based on an idea from Mauricio. Talk about intercontinental collaboration! By the time you read this, he will be setting off on his own new path; that of the married man. Let us all offer congratulations to Luke and his wonderful wife Liz. And thank you Millard for allowing me to include the instructions for Acidus Novus and your instructional video. I hope all my readers who weren’t already, become pendulum proponents and help spread the word on the value of this wonderful instrument. And, my own bias, I’d love to see the Multi-Bob pendulum gain in well deserved popularity and this effort generate even more incredible routines. I’m sure we’ve only scratched the surface. The versatility of the pendulum, despite its long history, doesn’t receive the attention and credit it deserves. I think this is because it doesn’t fit in with
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the fast paced world of most performance mentalism. It can, as with the example of John Riggs’ stage pendulum, but this is far more the exception than the rule. But there is another direction our wonderful field has taken and that is a more personal, often slower, expression of the powers of the mind. It seems of late that due to the work of many this path is receiving greater attention and validation. I’ve read more and more authors comment that mentalism doesn’t have to be rushed. This is one advantage we have over our magician brethren. We can engage our audiences with a tempo, particularly when working up close, that is much more difficult to do with standard magic that calls for a different pace altogether. Not that this can’t be accomplished, certainly story-telling effects are proof of this, but beyond this exception it can rarely be the reason de‘etre. The versatility of the pendulum, both standard and Multi-Bob, is only limited by our willingness to apply it to effects of all kinds. “Bank Night,” “PseudoPsychometry,” “Which Hand?,” to name just three, can all be enhanced by introducing a pendulum. With the Multi-Bob, meanings can be attached to each pendulum, an area I didn’t explore but will offer you a few examples. With a 3 pendulum set up, one each can stand for past, present and future. Or yes, no and maybe. How about id, ego and superego? Heart, mind and body? In this way, readings and mind readings can be established with the MultiBob in much the same way as with a traditional pendulum and charts. Kenton shares numerous charts in Pendulum Programming that will help direct you in this way. We all know the value of process. The introduction of a pendulum into a routine guarantees the expression of a visible modus operandi to our effects. Not that each piece needs to be performed only after some serious pendulum work but certainly it provides a wonderful way to introduce what it is we do and set the scene for what is yet to come. The use of pendulums for engaging people in trance was beautifully outlined in Jerome Finley’s piece. Not mentioned, but another avenue for development is to utilize the Multi-Bob in much the same manner.
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In many ways this reminds me of some of Jerome’s refined work with my own “Jumping Pulse” from Suggestabilities. As you direct your participant to move the first pendulum, this begins to ratify the existence of something outside the “doors of perception” beginning to occur. . With this accomplished, it is but a small step to attach this action to fixation and relaxation, which again serves to ratify entering new realms. To tell the recipient of your endeavors that, “as the first pendulum now begins to slow to a stop you will enter a place of relaxation and tranquility,” and allow this irresistible illusion to take place makes short work out of beginning an induction. Following with, “And as you direct your attention to using the abilities within your mind to give energy to move the next pendulum you can experience even greater relaxation and tranquility,” imagine the impact on the participant’s state of being. How can they resist these subtle commands? And of course continuing on with the third pendulum in the same way as they now triple these wonderful feelings is even more compelling. A recursive loop is established with the movement of the pendulum demonstrating the participant’s abilities to locate previously unknown “mental coordinates.” Each coordinate leads to greater control of the next pendulum. And greater ease of entering hitherto unknown levels of trance, if that is the terminology you choose to describe these phenomena. Once all three pendulums have been used in their simplest movements as described above, the passageway has been opened to experience the more complex movements of each pendulum. And at this point, due to the compilation of multiple successes, these more intricate movements will be much easier to achieve. Not to mention more meaningful. I think I may have accidentally added another routine with the Multi-Bob. Please forgive me! Another thought; I’ve concentrated on 3 pendulum Multi-Bobs, with a couple examples of using 4 or 5, but what might be the impact of a more simple “dual-bob” pendulum? In many situations we know “less is more” and 2 bobs will certainly open up doors yet to be considered.
