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REMOTE CITY Created by
Daniel Young and Andrew Edmonds
©2004
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Introduction What you are holding now are the instructions for a brilliant effect, I’m sure you will agree. Remote City combines two devious principles to create an even greater whole; the wonderful concept of dual reality and something simple, yet sneaky... a Svengali book. The book that you’ve received with this manuscript is a perfect book for the routine, it’s a good size and the thickness of the paper is just right. It has also been nicely cut into a Svengali book. I’ll explain it briefly for those of you who have never owned a Svengali Deck. Basically, every other page is simply cut short so that half of the pages in the book will never be seen as you flick through it one way, and the other half remain hidden when you flick through the other way. This enables you to pull of the dual reality concept with ease. I’m proud of this effect and I know that many of you will agree with me when I say it IS good. It all started out as something completely different, as usual, but it turned out to be something better than I expected. Dual Reality is such a beautiful thing, even though some of the effect is usually sacrificed for a spectator on stage that’s participating. However, I have taken great care to insure that the spectator on stage is experiencing something magical as well. Still, the effect to the audience is much greater. A sacrifice well worth making. This piece is best used as a parlour effect, although it can be performed both close up and on stage. And, as with all dual reality effects, people can talk afterwards. Not that it is a very big problem, but you might want to take care where you place this item in your act. If you are performing this in a very informal setting with some passerby’s, just make sure they don’t know each other, that way you’re safe. Enjoy your reading and I hope I see you soon... In truth and friendship,
Daniel Young
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A little book is shown to have different capital cities written on it’s pages. The mentalist explains that these are places that he would like to visit in the future. A participant is asked to randomly select a page, and choose one of the cities he sees. The mentalist, without any fishing of any kind, announces the correct city being thought of. The participant then thinks of a freely selected place within the city and this is, once again, correctly deduced by the mentalist. As a final climax, the participant thinks of something associated with his chosen country. The mentalist then uncovers something which has been on display all the time, the very same thing that the participant pictured in his mind.
This effect is based on some clever semantics and dual reality ploy. The book is actually a Svengali book, half of the pages show “City, Country” and the other half is showing detailed descriptions of cities. When you are showing the book to the audience, you just show pages that say “Rome, Italy” etc. When you’re showing your enthusiastic volunteer, he sees “Paris, France” and some places within the city plus a picture associated with the city. This is the basic secret behind the trick. BUT the deception doesn’t stop there, it’s some very clever wording going on at the same time, PLUS another sneaky thing. All which we will deal with in due time.
Flick through the book from front to back and on each page write ONE city and it’s country, e.g. Rome, Italy and one the facing page you write something else, such as London, England. Keep flicking through the book like this and fill it in with different cities/countries. This is why you don’t want such a thick book as it means a lot of work for you. Once you’ve filled in those pages, you have a book which has random cities written on the first two pages and then there should be two blank, followed by two country pages and so forth. Look at the pictures in case you don’t understand.
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London, England
Rome, Italy
Now on the blank pages you will write the following: Paris, France
Oslo, Norway
The Louvre Eiffel Tower Notre Dame
The Royal Museum Akershus Castle The Vigeland Park
Left hand page
Right hand page
The picture of the wine glass and bottle is obviously something you draw yourself, you don’t use the silly Clip Art picture that I did here. Note that the Norway page doesn’t have an associated picture (I will get back to the reasons later). I chose Norway as my example, you could of course choose any other country as long as it’s a bit more obscure, but still familiar. It shouldn’t be a likely destination for someone to have visited, or know anything about for that matter. You could choose something like Helsinki, Finland or Ljubljana, Slovenia. This will mean, especially with the wording of the effect, that everybody will choose Paris, France. It’s a psychological force, which adds to the deception for the participant on stage. The rest of the audience will, of course, never see any of the two options. Once
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you’ve decided on your two destinations, write them on all the blank pages. So now you’ve got a book that has two random cities followed by two “detailed” descriptions etc. Now you are all set up to start the effect, but first you need to buy a bottle of wine, if it’s cheap you can give it away and by doing so, buy the participants silence. What follows is an abbreviated patter (in bold typeface); you can use it as it is, or just use the key elements and create your own. One participant is already on stage and the performer is speaking to the audience.
Patter to audience... There are so many countries in this world I would like to visit that I have written down some of them in this little book, as a reminder and a check list for myself. There are also places in each country that I would like to see... I mean you get these images that you associate with the country. Here we have Tokyo for example, or Rome, the list goes on through out the whole book. At this point the performer is flicking through the book pointing out the different countries to a few people in the front seats. To the audience what you are saying makes sense. Later, what you said will seem, to the participant on stage, to be exactly what you described for the audience. Although that’s not quite true, the audience JUST saw cities and countries. When you are saying “places” to the audience, they assume you mean cities, to the participant on stage it will really mean places as in Louvre, Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. It all makes sense.
