Vol#5 Drawing Duplications
Introduction In this month’s installment we will look at ‘Drawing Duplications’. When asked to name a favorite type of effect (for example a pin reveal, name reveal, book test etc.) most mentalists will instantly state that the drawing duplication is their favorite and it’s not hard to see why drawing duplications are so popular. The vast amount of versatility in terms of premise and performance is staggering, ranging from remote-viewing to simple psychology and then everything in-between. I don’t think there is a nicer moment visually than a participant and you holding up a drawing simultaneously and they match – Double whammy! I have always had a soft spot for drawing duplications and surprisingly they are something that I have not talked at great lengths about… In all honesty I think they just might be my next obsession. I have mentioned in the past that I tend to go through phases of loving one/ two areas of mentalism till I refine them and then move onto another area. It is a slow process but I love to know as much as possible on a particular situation as possible. One of the pioneers of drawing duplications has to undoubtedly be Uri Geller. Regardless of anyone’s opinion of his ethics he has created and employed some of the greatest drawing duplications that have ever been created. My favorite drawing duplication of all time was the drawing duplication he performed on ‘David Frost’s - Beyond Belief’. Uri had Ulreka Jonsson make a drawing in Paris and he duplicated it thousands of miles away in America. One of the things I particularly loved about that drawing duplication was the psychology that Uri employed during the drawing duplication (whether he knew he was doing it or not is another thing, but I wager he did as he is a very clever man). Some of the drawing duplications you will read in this volume are very classical in structure and method, others are bolder. I have visited a couple of routines I have touched upon in the past and added my refinements/ subtleties to make them fresh and there is a whole host of unreleased ideas. The most important thing in this volume (as always) is not the methods themselves (they are fun too) but the subtleties and nuances that are presented alongside the effects and the journey that they enable you to take your participant on. I am currently in Dubai starting to write this volume, I will continue to write in Paris (my home away from home) and will finish writing this volume up in Holland/ Germany and then proof read in Spain! I am going to let the things that I see and experience in these locations inspire me and hopefully that will come out in this vol. With that said enough of me rambling on, Pete x
What is a drawing duplication? I am finally comfortable with the format of these volumes which makes it easier to focus on what should go where – This makes the volume more of a pleasurable experience for you the reader. What is a drawing duplication? Well to answer that question it is exactly what it sounds like -duplicating a drawing. Making a copy of a drawing that someone else has made… but with a twist, the person who makes the drawing never tells you what drawing they have made and you manage to correctly identify and duplicate it. It’s easy to see why this area of mentalism is so fascinating; over this volume you will find several ways in which to duplicate drawings in a variety of different situations.
Do you have to be artistic to perform a drawing duplication? NOT AT ALL! As you will learn through the course of this volume there are subtle ways to get around not being able to draw what the participant is thinking of (if this situation ever arises) and ways to reduce their artistic skill to something completely manageable – no matter what the level of your artistic ability. I don’t think there is any more questions that need answering, so let’s get into the content!
Drawing Duplications By far the simplest drawing duplication possible is achieved by getting the participant to make a drawing on a billet and then peeking the billet (in a close up scenario) or a gimmicked pad clipboard peek in a stage scenario. I am purposefully (apart from in one section of this volume) going to try and avoid these methods. The reason I am aiming to avoid these methods/ way of thinking is that there are so many different cool premises and methods available I really think it would be a crying-shame to jump straight for the obvious. If you are interested in ‘Billet work’ see volume four of this series.
Psychological drawings There are drawings that you can almost guarantee while in performance a large percentage of people will draw. I will start by outlining a list of those drawings.
House Tree Car Stickman Dog Cat Sun Smiley face Flower Let’s try a fun experiment - ask the nearest person to “Simply imagine making a drawing” and tell you what it is, see how many times they choose something that is on the list. This just enables you to see how popular the above drawings are without you doing too much in terms of guiding the participant verbally towards a specific drawing. Obviously this is not 100% but I honestly think you will find the results startling. Remember you have not really done anything here to guide the participant in any way. Employing a couple of layers of fines/ verbal subtleties I am about to share, the percentage rating will be much greater. First things first, let’s take a look at the language I used above, Instead of saying “Think of a simple drawing” I would say “Simply think of a drawing or doodle” – That way you are essentially “restricting without seeming restrictive” and it will have the same effect on the participant psychologically. In terms of boxing them into picking simple drawings but without ever asking them to think of something simple. This is an old dodge but certainly serves a massive purpose. This is the script I use in order to be able to get the participant 8/9 times out of 10 to go for one of the drawings above. In your head tell them which one you want them to go for – This is very strange thinking but, I feel it helps as somewhere I feel we often telegraph what we want someone to think of or feel – But that’s just my opinion. Another thing that can really up the probability is actually asking someone to physically draw something, this puts them under pressure and is also another form of restriction – Unless you pick an artist. Here is the scripting I would use Performer: “I want you to take this (the performer hands the billet or pad to the participant) and simply make a drawing on there for me. Make it something we would all recognize and for the sake of everyone else’s time keep the drawing to ten to
twenty seconds. Something like a Dog, a Cat or a stickman would be fine… For obvious reasons don’t go for those”. Let’s break down the script above and look at the effect it has psychologically. First you will notice I don’t ask them to think of a drawing and then give them the pad, this will give them time to change their mind. I give them the pad and say “SIMPLY MAKE” a drawing this is one action and from a psychological point of view it pressures the participant to make the first drawing that comes into their mind. The word “simply” as mentioned before restricts them to choosing something simple. Another thing that I mention is “everyone else’s time”, this appeals to the participant’s better nature. If I mention it is to save me time, the likeliness is that not knowing the participant he/ she doesn’t care how long I have to wait for. I essentially restrict the participant to taking ten to twenty seconds to draw their drawing which again drastically reduces the number of drawings. Then by mentioning the dog, the cat and the stickman I eliminate those from the list of the psychologically chosen drawings. I know what you are thinking, there is still a list of drawings that they could have drawn – With a couple of simple questions it is easy to reduce the number of possibilities down instantly, for example – Performer: “Can you think of the colour of thing that you have drawn for me?” This will reduce the list by almost half based on the speed of the affirmation by the participant. They are not prepared for you to ask this question and therefore the Sun, Tree, Love heart and Car will be easier to visualize a colour for and the affirmation will be almost instantaneous if you see any cognitive movement then House, Smiley face and the boat will be the more likely of choices due to the participant having to think of the colour. Note to the reader** Cognitive movement is where the participant’s eyes wandering off to find information. If you watch for this happening you can essentially see when a participant is having to think about something they know but haven’t thought of for a while. Another example question, you could ask them to think about the main shape in their drawing, using closed questions find out the shape – Performer: “Focus on the shape that stands out most predominantly in your drawing for me. You didn’t go for a circle did you?”
For more information on closed questions the readings volume in this series tips several different ways to ask closed questions (that are a lot more subtle than this). Another thing principle that you can apply here after asking the aforementioned question is the “Wash principle”.
The Wash Principle The Wash Principle can be used verbally or physically. This principle (when used wisely) will reduce your miss rating massively. In this instance, we will pretend we are working with drawings. Let's start with using the wash principle in a physical scenario. We will imagine we are fishing for a picture someone is thinking of out of a series of pictures, we have deduced that the drawing the participant has made is a house or a car (just as an example). Address the participant, Performer: “Can you think of the drawing again for me? “Imagine drawing this imagine in the air; imagine seeing all the different lines and the way the drawing is constructed. Concentrate for me but don't say anything out loud.” This is where you pick one of the drawings (the house for example) and start to draw the lines in the air. Start to draw the house largely in the air (at a nice relaxed slow pace) remember to draw it from the participant’s perspective so you are in essence drawing it backwards. Watch the participant’s face; if they react by starting to smirk, you know it's that house they are thinking of! If not, wipe the air clean and shake your head as though you are not seeing it clearly. Secretly we now know it is the opposite drawing (in this case the car)! Even if you didn’t hit, you corrected yourself and therefore have NEVER missed. The theatrics are beautiful here also as it really is just two minds working in unison. You can see how this would be useful if you are torn between drawings when you are psychologically deducing a drawing. You could use this after asking for the participant to focus on the main shape in the drawing. The most predominant shapes that stand out in the list are square and circle. Using the wash principle you will instantly kill one of the shapes or confirm it,
meaning that your list has reduced drastically and you are going to be down to two/ three drawings. A principle that can be used here is one I created for “Getting to know two” (readings volume) – I am going to name this principle (for reference purpose) ‘turning the other cheek’. When you get the participant down to three drawings reach into your pocket and take out a small stack of billets. Let’s for hypothetical sake say that you have reduced your participant down to a car, a house and a tree (I know that using the colour question these three would never be together, but it’s just for the purpose of explaining the principle). Ask the participant to focus on their drawing and then write the word house on a billet. After you have written the word house on a billet, shake your head and instead of crossing out the word house let your thumb nail touch the surface of the billet instead of the pen tip and strike it backwards and forwards across the face of the billet. It will look to the participant like you are crossing out whatever you have just wrote, when in essence you have done nothing. Put this billet to the bottom of the stack and also place two others to the bottom also (after the billet you just “scribbled out”). So essentially the billet that you just wrote upon is three from the bottom of the stack. Re read this a couple of times, it might sound confusing in writing but is very easy when put into practice. This is where you will perform a ‘flop switch’, address the participant “See your drawing at the forefront of your mind” as you say this bring the hand that is holding the stack of billets up to your head to point to your forehead and bring your hand back down palm down. What you have achieved is under the big movement of touching your forehead you have flipped over the entire stack of billets. So now that billet with the word house on it is three from the top (the word house will be facedown). Look at the participant and then write the word house on the top billet, do not flash this it is essential the participant does not see what you are writing. Place this face down on the table, on the second billet write the word tree place that face down on the table also and on the third billet write car. The billet you write the word car on will have the word house on the reverse side of it if you have followed these instructions up until this point, keep this billet on the stack so that the stack hides the word house. Address the participant and tell them not to react in anyway, explain to them that you are down to three drawings. Turn over the first billet that you placed on the table revealing the word house, then the second revealing the word tree and finally deal the card that says car
upon it onto the table ensuring that you keep the word house hidden on the reverse side. Ask the participant not to give away any clues by looking towards the card that has their drawing written upon it. When you have explained this ask them if their drawing is on one of the cards. The participant will state it is. This is where we are going to use a Bill Cushman-esque principle I loved his ‘Terasbos’ from the psychological subtleties series and this is a principle I created inspired by his. Address the participant, Performer: “Now we know that your drawing is here, it is my job to separate your drawing from the rest”. Look at the participant and then the billets and back to the participant. Pick the drawing of the tree up from the table, if you notice that the participant reacts when you pick up the drawing of the tree you leave it there your job is complete. If they do not react simply tear the billet and place it face down on the table. Performer: “One down”. Pick up the billet that says car on it and place it on top of the billet that says house on it, pick up both the cards at the same time. This ensures that you can flash the backs of the cards very openly without having to worry about the participant seeing anything that they shouldn’t. Separate the two billets ensuring that you are hiding the back of the card with writing on it with your fingers. After a few seconds tear the billet that says house on the face, leaving the double sided billet in your hand, place the pieces of the torn billet face down on top of the other torn pieces and ask the participant to state clearly which drawing they were thinking of. Whichever drawing they say now, ensure that you place the billet down that way up (as it is a 2 out billet) this will mean that out of three drawings you can instantly be 100% correct every single time. I’m sure you can imagine how useful this technique is, even outside of drawing duplications for anything that you need three outs for. Another psychological technique I have used for years and is not widely known is one I call ‘guiding’ –
Abstract This is a simple technique to force the image of a house on your participant. Performer: “I want you to completely clear your mind, in a moment we you going to build an image piece by piece in your mind. Images are constructed of lines, dots, swirls and shapes. I don’t want you to think about anything just yet, as anything you do choose I want to be a completely free choice. I want you to let two shapes come into your mind, if you see a circle for example, imagine it growing and becoming ten times larger. When you have the two shapes in your mind build an image using those two shapes. Then after you have the image in your mind bring the image to life add a few things around it so it is not just an abstract doodle but now resembles a full drawing. Tell me when you have a drawing in mind” This is where I personally would ask them to remember the drawing as you will come back to it later. The image they will have constructed in their mind should be an image of a house with a tree next to it (usually to the left), the sun in the sky and almost always the chimney will have smoke coming out of it. By placing a ‘time delay’ before getting to the drawing it aids in making the audience forget the process in which you got to the image. Try this a few times you will be amazed at how simple this is, I remember my first paid show (which was in a bar) utilizing this on the entire audience as a macro effect. In this bar (as with all bars in England) they do a thing called house spirits. Essentially it’s the cheaper alcohol than the branded alcohol. I placed up images of houses all over the bar and on the way into the bar with the words, “house doubles, add 1 pound” which is the offer that the bar had on at the time. Then when it came to asking the entire audience to create an image in their mind. When I told the entire audience what drawing I was transmitting to them and got a huge reaction, I simply pointed out the images that were littered all around and explained that those images had influenced their decisions. Obviously this was a pseudo explanation but it gave the audience a process to focus on and made people believe they could be influenced. That’s just a small story from long ago but it was the instant memory that I recalled whilst sharing this image force.
