PREDICT
ANYTHING
OUTHE
TOUCH
A CONCEPT OF MENTALISM RESTORED BY DANIEL MADISON
THE
T O U C H VERSION 1
The performer introduces a pad of paper and a pen; he takes a good long look into his spectators’ eyes and begins to write The performer tears off the paper and folds it before placing it somewhere in view The performer then asks the spectator to name anything* The spectators word* is written down on the pad for clarification, i.e. correct spelling and proof of the word The spectator then opens the paper written on at the beginning and kept in full view the entire time to reveal a 100% correct prediction THE T O U C H VERSION 2 The performer introduces a pad of paper and a pen and places an envelope in view The performer asks the spectator to name anything* The spectators word* is written down on the pad for clarification, i.e. correct spelling and proof of the word The envelope is then opened and the spectator reads the letter inside…
Today I will meet a very friendly young woman who wears the colour red I will offer her a moment of magic through which I will ask her to think of any word she desires To which she will respond with the word *
*This can be ANYTHING, a word, a pin number, a car licence plate, the number printed on a bill, a playing card, a telephone number etc and the prediction note can be amended to match ANY situation Notes about T H E TOUCH The prediction can be ANYTHING that can be written down or even drawn You can perform this effect on ANYBODY at ANYTIME The pad of paper is completely legit and ungimmicked The prediction is written with a different pen to the one used during the effect The prediction is not a carbon or otherwise copy of the predicted word No swami EVERYTHING is clean and can be examined The method does have to be learnt and practiced as The Devils Touch teaches a skillbased method There is deception in play, which is very minimal, cunning and will never be seen by spectators Difficulty level 7/10
O
THE
TOUCH
A CONCEPT OF MENTALISM RESTORED BY DANIEL MADISON
Welcome to a darker side of mentalism and a theory, method, quantum that will surpass any prediction you’ll ever make. Here, in these notes I offer you one of three, of my darkest secrets in deceptive performance. Through the following pages you will read my most secretive work to date and learn one idea that will open up thousands of possibilities. By the time you reach the end, you will be able to accurately predict ANYTHING, you will be able to do this anytime and most importantly you’ll be able to do this on anybody in the fairest and most chilling of performances. I speak of three closely guarded secrets, to which this is secret 2, secret 3 is the method for CHANGE, and secret 1 will be released and made available for a limited time in the near future. For now, read carefully and study well the instructions herewith, for should they at first appear bemusing, they will be closely followed by the devils touch. I advertise this concept as RESTORED as this is my intention and not my invention, although this concept has been explored in the past, it has never been taken to an edge as devious as the devils touch. The origin of the concept goes back over a hundred years to which the performer also states that it is not of his discovery, the original creator cannot be credited as they are unknown by all who have studied the concept. The Devils Touch, is my approach and version of the concept.
THE
T O U C H The Basic Setup
The Devils Touch is achievable by the means of double writing, achievable by the synchronisation of writing the same thing twice at the same time, achievable by writing with two different pens consecutively at the same time. This idea has been explored before, but never perfected to such a level as that which you are about to discover. Image01 is complete exposure of The Devils Touch; beyond this you will only discover the deceptive process that surrounds this image, for now, image01 is all you need to know.
01: 01b: 01c: As you will see, you will need a short pen. Alternative methods for achieving the writing setup with the means of a pencil, a snapped pen and a pen borrowed from a betting office or catalogue store. The setup shown in image01 is two Fisher Space Pens, these are ideal as without the lid, the pen is half size, therefore two can be used, one with and the other without the lid. The inks in each pen are different to further misdirect from the method.
STAGE 01 The Prediction The most recommended pad for the effect is one that has a flip cover, as seen in image01. You will first need to decide on how your prediction will be presented. For explanation purposes I shall explain the basic effect in its simplest play, whereas the prediction is already written, and hidden in the performers inside suit jacket pocket, unbeknown to the spectator. You will need a prediction note upon which you will duplicate the spectators’ word with the smaller pen; this note sits on the bottom of the pad as in image02. To achieve this, tare off a piece of paper and fold it twice so that it is divided into three sections of which the middle section will be your pasteboard for the prediction. Fold the upper and lower parts of the paper to the back so that only the pasteboard is showing. Place this at the back of the pad between the back card and the last page as in image03.
02:
03:
04:
05:
STAGE 02 The Pen Hold the smaller pen as shown in image04 and hold the actual pen as normal as shown in image05. You will notice that the visible pen conveniently shades the small pen. On your pad of paper, practice writing your name with both pens at the same time as shown in image01, note that the visible pen reaches away from the hand that then small pen, this offers more comfort when writing. Also note how the pinky is always in contact with the paper offering a smooth gliding motion for neater writing. Practice writing until you are completely comfortable writing this way, this may take a while but you should appreciate that time spent in practice puts out quality in performance. Place both pens in the pocket to the side that you write with and the pad of paper in the opposite pocket, make sure that the tips oe each pen are facing the same way. For an easy retrieval, position the pens so that the tips are pointing away from you. You are now ready to perform The Devils Touch.
