Proximity Effects By
Dee Christopher
Produ ced by Me rcha nt of Ma gic Cover Des ign by MilldLapse
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Tabl e of Contents Action
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Reaction: Introduction ................................. .......................... .................... 3
Cold - The tele sthesia Cards
4
Th e Barnum Effect - Reaction Enhancement with reading technique
9
Words That Go Unspoken - Impromptu Boo k Test
11
The Synth etic ArcTechnique
16
So litary Con fe de rate
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20
Dev iance - Visual Pip Thru Window
22
Shift - Signed Card Transportation
30
Proximity Effe cts Actton e Reactio n. This isn' t a new idea, but it's a t its most rele vant here in magical performance. The a mo unt you put into a perfor mance is equal to the a mount you will get out in the for m of reaction from your s pectators. This see ms like straightforwa rd logical thi nking. It's a simple idea, but I'm he re to d iscuss a variety of ways yo u can create the force, or the action to trigger the most outland ish reactions you ca n conceive. Kenton Kne pper d iscu sses in his book ' Mind Read ing' the things tha t mentalists just should know . I highJy recommend that one s ho uld read this manuscrip t, as w ithin its pages a re so me of the clever est concep ts in the field of cold reading. The reason I mention this text is that here we will be discussing some s imila r themes, but with relevance to ge neral performa nce of magic and mentalism effects as oppose d to readi ngs.
••• • As one s hould learn from mi stak es, one ca n also learn a great deal from serendi pitous triumphs. The idea I'm trying to put across is best illustr ated in an example. I was pe rforming a n effect where I wou ld tell a spectato r the nam e of the card they looked at in the deck. A simple effect, I admit - but with the cor rect thea trics a simple forced car d revelation can be worth its weight in gold . On this occasion I had taken the idea of contact mind read ing a n d applied it, I would see mingly d iscove r the value and suit of the card they me rely looked at in the deck (we' ll come back to this late r on,) by realizing the fluctuations in their pulse. At the begin ning of the nigh t I wou ld say: "This is the hand you wri te with Sir?"
I as k this whe n choos ing wh ich w rist to use when reading his pulse. However on one occas ion (after perfo rm ing to seve ral peo ple) I was w it h some very rece ptive peop le a nd I reached down, took their right wrist and said: "This is the hand you write with, isn't it?"
I found that-jus t by making th is assumpti on I had hit on a really nice subtlety by complete accide nt A vas t majority of the pu blic writes w ith their righ t ha nd, but peo ple can fmd the s implest things to be imp ressive. Like Kenton's idea, you know things a men talist sho uld just know . I used this s imple action th roughout the nigh t fro m this po int and d idn' t d raw a ny atte ntion to it myse lf. If they d idn't wri te with their right ha nd it didn' t matter as because of the way the phrase is worded it could be take n as a qu es tion or a s tate ment. Some times peo ple thought noth ing of it, but more ofte n than not, so meone wa tch ing or the specta tor who's helping in the effect would notice little subtleties like this and these a re the little pieces that make up the big action. This action is to provo ke an eq ually impressive reaction fro m the s pectators. The moral behind this a necd ote is that you s hould pay atte ntion to the wa y your aud ience reacts to every eleme nt of your performan ce, some times we ad-lib lines or actions on the fly which ca n be invalua ble to our ove rall reactions. I can honestly say that I have come across so me very powerful sub tleties this way, as I' m sure yo u w ill too.
•• •• Cold - The Te lesthesi a Cards: I chose to includ e this effect of mine as it includes the usage of wo rd ing as in the exam ple above to a greater extent. Th e sa me wordi ng allows yo u to retrie ve inform ation fro m a specta tor's reactio n to the s ta te me nt, thus appea ring yo u are read ing the ir mind . Eff ect:
The deck is s huffled, 5 cards a re dealt off into a pile on the ta ble or into the s pecta tor's hands. The specta tor merely THINKS of one of these. The ca rd is neve r touched, se lected phys ically, writte n down or s poke n to a nyone. The magician eerily reveals the spectator's THOUGI-IT OF ca rd, the first time the ca rd's value is spoke n is from the magicia n' s lips.
Set - up: There isn' t much set up required, The effect could be pe rfo rmed with a borrowed deck - however, it's a lot eas ier to pre-load the 5 key cards on the top of your own deck . The 5 key cards are: 6 of hearts Ace of clubs Qu een of diamonds 9 of hear ts Jack of spades If you use Bicycle cards, have the joker with the ace of d ubs under his foot in your pocket or leave it in the ca rd box.
It is recommende d tha t Bicycle ca rds be used for this reason . Impromptu
presentations are included la ter on. Method : This effect uses a clever wording technique used more co mmonly in cold reading o r book test style effects. Certain wording is used to retrieve the value a nd suit of the card in an inconspicuous wa y. The deck is set with the 5 key cards on top, you can shuffle and cut the deck as much as you like as long as you retain this top stack intact. You could eve n palm off the key cards and have the spectator shuffle the deck before repla cing them on top . Once the ca rds have bee n 's huffled' you must deal off these 5 top cards onto the tab le, bar or sim ply on to the spec tator's wai ting hands. To d eal into their han ds is a goo d tec hniqu e to ge t them involved, as a littl e conv ince r. Alte rnatively, why not ask you r spectato rs to deal off 5 cards - again, the more the spectato r does with the cards the better. Even if you tell them exactly which ca rds to deal, becau se they're the one's who have de a lt them out it a ppears muc h fairer . You ask yo ur spec tator to pick up these 5 ' ran dom' cards a nd just look at them. You co uld him aro und at this point - you do n't want to see the cards
they have chosen. Ask the m tocommitone of them to mem ory. Then shuffle all 5 back into the deck. Now the spectator has chosen one card outof you key 5. To them and everyone else it w ill appear tha t they' ve simply thought of one card out of the deck. You turn back aro und a nd look the s pecta tor in the eyes. Her e' s when the scripting beg ins to discover the colour a nd value of the ca rd . You beg in to get an image in your mind , or so you say.