Abstract association Another thing that is really cool with this type of routine is when you are using multiple participants. Let’s say you are performing close up for a small group at the table. The first participant at the table quickly makes a drawing (it should be the house), you ask for the billet with the drawing on to be handed to the second participant who will be asked to draw things around that drawing to make it into a picture. You might give an example of what you want them to do with a script that is along these lines. Performer: “I want you to look at the drawing for me, let’s for example say that XXX (insert participant’s name) has drawn a chicken, if I asked you to draw things around that drawing to turn it into a picture you might draw a barn or more animals to create the picture of a farm yard. This would stay congruent and consistent to the drawing that the first participant made. I am sure you can imagine the amount of vast possibilities there in terms of pictures that could be created and it is dependent on XXX”. They will naturally now draw the tree on the left hand side, the sun at the top right, a smoke with a chimney and sometimes a picket fence. This process is normally over in less than a minute. Reading this it might seem that it is drawn out - this couldn’t be further from the truth. Ask the second participant to pass the billet to the third. Performer: “Obviously now that picture you created as a team will consist of several different drawings, all of which none of us could have pre-empted. I want you to focus on one of the drawings. Tell me when you have one in mind”. The participant claims that they have done as requested. Performer: “The only question I am going to ask is which portion of the drawing are you focusing on, the left, right, top or bottom”. They will naturally tell you now which portion they are focusing on and you are free to reveal what the drawing it is that they are thinking of (dependent on the portion of the picture that they selected). If you wanted to take it away from the picture that was drawn you could always have the third participant focus on a particular portion of the drawing and then think of something that they would associate with that drawing”. Here is a script that will guide them, Performer: “I want you to take a look at the drawing you are thinking of, we are going to play a game of image association. If the image you are thinking of has
an exact opposite then go with the opposite of the image you are thinking of for example, for a dog you would think of a cat and if you can’t do that then go with an image that you instantly associate with the image you are thinking of. Now you are thinking of an image that no one else in the room could possibly know apart from you. Tear the drawing up we no longer need it as the image you are thinking of exists solely inside your head”. The sun would obviously be a moon, a tree would be a flower or grass/ leaf this will force them pretty much to choose these two images. Don’t worry too much about this, as you always know what the full drawing was and you have several reveals you can incorporate into the routine at any one time. This is where feel I would like to go off on a little tangent. If you are ever in a situation in this type of routine where you are panicking because you feel you have taken your participant too far and you feel lost yourself NEVER show you are worried, in-fact never worry. It is really simple, as your participants never knows where the routine is headed and they don’t know enough about how you read minds to tell you how you are reading them, you can practically tell them what you want and they only have your word to go on and as long as you hit in the end it confirms what you are saying as true anyway. The best artists are the ones that never worry when something seems to be going wrong, they make it part of the journey and make that part of the journey feel like it was meant to happen. Here is an example of a script that you can use if you find yourself in a situation like this, for the purpose of demonstration we will stick with the routine we have just talked about (Abstract association). Performer: “You are now thinking of a drawing that you just created in your mind. This drawing doesn’t exist in a tangible form and therefore there is no way that anyone could know what drawing you are thinking of”. We will pretend that we (The performer) has lost track of what is going on just for the purpose of this example and how we would get out of this situation cleanly. Performer: “It’s my job to look at you and try work this drawing out, then work backwards to figure everyone else’s drawings. Essentially what we are employing is reverse mind reading, I am going to read you, work backwards to work out what I think you would associate with the drawing that you are thinking of and then think of several drawings that I would associate with that drawing and then pick out the one that I feel is most prominent out of all them drawings to work out your drawing (the performer points to participant one). Look at me, in your head tell me the image, say nothing out scream it to me in your mind.
Ok, keep sending it I think I have this… What would I associate with this image (the performer focuses his attention on participant 2) tell me without saying a word what drawings you made. Scream it in your mind now (the performer takes participant 2’s hands) I think I have this… Ok this is the image that stands out the largest out of the entire group (the performer makes a drawing on a billet and then places it face down onto the table) and by default I think what I have just drawn is the image that you are thinking of (the performer points to participant 1). If I have managed to do this, if I have really managed to work from the end mentally visualized your image, then visualized all of yours I should now know yours. What is the image that you drew?” Participant: “A house” This is where you would turn the billet over and sit back, if you act excited at this point it will really sell the fact that you have mentally worked yourself and you yourself are excited that you have somehow have managed to backtrack all of the images. When in reality, you lost your way completely and then just created a process/ journey in which it seemed you are doing something even when you are not and when you hit the first image you indefinitely knew you are confirming to everyone that you must have in-fact guessed everyone else’s drawings. Whenever I am writing I always try to be very in-depth with the explaining things, in this instance the last thing I have just tipped - when you realise you can use this as a stand-alone principle to accompany any drawing duplication you will see the true value in how we just applied the ‘Confirmation principle’. I wish I could do the little winky icon that everyone uses on social media as I really feel it fits here. You can see how in performance how I would get out of a situation like this, if I am not employing this principle just for the sake of it. I never worry about anything in performance as there is always an out it is just about training your brain to find it. In all honesty in a close up situation where I can afford to be more lenient I purposefully put myself into a situation where I have to get out of it. This is thrilling for me and completely keeps things fun. I love that bold moment of completely letting go of the control and just free falling. I then have to think on my feet in order to get things back into orderly fashion. I am so thankful that I have trained myself like this, it has really helped me when I need to perform something new as I can instantly script something now without having to think. I promise you if you start doing this now, you will completely thank me for this piece of advice later. One principle that is little talked about that can also be utilized to create a super clean drawing duplication is ‘pencil reading’.
Pencil reading This is essentially what it sounds like, the idea of watching the way that the participant’s pen moves while they make a drawing in order to be able to define what they have drawn upon a pad or billet (without having to utilize a billet peek). This is something that I have made a purposeful effort to work on over the last couple of years and has served me well in many different scenarios as the main method within an effect or the out. There are several tips and techniques I have developed over the years to ensure that the percentage rating is much higher than just hitting and hoping. There are a few things that you need to take into account when ‘pencil reading’ the first is that the pencil is the last of your priorities. Here is an outline of the priorities that occur before you would ever focus on the pencil (if you focus on the pencil at all). After outlining the priorities I will break down each of the priorities and then piece them back together one by one and at the end detail each priority in full. The distance between you and your participant The thing that the participant is going to write on What the participant is going to use to write with How the participant is holding the thing they are writing on (in terms of height etc.) The instructions that you give your participant The speed the participant is drawing The movement of the participant’s elbow Finally the movement of the pen/ pencil (if needed) As you can see there is a varied amount of things to focus on before watching the movement of the pen/ pencil. The distance between you and your participant The ideal distance for pencil reading is anywhere from 3 – 6 feet, at 3 feet it can be very disarming as the participant never suspects that you would be looking especially if we employ the gypsy peek (which we will outline later) I have found that the closer you are to the participant the more fooled they are as this is something they will never suspect.
6 feet away is unnatural if the person is seated, 3 feet away is unnatural if the participant is standing. I find when seated that if you drink your drink while they are drawing and watch the participant out of your peripheral vision if you time this perfectly then there will never be any suspicion that you are looking (I know that I have not outlined what to look for yet but please stick with me). If the person is standing, you could always address a second participant and talk about the amount of variables that exist when it comes to making a drawing. As you refer and talk about drawings point towards the participant and just watch the first participant draw!! Think about it this way, if you are talking to the second participant and asking those questions that participant is going to be focused on answering and not watching your every action. The first participant will hear you talking to the second and therefore will never suspect for a moment that you can see what they have drawn (in any context). When you have refined the technique over this distance, you can then stand the participant further away and practice at that distance. I once pencil read Marcus Lewis (head hacking) from one side of Covent Garden square to the other (width wise not length). I still remember the drawing that he drew – A Christmas tree. Now you know about the ideal distance that the participant needs to stand let’s talk about what they are going to write on Ideal writing materials The smaller the thing that participant is writing on the better. The reason this is the case is that the pencil will extend well outside of the area of the card and therefore it makes it very easy to see the movement of the pencil and when making a drawing on the card, because their wrist is confined to a smaller area their elbow will telegraph like crazy and will make this the area I would recommend focusing on. If you gave the participant a business card to draw on that would be ideal. I would recommend this or a journalists note pad (the small pad) I would have them turn the pad onto its side (landscape) when they make their drawing on here again the top of the pen/ pencil will be visible outside the edges off of the card. If all you have to hand is a normal sized pad, the speed of the drawing is the deciding factor in how the participant will telegraph with their elbow the drawing. The faster and larger the drawing the participant makes (on a large pad) the more visible the movement of the elbow. I will outline exactly what to look for later.