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I didn’t intend for my conclusion section to offer another host of possible routines. But such is the nature of the brain and its storms. If I don’t stop myself now I may never “conclude” Trybil, AKA The Multi-Bob Book . And that is part of the joy of an instrument such as the Multi-Bob. I can’t say it better than Tony did in the Foreword. “The possibilities are endless.” Get swinging!
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APPENDIX 1 Acidus Novus Video
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APPENDIX 2 A SUGGESTION FOR THE USE OF SUGGESTION BY DR. BILL A mentalist recently wrote me asking how I got my participants to actually feel the key bending in Andrew Gerard’s wonderful Key Accessory. I wrote him back an extremely long reply. In it I addressed such things as picking a suggestible person (and who and what to look for to accomplish this task), creating a verbal and non-verbal yes set, what to do when required to work with someone low on the suggestibility continuum, and some applications specific to Key Accessory that I can’t go into in this context. Like I say above, it was a long letter. Soon after I finished it, I realized I’d left out a simple but potent step to using suggestion effectively. I’m not so bold to suggest that this is THE secret to the successful use of suggestion but it is one of the big ones. A technique more important than anything I did share! An absolute essential to anyone struggling with the application of suggestion to magic and mentalism. I hope this contribution offers a fresh approach to a common problem I often read and hear about when it comes to using suggestion. This method is a staple of training in hypnosis and therapy. That it hasn’t received more attention as a specific tool for teaching suggestion to mentalists surprises me. Almost every time I’ve taken a hypnosis class or attended a seminar on learning a new therapeutic method it is a given that you must experience what it is like to be at the receiving end of the technique that is being taught. I have found the exceptions to this rule usually occur in classes and seminars that are not nearly as effective, useful, or memorable. In the realm of magic and mentalism I think Richard Osterlind has come the closest to the point I’m making. In “The Magic State of Mind,” the first chapter of “Making Magic Real,” he speaks eloquently about learning to experience what we do as real magic. Indeed, he titles his second chapter,
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“If You Believe In Your Magic So Will Others.” If you don’t have “Making Magic Real” and its sequel, “Making Real Magic” you are missing out on invaluable information (http://www.osterlindmysteries.com/). What I am saying may be seen as an adjunct to what Richard teaches; that if you want to get a participant to feel a physical sensation as part of an effect, you need to have had that sensation yourself. You need to have experienced the same suggestion on your own terms. This also applies to the use of suggestion outside of the realm of inducing physical sensations. For example, psychological forces. In his books mentioned above, Richard teaches methods to experience the magic as it occurs as a means of evoking the same response in your audience. The distinction I am making is that you need to experienced suggestion prior to using it! To hypnotize another person, it is essential, at least in my mind and most hypnotists I’ve come in contact with, to know what it i s to be hypnotized. Likewise, to use suggestion successfully you need to be able to feel precisely what it is you are trying to get your participants to feel. This is a vital step that I think gets left out of explorations of the use of suggestion in mentalism and may explain why certain people encounter difficulties applying it. Sometimes to the point where they simply don’t believe it possible and that those who do are either scamming or selfdeluded. Some people harbor a skepticism that suggestion cannot be successfully used on a regular basis and not only sabotage their effects by communicating this to the participants, they may not allow themselves to have this wonderful experience. Having experienced successful suggestion is key to helping a participant do likewise. Though not as often a requirement as it used to be in clinical psychology programs, students are still encouraged to complete a course of psychotherapy. Sure, part of the reasoning is to protect the public since anyone who pursues this field is almost certain to suffer their own neuroses . But it also gives the student the experience for the same reasons I’ve been explaining as applied to the use of suggestion.