"I'm starting to get something, its rather hazy - Your card's IIot II red card. is it." The im portance here is that the stateme nt 'y our card' s not a red card, is It.' can be taken as either a question or a sheer statement. This is a very basic, but very effective princip le used ofte n by cold readers and mentalists. You must be careful to say the wording in a very neutral way, so your spectator ca n take it how is relevant to them. So fro m here they can answe r one of two ways:
"No, It's 1I0t." or "Yes, It is." If the s pecta tor a nswe rs 'No' then you have just made your first hit straig ht off - they w ill start to get a little freaked out as it's pretty ee rie that you mana ged to guess that. If the s pecta tor answers ' Yes' don't worry, you've still made a hit - it just see ms like you'v e asked a cas ual question . Don' t forget they think they are thinking of a ny one of 52 ca rds - not just one of five!
So, now you know the colour of the thought of card. Red or black, so natu rally now we continue to find out the value . "l'm starting to get all image, a picture - YOllr card isn't a picturecard, is it."
Agai n, the same pr inciple is used - It could be taken as eithe r a question or a sta tement. Try not to think too much about it as a script, it seems really cheeky but no one will have a ny idea of what yo u' re doing. If the ca rd is BLACK. you should answe r as follows:
"No, it's not a picntre card." " Ah, your right. I see now . It's a joke r, the image I'm seeing. You see, in every pack of bs-yclecerds there is one card under thejoker's foot (you bring out the joker). This card is the ace of dubs! This is your card ?"
"res, it is Q piCh'rt' card ." You've just made a HUGE hlt , it's the black pictu re card, SO both of the sta tements so und like sheer s tatements, turning you into a mind reader! So yo u w ill say:
"Yes, it's starting to take moresllapt /lOW. 1I's a royal card, a spode : Ollt of aI/52, tire CIIrd yor, merelytllOllg/lt of is tile jack of spades!" If the card is RED, you should answe r as follows:
UNo, it's 110t a picture card." UNo, YOllr rigllt - it's still alittle hazy. Tile pips areall blurring illtOone, so l toanted tobesure (there's your get Ollt clause!). 1'11/ seei/lga heart, a 6 ora 9. Am I a/lyUJllLrt' close?" Because a 6 and a 9 a re so similar, and obvious ly you r visions come to you in various forms it's easy to understand you may see the shape upside down. Another s neaky tr ick, but who's counting! "Yes, it is a picture card."
"Yes, it's becoming clearer /lOW. 1'111 seeing diamonds - bllt 1101 jvst the suit. 1'111 seeing a qlletll, cornet IIIe if I'm WrDllg, bill I believe tlu!card you merely tllol/gllt of Ollt of tlU! entire deck is tlu: queen of diamonds." Borrow ed deck vari ati ons: This effec t is really nicely done with a borrowed deck, as it's a pre tty impromptu trick. As long as yo u can get 5 cards up to the top your sor ted. The only d ifficu lties are that you must ensure that all the ca r ds a re in the deck, so me people don' t take much notice if one or 2 cards are miss ing because all they p lay is s na p every now and again. Always ask - If they think one or
2 may be missing, it's the pe rfect excuse to bring out your full deck ~ to make things even harder for yourself, or so you say . In reality, you have all the cards ready to go on your deck. If they do have a full pack have a skim th rou gh to locate your key ca rds, feel
free to do one or two wa rm up tr icks before - it' ll give you lots of leewa y to get the ca rds up to the top. The only other thin g is the script ing for if they choose the ace of clubs. A way a rou nd th is is to dra w a little pictu re of the ace of clubs on the back of your busin ess ca rd and have it in your wallet at all times, or qu ickly scribble a quick picture before performance and have it in your poc ke t. Then scr ipting will go as follows:
"No, it's llOt a picture card." "Ali, your rig/lt - I see /l OW . I'IIl catcllillg tire remuall ts of a little picture I sketclied earlier; I wasll't surewllat it was atfirst. But I'd like you to I/Uve a look at it." You bring out you r picture of the ace of clubs.
"Tileace of clubs. Was that your tllOllght of card?" Final Notes: So there's the basic script to create this little miracle. It's so mething I devised when try ing to come up with a no force thou ght of card revelation that doesn't use gaffed decks, e tc. There' s still a force involved, but beca use the s pectato r just takes a jumbled pile of a few ra ndom ca rds and merely THIN KSof one of them , it's still extrem ely powe rful.
There are va rious wa ys to enhance the feeling that you are reading the mind of the specta tor. You' ll note that throu gh the scr ipt I have exaggera ted the freedom of the specta tor's selection, as far as they ar e concerned they have effectively just thought of a card out of a full deck and this is w hat will be relayed whe n the word about your ' powe rs' is spread.
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The Barn um Effect - How To Enha nce Reaction s Thro ug h Cold Readi ng Technique: The (P.T.) Barn um effect is the name given to a psychological phenomenon in which a spectator or so meone who is being ' read' finds ch arac teristics about the mselves or their pas t expe riences in very vague state ments spoken by the magician or ' reade r'. P.T. Barnum was a circus pe rfor mer ofte n regarded as one of th e best mind read ers of his time. This is a techniqu e he often used, he nce the reaso n they named this techniqu e after him. This is the way that Tarot readings work, or horoscopes in your favorite ne wspa per. This is also the way that claimed psychics often prove their powers; so metimes not even realizing wha t they are doing is just extensive gene raliza tion of people's tra its. Think about how using techniqu es like this cou ld build up on your effects demonstrations. In a book test situa tion, imagine revea ling things about your voluntee r as well as the wor d they chose from that boo k. May be you cou ld build up a reaso n why they would choose such a word, it's relevance to so mething that ha ppened to them in the past, or maybe insec urity or trait ' they feel conscious about. Of course the word they chose was a force, but if you a re going to force a word why not choose the right word to' force to make almost a fuJI readi ng a possibi lity. This could give way to a multiple kicker effect - imagine your spectator's go ing away saying;
"1 chose the word 'walltillg' beCall se of that promotio n 1'//1 goingfor and he pllllcd if n'g1lt out of my head - and he told me I'd chosen tileword because oj a change I'm 10llgillg for at the moment, my promotion obviollsly. 1 don'L know IUlUl he could knour that about me!" Na tu rally that's a fictitious example incorporating the simples t of ideas. In this exa mple, the magician would have told the spec tator the reason that wo rd jumped out a t the m or was more prominent was du e to a cha nge they ha ve been wo rking towards recently whi ch made them pick that word subconsciously.
'I'm correct, tIlere is something y OIl wallt at ti,e moment?'