What the participant should use to write The longer the pen/ pencil the better, when I first practiced this ‘Steadler’ pencils became my go to because the pencil was black and yellow – Like a bee or a wasp and stood out no matter what environment but even more that that it had a red ball on the top of it. This made it very easy to focus on that specific part of the pencil. As long as the pen is of a good size (in terms of length) it should be perfect for pencil reading. The duller the pencil tip, the better – The participant will have to dig into whatever they are writing on making the movements much slower and making it much easier to follow the pencil as the participant will have to re If it is a pen, if you rub it across an eraser, spray the tip with hairspray or run the pen till it is almost dry the participant will be forced to repeat each line over and over, giving you more than enough opportunity to sight the drawing! These are just little tips that all aid in helping to ‘up’ the probability in practice of picking up on the drawing. Once you are well versed in this technique these little subtleties you can drop out. How the participant is holding what they are holding This is very simple and by far the shortest step of all, the participant wants to be holding the pad or billet landscape at chest to chin height. This is where you will have to experiment which is best for you. I am a fairly tall guy, so chin height for me is great because the participants elbows will be stuck out to the side meaning their hands will be hovering and they have to make an over exenterated movement to be able to draw the drawing and by watching the participants elbow it will give you all you need in order to know the drawing. As I mentioned previously this is the simplest step, just ensure they are not obscuring the tip of the pen and that they are drawing landscape at chest to chin height. The instructions you give your participant This is by far the most important step to getting a good ‘read’. Your instructions have to be clear and concise in order to get your participant to follow what you are asking of them Performer: “I want you to take this and I want you to hold it like this (demonstrate holding the card you are about to hand them landscape), hold it just like this so that there is no way I can see over the top of the card in any way shape or form. In a moment I want you to simply make a drawing, I want you to use the entire area of the card. Make the drawing as large as possible go for something we would recognize like a dog, cat or a stickman. I want you to clearly be able to show that to everyone and them be able to see what you have drawn.
Before you make your drawing, write your name at the bottom of the piece of card”. [This is so that you can gauge the positioning of the pen, if you notice that you cannot see the pen over the top or they are leaning to far back not moving their elbows then this is will give you an indication early to get a gauge on how the participant writes and you can plan whether you are going to follow through with pencil/ pen reading or employ a different technique. This is your fail safe as you have prepared yourself should you need to move into a peek routine instead of pencil/ pen reading.] This is where you would remind your participant to draw the drawing largely and you are ready to start.
The speed the participant draws at If you notice that your participant wrote their name excessively quickly, then you might need to condition your participant to draw a little slower in order to give you more of a chance to pick up on what they are drawing. This is as simple as saying to them, “When you make your drawing make it clear and concise, each of the lines carefully constructed to fully portray to everyone should they look, exactly what you have drawn”. The participant is going to completely follow what you have asked to the letter and this should ensure that you get a good read on them.
Watching the participants elbow This is where you need to focus, when the participant is writing their name it should give you a good focal on whether you are focusing on the participant’s elbow or the pen. If you notice little amounts of telegraphing in the participants elbow then you would dismiss this and focus on the pencil/ pen. Most people telegraph massively and will give you everything you need without having to resort to looking at the tip of the pen. Look at the tip of the participants elbow and imagine that there is a pen attached to it. Imagine that with each movement of the elbow the pen attached to the elbow is making a drawing construct the drawing.
Watching the movement of the pen If you notice that the participants elbow is not giving you what you need in order to start to construct the drawing then focus on the tip of the pencil/ pen. The tip of the pencil/ pen at this point is going to be the deciding factor in giving you what you need to know about the participants drawing. I would suggest to practice this don’t aim to do a drawing duplication, just ask a friend or a partner to make simple drawings and see if you can guess them. Remember
I have already provided a list of drawings that are the most popular so the likeliness is that it will be one of them drawings. You could always give your partner/ friend the list and have them make a drawing and start by getting accustomed to learning these drawings as they really are the most popular. I think you will be surprised at the results that you will get after a small amount of practice.
Additional idea You could use this in conjunction with a one ahead, let’s assume that you miss the first drawing or are unsure. You could ask the person to make a second drawing and try to watch for this one. This will give you a second chance to guess the drawing should you miss the first time. You could employ one of the psychological forces outlined earlier for the second drawing that way all you have to do is confirm that the psi force has hit via following the first few lines. I also do a very cheeky thing when pencil reading, once I feel that I know what the drawing is I look away casually I don’t make an overt effort to look away. If this is a house I can look away after I see the square being drawn and the start of the roof. Here is a simple script that you can employ during employing psychological drawing duplications - this will drastically up the probability of the drawing being part of the list that I outlined earlier. Performer: “One thing I find particularly fascinating is the imagination of a child. When we become adults our minds become polluted because of all of the platforms of media we are subjected to. I would like to show you what I mean. In a moment when I snap my fingers I want you to close your eyes. The performer snaps his fingers and continues – I want you to go back to being 6/ 7 years of age, imagine being in your bedroom as a child surrounded by things that you have likely forgotten about now. I have done this myself and it is strangely comforting to remember the toys and little things we had as children that we then took for granted. You are completely free of any responsibility, you have no stress and no one depends on you for anything. I want you to imagine that there are a bunch of crayons on the floor, you pick the black Crayola crayon up and simply make a drawing in this vision you have created in your mind. It could be anything, a dog, cat, stickman I want you to open your eyes and then make THAT drawing you made in your head on here”.
This is where you would obviously hand them the billet to draw on. I have found this really helps in them simplifying the image as they are thinking through the eyes of a child. BUT look at the way that you have set the script up. You said that the imagination of a child is vaster than an adults as their mind is not polluted. If you come back to this point after they have made the drawing on the piece of card and committed to it makes the drawing they have drawn seem more impossible. Especially if you give them a few examples of a few of the things that you would have drawn as a child, in my case it would have been a rocket ship with an astronaut peering out of the window and an alien riding the rocket ship. This is naturally going to be more of a difficult and in-depth image than the one that they have drawn. This gives the participant and audience an example of the sort of thing that they COULD have drawn. This can be used with the regular psi force or the pencil reading. [You can use this script with the next duplication that is outlined in the indexing section - The only difference is that instead of telling the participant to pick up the black Crayola ask them what colour they are picking up. This will make no sense right now but when you read the next section bear this in mind.
Indexing Indexing is another thing that really fascinates me, first I will start with a very simple idea that I created a long time ago (which I am going to class as a form of indexing but it is technically not – it is more multiple out) and then talk about how to create a simple index and utilize that index in performance to create a ridiculously clean prediction effect. This effect utilizes a principle I call ‘Restricting without seeming restrictive’, this idea was born after being dissatisfied with simple psi forces, I hated asking someone to think of a colour and then revealing what it is, for me it just didn’t sit right. It felt underwhelming to perform and because of that I cannot even begin to imagine the experience from the participant’s perspective. If I don’t feel happy with a routine or premise then I cannot expect my participant’s to not feel that when I am performing it. I started using ‘thought linkage’ to psi forces that were likely to hit. If I asked you the reader at home to imagine a colour…. You got one? Now imagine taking a pen (that is that colour) and drawing something that is that colour….
The drawing you have just made is a completely free choice right? At first I thought you had gone for an apple/ heart but you changed your mind to the sea?? -
Again this is just a guess.
If it hit great, if not don’t worry – You might have gone for the sun, a flower or a tree? If you didn’t go for one of these it means you are weird… Just kidding, In all seriousness though, this totally restricts your participants to making a drawing that is usually one of the drawings I just mentioned. Take a billet draw the sun with a smiley face upon it (just in case they draw a smiley face this is still going to be a hit), take a second billet draw a tree with grass and a flower below it, a third billet draw waves and a boat on top (draw an arrow towards the sea and write the word sea – you will understand why later) and finally a fourth billet with an apple on one side and a heart on the other. This is going to be important later. I position these billets into an order I could remember in different pockets. I place the red one in left trouser pocket, blue one in my right trouser pocket, yellow back left and green in back right. Ensure you know the orientation of the three cards that are in your pocket (so you can bring them out appearing apparently blank). During a performance I would sit with the participant and explain to them that subconscious imagery can be used as a means to knowing things about a person without them having to say a word. Ask the participant to name the first colour that pops into their head as soon as they say the colour if they say red, ask them to imagine taking that colour and making a drawing. Then you would give a reading for that drawing, and then pull out the card to display that you have indeed predicted in advance that the person would go for. This is by far the weakest out, my preferred out is one of the other cards and this is the reason why. As soon as the participant names the colour say, “In-fact before we go any further, I want you to imagine taking a pen that is that colour and in your mind make a drawing”. The card will be out on the table at this point (blank side up), “I want you to make the drawing you are thinking of on there. It doesn’t matter if I see it”. This will prevent the participant from picking up the card from the table and revealing the other side should it not hit. When the participant has made the
drawing, you will know if it has hit or not, this is where you will give them a reading about the drawing that they have made. During the reading I would be tempted to guess the persons star sign and other pieces of information using the drawing as a guide. [I am not going to go into the reading here as it doesn’t contextually fit, for more information on readings see the readings section of this volume.] If the drawing hits, simply finish with, Performer: “I told you this was about getting to know you, I am a big believer in fate to such a degree that I believe I was supposed to meet you today. Right now I do not know the reason, but if fate decides we are supposed to know the reason it will shine favorably upon us and let us know. There is only one way I can really prove I was supposed to meet you today… Turn the piece of card over”. They will turn it over and the drawing will match. If it does not, they never know that a drawing is on the other side and the reading will be great and the participant will think you know more than you know – remember you never stated that you were going to duplicate the drawing or predict it in advance. This type of routine can be used as a test to ‘get to know how your participant thinks’ and then you can move onto something you consider more sure fire. These type of routines are very simple, light to carry around and at the same time fail safe IF you are comfortable as a performer. An extension of this routine is a routine that I call ‘Wish you were here’ – This is a routine that I outlined on my first penguin lecture and I always find this routine a pleasure to perform whether it is to a full audience in a stage show as a macro effect or in a close up scenario.
Wish you were here This routine is a routine based off of the ‘restricting without seeming restrictive’ principle it is an extension on the routines that you have read above. I love this routine and when I first created it I was obsessed with opening any close up performance with this. It is essentially a way of forcing the image of ‘a beach’ on your participant – There are two ways you can achieve this, here is the script for the first. Performer: “I want you to imagine we are sat on top of a rainbow overlooking a blank canvas, I want you to imagine the colours of the rainbow are paints so you would have red, yellow, pink, green, orange, purple and blue. Imagine taking one of these colours and using that paint as the main colour in your pallet and then using that colour to paint a landscape. If for example if you
choose Pink, you might imagine painting a field full of flowers, green might be a field or a park. For obvious reasons don’t go for those as I mentioned them, think of either red, yellow, pink, green, orange, purple or blue and paint the landscape now”. The participant confirms that they have. Performer: “Peoples creations are often reflections based upon their own characteristics and preferences. I am going to base my drawing on what I see when I look at you”. Pick up your pad and draw a Beach; label the Sea and label Sand. I usually draw a little Boat and a couple of Seagulls - This is if I am feeling bold – I then say Performer: “This is going to be important later, don’t worry about that just yet”. Place the pad on the table face down. Performer: “Back to your drawing, what I see when I look at you is a kind, caring person that is warm hearted. I think you are the sort of person that has had some sort of despair and as a result of that keep people at arms-reach. When you let someone in to your private circle you really treasure them and are very loyal character. I think the place you are thinking of will be a reflection of a recent mood you have had, maybe wanting to escape from something a particular scenario. Based on that the place you chose will be relaxing, in your mind there will be no people in this image...Although the landscape you have designed would usually be seen as quite a public place. What landscape did you design in your mind?” Participant: “A Beach”. This is where you are free to reveal the drawing if it hits – if it does not all you have to do is tie the landscape they have drawn to the reading you gave a moment ago. As an example if they chose a field, well a field is empty and away from people. It might be somewhere you would go in order to get away from the stresses of the busy city life. This is something I cannot help you with really as it depends on the drawing that the participant draws and your ability to tie your little reading to that drawing. You can also use the dodge where you have the beach drawn on the reverse side of the card without mentioning it – and pull it out of your pocket and let them draw and reveal the drawing if it hits.