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The process is simple in theory, but may be hard in practice for some people, even those who aren’t skeptical and desperately want to successfully use suggestion in their mentalism. Let me take a moment to explain why I think this is, in service of later helping to assist such folks. Suggestion relies on a form of disassociation. Dissociation is what happens when our thoughts take off in one direction and our physical sensations and/or emotions take off in another direction. The official definition in The Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is “A disruption in the usually integrated functions of consciousness, memory, identity, or perception of the environment. The disturbance may be sudden or gradual, transient or chronic.” Being a manual of psychiatric disorders, the DSM is defining dissociation in a way that is pathological. But it is far more than that and can actually be a healthy, growth promoting response. We all dissociate to different degrees. Think of dissociation as existing along a continuum. At its furthest, least intrusive and most commonly experienced end we have things like highway hypnosis. In general, this level of dissociation is that sense of having gone on “autopilot” and completed an activity without memory of the intermediary steps. Other examples at the non-pathological end include when you are so engrossed in a movie, book or television show that you don’t hear someone calling your name. A bit further down the continuum, but still far from pathological, is the experience many people have of reading a story and unconsciously mimicking an action described by the author. For instance, when you read, “As she spoke, her head slightly tilted as if she doubted her own words,” then find yourself doing just that, you have experienced a form of dissociation (you can straighten your head now!). Ideomotor activity also comes into play, itself related to dissociation, but I’ll leave that alone for now. At dissociation’s furthest, most intrusive and least experienced end, we have multiple personality disorder or Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) as it is now officially called. Even within DID there exists a continuum between those people who experience a “fragmentation” of personality (technically
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Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified) and an actual “crystallization” of alternate personalities. Obviously we want to focus on suggestion requiring mild dissociations! But knowledge of the entire continuum can be helpful. Some people are simply less prone to dissociation. It is our job as mentalists to find the individual entryway into each person’s stimuli for dissociation in order to successfully apply suggestion. They are always there, just sometimes less obvious. They are easier to spot and apply when we have had strong experiences ourselves with our own suggestibility. I believe many people can learn to do this on their own. While initially you may have to devote far more time to achieving a strong experience of suggestion for yourself than you can allow for a participant during performance, this will still transfer into enhancing your ability to bring about the desired effect within the available time. The “demand characteristics” of being in front of others will also help speed things along. Returning to my original example of a key bend, whatever technique you have to employ to really make yourself feel that key bend, not simply imagine what it would feel like if the key bent, do it. And do it until you know that feeling inside and out. Should one technique not work for you, try another. Should you still have trouble, find a friend or professional skilled in these areas and let them give you the experience. As far as a professional, a skilled certified hypnotist is probably your best bet. For some lucky souls this seems to happen right from the get go, as they are more easily able to accept suggestion. Others of us have to work harder at it but I believe anyone can achieve the desired result. I have no proof, but I suspect that those folks who experience trouble effectively using suggestion in their performance to induce participants to feel a key bending, a coin getting warm, a thought being plucked from their mind (or inserted in via a psychological force), have not yet really felt it themselves.
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When YOU can feel it, you’ll know what it will feel like for your participants. You will know in your bones what this is all about and be able to far more easily and elegantly share the experience with others.
AFTERTHOUGHTS 2008 Since writing the above, I have had some experiences that I would like to share. We often talk about how to identify good subjects for hypnosis and effects that use suggestion. Many authors have chimed in on this of late, especially with the surge of interest in these areas. A common piece of advice is to begin a performance with a presentation that involves the entire audience and that can be used to differentiate those most likely to be cooperative from those whose thought style might interfere with their responsiveness. Examples include classics such as “Magnetic Fingers” and “Light and Heavy Hands.” These are old effects that can serve multiple purposes. First, they are entertaining and effective in their own right. What better way to engage a crowd than to involve everyone from the very beginning? Second, people who respond well to these are more likely to do well with effects involving suggestion and/or rapid induction. Check out Anthony Jacquin’s Reality is Plastic! The Art of Impromptu Hypnosis (http://www.anthonyjacquin.com/) for several wonderful examples. He refers to them as set pieces and as the “first rung on the hypnotic ladder.” Anthony encourages us not to overlook these gems and I absolutely agree with him. Several years ago I saw Millard Longman and Gary Goodman perform a show together and use these very pieces to open. They had an exceptionally strong effect on the audience and had everyone participating and laughing from the very beginning. Even though there was no hyp act involved, it truly set the mood for the entire evening.