Take note of the wa y I've writte n the above state ment, to anyone in the a ud ie nce it will sound as if you are getting them to verify your accuracy in the reason they chose that par ticular word from the book. In real ity yo u a re merely as king the spectator if the re is so me thing they want at the moment, which naturally the a nswe r is going to be a positive, as everybody wants some thing a t any po int in time. It may be a promotion at work, to w in the lotte ry, to overcome illness or even for world pea ce! Also the re is a n importance in the way it has been worded. For extra sec urity in getting the answer you want the re is the use of s uggestion. 'I'm correct;' a nd 'Thereis' are both sta tements that sugges t to the spectator tha t they should say yes, you are telling the m tha t you a re correct and peo ple pick up on tha t subconsciously. Another bonus in usin g this kind of technique on stage is that people w ill generally feel tense and won' t wa nt to mess u p and make a fool of them selves. This often works wonders, as they w ill take sugges tions with a pinch of sa lt, so to speak. Even if the spec tator doesn ' t feel it applies, the rest of the a ud ience will think it does as they have pro vided a pos itive answer to you r statement. The best way to find out how effective this really is wo u ld be to work it into a routine of your ow n or use it when pe rform ing 'CoM:
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With a n a mou nt of practice and unde rstand ing of the Barnum effect and other s imilar techniques it w ill become s imple to use these on the fly. For instance, it's quite possible you use a book test w ithout a force. In this case it's qui te possible that they will se lect a word that you will be able to dra w so me thing releva nt from. Generally you will want them to se lect a word 5 or more le tte rs long, how ma ny wo rds of this descr iption can you think of tha t doesn' t hold some value or could be interp re ted in such a wa y to ho ld relevan ce. Try reading fu rthe r into the methods of cold read ing a nd sugges tion as a pp lyi ng simple techniques can e mphas ize yo ur magic/me nta lis m's effect and reactions tenfold .
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Words That Go Uns poken - Im prom ptu Book Test Here I have included a simple boo k test I devised in w hich one might use Barnum's techniqu e to expand into a full reading. This is a force d word book test; I originally designed it for imp romptu demonst ration. Effect: A book is se lected from the shelf of a sto re o r from the spec ta tor's own possession. The magician proceeds to flick throug h the pages to show that they ar e all d ifferent and co ntain different words. He explains to the spectator that a page number will be chosen at random and th at he (the magician) will then di vine the first substantia l word on that pa ge, he goes th rough a few exa mp les of th is to dem onstrate how the expe rime nt is to be ca rried out. The page is chosen, e ither by mathematical s um or s imply by flic king through the pages and asking the specta to r to call s top at any point. The magician then slowly and me thod ically reveals the first substantial word on that page with the utmost accuracy - If the pa ge contains a pictur e, he . could a lso revea l what th is illustra tes or the ca ptio n. Set -Up: The re is no se t up involved here; it is ultimately a very simple practical way of per forming a book test experiment with a random book a t anytime, in any environmen t. Method: The re are two parts to this method that ar e key in crea ting t he illusion of remo te viewing. The first is a peek, or glimpse at an y page roughly in the middl e and mentally noting the first substantial word on this page. For more ad van ced perfo rmers, it's worth not ing any ot he r key informatio n o n the page, for in stance: ... ... ... ... ...
A picture The caption there of A larg e quo te A gra ph/ table Any other points of focus
These can be used as tools to enha nce the feeling that you are really remotely view ing the page through the specta tor's eyes. The pee k at the page is a really qu ick little mot ion that's easy to practice a nd becomes a second natu re. During the effect description you' ll note I mentioned the magicia n running throug h va r ious pages as a demonstrat ion of the procedure. This is where the pee k takes place. As yo u run th rough three or four examples, peek at an extra pag e in about the middle of the book. This can be done while talking. you could alternatively look at the left page on the spread a nd mention the first word on that page a nd before carry ing on, note the first word of the righ t han d page which you will force. If you would rather not run thr ough the book giving exam ples, yo u could at
the begi nn ing of the performa nce flick throu gh the book a nd note a page in the motion of exa mining the book a nice little phrase to quote to lighten the mood is:
"You' re sure it hasall ti,e pages?" This gives you a reason to be exa mining qu ickly the content, a nd no matter wha t they rep ly respon d positively and carry on with the experiment. The Force: Now comes the point w here yOll have found your word, the firs t substantial word on a ny one page. Let's ass ume you have fou nd the word " Ha ppened" on page 112. There a re var ious ways to force num bers, I find that the easiest way is to ta ke your deck of cards a nd locate a couple of ca rds tha t w ill relate to your pag e numbe r. This ca n be done in the same way as locating the word spoken abo ve. You will run throu gh the deck demonstrat ing to the onlookers that all the car ds a re differen t, all you have to do is find a couple of cards d uring this. The re are four of every ca rd SO it should n' t be too much of a stre tch, it usua lly ta kes me abo ut 5-10 seconds.
Try not to think too much abo ut it, for the page 112, you w ou ld be sensible to find an ace a nd a queen (1 and 12, respectively). I would choose these ove r a jack a nd a 2 for insta nce as you read the number "One-Twe lve", howeve r what eve r hooks you may use will do fine. AU you have to do now is force these 2 cards us ing a simple card force, I wo uld recommend a slip or riffle force as this makes su re you c ut the deck so you can litera lly just dea12 ca rds out. For othe r meth ods of forcing, try reading "Anne man's 202 Forcing Methods". When the selections are in the hand s of the spectator alwa ys make sure you maintain contro l, ma ke sure YOU say:
"All ace, Wllicll is equal to 1 and a queen, iohich: is equal to 12 - would you like to tum to page ene-tuxtoet" By say ing it one-twelve, it makes it so und m uch more logical. Pract ice with other page outcomes. I also mentioned that flicking th rough the pages and calling stop is ap plicable-. This is just the usage of a simp le riffle force (more commonly used in car d magic) to force the page. No matte r where they call stop dur ing.your riffle, always stop on your force page. A riffle force can be a good method to e mphas ize the freedom of the choice, and it means you can do this effect even w hen yo u have no ca rds on you. Psychological Forces: A perfect psychological force for book tes t use is the 37 force. If you ask someone to thi nk of a 2-digi t num ber between 1 and SO, where both d igits are odd and both di fferent from one a nother, there is a big cha nce they will choose 37. If you w ish to have extra sec urity with this technique, you shou ld note dow n
all the poss ible ou tcomes of this q uest ion a nd ga ther enough books so tha t you have one book on yo ur table for each outcome. You cou ld write the relevan t word from each book on a bookmar k or the back of th e book itself if you do n' t wish to memor ize each ou tcome and relevant word .