If the participant happens to go for something else give them a reading based on their drawing (As outlined in the readings pdf). This is a very simple idea, simple and effective. You could use this as a macro effect with the entire audience at the start of a show. This is a very effective way to show the audience just how easily they are influenced – It also means that really is no pressure on you missing.
Additional idea If you are wondering what to do with the pad (should the drawing not hit) and you said to the participant that you would come back to the pad later simply never get around to it – I rarely get asked about it. If the participant asks here what you can do with the pad, on the page where you have drawing the beach tear of the corner of the pad (before you have moved into performance) and then dog ear (fold up) the corner of the page below. This means if you lightly hold your thumb over the top page whilst holding the pad in your dominant hand and pull the page dog eared corner the second page of the pad will pull out with ease. From the back of the pad it will look like you are pulling out the front page. You can have an out on this second page, or the set up to another effect (like a magic square) or something that is bound to hit. You can have a short reading based on curiosity written on the second page or you can keep it ultra-simple. Have on that page the words – Independent, loyal, relaxed, bottles things up, small circle of friends, stress? Have these words staggered around the page. Leave the top page blank – when you perform this effect draw little aspects of the beach bit by bit as you look at the participant. When you give them the reading that I outlined earlier (before getting to the reading) and the drawing misses if the participant asks what was written on the pad. Pick the pad up and tear this page out simply saying “I was making notes about what I felt about you”. Sign the piece of paper and give it to the participant as a souvenir. I prefer to have the second effect set up and then bring the pad back into play purposefully as it is me that has reintroduced it and there is no dead time. If the drawing hits I revel the drawing and then I already have my second effect set up underneath the drawing and I can move straight into that. Another idea is to use the simple psi force of the colour blue. Performer: “Think of the first colour that pops into your mind and”…. This is where you would use the original scripting about them painting a landscape. This will essentially force them to think of red or blue (as these are the psychological choices). Then you know the landscape will be a field of roses or a beach. This is not as guaranteed as the outlined performance of this – I feel the outlined
performance also offers a lot more in terms of presentation but it is always nice to think of alternative methods also and it can’t hurt to try this. One thing I really love about this routine is the imagery it conjures up in the participant’s mind. This last additional thoughthas a more remote travel type of feel to it and I don’t know where this lies in terms of being magic or mentalism as the line is very, very thin I feel in this additional thought. Take a thumb tip and load it with sand and have it prepared in a pocket. When you start to probe for the drawing that they have drawn and you feel you are comfortable with the fact that they are thinking of a beach this is where you apply this script. Ask them to close their eyes this is where you take their hand Performer: “I want you to imagine climbing into this landscape with me imagine reaching down and scooping something up, something from around your feet for example if it was a field of flowers then you might bend down and pick up a flower or grass. Hand whatever you have in your hand to me in this image. On the count of three we will come back to reality 1…2…3. Can you tell the audience what you handed me?” At this point you would ask them to hold their hand out and pour the sand from the thumb tip into their hand. I performed this at a wedding I was booked for once to test this out and the reactions were insane. I think I have shared this idea with a couple of people but not really taken it much further than that. I hope you don’t overlook how strong this type of thing plays out.
Back to Indexing Here is how to create a simple index and then how to set it up – This should take you no more than a couple of minutes to create and you will be able to start using it instantly. This is just a quick portable index that is strong and reliable and you don’t have to start adding ridiculous boxes or metal structures in your pocket. It’s a wonder this hasn’t been thought of before If you call into Primark in England, or Penny’s in America (any cheap clothing store) you can pick up a wallet for a couple of pounds/ dollars. This is what we are going to use as our index. Flip the wallet over and score the back with a scalpel like this.
Take a stack of billets and draw the aforementioned psychological drawings, this doesn’t just have to be drawings it can be landscapes or anything else you would like to index. Fold the billets into quarters and then start to insert them into the slots in an order you can remember.
The order that I use is – From bottom left up to the top and then bottom right up to the top. Stick man – Bottom (left) Car – 2nd from bottom (left) Smiley face – 3rd from the bottom (left) Dog – Top (left) Cat – Bottom (right) Tree – 2nd from the bottom (right)
House – 3rd from the bottom (right) Sun – Top (right) The way that I remember this order is simple – “George drove with a smile on his face because his dog and cat were in his tree house to get out of the sun”. I usually stack 8 drawings – you can of course stack more you can at a squeeze fit up to 16 drawings on the back of a wallet. The wallet will go into your back pocket with the billet facing out from your body. It’s as simple as when the participant names the drawing reaching into the pocket run your finger up the back of the wallet and then pull out the relevant drawing! This is what the wallet looks like from the front and open.
As you can see from the front of the wallet and when the wallet is open it looks just like a standard wallet! Another thing I love is that it is incredibly simple to make the billet look like it has come out of the wallet also First loosen the billet in your back pocket so it is the only free billet from the stack (after the participant has made a drawing). Bring out the wallet ensuring it is kept face down (so the billets are hidden) retaining the loose billet on the back by the middle finger. Open the note section of the wallet and place your thumb inside the note section. Essentially your middle finger is holding the billet on the back side of the wallet and your thumb on the same hand is on the inside of the note section. Pull your thumb and finger upwards sliding the billet up – this
will look to the participant like the billet has just come out of the note section of the wallet. Another idea is to pretend to read the participant real time and draw on a blank billet. Fold the billet and then place the billet in front of you on the table…All the heat will be on this billet. Ask them their drawing and when they mention their drawing retrieve it from the index. It is as simple as swapping the billet on the table with the one from the index. I have never seen anyone adapt an index in a wallet like this but it seems so logical when you think about it, imagine having 16 different outs in your pocket accessible in a couple of seconds. This means other than the few cards you are not carrying anything extra in your pocket as it can still be used as a regular wallet also and the billets stay in place solidly. Indexing is something that I might come back to in the future as it is an area that I have not overly played with.
A glimpse back at history Sometimes while reading through old works of mentalism I come across ideas that totally spark my interest and make my head spin. This next routine is one of those routines, I tested this for the first time last weekend and it totally works! The routine is dated and there is some controversy surrounding who first invented it (no one seems to agree), the two places I have seen this effect are in outlined in two classic texts (everyone who is reading this should have read those). The first one is ‘Practical Mental Effects’ – ‘Thought Rays’ – Dr.L.E.Duncanson and the second is ‘The new encyclopedic dictionary of mentalism’ Compiled by Berling Hull – ‘Dr.Q’s Slate test’. There are so many great effects that are hidden in older texts, a lot of my thinking is totally inspired by the classics. There are so many hidden gems hidden in those books, from the principles to the subtleties they are gold and it is a crying shame that a lot of those books aren’t looked at as frequently as they should be.
Effect The performer hands the participant a slate and directs the participant to make a drawing. The drawing can be any drawing, the participant shows the audience the drawing and then wipes the slate clean. For good measure the participant is given a cloth and a bowl of water as there is still a faint line where the drawing was. The participant completely cleans the slate and ensures that there is no trace of the drawing.
The performer after reading the participant (never fishing or asking any question) then takes the slate and duplicates the participant’s drawing!
Breakdown Think about this effect for a few seconds, how would you achieve it? When I read the original description of the effect I had nowhere to turn in terms of method – I thought at first maybe somehow the performer got a peek at the board, maybe one of the audience members were a shill and coded the information to the performer. Whenever I read an effect description I play a little game in my head, I try to work out how I would do the described effect. I do this for two reasons, the first reason is that I genuinely enjoy the mental challenge - the process of not knowing and trying to find out is for me exciting as I never know where my thoughts are going to take me and secondly – I might be way off base in terms of figuring out the workings but I then know how I would do it, if I was performing the same effect and then have my own routine to add to my collection. This I think plays a big part in the way I create and approach effects, I think this is why every book I read I always feel inspired. It could be a sentence or a phrase that I love or a premise/plot and sometimes it is the method (if it is novel and interesting). If you buy a book for just the secrets you are totally missing out on all of the real gold hidden within the pages. Read, then re-read everything - the devil is in the detail. Now that you have had a little time to think about the effect let’s talk about the method. You will need to make a few preparations. The secret to this effect lies in the chalk, purchase some 3 in 1 oil and soak a piece of chalk in it overnight and you are ready to perform. This is essentially what will happen, if a participant draws on the slate and uses water to wipe the slate clean, the oil will cause the water (as the slates drying) to form bubbles wherever the chalk has made contact with the slate. Think about this for a few seconds! After the slate has been entirely wiped clean after 5-10 seconds the drawing comes back. In the original write up of this routine in Practical mental effects there was nothing tipped in terms of premise, scripting, justifications or audience management. What I am about to share is how I would construct the routine in terms of choreography – being honest this is a routine I have never performed, I have tried and tested the slate and the method works so what you are about to read is fresh in my head as I am writing this document.
I am going to try and type what is going through my head as I am creating the routine – This will give you the reader an insight into my creative process and at the same time might inspire you in the construction of some of your own. The first thing that I am thinking about is the spinal structure of the routine and the parts that stand out to me as being either A) problematic B) in need of a justification. Here is how I envision the structure of the routine, The introduction The set up Showing the audience the drawing Getting them to wipe the slate clean Being in a position to see the drawing without the audience seeing it Duplicating the drawing The reveal This is the spinal structure of the routine there are a few things that are problematic in this routine but easily solvable. I am going to come back to the introduction and set up as I usually write them last (after I know how the rest of the routine is going to play out) this means that if there is anything that is happening in the middle of the routine that I want to mention in the introduction its most logical to construct the routine this way. The first moment that stands out as being an issue (to me at least) is the participant having to show the audience. My justification for the participant making the drawing is so that he/ she can show the entire audience, logically it doesn’t make any sense for them to make a drawing and then wipe it off and as that is required for the method to work here is where I have to make a compromise. So I ask myself, why would I need an entire audience to see the drawing? Well there could be a couple of reasons, the first might be so that the participant is committing to one drawing and cannot change their mind, another justification is so that everyone in the audience can all transmit the image as a group, you could have the audience nominate one person as a judge and that person is the only person that gets to see the drawing and the audience as a whole are left in the dark about the drawing. Another option is to have the board given out into the audience for three random members of the audience to add something to the drawing – For example, the first person might draw a stickman, the second adds a hat and the third adds a walking stick.