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...and to the partipant: I will just flick through the book so that we arrive at a completely random location. Just say stop anywhere. (The performer flicks through the book so that it only shows the two force countries. It is very important, obviously, that the participant does not see the cities flicking by, so hold the book horizontal as you do this. Also, your head should be turned away during this procedure) So you want me to stop right here? Or would you like to change your mind and choose a different country, it’s up to you? Okay, you want to stick with this spot, just open the book where you stopped. Now I want you to think of a familiar country, just settle on a place, not too obvious and if there's an image associated with that country, that maybe you can visualise in your mind, do that. Once you’ve done that hand the book back to me. Here’s where it gets really interesting. First it will seem like they had a completely free choice of page simply because you asked them if they would like to change their mind. You hand them the book and they open up the book at the place they stopped. What they see now is one page with Paris and one page with Norway. Lots of people have visited Paris and they are, generally speaking, more familiar with it. Which means they will choose it. “…just settle on a place…” - to the audience that sounds like you are repeating what you just said, they still think you are referring to cities and countries, since they are unaware of the information on the force page. To the participant, he takes that line to mean one of the three listed places under the country/city title. Now you say “not too obvious”, which will steer 95% of the people away from the Eiffel Tower. Which makes your pumping easier and makes you more confident with it as well. Then you asked them if there’s a picture associated with the country. On the Paris page you have the wine bottle and glass, but on the Norway page there’s nothing. This really makes sure that they choose the correct country. They then hand the book back to you and you pocket it, this way it will be forgotten. Have some kind of pad ready (this is optional), so you can note down your impressions. Now I want you to focus your attention on the name of the city you have in mind. Concentrate. (Here the mentalist is using all his acting abilities and writing down a letter like B, scribble over it and write Paris, show the audience) I have committed myself now. For the first time, what’s the city in your mind? Paris? Wow! (Turn pad around and show him) 7
Now think of the country... it’s France, isn’t it! (pause) Sometimes I scare myself !! (said in jest) Now can you think of a place within the city? You obviously have different options... just go for one. Can you picture it in your mind clearly? The mentalist now goes into a clever deduction phase of their selected place. Let me ask you now, can you see Louvre in your mind? Chances are you can’t, or it would take you sometime, this also applies to Notre Dame. So when the mentalist says “Can you see it in your mind?” if you straight away get a “Yes”, a confident “Yes”, then you know it’s Eiffel Tower. If they seem to hesitate or say “No”, you know it’s one of the other two. Here are the outcomes from the question posed: Can you picture it in your mind clearly?
1) Confident ‘YES’ - Eiffel Tower Good, so you see it in your mind...concentrate. There’s a lot of people around this place, is it a pyramid? (the mentalist asks himself) No, it’s something else... it’s some kind of building. Metal. It’s a building per se, it’s more like a monument. Ahhh now I see it, most people tend to choose less obvious ones, but I think you’re a clever guy and tried to pull a double bluff on me. You’re thinking of the Eiffel Tower, aren’t you? Obviously this is completely up to yourself, you can say what you want to say. Start off by getting small things, and get some kind of response, rather than saying Eiffel Tower straight away. While you’re getting this information start to draw something that is sort of similar to Eiffel Tower on your pad, draw it upside down or something. Then claim “Ahhh now I see it, you’re thinking of the Eiffel Tower” as you’re turning the pad around to show it the right way around.
2) Hesitant ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ I'm just getting the feeling that the word 'picture' is relevent somehow?
“Yes” - The Louvre Yeah, somehow pictures are important. It’s not really pictures though, is it? It’s more like paintings. You didn’t go for the obvious thing which would’ve been the Eiffel Tower, you made it hard for me. It’s an exhibition hall... you went for The Louvre, didn’t you?