When so meone answers w ith a nu mber, simp ly ' pick a book at ra ndo m' and as k him or her to turn to a page - w hen recapping, you say :
"YOIl selected litrandoma pagefrom a ralldomly selected book, IIl1d eoenunder these impossible condinons - Oll t of tile THOUSANDS of words ill lids book yOIl freely selected one word. I unil nmn In) alld ditnne tltis word. This is the hand yOllwrite unlh, isn't it?" Uyou don't already, I suggest you pick up a copy ofBanachek's 'Psychological Subtleties' or the successful follow up ' PS2'There is a wealth of informa tion on psychological forcing in both the volumes a nd they are staple reading for a ny perfor mer interested in the use of psyc hology w ithin me nta lism. Making it real: From here it's all show mans hip really, you have had you r specta tor turn to your des ired page a nd you are aware of the first substantial wor d on that page. You must however be sure tha t they choose your wo rd . The best way I find is to ta ke this script, assum ing the first fe w wor ds a re: "And as it happened"
And your wo rd is "ha ppened " you will want to say:
"I Wllllt y OIl to look to the first selltellce 0 11 tne page, thefi rstfew words - I wallt"you to select tile fi rst substantial word Oil ti,efi rst line mere. DOlI't choose words like "at" or "and" or "tile" vv and make it 5 or so letters long." To yo ur spectators this is a fair e nough pa tte r - revealing the wo rd "i t" wo uldn't ma ke for a very impress ive pe rfor ma nce now wo u ld it! (Feel free to ra tiona lize using this reaso n.) Ok, so yo ur spectator has your chosen word in mind. You will then say so meth ing along the lines of:
"YOII 've got olle? Falltastic - would yOIl like to close tile bookIl OW and stepfOlWllrd ? Could I take YOllnorist?" You take the spectator' s wrist and look them directly in the eye, yo u may as k for s ile nce, but gene rally it's more powerful when you le t the audience fall quiet of their own accord .
"(Slawly) I'm starting to catch sometllillg - It's jllst a jllmble of letters, it's quite a sizable word is it uott"
We already know this - yo u asked them to choose a sizable word, but in d ifferent word ing. Simple th ings like this ca n help to build the mood and impress ion that you' re just catching a glimpse of some thing, that you'r e confide nt in your 'powe rs: but a t the sa me time realize that you could be mistaken. " I'm seeing all 'H'. Is there al l 'H' itt YOllr w ord?"
Obvious ly they w ill say yes as they have se lected the word "H a ppened". "There's defini tely fl " P" ill there -I'm catcl/iug the letter" P" very strollg ly, perhaps there's 2?"
Tha t's where they begin to freak - always act as if you just have inkling you're jus t 'd rawn' to certa in lette rs. It makes it appea r fa r more genuine a nd builds tens ion. " It's com illg together 110 10, alld "A" is it 'Happen'? No, it's 'Happened'! Ollt of the thousand s of wo rds ill tllat book, off YOl/r oum sllClf the aile word y ou merely· THOUGH T of is the word 'Ha ppened'!"
Fina l Notes: There 's the basic effect, like I mentioned ea rlie r th is could be expa nded upon, de pendi ng on how much information yo u can process during the flicking period . An idea if you wish to repeat it again is to note 2 words on 2 pages during the flicking. For this you w ill need to note the first word as menti oned above, and for the second word you could look at a separa te page say page 214 on which the key word is "marching" an d while you a re noting this say :
"And 0/1 page 18 7, thefir st eubstantia i word is 'doomed' ." Say a page near by to the actual page, and invent a rand om wo rd which could be on this page - The specta tor can' t choose that page, s o don' t swea t w he the r the wo rd is even in the book.
Don' t be reckless however, there's no real need to repeat a n effect like th isit's far more powe rful a single time. To demonstrate your powers further, use a d ifferent effect that invo lves mind readi ng. Or maybe even explain that the effect is achieved through non contact mind read ing a nd then do a contact mind reading dem onstration - a pulse I muscle reading effect for instance, you can explain the wo rking behind a contact effect as it is science - it can baffle spectator s eve n more than some thing they can put down as being just a ' trick' . Have fun w ith the effect. I have not designed it for stage use, though it would wo rk in a ny environment, I have des igned it for a casual dem onstration a t so mebody's home or maybe in a bookshop . Somewhe re that such an effect wo uld usually be very di fficult to pull off, unless you carry your favori tegimmicked book test everywhe re yo u go! For Stage demonstrations, you may prefer to use your gimmicked book test. Here, however, is a great little effect that's very orga nic and simple to do, which leaves you lots of time to concentra te on the other aspects of your perfor mance to build tile desired reaction. This effect wo uld also work perfectly with Luke Jerm ay's ' Burst Bubble Suggestion: that way the specta tor could actua lly FEEL the word leaving their head and coming into yours. Th is is a brilliant su ggestion desc ribed in various publications of Luke's and also on his DVD "Sku lduggery" that I would highly recommend to anyo ne!
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The Synthe tic Arc Bend - The Non Bending Spoon Bend We' ve all come across cutlery we jus t can't bend . It's made from long lasting, hardened stee l forged in a n olden Viking civilization in Norway hell bent (forgive the pun ) on destroying the livel ihood of the meta l bend ers among us. Snapping back to an amount of reality, it happens - and it's not always easy to get outof a de monstration like that. I tend to ca rry around a bent l0 pence piece so I always hav e so mething I can bend w hen so meone asks for that kind of de monstration.