There are many different options that are available at this point. What I normally do is write several different options and then choose the best one and then run with it – In this case there are two options that I like the most. The first is the audience transmitting the image as a whole and the second is the audience nominating a judge. Let’s run with number one and then look at number two and battle them against each other and see which one is victorious. In the first scenario the audience are going to transmit the image as a whole, this is where I have two options – I can ask the participant to draw the drawing and show it to everyone and then have them all imagine transmitting the drawing to me or I can create a reason for the audience to send the drawing to me. What you are about to notice is that when I am constructing a routine constantly breaking everything down like this not only helps me script but at the same time adds a natural narrative to the routine. The best reason I can think of for the need to have everyone transmit the drawing is if I failed at guessing it straight from the participant’s head. This not only logically makes sense but it adds an air of drama to the routine – It makes everything else seem so real. I now know why I am going to get the participant to make the drawing, I have a logical reason for the audience transmitting the drawing. At this stage, this part in the routine I would still keep open, as there were so many ideas as the performance flows later there might be a better idea that slots into the performance. I am very open at this part in the process. Getting the participant to wipe the slate is the next thing that I find is another key point in the routine – Obviously them wiping the slate is not an issue in anyway but again I want to create consistency in the routine and indirectly answer any potential theories an audience member might have AFTER the routine has ended. One such theory is that the slate has not been wiped cleanly enough and you somehow looked at the faint chalk lines. I am going to paint this moment red, make it stand out as I want to totally kill that point. I would have the participant go to wipe the slate as normal with a dry cloth and then make a point about the more skeptical members of the audience thinking that. I might even try to fit in another moment here that will get a reaction (whether it’s a laugh or taken as a hit for free here). I am going to give the participant who made the drawing a cloth and as I hand it to him/ her I am going to point to someone in the audience that looks like they might be trying to work things out or
look like they are skeptical. You can usually tell a skeptic as they are sat with their arms folded, this is the person I might point to as I am handing the cloth to the participant. Performer: “Wipe the slate so it is clean and I will begin to try and re-create… In fact, I know what you are thinking (point to the person in the audience), he’s thinking that this cloth isn’t going to clean the slate and I am going to somehow see the drawing after it’s been wiped away. That’s fine you be skeptical I don’t mind, to appease your thoughts we will wash the slate”. This makes washing the slate an after-thought, something that isn’t part of the routine it makes the audience feel like you wouldn’t usually wash the slate and you are only doing it because of the skeptical nature of the person in the audience. Here lies a snag, if you have a bowl of water prepared it is obvious that you were going to point to the person in the audience and then that entire moment we have just created becomes irrelevant and not consistent it feels and will look like a staged moment. I don’t want that. When I just pointed out the skeptic in the audience I would slightly change my body language to that of being a little bit pissed off at the fact that there is someone who is hindering the routine. Not too much just a bit. I would have a bowl with slips of paper in, maybe from an earlier routine or a bowl that has been used to hold pencils - anything that seems natural and has been in play BEFORE this routine. I would pour the bowl content of the bowl onto the floor. This is a really beautiful moment (I personally feel) as when you pour the content on the floor (out of the way of the performing area) the audience feel this moment is an unexpected moment and like you have not planned it. I would take my bottle of water I have been drinking during the set and would pour the water from the bottle into the bowl. Think about this in terms of visuals – If you have the bowl already prepared and then hand it to the person to wipe of the slate there is no drama or anything to see other than what it is wiping a slate. Then compare that to the visuals of pointing out a skeptic, then pouring a bowl out and filling it with water – The dynamics are more interesting, there is a sense of drama and at the same time we have quashed a potential theory and added a beautiful moment into the act. Hopefully you can start to see here just how everything is now starting to piece together. Next we need to find a logical moment to peek the bubbles.
I would personally use the same slate to duplicate the drawing, because you have given the participant a wet cloth there is no logical way that the participant can dry the slate off. I think the perfect moment to peek the bubbles is when you take the slate back and wipe it clean. This is the point where I have now got to decide on how the act is going to play out in terms of positioning of the participant – We have hit a point in the routine where the participant needs to be blocked from seeing the board. I wouldn’t suggest bringing the participant out of the audience because in this scenario the entire audience are going to be transmitting the drawing and it makes logical sense for the participant to be stood facing the same way as them. So I would have to naturally choose somebody from close to the front to make the drawing so that when they hold it up everyone is able to see it. This also means that when I take the slate back and dry it off, the participant and the audience never see the face of the slate as I am facing them and they are facing me. That part of the routine is taken care of and even though it seems simple enough, it has dictated to me where the participant is going to be stood during the duration of the routine. If I planned to bring the person onto the stage at the start of the routine it would have totally thrown out the entirety of the natural choreography in the routine. You can see why I start at the problematic spinal points in the routine and work around them – I have said previously that I start at the end and work backwards, this is true if I don’t have a method for a routine and in this case I do, so I am building the routine around the spinal structure. Duplicating the drawing now is easy as you know what the drawing is – so this has naturally taken care of itself and is a point I don’t need to focus on. The reveal of the information, I always try to think of entertaining ways to reveal information – Fresh ways that nobody could have seen coming. I feel with this type of routine that it doesn’t need too much in terms of revealing the information as the routine is pretty straight forward and a simple reveal is going to be the strongest in this context. But I usually tend to try and think about how I reveal information or how I want the end of a routine and sometimes when I am on stage or in performance I will change the outcome of the routine on the spot. Here is an example – If I notice that the participant on stage has had the free choice to draw anything and still draws a tree and I peek it (using any method) instead of me revealing the drawing – I know how to psychologically force the image of a tree so instead of revealing the drawing by just duplicating it and then showing the audience I would change the ending to get the entire audience involved. I would state that I didn’t know the drawing and then apply the psychological force to the audience as a whole – Then when I came to reveal the information at the
end there is a double kicker in the sense that a large chunk of the audience also came to the same conclusion as you. This is good SOMETIMES because if the audience were in any doubt that you were reading the person and they managed to pick up on the drawing as well by default you must be doing what you claim to be doing. Very simple logic but completely makes what you are doing feel real. Having the audience involved as much as possible in what you are doing is incredibly important and little adjustments when it comes to a reveal can make a massive difference – Who knows I might right a volume on it! Back to the effect at hand, as the entire audience is sending you the drawing revealing it in the simplest sense is the most logical way I can see to make the reveal. So essentially now we have the entirety of the routine apart from the introduction. I will now outline the entire performance including the introduction and hopefully it should all fit together smoothly.
Full performance – variation 1 Performer: “A picture speaks a thousand words, this one quote has always fascinated me more than any other quote. What is it about a picture that enables it to speak volumes? What is it about pictures that break down the barriers of language and enable us to communicate universally without ever having to say a word? I would like to share with you, what that quote means to me and why it is so fascinating, my obsession with this sort of game stems all the way back to my childhood. A few of my favorite games as a child were ‘Ballio’, where out of a group of people one person would hold onto a tennis ball and you had to guess who had it. ‘Rock, Paper, scissors’ which we all know and ‘Doodle’. Doodle was my favorite, I am not sure it was ever a real game but it certainly made Mr.Docra’s lessons more interesting. He would hand someone in the classroom a black board that looked very much like this one. (The performer presents the board) He would walk around the classroom and choose someone at random to take the board (The performer walks along the front line of the audience and hands someone at random the board) and a piece of chalk (the performer pulls a piece of chalk from his pocket and hands it to a participant). He would ask whoever he had chosen at random to make a drawing on the board, something we would all recognize making sure it was large enough for the people at the back of the classroom to see (the performer extends his hand as though to prompt the participant to make a drawing)”. As the person is making the drawing the performer addresses the audience.
Performer: “The interesting thing about Mr.Docra was his extensive knowledge in any given subject area, he was a man that was all knowing. He once said sometimes working backwards is better than working forwards. I never understood what he meant when he said that. Let me show you what I interpreted that as. You’ve finished your drawing now correct? The participant confirms that they have. Can you hold it up and show everyone what it is, as you are all going to be transmitting that image to me as a group. Can you wipe the board clean for me please?” The performer hands a cloth to the participant. Performer: “I know exactly what you are thinking (the performer points to a member of the audience) ok, we will do this your way! This gentleman thinks that there will still be faint lines if the board is cleaned with that cloth”. The performer after saying this walks towards the back of the stage, picks up a bowl containing pens and pours the bowl onto the floor. [Note*** the performer purposefully breaks the golden rule, he turns his back on the audience here. This is a beautiful moment of psychology, as performers we purposefully and consciously make an effort to attempt to keep facing our audience. Because of this, when we turn our backs for a period of time it is unusual to the audience and it will create an awkward vibe in the room which is what we are trying to portray. To make this part of the routine stand out as being something that wouldn’t usually take place and that way it completely hides the method (not that they will suspect it anyway). Imagine it this way, a guy that is always quiet and reserved is suddenly out spoken and forward – Wouldn’t it stand out to you? Sometimes you change the dynamic of a show by portraying specific moments differently to how the audience have become comfortable to.] The performer then takes the bottle he has been drinking from and pours it into the bowl and approaches the participant. Performer: “Soak the cloth in this water and wipe the board using the wet cloth, is this fairer for you?” (The performer looks towards the skeptic whilst he asks if it is fairer) The bowl of water is placed off to the side and the performer retrieves the board. The takes his handkerchief out of his pocket and dries the slate off and then addresses the audience,
Performer: “I want you all to imagine this drawing at the front of your mind, imagine sending this drawing to me line by line. Send it to me now, all scream the drawing in your mind, louder and louder, faster and faster”. The performer then frantically starts to draw, first starting slow but getting faster and faster as a smile slowly forms on his face. Just as fast as he started the drawing he stops. The performer throws the piece of chalk and addresses the participant, Performer: “What was the drawing you created in your mind?” Participant: “A frog”. The performer spins around the pad and holds it high in the air – The audience go crazy. This is the first performance when the audience transmit the image as a whole you can see how powerful this is going to play out. There are still a few things I would do to tweak this routine, things that can only be added after performing live. Let’ take a look at the second performance. This is similar to start with and then deviates, remember earlier when I said when I read a book there is one line that can change an entire routine for me. There is one line in this next performance that even though it is so small it really makes a world of difference.