“No” - Notre Dame 8
No, I know it’s not the first thing you associate with this place, but I believe if you think about it, you will see some kind of pictures. It’s a big building... high ceilings. They have painted the walls. Looks expensive. Chandeliers. Pictures... it’s pictures of someone important. A leader. But in a spiritual sense... This must be some kind of church. A cathedral. Ahhhhh now I get it, it’s the Notre Dame Cathedral you have in mind, isn’t it? Most people would think of Eiffel Tower, but you made it difficult for me. With the above script you get the place, which should seem very impressive to the audience since they believe there are only countries and cities written on the pages. More importantly, it’s still impressive to the participant, because he had a free choice of page; he could’ve chosen Norway, but he went with Paris. Then he had a completely FREE choice of a famous place. Note also, that by using the script above, the mentalist never really gets a negaitive response because he can always follow it by telling the participant, indirectly, that they interpreted the question wrong. The mentalist continues. Okay, we’re doing really good here. Can I ask you to do one last thing? Is there a image that you can associate with this country? There is? Perfect. Before we proceed I must confess something rather strange... you’ve all seen that bag standing on the table tonight. I didn’t intend to do this, but I have a strong feeling that the contents have some kind of connection with this whole experiment. Would you mind telling us what you associate with France? Wine? How weird... ladies and gentlemen, for the first time... it could’ve been just about anything... but in this bag we have... (mentalist pulls the bag up) wine. Luckily you didn’t select something like Rome, then I would’ve had to bring the whole Colloseum. The last joke might seem pointless, but it does serve a small purpose. If you happen to ever so casually flick through the book at the same time as you pull the little joke, to the participant it will seem like you looked at another country and it’s associated picture, and to the rest of the audience it will just seem like you looked up a different country to use as an example. Thank the audience member and send him back to his seat with a round of applause from the audience. The effect is over. Finished. The script I’ve written here isn’t something you have to stick to rigidly, but rather I want you to use the key elements and rewrite the script. So take some time out to understand why you say what you do.
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A few minor points: There are some small finer points which can save you some trouble later when you are constructing your book. If you want to use your own book make sure that the book you buy is not only the right size but also has fairly thick pages, otherwise your elaborate force pages might shine through and ruin the trick. Write City on one line then Country underneath, that way you cover more of the page which has the same purpose as above. Write very clearly, with capital letters. So that they easily can read what you’ve written. Divide City/Country, Place and the Picture with a line. That way it becomes easier to take it in. If the picture is in color it is easier to remember. Your pumping procedure MUST flow, it shouldn’t seem like you ever stop talking. What you do is read their face and cut them off before they get to say anything and continue your revelation.
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Variations: What would an effect be, without a few variations. This is also the reason WHY your book wasn’t filled in with cities. Maybe you want to use something else? I for sure didn’t want to sit for hours writing down cities in them and I definately didn’t want it to be printed. Which is why you got a blank book. That way you can adapt it to something more specific and more “you”. You might need to change the layout of the pages or a little bit in the handling. My suggestion is changing the layout to the following:
Alternative 1 Alternative 2 Year/Author/Actor Alternative 3
Left hand page
Right hand page
OR you can have two options, just like in the original version and then by looking at their eyes you know which of the two pages they’ve gone for. Then you obviously know what to pump for. OR a third alternative is to keep the original principle and the second page is some very obscure options, which will lead them to your force page.
Songs and year/artists You can write down different years and talk about music, if that’s more “you”. Then obviously on the force pages it’s a year and there are three different songs, or actually as many as you wish. As long as you have a working pumping procedure for it. The option you’ve got when it comes to song is that it’s much easier to create a branching anagram, if that’s more your cup of tea. I prefer not using a anagram though, I much rather use a pumping procedure that doesn’t rely on spelling. You can obviously do music artists and their songs, as opposed to using the years. Suggestion of wording: We opened up the book anywhere you wanted, you even had a chance to change your mind. Which obviously would’ve meant a different year. I want you to think of a year and if you remember any of the songs from that year, get one firmly in your mind.
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I would later, once I know the song, ask them to hum it in their mind. Then I would sort of catch on to it. Or something similar. Something other that just saying: “You’re thinking of Michael Jackson’s Thriller.” Feed back some info about the song and about the artist. Events and dates Just like above, write down years on the normal pages and a year and three events that happened that year. This is one variation that I do like, because I don’t have that many seriously music interested friends. It’s a more specialised interest than events which are more common knowledge. Books and authors Same thing again, write down authors, and on the force pages the authors and a few book titles. Movies and Movie stars Have an actor written down and some movies he has made. Shapes/Pictures You don’t need to use the same psychological dual reality principle. You can draw small pictures/shapes, have a spectator open up the book anywhere they like, look at a picture and you then proceed to duplicate it. This is somewhat similar to what the B.I.P. book is, you might wanna get that, it’s a nice little thing. Words Have normal pages with lots of different words, eight should be enough. On the force pages, however, you only have 3 or 4, and use a branching anagram. Or use another psychological ploy: Have four words, one which is easy visualise and the other three more abstract things, such as God, Love etc. That will psychologically direct them to the one that’s easy to visualise. Have one column of words on each page and read their eyes to know where they are looking.
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I have given you more ideas than you will use, just pick one out that suits you and get down to business. Come up with your own ones, it’s not that difficult. Give this a shot and you will be glad you did. We are reaching the end of this manuscript. So I wish you good luck, prosperity and all that you know. If you want to talk me, I’m right here... Sincerly yours, Daniel Young
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