The closest thin g so far tha t I have found to counte r such circumstance is the absolute ly fantastic "Ga Uer ian bend" created by the renowned Erick Castle. I high ly recommend purchasin g the DVD. It's a highly visua l be nd and is as impromptu as it gets . The only downside is that yo u do still have to bend the spoon in yo ur han ds, w hich with some spoons / for ks is a n impossible task. So, I've se t out to create a visua l spoon bend (or fork bend - I feel it actually loo ks bette r with forks!) where the spoo n never actua lly bend s. This is a metal bendi ng rou tine gea red towards the perfo rmer w ho is caug ht off gua rd; if you can use a routine where the spoon actually be nds I highly recomme nd do ing so. When this is not poss ible, this is the only rou tine of its kind . Method: The bend is based on a move taught in Erick's Gallerian DVD, bu t in this case the spoon does not have to be bent for the visua l ben di.ng. Upon st udy ing the sha pe of a s poo n or fork, you' ll note there is already a slight bend as the metal forms into the bowl of the spoo n or the tines of the fork. You s hould hold yours poon (or fork, for dem onstra tive purpose, we' ll use a s poo n) ove r the bowl, so the four fingers hide it. This is so th at when the s poo n is rota ted forward, it appear s tha t the bowl stays in the same position. Using pos itive lingu istics - yo u can tell peo ple tha t they 'ca n' see the spoon bend . However this is not the best techniqu e to use. I will ex plain suitable suggestive techniques and e mphas is late r on. The little bend should be visible, as shou ld abo ut a centime tre more. You'll notice that if you use yo ur th umb to move the hand le forwa rd, in the motion it is bending, because the bowl is hidde n and the reflection of t he light of the bend it really looks as if the han d le is bending. Practice this in front of a mirro r to per fect the illusion - it's all optics. The only problem visually is that if you wa nt a nice noticeable bend, you will begin to see yo ur thu mb pok ing out from be hind your ha nd. You ar e esse ntially moving your finger a nd th umb in a slow moti on finge r click motion.
To hide the conspicuousness of the thu mb, you will wa n t to wave yo ur fingers in fro nt of the bend - in a similar motion to if yo u were ru bbing the bend to so ften it. I find it looks more impr essive to wave yo ur fin ger abo u t a half inch in front of the spoon as it loo ks much more magical a nd it gives no feas ible way for you to be ben d ing the spoon as yo u are holding it in one ha nd. Fina lly, be careful of ang les, na turally the effect must be pe rformed head on as at othe r ang les it is possible to see what is hap pe ning. A way to coun ter such d ifficu lties is to work on the positioning of the arms to obs tr uct anyone else view, so they can just see the hand le. "Straighte n in g" the spoon: O bv io us ly, there is no way to hand out yo ur "bent" spoon for exa mina tio n, so yo u mu st straigh ten it ou t aga in. Th is can simply be d one in such a way, as yo u wo uld normally bend a spoon back to normal. You sho u ld practice the motion in a mir ror w ith a rea l bent spoo n so yo u can see how it natu rally looks. Th en move onto p ractice with a no n-be nt spoon, d oing the "bend" and the n "straig h ten ing" the spoon once more. l inguistics: Th e w ay th is effect is pe rfo rmed relies heav ily on the show manship and the patte r. If you believe that the spoon is bend ing and use positive suggestion, SUGGFSI'ING to the spectator that they can see the spoo n bending, tha t it's incredible an d the like, they WILL see the ben d ha ppen, they will find it incred ible a nd wo n' t qu estion whe the r yo u r actu ally be nd ing the spoon or not as they have the suggestion matched with the visible aspect of the trick. A key idea like I mentioned ea rlier is to not tell the m d irectly the spoon is bendi ng NOW. Introdu ce the trick as a metal bend ing feat by a ll mea ns, but never a t one poi nt say "T he spoon is bend ing at this mome nt in time." T his allows the spectator to see it hap pen the mse lves, they expec t the spoo n to bend and if you gaze long enoug h into th at little bend it a p pears to d eepe n, its just yo ur eyes go ing out of focu s in reali ty.
So rath er than say " it's bendi ng, look!" go for a "Watch closely, you WILL see it happen - sometimes it happens faster than ot hers but y ou w ill see it happen." Then as they begin to react cha nge your patter , "See, there it goes (su ggests movem ent), You can see it - Wa tch closely (allows eyes to get confused)"
At this point the spoon is apparently bend ing; yo u could e ven go as far as to begin with the spoo n in the spectator's han ds - if they clench a palm up fist aroun d the s poon and slowly release their gr ip it feels as if the spoo n is moving. Th is should only rea lly be used afte r another effect in w hich they have got into the swing of believing and ta king your sugg estio ns. You can then go on to the opti cs pa rt of the illusion. For inform ation on su gges tion and particular ly that which applies to metal bending, try Kenton Knepper' s "The Miracle of Suggestion." When it comes to the s poon being bent, allow the fact to sink in, then immedi a tely explain how the spoon's par ticles part allow ing for a flexible substa nce to manifest. Th is is how you bend the s poo n back - the n you may hand the s poon out to a specta tor say ing : "YOli tn) and bend it - w ithout the correct mi ndect, it's " ear imposs ible!"
By saying near impossib le you clear yourself if you have a n incredibly strong ma n to whom you handed the spoon whom the n proceed s to be nd it outright. Also, say ing w ithout the correct mindset s ugges ts you bent th e spoon with your mind . If your strong man does man age to bend the s poon, take it w ith a pinch of salt; lighten the mood by say ing something like: "Now tn) it wi t/lOu t tile other hona t"
As this is exactly what yo u did - it crea tes a perpl exing p uzzle for the onlooke rs, and your s trong ma n! Final Notes: Like I menti oned at the beg inning of the expla nation, if you can bend the spoon comforta bly, do so. Th is is a n effect desi gned to counter the spoo ns or forks we cannot bend.
The following two rou tines are in a slightly di fferen t strain fro m the forme r effects. This ne xt effect being a nice a nyw he re, a nytime (as long as the props a re in yo u pocket,) tw ist on the ca rd thr ough window plot we ha ve a ll seen so ma ny tim es before. My idea was to put only an am ount of the ca rd th rou gh the window, leaving the s pectator with a reall y nice little souvenir.
•••• Devi ance - Visu al Pip Thru Wind ow Effect: A sp ectator selects a card and signs the face - the card they select is fully exam inable and has no ga ffs. Taki ng the spectator's signed card, the magician draws attention to a glass d oor /window/pane of glass and asks the aud ience to watch ca refully. The car d is slapped again st the windo w and one of the pips flies visually stra ight th rough the glass into the ma gicia n' s waiting han d. Preparatio n:
Preparatory materials: A dec k of ca rds, a duplica te of one of these cards (4H in this instan ce), a sha rp craft/ Stanley knife. You mu st first remove one of the pips from the du plicate card (figure 1); I tend to choose eithe r of the red suits to wo rk with, as the pi ps shapes are muc h simpler to cut around. Also it' s an idea to use fours as the pips are even ly spread and it's easy to cove r a missing one with you r thumb.