Full performance - Variation 2 Performer: “A picture speaks a thousand words, this one quote has always fascinated me more than any other quote. What is it about a picture that enables it to speak volumes? What is it about pictures that break down the barriers of language and enable us to communicate universally without ever having to say a word? I would like to share with you, what that quote means to me and why it is so fascinating, my obsession with this sort of game stems all the way back to my childhood. A few of my favorite games as a child were ‘Ballio’, where out of a group of people one person would hold onto a tennis ball and you had to guess who had it. ‘Rock, Paper, scissors’ which we all know and ‘Doodle’. Doodle was my favorite, I am not sure it was ever a real game but it certainly made Mr.Docra’s lessons more interesting. He would hand someone in the classroom a black board that looked very much like this one. (The performer presents the board) He would walk around the classroom and choose someone at random to take the board (The performer walks along the front line of the audience and hands someone at
random the board) and a piece of chalk (the performer pulls a piece of chalk from his pocket and hands it to a participant). He would ask whoever he had chosen at random to make a drawing on the board, something we would all recognize making sure it was large enough for the people at the back of the classroom to see (the performer extends his hand as though to prompt the participant to make a drawing)”. As the person is making the drawing the performer addresses the audience. Performer: “The interesting thing about Mr.Docra was his extensive knowledge in any given subject area, he was a man that was all knowing. He once said sometimes working backwards is better than working forwards. I never understood what he meant when he said that. Let me show you what I interpreted that as. You’ve finished your drawing now correct? The participant confirms that they have. The performer then asks a lady at the front of the stage to collect the drawing ensuring it is kept face towards herself and she is to ensure that she doesn’t look at it or let the audience see it and then join me on the stage. Whilst the female is collecting the board the participant addresses the audience, Performer: “The lady that is about to join me on the stage is going to act as the eyes of the audience, she is going to be the judge from this point on. Whenever these type of experiments were conducted in the past there was always an adjudicator there to oversee the fairness of the entire experiment”. The lady by this point has arrived on the stage and the performer addresses her – Performer: “I’m Pete you are?” The judge: “Hi Pete, I’m Hayley”. Performer: “Hayley, I want you to take a peek at the drawing, please ensure you know what the drawing is and when you have the drawing in mind give me a clear indication so I know you have committed it to your memory”. Hayley: “I have done that”. Performer: Can you wipe the board clean for me please?” The performer hands a cloth to the Hayley and she begins to wipe the board. Performer: “I know exactly what you are thinking Hayley, Hayley is thinking that there will still be faint lines if the board is cleaned with that cloth”. The performer after saying this walks towards the back of the stage, picks up a bowl containing pens and pours the bowl onto the floor.
The performer then takes the bottle he has been drinking from and pours it into the bowl and approaches the participant. Performer: “Soak the cloth in this water and wipe the board using the wet cloth, is this fairer for you?” Hayley confirms it is. The bowl of water is placed off to the side and the performer retrieves the board. The performer takes his handkerchief out of his pocket and dries the slate off and asks Hayley to sit down on the chair that is on the stage. Performer: “I said to you that Mr.Docra used to say that working backwards is sometimes better than working forwards – Like I mentioned I never quite understood what he meant. Let me explain”. The performer looks towards the participant that made the drawing, Performer: “Right at the very start of this game I said to you that a picture speaks a thousand words, if that is the case all I have to do is read you to work out what it is you would like to say and by knowing what you want to say and then draw what I feel reflects what it is you want to say. Thinking about what I have just said, I am sure Mr.Docra was that clever he was gauging exactly how we all thought based off of the drawings that we created. What do I feel I know about you?” The performer would give a short reading – based off of what he knows about the drawing (For more information on readings, see the readings volume. The performer then frantically starts to draw, first starting slow but getting faster and faster as a smile slowly forms on his face. Just as fast as he started the drawing he stops. The performer throws the piece of chalk and addresses hands the board to Hayley asking her to keep the drawing towards herself, just as she had done on the way up to the stage. Performer: “What is the drawing I set out to duplicate Hayley?” Participant: “A frog”. Performer: “If I have managed to pick up on that drawing I think it would prove 100% that a picture does speak a thousand words right?” Hayley: “Yeah” Performer: “Take a little peek at what I have drawn”.
Hayley takes a look at the drawing and struggles to contain her excitement. Performer: “Show the audience”. Hayley displays the drawing to the audience and the audience go wild! Fin – As you can see with both variations of this effect there is one thing that I really took into consideration, ‘dead time’. For those who don’t know what dead time is it’s the couple of moments that occur when a participant is making a drawing and there is an awkward silence as the performer and audience wait for the participant to finish not only thinking about the drawing but drawing it as well. You will notice in both variants of this effect I have filled that drawing time with scripting – This is important as it keeps the audience entertained and at the same time it is implicit that you are not paying attention to the person making the drawing and therefore there is no way that you could be watching them. I know I mentioned this earlier but it is the best way to make it seem you are not pencil reading (when using pencil reading) and it fills them awkward spaces in routines. This is something that is not really a problem in close up but on stage it can be very awkward especially if the person is taking a long time. So here is the hard decision for me…. Which one would I use in performance? They are both good routines that are easily workable and at the same time are entertaining for different reasons. There are pros and cons to each routine, if this was being used as an opener I might be tempted to use the first variation as it involves the entire audience and is what Bob Cassidy refers to as a ‘Macro effect’. If it is being used anywhere else in the show I would suggest using the second variation as it packs a bigger punch from the audience’s perspective. I also really like the line in the scripting about working out what someone has to say and how they think in order to ascertain what they have drawn. I am going to name this effect “A picture speaks a thousand words’ for future referencing. Hopefully this has given you a look into how I construct routines and how I am critical of each accumulating factor when during the construction process of a routine. A little fact for the readers– I really did have a teacher called Dr.Docra, but the alliteration made want to change his name to Mr. Docra. -
Dr.Docra (Martin) if you are reading this, I am sorry for de-titling you, but it made for a better read and you always taught me to ensure when writing
that my readers are taken on a journey. I was 11 the last time we spoke, but I thank you for the brain training. The game doodle is a game that I made up for the purpose of presentation, but it seems like it might be the sort of game that a teacher might have his/ her classroom play especially at a young age.
Our first contribution is by a good friend of mine, Michael Murray – Michael is such a clever guy, you would not believe some of the ideas he has created. He is constantly inspiring me and has already played a huge part in how the entire field of mentalism thinks. I cannot wait to see what he creates in the future. He is a force not to be reckoned with. To view more of Michael’s work visit – www.Mindfx.co.uk
Introduction: From the moment I first read about the Triangle/Circle force in Banachek’s Psychological Subtleties, it has remained one of the most successful psychological forces within my repertoire. Never content that I had explored its limitations, my mind wandered for many years until I had the good fortune to meet Pete Turner. Pete has some marvelous thoughts on expanding limited range forces to give the impression of a much wider choice. In applying Pete Turner’s thinking to the Triangle/Circle force, I believe I have come up with something quite novel.
Performance: You begin by seeking the assistance of four spectators. “If I were to mention the term artist, it would probably conjure up the idea of someone who is very skilled at drawing or painting. However, as we know, art can take on many different forms. These include singers, sculptors, dancers and musicians. “The type of art that I specialize in is something altogether different, but with the theory of art in mind, how many of you here have heard of Picasso?... Picasso was the pioneer of the Cubist movement, and during this time he produced a series of paintings which were primarily made up from simple geometric shapes. “So with this in mind, I would like each of you to think of a simple geometric shape, something like a square, but not that one because I’ve mentioned it. Do you have one in mind?” The spectators respond positively.
“In a moment I’m going to ask each of you upon your chosen shape. To do this I’d like your shape (allow them a moment to think) begins with that letter...the first one that
to make a drawing in your mind based you to think about the first letter of and then to think of any animal that springs to mind. Do you all have one?”
The spectators confirm that they each have an animal in mind. “Out of over a million different species you each have a single animal locked in your mind. I would like each of you to imagine drawing your animals with a black marker pen. As you do this I will announce the impressions that I am picking up...” Note: Since the scripting psychologically forces them to think of either a Triangle or a Circle and you put pressure on them to think of the first animal that pops into their mind beginning with that letter (a T or a C), their choices are actually very limited. Through trial and error on my part, the selected animals will almost certainly consist of a mix of the following: CAT, CROCODILE, TIGER, TORTOISE, TURTLE and OSTRICH (For the awkward spectator who chooses an oblong or oval). You will note that there are six animals above, yet we only have four spectators, and so when we deliver this list, we will subtly cover all possibilities whilst apparently listing only four animals. is achieved as follows: “...I have received four distinct animals...a cat, like a wild cat, like a tiger. A turtle or a tortoise, I’m unsure which, a crocodile and finally an ostrich. If I have successfully received your animal, please take a seat.” All four spectators should now sit down, concluding the effect. If anyone remains standing I will resort to the following out. I take a single business card and upon it I draw (sight unseen) a boat. I will follow this by writing the words “Noah’s Ark” below it. I can then follow up the effect as follows: “Upon this card I have made a very specific drawing. Considering that my artistic skill is limited, If I had drawn a four-legged animal, this could be interpreted as many different animals. For example, it could be a horse as much as it could be a dog. For this reason I have written beneath my drawing exactly what it is, eliminating all confusion.” I now look intently at the spectator and smile as I suggest: “I think you will be impressed with this. Please take a look at the card and confirm aloud with a yes or no, would you happen to see your animal on here?”
Framed correctly, the spectator will look at the card, laugh aloud and agree. This will be perceived by the audience as a positive reaction to the revelation of their thought-of animal. Special thanks go out to Tim Lichfield, who suggested turning my gag into what appears to be a physical revelation. Note: Another alternative to “Noah’s Ark” is to draw a cage with long metal bars and to write the word “Zoo” below it. I would normally then close with the following words: “Now that I have a clearer idea of how your mind works, I hope that you won’t mind assisting me with another demonstration.” I will then follow this with a surefire routine to establish my credentials with this spectator. In the unlikely event that you have one or more spectators remaining standing, I will comment that they must think a little differently to most and suggest that they may be thinking of the exact same thing. I will then use the gag “out” for both spectators in the same way.
Additional Thoughts: I have in the past performed this over the phone and have also used this one on one, too. To perform this for a single spectator, you must carefully observe them when they are asked to think of an animal beginning with the first letter of their chosen shape. A quick acknowledgement that they have an animal in mind will indicate that they were most likely thinking of a circle, as it is very easy to think about an animal beginning with the letter C. Any delay or initial look of confusion in their response will indicate that they were thinking of a triangle, since animals beginning with the letter T won’t spring into mind as easily. I will then ask them to think of the colour that they would use to paint this animal. I then use the Derren dodge, stating: “Repeat the colour in your mind like green, green, green...” Any reaction, or lack thereof, to this should help you to narrow down on the spectator’s choice of animal. If you present this as a warm-up exercise with a preempted possibility of failure, then this will cover you should you fail. Note: For those that don’t want to present this as a mind-reading feat, you could opt to do the following. Take hold of each spectator’s wrist in turn and slowly move it around as you ask them to imagine tracing the shape of their animal in their mind (try to use the observational technique above and you can get some amazing hits by forcing their hand to draw the shape of a crocodile for example).
In this fashion it will appear as though you are reading their muscle responses to get your information. You may also wish to draw a striped cat, turtle, crocodile and an ostrich on a pad without any words below them and simply display the complete drawing to everyone asking them to take their seat if they see the drawing they had in mind. As mentioned above, should anyone remain standing then you are in an ideal position to use them for any subsequent effect.