THE
T O U C H The Performance in Practice
STAGE 01 The Load Start by removing the pad of paper and opening the cover. With your thumb, reach under the pad to the last page and slide the prediction paper out into your palm as shown in image06. You can now manoeuvre this with both hands onto the lower part of the pad, where you will hold it down with your thumb.
06: 07: Reach into your pocket and grab both pens together so that their tips are aligned, remove them from your pocket as shown in image08. The small pen should remain in the shade of your hand. To position the small pen into writing position, push finger 2 between both pens as shown in image09 then do the same with finger 3 as shown in image10 and position accordingly as in image11.
08: You are now ready to write.
09:
10:
11:
STAGE 02 The Touch You are now in position to write down the spectators named word, you can practice by writing your name again, making sure that the small pen writes on the prediction paper, and the visual pen writes on the pad above it. When the word is named, spell it out loud as you write each letter; this not only confirms the spelling but also offers a good visual memory for the spectator of you only writing down the letters of the word. This also offers you a chance to write the word neatly and slowly on both the pad and the prediction pasteboard making for a smarter finish. Do make sure not to add too much pressure to the smaller pen as you don’t want to leave an unwanted imprint of the spectators’ word. Once written replace the pens back to your pocket making sure that you keep the smaller pen hidden as you do so. Reach up and take the pad from your hand, as you do this, retain the prediction paper in your thumbcrotch as shown in image13. This prediction paper will remain palmed for the time being and unseen by all as seen in image14.
12: 13: 14: Place the pad down so that all can see the word, you can even hand it to the spectator for them to check the spelling etc. During their distraction at this point you will be ready for the revelation. STAGE 03 The Revelation You can now simply reach into your inside jacket pocket with the palmed note where you can fold it once more before retrieving it. Hand it instantly to the spectator as you state the following.
You see, the strange thing about this situation that we both find ourselves in, is that I knew I’d meet you today, I knew what time I’d meet you, and I knew that out of all of the words you could have possibly thought of, that you would have thought of ‘that’ one, and to prove it, I wrote down a prediction, and placed it here in my pocket before I approached you. And now all you have to think about is… Did I make you think of that word, or did I read your mind?
On close inspection of the writing similarities, both will appear to be written by you as they will mimic each other, however, the misdirection is within the detail, for although they have followed the same style, there is no way that they will be identical; something that you may wish to point out to the spectators… i.e. an extended line or lack thereof in the other. I would suggest silence, in which time the spectators will discover the differences on their own.
THE
T O U C H The Performance
Now that you know the concept and the play, and have had time to ponder the possibilities and practice all off the deceptions, I offer you this version of the effect, the most advanced prediction possible with The Devils Touch. THE DEVILS TOUCH by Daniel Madison VERSION 1 The performer introduces a pad of paper and a pen; he takes a good long look into his spectators’ eyes and begins to write As you are already set up to perform, you are given a breathing moment to help heighten the final impact of the effect. You do not want to talk during this introduction to the effect, as the speculation on the spectators’ part will fill in all the possible gaps. Note that you will not load the prediction pasteboard until the next stage, for now you will have the two pens held in hand and a blank sheet of paper on the pad. The pasteboard will still be hidden. You can make it seem quite obvious as to what you are doing, as you will be known as a person about to demonstrate a fete of some form the spectator will analyse the situation and understand that whatever it is you have written down will be soon revealed. At this point, you will need to slowly write down a fake prediction, this prediction will never be seen, unless it miraculously becomes the spectators thought of word. I usually write down the first word I think of when I look at them, eg ‘Smelly Bastard.’ The performer tears off the paper and folds it before placing it somewhere in view Once written, tare off the piece of paper and fold it into three sections so that it is the same in dimensions as the switching prediction pasteboard. Fold the paper once more (Image15) and place on the surface or somewhere in all sight. You can now load the switching prediction pasteboard as explained earlier in THE DEVILS TOUCH The Performance in Practice STAGE 01 The Load. The performer then asks the spectator to name anything This all boils down to your preferred performance type and the moment where you can predict anything. For this explanation the ‘anything’ will be a secret password.
Now, we all have secrets, things that we lock in our minds that only we know, now I’m not going to put you in a position where I reveal one of your secrets, but I would like you to think of a password for something… Maybe a password for your computer for example, but please let it be something that you don’t mind sharing with us today, and if you don’t have a password that you’d be happy to share, I’d like you to just make one up in your mind. It can be anything, it can have letters and or numbers. Once you have it, just name it out loud so that we can all hear…
The spectators word* is written down on the pad for clarification, i.e. correct spelling and proof of the word Once named, repeat the word and begin to write it down asking how they are spelling it. Once written, dump the pens and palm off the switching prediction in one hand as you take the pad with the other as explained earlier in THE DEVILS TOUCH The Performance in Practice STAGE 02 The Touch. Hold out the pad for the spectator to see and ask for confirmation if it’s spelt right. Hand them the pad and ask that they keep hold of it.