Figure 1
Hea rts and diamonds a re simplex shapes w hereas the clubs and spades ca n be d ifficult to cut around w ithout mu tilating the res t of the ca rd. This is your gaff card a nd your pip - the ca rd the spec tator w ill s ign and the pip, which will be see n to travel through the w indow. Then you must set up the dec k as so; • The gaff, pi pless card on the bottom of the deck, e The d uplicate. Normal card on the top (ready to force),
e The pip inside an easily accessib le pocket or waxed so mewhere it can be stolen easily. This is all the necessa ry se t-up for the effect, yo u could even use this as a finisher to a card routine - if the gaff a nd du plicate cards a re po cke ted, they could easily be ad ded to the deck with sui table misdi rection techniques. Alterna tively, it's a fantastic effect to open w ith as you ca n have yo ur ca rds se t as you walk up to you r 'victim' and pe rform a really sharp, visua l effect to grab their attention. Sle ights Nee ded: This effect comprises of a few really easy moves, bu t once the bas ic concept is learnt it ca n be expa nded up on grea tly - I will show you late r on a bonus met hod to pen etr ate the pip into a w ine glass. The moves are easy to gras p, but make s ure you practice until you have all the moves down an d flow ing. Th e Slip Force: Any force can be used to get the specta tor to se lect the desired car d, but my prefer red force for this effect is the slip force as it looks like a very random se lection, it also gets the specta tor to phys ically to uch and ho ld the card in their han ds. With an effect Like this it's ve ry im portant the s pecta tor has the card in their hands and then there is no feasible way for the ca rd to become mu tilated like it does.
With the selected card on the top of the deck you hold the cards in a left hand mechanic's g rip. You as k the spec tator to stop you as you riffle throu gh the deck (figure 2).
Figure .If.3
When they do say stop you hold still. Ma ke sure yo u ask them if they are happy wit h their se lection, or if they wish to continue the riffle. This is an extra co nvincer - if they think you've stopped in a s pecific pla ce for you to continue the riffle, choose a differen t ca rd and still do the effect will be doubly imp ress ive. Whe n they a re happy with the sp ace you've stopped at as their se lection, you need to do a speci a l move ~ this is the slip in the title. • You have your force ca rd o n the top of the dec k and you want it in the middle w here they' ve stopped, the top of the bottom packet, So a ll yo u have to do is lift up the top packet, as you would if you rea lly wer e ge tting them to choose a ca rd fro m the centre, but reta in the top card with your thumb a nd s lip it onto the bottom packet. (figure 2) You as k the m to take the card they' ve stopped at - it's a nice idea to say "O k, so if you' d like to take the card you sto pped a t," or so meth ing along those lines, just as an extra conv incer . Now they a re holdin g the duplica te of the plple ss car d and can exa mine it to the ir hearts content, as it is jus t a regular card!
The Reverse Glide: 1 was tau gh t th is move in a magic sho p in Limerick, Ireland ye ars ago bu t r wa s never sure on w ha t it was called - if indee d it had a technical name. I felt the best way to describe the motion is a ' reverse glide' as a glide move is to remove the seco nd from bottom card as the bottom card. Th is move is to act as if you're putting the card o n the bottom of the deck, whe n rea lly you ' re sliding it in seco nd from bottom . You will take the ca rds in a left hand mecha nic' s g rip again and w ith your right han d take the spectator's se lection - I often let them know t hat it doesn' t matte r if I see it as so me ca n be q uite gua rded a bout you finding the value of their ca rd.
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Figure 4,15
With yo ur left forefinger , gently pu ll do wn the top right co rne r of the card as in the photo (fig ure 4). This gives yo u the space to slide the card in as if you were just putting it onto the bott om of the deck, wh en the cards are turned face up after this moye they see the face of the d upli cat e ptpless card so think nothing of it. When yo u hold the deck face up, it's a goo d ide a to try a nd kee p the missing pip covered - try and be loose and natura l about it however. The card und erneath has the sam e print so the cut ca rd is only just visible in ve ry close proximity .
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Th e Signa tu re: There is no fun ny moves to go o n while the signatu re is mad e as it' s go ing stra igh t on to the gaff ca rd, bu t be caref u l to cove r the m issing pip at this point as the s pecta to r is looking close ly at the card to sign thei r na me acros s the face . The Fli ck Mo ve: You need to slide the s igned gaff card from the bottom of the d eck wit h ou t revealing the d u plicate underneath it. I find the easiest wa y to do this is to flip the dec k a nd w ith you r righ t mid d le finger slide the card off from un d ern eath as in the photo (figu re 6).
Figu~
6/l
Mak e su re to use yo ur thu mb to hid e the missi ng pip at th is po int and hold the ca rd by just grasp ing tha t corne r. This g ives you the ma neuverability to sho w both the fro nt and back of the ca rd eas ily a nd ge t into the position to pe rform the flick move. Ho ld the card as sho wn and then move yo u r finge rs up the back of the ca rd so yo u a re ab le to hold it wi th a slight bend as in the ph oto (figu re 5), this bend is importan t as it p rovides the velocity to 'slap' the card aga inst the window. Hold the card up to a win dow and then sq uee ze the card ge ntly between the two e nds and release the pipless end you' re hold ing w ith yo ur thum b. Th is will ca use the card 10 rotate vertica lly and s lap the wi ndow revea ling the missi ng pip, to a ny specta tor it really loo ks as if a hole ha s just ap peared visua lly in the card - at the sa me time yo u shou ld perform the ' d rop' move.
Fig ure 8/9
Th e D rop Move : Whe n you slide the signed card from the deck p lace the deck away in your pocket or on a ta ble (ma ke sure no-on e ca n see the duplicate bottom card, or do a quick one hand cut if you like to be doubly surel], you w ill then want to dra w atte ntion to the nearby window / g lass door o r w hat e ve r you r penetrating. As you do this you will wa nt to s teal the pi p from your pocket, o r w here ever you' ve waxed itto. Do this wit h your left, free hand a nd slip it in to a "Tenkai' . pa lm pos ition (figu res 10 & 11).