Pete’s commentary As you can see Michael’s thinking is on top form, this type of routine is something that is a solid and straight forward and doesn’t require an addition. The ending of the routine with Noah’s ark I personally think is a stroke of genius and the first time this was performed on me I couldn’t help but laugh for about a minute and say yes! The next contribution is from Pablo Amira, as with all of Pablo’s ideas they are practical and performance based – I really like his ‘Preacher principle’ and I am happy he has shared it here. For more of Pablo’s ideas - http://www.amirasideas.com/
Simple Stage Duplication – Pablo Amira Outer Reality A participant is invited to the stage to experience mind-to-mind communication. He receives a pad and a marker to make a simple drawing and place it inside an envelope. Now the performer can start to duplicate his actions, finishing with a very similar drawing, proving that mind-to-mind communication was create Inner Reality This is one of the most direct approached to a stage drawing duplication that you can do. It does not use expensive gimmicks, just materials that you can find in any store. The core method is very simple. Get two “vinyl folder” big enough to keep your pads and gimmick one of them as in Annemann´s Window Envelope (photo 1 and 2)
(photo 1)
(photo 2)
I just modify the folder so it works like a flapless envelope. Then I add a little bit of electric tape on the sides and I have sturdy envelope/folder in which my participant can place his drawing. The routining goes as follows. You need two pads, two pens and your two folders, one of them with that window (don’t worry about the cut, nobody will see it, just you, hopefully) Ask the participant to draw a simple design/drawing. While this happens talk to the audience! Don’t wait like a unprepared performer. Study those moments. Then ask the participant to place his pad face down and to place his drawing inside the folder so it becomes “a surprise for the end” (an indirect manner to communicate “keep it private”) Then in the action of placing the folder on a table or a chair, you will casually lift it a little bit and do your secret peek. You can also write something on the front of the folder so, while you gesture towards that writing, you get your peek (I don’t find it necessary really) Now comes the duplication part. This is part of the interesting and entertaining process, so make it an experience for them. Don’t rush it and enjoy! (for this you can study Uri Geller and other great of Mentalism) Then give the participant your pad, reveal his from the folder, show it to him (getting the first reaction) and then get your applause from the audience, with a nice posture of yourself holding both drawings. Simple and direct (and cheap) method for drawing duplication for stage. You can use a big envelope of course, but I prefer the vinyl material.
Symbolic Audience Duplication – Pablo Amira Outer Reality The performer asks the audience to close their eyes and to visualize in his mind a simple drawing, a design. Now the mysterious man explains that this drawings, symbol and designs are subconscious projections and he will try to get some of them telepathically. Incredibly enough, the performer can reveal some of them, getting confirmation from the audience. Now a member of the audience is asked to join the stage, go to the back and to draw the image The performer takes a pad and in a mysterious manner, while the participant makes his drawing, duplicates the actions and thoughts from him, finishing with a strange moment of a drawing duplication.
Inner Reality This routine is diabolical in my opinion and uses a principle that I call the “Preacher Principle” plus inspiration from Kenton Knepper-Indirect Drawing Duplication and Dunninger. First, let’s see a basic explanation of my “Preacher Principle”. I realize years ago an interesting social dynamic happens in any type of church in which at one moment everyone close their eyes. Normally while the preacher makes a “call to follow Jesus” (in a Christian church of course), while everyone had their eyes close, he started to say “Yes, thanks for your raise hand…. Ok, other one…thanks God…” So because we have our eyes closed, everyone assumes that this action is real. So based in this psychological assumption and social dynamic, I realize that this can be also applied to Mentalism (maybe a little bit of a heresy, but it works) So, in this context (I use it also in one of my Q&A), you will ask everyone in the audience to close their eyes and to think in a simple drawing. Now say: “Ok, I am picking a beautiful red flower…please the person who is thinking in this rise your hand... Ok great.. We have one connection done…” It doesn’t matter if this really is a revelation or not, everyone will assume that this is real or not. Your last line “we have one connection done” indirectly suggest that you saw a hand rise! Now that you understand the principle, you can construct your script and make some nice revelations. After this first process, let everyone open their eyes and say:
“Ok, we connect and I could see various drawings and symbols, but I didn’t pick a specific image from you (pointing to a lady in the audience) please join me and let’s try something different. Please a big round of applause for her!” Now, while you are taking this lady to the stage, you will use the “Dunninger Ploy” to get his thought! A simple script such as: “What was your drawing? Tell me…” will do the work with proper confidence and no guilt. She doesn’t know what you will do, so ask and continue your routine. Now that you know her thought, add: “The interesting thing is that we will do something different. I told you before that drawings are symbolic, right? Projects part of our subconscious. I will try to understand your subconscious. Take this pad and draw that image that you have in mind. In an hypotethical case that you are thinking of a ladder, you can draw a wooden ladder or a mechanic ladder, is your choice, and every choice will say something from you” As you can see, through our communicative skills we will setup the dual reality aspect that allows the participant to experience a “drawing” representation of the word that she told you moments ago, but for the audience will be a true miracle of a thought interpretation! Also you can realize of the power of the word “hypothetically” in the script, that again, allows us to create the dual reality. Now place your participant behind you and instruct her to start to draw her mental image. You will do the same while she is doing it but giving your back to the audience while you draw… WHAT, your back! Bad theater!? Well... break the rules and try it for yourself. It is an interesting type of staging that can give good drama to your performance. Now obviously at this stage you will not get an exact drawing duplication, but this is good because it gives credibility to the performance and also will allow you to take chances and use your real intuition to create this effect. Take her pad, look it yourself, show her you pad and conclude with the applause cue showing both drawings.
The next contribution is from a friend of mine that has never released an idea to the community before – This is Mij’s first release and I am happy to be able to host that contribution here. He is a super smart guy and flew into Holland to hang out with me during the process of writing this volume. I know you are going to love his work, his ‘Wonderland principle’ is something that he is working on currently and I guarantee when he has finished it is something you will want to add to your repertoire. I hope you love his contribution.
Double D – Mijrin Al Hajri Firstly I want to say that it is an honour and pleasure to be included in this instalment to Peter’s wonderful set of mentalism PDF’s. I have been a fan of Pete’s since I first watched him in his Penguin Live lecture years ago, so having the opportunity to be included in this course means the world to me. I am currently sat in an airport in Amsterdam drinking a coffee which I am pretty sure is the only thing that is keeping me up at this hour of the morning so when I was asked by Pete to contribute to this PDF I struggled to find which effect would suit this PDF best and I think I have found a method for a drawing supplication effect, which you will all enjoy, especially if you are like me, an Android user. This effect can be achieved with our without a borrowed Android phone (I use a Samsung A5 for reference) with that being said this method will only work for an Android device but I believe Chris Ramsey has an effect titled ‘i’ which uses an IPhone to achieve a drawing duplication effect. I am unsure if our methods are similar but I know that he has work on this kind of thing too. I like to carry the bare minimum on me at all times. I carry only the things that I need, my keys, my wallet and my phone at all times. Occasionally I have a friend I can out run with me in case of a random psycho bear attack. With that being said, I also like to perform mostly propless mentalism and if the effect needs a prop well then I try and find a method or adapt another to fit within one of the 3 everyday items I carry. So why use a phone instead of a billet you ask? Well, billets to me and the demographic that I perform to be strange things to carry around with me, I am at university, so using a phone as a form of billet works out best for me. And this is how we are going to achieve
this effect. We are going to have our participant select an image online and we are going to peak the image by navigating around the apps on the phone. This is achieved through the recently used apps log on the Android devices. Most of the devices have a button to the bottom left of the phone which leads you directly to this log if you tap it while the phone is unlocked. I have included still images to guide you through this process to insure that you will be performing this effect within moments of reading the methods. I have also included a method for drawing a thought of friend and then being able to reveal the thought of friend’s name with little extra work.
The Basic Effect, version 1: A spectator is asked to select and view an image online using a phone and then asked to draw this image in their mind. The performer is then able to duplicate the drawing with almost pin point accuracy. You will need a pen, a pad and a mobile phone with access to the internet to perform this effect.
The Method: Please note that the method is more or less the same for all three variation of the effect, so please familiarise yourself with this first method to insure you understand the other variations while reading this PDF. To perform this you will need a minimal amount of set up, this set up is optional however. The setup is like so, you will want your pen in a pocket that you can easily reach along with a small drawing pad that you can get to easily. If I am at University I usually have a bag with these items in them already. Next you will want to open the phone you are going to use, be it your own phone or theirs. You will want to unlock the phone and from the home screen press the bottom left button which should bring up the recently used apps. Clear the history if you are using your own device but do not clear the history if you are using their device. The reason for this is that if they check the recently used apps page then it will tip the method, which is why it’s safe for you to use your own phone. It should be noted that this set up can be
done under the spectator’s nose while you are performing of have just performed another effect such as directly after a pin unlock effect. To start this effect out are going to want them to go into their phone and select an image online, this can of course be anything however I would recommend having them select a simple image as you might not be able to draw everything they might select. Once they have an image ask them to hit the home button and hand back the phone. Now that you have the phone you are going to grip the phone in your right hand with enough room so that your pinkie finger can reach around and tap the recently used apps button as in fig 1.
Fig 1. ‘The Pinkie Tap Grip. You have now gained access to part of the drawing without your thumbs ever leaving their sight as shown in fig 2.
Fig 2. Partial Peak
You will now want to transfer the phone from one hand to another and just before you take the phone with your left hand you are going to want to tap the picture with your left thumb to reveal the full picture as in fig 3.
Fig 3. Full Peak Now that you have the full image in mind you are going to hold the device at the bottom of the phone at the finger tips and press the home button at the same time so that you back track anything you have done. Fig 4 should show you the correct position. Wait for the home page to load again and once you have handed the phone back to them you may
begin to reveal their drawing, although I would say that you should not reveal it right away, a little dramatization never hurt anyone.
Fig 4. The Return Grip
The Basic Effect version 2: A spectator is asked to select and view an image online using a phone and then asked to draw this image in their mind. The performer is then able to duplicate the drawing with almost pin point accuracy. You will need a pen, a pad and your own mobile phone to perform this effect. This variation does not require you to have an internet connection For this variation you will need a bit more set up and this can only be performed with your own device. You are going to go into your gallery on your phone and create a new folder titled ‘Images’ and fill it with roughly 50 images downloaded from the internet. I recommend using simple house hold images, things people would naturally be familiar with. The reason we are going to be naming the folder ‘Images’ it fits with the theme of the gallery and thus should not arouse any suspicion if anyone were to look at it, after all it is a regular folder.
Once this is done the method is the same as variation 1. You will however clear your recently used apps log before starting this effect as it is your phone and thus no one should be looking thought it after the effect has been performed.
Bonus Effect ‘2 is company, 3 is a crowd’ A spectator is asked to select and view an image of a friend on Facebook using a phone and then asked to draw this image in their mind. The performer is then able to duplicate the drawing with almost pin point accuracy, and then reveals the name of the friend they were thinking of. You will need a pen, a pad and a mobile phone with access to the internet to perform this effect. However you could variation 2 in the same way however just changing them with names of your friends or some famous faces. I would perform this effect in that way as I believe the name revelation effect is what turns this effect into a strong piece of mentalism. I feel that this drawing duplication effect is best suited to fit within a reading of some kind. If you have read Pete’s ‘Readings’ PDF then you know the power of a good reading and I feel that this effect could be used to gain the name of a close friend adding another hit to the reading. Again the spectator is going to have their phone open and you are going to ask them to select and image. This time instead of merely selecting an image you want them to go into their Facebook app, search their close friend and then find a profile picture they like. This is done by clicking the profile picture and swiping through them. Once they have the image the method for peaking the drawing is the same as the other two variations however this one has a little extra step so that you can gain the name of the person that they are thinking of. Once you have reached the recently used apps tab you are going to place your thumb on the screen and pull down roughly half way on the screen and the name should appear faded at the very top on your screen as shown in fig 5.