You can close your palming hand thus adding the extra fold to the prediction. The spectator then opens the paper written on at the beginning and kept in full view the entire time to reveal a 100% correct prediction Take the fake prediction with your free hand and palm it in your hand as you fake pass it over to the other hand where you will now show the switched prediction. Images 16 – 17 show this in motion. Instantly hand the prediction to the spectator.
Don’t open it just yet… Now this password, is it a real password or did you make it up on the spot? And there’s no way in the world that I could have known that password right?
Not many people would be willing to divulge such a valuable piece of information, most will just make up a password right there and then, it is in this case that the effect takes a surreal turn, as not only did you predict their word, but you predicted something they created right there and then in their thoughts. Invite the spectator to open the prediction for the revelation. As they do this you are free to dump the fake prediction in your pocket as you bring back the visual pen for your next trick. The prediction can be kept and the pad can be fully inspected, you can also hand the pen out to the sceptics.
15:
16:
17:
THE
T O U C H by Daniel Madison VERSION 2
Version 2 of The Devils Touch simply offers one of the stronger performance possibilities with the effect, whereas more than just the prediction of a word is offered displaying a fete far more than a one off prediction. The performer introduces a pad of paper and a pen and places an envelope in view In this version, an empty envelope is used which poses as an envelope with vital information within it. The performer asks the spectator to name anything* The spectators word* is written down on the pad for clarification, i.e. correct spelling and proof of the word The envelope is then opened and the spectator reads the letter inside…
Today I will meet a very friendly young woman who wears the colour red I will offer her a moment of magic through which I will ask her to think of any word she desires To which she will respond with the word *
Now, reaching the prediction has already been covered, however, I offer here a mere example of stretching the illusion. You will need to setup by writing the above script, or similar on a completely different piece of paper, the more different it looks the better. You will leave the last space blank for this is where you will double write the spectators thought of word and fold the letter in such a way that it is small enough to be hidden on the pad, and so that the space for the thought of word is foremost as in image18. Image19 shows the paper folded.
18: 19: The above script is a set script for me; I will keep the prediction in my breast pocket and await a friendly young woman who wears red, who I will then approach with the effect. Although the prediction of the word is the highlight the attention to detail will be shared across the other key points: young lady, friendly and wearing red.
THE
T O U C H THE DEVILS PEN
Initially, The Devils Touch began as a gimmicked pen, and although I disregard the idea, the pen may be of more use to you that the process of learning how to juggle two pens in one hand. To make the Devils Pen, you will need the small pen and two identical normal pens. Take the small pen and tape it to the bigger pen in position to double write as shown in image21. You now have a Devils Pen. You will find that you can handle and write with this much easier than holding two pens in one hand. Image22 show the pen in motion.
Take the other bigger pen and wrap tape directly around it in the same position as it is on the Devils Pen. This will be your decoy/switching pen should anybody want to check it.
20:
21:
22:
THE T O U C H THE DEVILS PEN IMPROMPTU Here, I offer a userfriendly version of achieving the same effect without having to use two pens at once by the means of either suggested methods. Using one pen, write down the said word on the switching prediction pasteboard, then look at your pen nib, return it to the pad and scribble back and forth offering the suggestion that the pen has ran out of ink. Place the pen away and ask if anybody has a pen, if not, retrieve a different pen from another pocket and write the said word again on the pad. The rouge of this suggests that the first attempt to write failed and the possibilities of the word being written twice become dismissed, this is backed up when the pad is shown to only have one word on it.
THE
T O U C H AFTERTHOUGHTS
GREEDY This suggestion of revelation supports a further level of impossibility to the effect, by now I need not explain the process of achieving the effect, therefore I will offer you as advertised a series of alternative suggestions… A bill/note/money is removed from the performers wallet and a word is written on it. The bill is folded and placed on the surface. The spectator is asked to name a word that they associate with the bill. The word is then revealed on the bill. This is achieved by the means of witching a bill, which is used as the pasteboard. Soon enough, Version 10, 60, 100 and so forth will follow up the versions I have offered herewith. Open your mind to the possibilities of the concept and claim it as your own. Share it with nobody and perform it rarely, for there are few and far effects between that will live up to this one. Save it for your big finish, save it for the effect that gets you hired or noticed, use it wisely and always be ready to perform it. I give you my best of luck with your performances and revolving ideas throughout your exploration of the Devils Touch concept. No matter how you achieve it, remember that The final result is all that matters in magic. D Special Thanks and Acknowledgements to R + R3man + G + Myles Nakouzi 07 456456 7874864 4231 4548787 645412 31213545 87 8 8989 76132 6437563 9 1919 3543 345634 454 21 87 8674 54 13548
© DANIEL MADISON 2008 for DEVILS ADVOCATE PRODUCTIONS | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | DEVILSadvocatePRODUCTIONS.com | DANIELmadison.co.uk | MAGICisDEAD.com