Figure 10/11
Th is is demonstra ted in the photo (the firs t pictu re is the s pec ta to r's view, the second is the top view), but look up the Tenk ai palm on the net or sea rch th rou gh yo ur old card/coin ma nipu lation books for further explana tion.
An alte rnative sle ight to use here is the C os h ma n p inch, th ough I wo uld recommend th e Te n kai for ease of use and ang les sa ke wh e n bringin g you r hand a roun d the o ther side of th e w ind ow. W he n on the othe r side of th e wind ow th e Cashman p inch w ill allow yo u to spread yo ur thum b w ide like the other fingers, but use w hich ever is most co mforta ble to yo u . Th e drop is performed w hen yo u sla p the ca rd aga ins t the win dow (the card hol d in g the p ip is on th e other side of the w indo w ). As it h its, you just drop the pip fro m th e Tenkai into yo ur waiting pal m. It loo ks to the spec tato r as if it' s jumped fro m the ca rd (w hich now has a hole in) in to yo u r hand on th e othe r side of the g lass (w h ich w as previously show n to be 'empty' ) You can no w ha nd th e specta tor a g rea t sou ve nir o f yo ur perform ance ens u ring yo u w ill be tal ked abou t to fr ien d s. Recap: .. Caff ca rd on botto m of deck, Dupl icate on top, pi p in pock et or waxe d elsewhe re. .. Force d u p licate . .. Reverse glide to slide under ga ff. .. Turn over pa ck and as k spec tator to sign. .. Slide off signed ca rd and d um p dec k in pocket or on ta ble. (Ma ke sure m issing pi p is covered.) .. D raw at te ntion to w ind ow or to the sign ed ca rd w hile yo u stea l p ip from pock et and slip into Te n kai pos ition. .. Move yo u r hands either s ide of the window and get read y to perform the flick a nd d rop moves. .. As k spectato r to watch ca refully and execu te the moves so it ap pea rs that the p ip has pe netrated the glass .
Fina l No tes: Tha t's how to perform my vis ua l pip throu gh w indow effect, I'v e found that in the correct circumstance it gets great reactions a nd is perfect w he n people as k; "Ca n yo u put a card th rough a w ind ow like Davi d Blaine! C riss Ange l! Pa ul Zenon! This guy on TV d id?" Now you can show them some thing even move impress ive by putting par t of a card that they'v e verified is real and s igned through a w indow in the most v isual manner. I w is h you every success w ith the effect a nd hope yo u have fu n w ith it; it is a grea t little effect a nd really does baffle onloo ke rs. Bonu s Effect: Sauvignon Deviance - The Wine G lass Pe ne tra tio n: This is to hav e the pip penetra te into a wine glass, o r any othe r type of glass for tha t matte r. The se t up is just the sa me, as is the first part of the trick howeve r instead of s lipping the pip into a Ten kai palm, yo u will have the pip hidd en in you left hand as you pick up a n ind ifferent ca rd. • . You place this ind iffe re nt ca rd ove r the mou th of a w ine glass, sec retly sa nd wich ing the pip in betw ee n the card a nd the rim of the glass. Be cereful to ge t the balance right before letting go. Th is time, instead of slap ping the card aga inst a w indow, yo u s lap it against the s ide of the glass or the top of the ind ifferent ca rd. This motion dis lodges the pip a nd causes it to drop into the glass as the hole ' a ppea rs' in the signed se lection. Th is slightly different ap proach to the effect is based on the old id ea of making a coin pene tra te a card into a glass in the sa me man ner, this a ppea r conjoined with a simple coin va nish made this effect poss ible.
Bonus Notes and Cre d its: I' d been toy ing abo ut with the id ea of twis ting the ca rd thro ugh window effect a little for so me months preced ing my crea ting of this e ffect. Why not pu t just part of the card through the wi ndow, leaving the specta tor with a nice souv enir o f your performance. I origina lly set abo ut taking a ca rd, the4H for insta nce, wi th just 3 of the pips pr inted on the card . Then I would use th is in conju nction with a p re-placed pip on the other side of the window - it sti ll involved an amount of set up, but a sma ll p ip o n a wind ow is much less conspicuo us tha n having a full card p laced there. However, this involved using specially p rinted ca rds and p re-placing the pip on the wi nd ow. I wanted a more orga nic effect, whic h was muc h mo re wo rka ble in rea l situa tio ns and wh ere the spectator is left wi th so mething a bit more special. Also, the id ea that this effect cou ld be used on an y g lass su rface at an y time was a thou gh t of mine, inst ead of ha ving to choose exactly where and whe n yo u will perform the effect in time to prepa re for this. The loo k of the actual pe netration o f the p ip in ' Devia nce' is loosely based arou nd the look of Kevin Par ker's ' Edge' effect. Whe n I first saw the 'Edge' de mo an amount of months ago, I smiled - Though it's no t so much of a magician foo ler as the rest of his effects I could se( the potential it had to as tou nd laymen. So I too k to bui ldin g a s imilar look to my pip th rough window, wh ile retaining a usa ble spectator d rive n rou tine, e n voila! ' Dev iance' was bo rn. For those not famiIia r with Kevin Parker's effects, he is a very talented magica l c reator w h om co mes up w ith so me fa nta st ic v is u a l ma g ic . Visit www.Kevi.. Parker ProdlictiOIlS.COIll for fur ther detail, or consult you r fav ou rite mag ic d ea ler.
••• • Sh ift - Signed Card Tra ns po rtatio n Th is e ffect is a rea lly nice card transpo rtation I often have set u p ready for pe rformance. It's a simple method, sim p le effect and with the co rrect patte r and thea trics it can be made in to a miracle. I' m s ure there a re many creative ways the concept of this effect cou ld be used , it's a very versa tile mov e. Good new s is there' s absolutely no palming invo lved !
Effect : The spec tator se lects and s igns the back of a card, which is lost in the middle of the dec k. The Ca rd is then IMMEDIATELY, with e mpty han ds and no fu nn y moves, re moved from your top pocke t or your wa llet or practically anywhere else. The s pectator ve rifies the va lue of their card, the card is flip ped a nd the spectator's s igna ture revea led pro ving it is in fact the ve ry sa me card. Prep ar ation : You need to ha ve a regu lar deck of ca rds, a duplicate of one of these cards for dem onstrative pur pose we' ll use the 2 of clubs. (Figu re 1) Also a do uble backed ca rd is use d, these ca n be pu rchased from most magic dea lers or simply made by sticking 2 reg ula r cards face to face - the do ub le backed card w ill alwa ys be used in conju nction w ith the res t o f the deck so thickness isn't really an issue.