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I have done the same and love these kinds of effects to have on hand for a truly impromptu performance that will carry a small or large crowd and requires no props. I am not alone. In “The Fource” (http://www.outlaw-effects.com/store/the-arsenal/ebooks/the-fource.html) I devoted a chapter titled “Group Dynamics” to effects that engage the entire audience. This was at the encouragement of Alain Nu who shared that he felt there is a dearth of such material available to performers and was among those who contributed “whole audience effects” from their own repertoire. Another contributor, Lior Manor, the popular Israeli mentalist and the mad genius creator of “Mobile Opener,” which in my opinion sets the modern day standard for such effects, (Product-Mobile Opener) had this to say about such presentations: “Workers know the value of effects that capture the imagination of the entire audience and gets those hands up. Performing effects with all of the spectators is something that many mentalists and magicians miss out on.” Recently I found one of the cleverest approaches to “trolling for the suggestible” I’ve ever come across and uses none of the above! In a video released in 1998, “Secrets of Magic and Stage Hypnosis,” Ormond McGill performs a classic hyp act and one of the only true Q & A’s I’ve ever seen. If you can get your hands on a copy, I can’t recommend it enough. While watching it, I kept waiting for the suggestibility tests. When they didn’t come I assumed they’d been done pre-show. Then he asked a single question that accomplished everything inherent in a suggestibility test and then some: “How many of you have guardian angels?” Absolutely brilliant! What more do you need to know to determine if someone is going to be cooperative and suggestible? I don’t mean to insult anyone or tread on personal beliefs. It’s just that it doesn’t get any better than this! Of course this was over a decade ago and you will need to update your questions to tap into the current zeitgeist. Not long ago the movie, book, website, soundtrack and every other marketing possibility for “The Secret” skyrocketed to incredible popularity. I won’t go into my feelings about this as a psychologist but as a performer the phenomenon suggests a question or two that serve as well as Ormond’s devastating approach. For example, “How many of you have successfully
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used the Law of Attraction?” Or how about, “Who in the audience is familiar with using intention to manifest your deepest desires?” I hope my readers can see the versatility of such questions and create unique queries of their own to meet their individual needs and circumstances. I offer this up with the best of intentions. Switching gears now before someone hurts me , in 2004 I began working for a private psychiatric hospital. A significant portion of the population are diagnosed with DID. I run groups at the outpatient program so have the privilege of witnessing people who are overcoming their struggles not while hospitalized but rather in the context of their day to day life. Seeing the extremes of dissociative behavior on an almost daily basis is an educational and humbling experience beyond compare. A certain portion of our therapy involves teaching patients to recognize the signs of dissociation as they first occur and how to use this knowledge to ground themselves and stay in the present. Group members also work together to help one another achieve this since they are the true experts. It is one of the most absolutely inspiring places I’ve ever worked. I mention this to explain an aspect of the nature of dissociation that I glossed over in the above essay. Dissociation is a gift. It is a survival skill that is literally life saving. It allows children to separate themselves from pain that would otherwise be intolerable. There is an incredible level of respect present in program philosophy, training, staff and ultimately among the patients. It is impossible to work in such an environment and not come away with a tremendous admiration for the capacities of the human mind and the resilience of the human being. We speak of things that initiate the dissociative process and how to recognize them, avoid them or if need be defuse them. In a very real sense anything that can initiate a flashback and the resulting dissociation is a form of suggestion. This has taught me to be aware of the many pathways available to express a suggestion. Also, it has given me the certainty I referred to in the essay of the existence and power of suggestion. That I can take this knowledge away and utilize it
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