Fig".., 12
Set u p: Have one of the du plicates face forw ar d in yo ur top pocket or w here eve r you w ish to pull the ca rd from. In the de mons tra tion, I ha ve the card appear in my business card case. You w ill have the spectator s ign the back of the ca rd, so you need to ma ke sure the side they see come ou t of your pocket is the face. It is however just as powe rful as peo ple wo n' t suspect your using du plicates.
You need to set the deck wit h yo u r othe r duplicate on the top ready to force followed by yo u r d oub le backed ca rd, 2nd from top . Th is is a ll the p rep you need to create th ts miracle. This makes it rea lly usa ble in most env ironme nts - as long as yo u have 2 d ecks of car ds on yo u a nd the dou ble backed card, you have enoug h duplicates for 52 pe rforma nces! Me thod: You firs t need to fo rce the d upl icate yo u have on the top of the deck - I ten d to use the slip force, it's a really solid simple little force. T he below pho tos d em onstrate the force (figu res 13 & 14); yo u s imply as k a spectator to stop you a t any po int du ring you r riffle through of the ca rds. Instead of cu tting di rectly to the rea l selected ca rd, you retain the to p ca rd and slip it d own onto the bott om packet. T he top ' fo rce' card no w loo ks like a tota lly rando m selectio n.
Fip" 1,vl4
Any fo rce will wo rk though as long as you can retain the double backed card on the top after the ca rd has been taken. The Ca rd (2 of C lu bs) has been se lected, so now yo u wa nt it signed. Ta ke the ca rd and lay it face d own on the top of the deck - te ll the spectator that thoug h a ll the faces of the cards are di fferent, the backs are ident ical "C ou ld yo u sign you r nam e across the back o f the card he re, just to mak e it comp letely u niqu e in eve ry way ."
It also reinforces the idea tha t you ca n' t d o any fu nny moves. There's no
need to say, howe ver: " Now there' s no way I could overha nd shuffle control the ca rd to the top of the deck to pal m off a nd place in my pocket!" The idea is that the car d has va nished a nd re-mat e na lized in your pocket, not that you've do ne so me special moves to put it there. Always try a nd remem ber to think of your magic as shee r ma gic, not as a s leight of han d d is play - thou gh su per slick pa sses a re imp ressive, they' re much less impressive than mak ing real magic ha ppe n. The Flip: The flip move is an integral pa rt to making th is trick work; this is w hy we mus t use a do uble backed card. In the actio n of cu tting the s igned selection into the ce ntre of the dec k we must flip the se lection a nd do ub le backed ca rd over so the se lec tion is left face up in the face down deck. Th is is do ne by cutting the deck, a nd s lid ing the 2 ca rds off as one into the ha nd holdi ng the bottom half - as in the photo (figu res 14 &: 15). As fa r as the spectator is concerned, you w ill be jus t stress ing tha t the card really'is going st raight into the cen tre by re-s howing the s igna ture. As you lowe r the botto m half on top of the top half to complete the cut, you allow a swi ft rota tion of the 2 cards a t the sa me time - as illustra ted . Take the time to rea lly perfect this move and ma ke it look natural.
Figul'l.' /.1/15
Figrm: 17(18
Now you need to ge t the 2cards back u p to the top of the d eck, I tend to use an un d erh and pass and the n a se ries of false cu ts - so it just looks as if I'm thoro ughly shuffling the deck . Any control w ill suffice, but it makes sense that yo u' d wa nt to shuffle the deck af te r cutting a card in so you lose it complet ely. The specta tor isn' t going to sus pect that you've controlled th e card up as th ey see on one of the sides of ou r double backed ca rd. Th e dec k shou ld be as follow s: Do uble backed card (top) Face up signed card Face d own rest of deck. No w yo u explain that their card is lost so me w here within the deck. You ask them to wa tch, bu ild a bit of tension - I find a goo d tec hniq ue is to go ove r the steps that have tak en place and e mphasize them: "You freely se lected any single ca rd out of a11 52, you signed the card across the back making the car d com plete ly uniq ue - the only on e of it' s kind in the world . Then we lost it in the dec k somewhe re and thorou ghl y shuffled it throug hout. No w, watch closely. I want you to see this hap pen slow ." You're holdin g the d eck in a left ha nd mec hanic's grip, yo u are to show you r right hand unm istakably emp ty - d on' t stress this, just allow the spec ta tor to ex pe rience what's abo ut to hap pen. You slow ly reach up and wi th you r very fingertips; begin to slide the card ou t of you r top poc ket - facing the spec ta to r. Do not a llow them to see the back of th e card, as it w ill give away you r usin g a duplicat e ca rd.
When the amazeme nt has sunk in, take the card fully ou t an d la y it on top of the deck in your left hand . Th e orde r will be as follows: Face up du plica te from pocke t (to p) Double backed ca rd Face up Signed du plicate Face down deck . You point to the face of the card a nd say, "Sir, ca n I as k you to veri fy that is the value of your card?" "(PRE'ITY AMAZED) Yes, it is" Then yo u qu ickly flip ove r all 3 ca rds as one, re veal ing the signa tu re. " And ca n you verify that is yo ur signa tu re?" "( VERY AM AZED) Yes, it is!" You ca n then ha nd ou t the ca rd as a souve nir a nd than k yo ur p a rticipant. Fina l Notes : This bas ic concept ca n rea lly be expa nde d upon, o nce the bas ic rou tin e is dow n you can play abo ut with w he re you ma ke the card remate rialize. • • • • • • •
Try in the ca rd box w hich has been laying one the ta ble at all times Und e r so meone's d rink Your wallet Your s hoe Stuck to yo ur specta tor's back Taped to yo ur necklace Abso lutely anywhe re else !
All you need to ma ke s ure of is that you w ill be the one who picks it up, you don't want your specta tor ca tching glimpse of the u nsign ed back !
•••• As Banache k say s at the e nd of h is ne west boo k PSZ. w ith the releva nt information, your brain has just processed 10,231 words or 44,18 9 letters. He suggests a rest, I sugges t you pick up a pack of cards a nd go get some awesome reactio ns! Dee Clmetopher