Fig 5. Facebook full peak with name reveal. Once you have the name and the face of the person they have selected you are going to want to release the phone and go to the pinkie returning position I mentioned earlier. You now have the name and image of the person they are drawing, I would suggest drawing the picture as close to the picture that they have selected as you have already asked them to burn the image in their mind. I hope that you enjoy the drawing duplication methods I have shared here with you today. If you have any questions please contact me via Facebook, my information is in fig 6. Best wishes Mij
NightSky - Dee Christopher A few years ago I published a method for forcing a participant to think of a particular person in their life; for instance, their mother. This allowed you to make a lot of educated guesses in your reading before revealing the name. Fraser Parker independently created a similar idea a couple of years later also, in his style. You can read both of our work on the subject in his “Memoria” booklet. My work also resides in my book “Deep Shadows” alongside many more of my methods, devices and routines. These days, I don’t always carry a deck of cards with me, though inside of my wallet, I always have five ESP cards. This is one of the routines I devised with these cards, to create something utterly different from most routines with ESP cards. This draws influence from mine and Fraser’s work mentioned above, as well as Peter’s work in his “Wish You Were Here” routine. In this routine, you will be forcing the participant into creating a simple scene in their mind, a scene that you will duplicate in putting pen to paper, thus creating a duplication of a drawing that only exists in their mind. The concept is simple, but it’s almost foolproof and has a built in out. You can twist the ending to make it just about revealing the ESP symbol as a lead in to some other routines with the cards. The routines plays as follows: The performer has a participant select an ESP card and create a simple scene in their mind. With a little acting on the performer’s part; the scene is mysteriously duplicated and the card is named. We will be using a force of the STAR card to create a scene of the night sky in the participant’s mind. Let’s first look at how to force the ESP card. If you use a full deck of ESP cards in your act, you’re welcome to use any playing card force of your choice. If you’re using just five cards, as I do, you can position the star in forth position in the face down packet and deal the cards one by one to the table, relying on a timing force. You will say words to the effect of; “I’m going to deal these cards to the table, say stop whenever you’d like.” Begin dealing slowly as you finish your line to ensure that they can’t stop you on the first card you deal. If they stop you on the second card you deal, you will perform a double lift (the third and fourth card in the stack remaining in your hand) as you turn your head away so they see the card and you do not. If they stop you on the third card, you will turn your head and just hand them the fourth card to look at. If they stop you after you deal the fourth card to the table, you just
turn your head and ask them to look at the top card on the table (fourth card) and finally if they stop you as you deal the last card, pick up the entire stack and double lift as you turn your head away to show them the star. Once they’ve noted the card, they can shuffle it back in to the stack and you will say words to the effect of the following; “I’m going to have you create a scene in your mind, based on whatever symbol you are thinking of. For instance, if you’re thinking of the circle, you might see that as the sun in the sky, shining over a field. Take a second now, take a deep breath and allow a scene to form in your mind.” This simple piece of script leads them towards thinking of a night sky. Just follow your own instructions as you draw a few dots on the paper, gradually making them into stars, a crescent moon and draw a horizon line below these. Make this line ‘a bit wobbly’ i.e. not perfectly straight. This could be seen as land or sea. I also draw a small vertical line to the right which could be seen as a tree, a lighthouse, the mast of a boat, or whatever else you can think of! Once I’ve completed my primitive drawing, I’ll ask them to describe their scene. More often than not, you’ll be spot on. If you can direct their attention to the horizon line, and the tree line to represent any details, you’re winning. You can leave it there, or move on to reveal the symbol if you wish. Again, a very simple concept, but a way to really switch up your work with ESP cards and easily create a pretty solid drawing duplication without the need for any peeks or impression devices.
Pete’s commentary The one thing I love about this routine is the simplicity, a lot of us make things more difficult than they have to be and a lot of the time the performance is the only thing we need to focus upon to make a routine special. This routine uses linking thoughts to get to an outcome and any routine like this I love (as you will have noticed the amount of uses of it in this volume several times). There are couple of things (not related to drawing duplications) that one might consider if you wanted a non-mechanical solution to the force of one of the symbols and also a way to make this (almost) guaranteed psychologically no matter what symbol they choose. Before we look at that, this is just for those that are interested in psychologically forcing the star. I really don’t know who to credit for this force, its source seems to be unknown but not the less don’t overlook how simple it is.
Performer: “I want you to quickly look at these symbols and decide to yourself which is your favourite out of the entire group. When you have one in mind just keep repeating it jut in your head over and over again”. This will usually force the star symbol – If it is men I have found they usually pick the waves. When I thought about Dee’s routine, I loved the idea of tying one of these symbols to drawings. It was simple, there was room for a good premise and it ‘restricted without seeming restrictive’ I sat for the evening and thought about the routine and after a whisky or three I created this sub routine that is purely psychological. Try this, Think of one of the E.S.P symbols… Have you got one in mind? Imagine taking whatever design you are thinking of and changing it into a drawing, go with your instincts. Do have a drawing in mind? Is it one of these? Starry sky House Smiley face Stickman The ocean or sea The idea hit me that instead of trying to force one of the symbols mechanically or psychologically why not just think of drawings for each of the symbols and then ask a couple of clever questions in which the participant says nothing out loud and know what drawing they are thinking of. That way I had the leniency of them changing their mind and at the same time the restriction was still almost the same. I always find with mentalism that involves the force of a card or a mechanical move with cards its often easier to re-adjust verbally. Let me give you an example (this is a mini tangent I promise) let’s say I am using a stop force and the participant is one card out from where I need them to be. I can employ a second deal, a strike change, a double lift, a top change and all of these will utilize a mechanical move. Let’s for example sake say it was the participant that was dealing – They are holding the deck. You then have to take the deck and apply the mechanics. I would simply say as I see them stop, Performer: “Do you want to deal one for luck?”
This is a very old Irish line that refers to drinking they used to say the aforementioned line and “One for the road” – I have found that 8 out of 10 times the person will deal one more card. A lot of people whether suppositious or not believe in luck and something just resonates with them. This ensures that I need never touch the cards, what do I do if they don’t deal one more card? I utilize one of the mechanical options listed above. I opened myself up and opportunity that never existed before by using words, we can’t physically see words and therefore when this option pays-off there is no visual compromise. The real lesson here is to take a look at whether there is room to budge verbally in a safe way and then apply it if there is. In Dee’s routine I think there is a lot of room for it, I would set the premise up at thus, Performer: “I would like to try a simple experiment, in the 1940’s there was a test in which a professor named Rhine would test for psychic phenomenon by a range of people from a range of demographics and test to see how well they were at transmitting imagery telepathically. The results of the experiment after being placed under strenuous test conditions were poor to say the least. They arrived at the conclusion that you would have more luck by just guessing and that forcefully trying to make educated guesses hindered even the probability of guesswork. I think I know why the results were so poor. They spent so much time focusing on the semantics of the experiment that they forgot several important factors. A brain I have found is a lot like a mobile telephone in the sense that one person needs to decide to communicate with the other and the other needs to be open to receiving the communication. If both people are trying to call each other at the same time the call cannot get through and likewise if each person is waiting for the other person to call the call will never take place. To simply that, you have to find two people that are communicable – One person transmits information and the other person has to be open to receiving it. I honestly don’t think they spent the time testing which participant’s had which qualities. Another thing that was lacking in the experiment was engaging the brain enough to operate on a level that it would be willing to transmit the information. Here
are the designs that Rhine used in the experiment, he said that he purposefully made them bland so that they were not distracting”. The performer displays each of the cards. Performer: “I can feel that you are better at transmitting information, much better than I am, as I read people so, if you can send information and I can receive it then let’s see if we can’t recreate a similar test and see if we get better results. I want you to think of one of these designs, when you have a design in mind think of the first drawing that comes into your head whilst thinking of that design. Let the imagery flow, this way you it takes it away from these bland designs and you are thinking of something your brain created itself.” The participant will naturally confirm when they have done this. They should at this point be thinking of A starry sky Stickman Smily face House The sea/ocean This I where you need to apply some clever questioning in order to ascertain the thing that they are thinking about. Performer: “In your head, say the drawing over and over again. Imagine my brain is having a conversation with yours and it is asking what the drawing is. I want you to imagine this drawing comes to life it is physical. Can you imagine touching this thing and imagine what this thing actually feels like for me?” This is where you need to gauge the participant’s reaction. If you notice they look like they are struggling to do this in anyway shape or form you now know that they are thinking of the Star. If there is any deliberation at all you will know it is the star as it is something they have never physically touched and therefore they will have a hard time imagining it. The rest of the things on the list they will be able to imagine touching and therefore it shouldn’t take them long to imagine touching it. I have noticed from experience that the cross is the least chosen design of the group as people find it difficult to think of anything to draw when thinking of the cross. So I tend not to focus on that but keep it in the back of my mind just in case.
So left we have House Smiley face The sea Stick man Let’s take a look at these and focus on the commonalities that exist between most of them, as we are going to indirectly via pumping ask questions to the participant and then we should be able to identify the exact image that they created in their mind. The closest commonality is that three of them have a human element to them. The house the stickman and the smiley face all have a human element – You are to simply pump for this do not ask. Performer: “I am feeling the drawing you are thinking of almost has a human-esque element to it”. They will confirm it if it is and give you a confused or stern type of look if not. Then you counter with – “What I mean by that is I am feeling a sense of movement and beauty that attracts humans and inspires them, this has been the focal point of a lot of paintings already I feel”. If you get the confused look or stern face and have to use this statement the likeliness is that they are thinking of the see and you know exactly what it is. If they confirm that it does have a human-esque element you are down to. The quickness of the reaction when asked the previous question should quickly separate whether they are thinking of a house or the stickman/ smiley face. I am confident enough to go for it at this point and know with almost certainty if it is the house or not. You shouldn’t need to go past this point trust me you will know via the participant’s reaction. Face Stickman House You could pump one more time if you really wanted and say something like “This is where things get a little bit confusing as sometimes it is difficult for me to translate specific thoughts. This thing is outside right now isn’t it?”
If you get a yes at this point you know it is the house and you can then move into duping it - If you see the participant does not instantly react with a yes quickly say “In-fact look at me, concentrate”. You essentially cut the participant up from saying no and verbalizing the miss. This is a technique that requires timing, I call this technique ‘Muting’. It essentially prevents them from ever verbalizing the miss so to the audience they never hear a miss and at the same time when you cut the participant up, they will always assume when you hit the drawing that you changed your mind at the last second and therefore will never see it as a miss. This technique has become a staple in my work, I notice when people are about to say yes or no and then I can quickly counter by changing direction before they have verbalized it. I think it is probably one of my favorite techniques. You are now free to duplicate the drawing in any way that you choose. As you can see this routine is simplicity at its best but it hits hard, the reason being is even though it starts with a controlled 1-5 in the end the participant will always imagine that their choice would have been vast and certainly not just a 1-5 choice. I think we are the only people (performers) that focus on things in terms of 1-5, lay audiences don’t think in such ways. To someone who wants to believe something as small as a one to five gives them all the proof that they need. The final contribution is from Ross Taylor, Ross is quickly establishing himself in the mentalism community. His ideas are fresh and interesting and he has an innate interest psychological methodology – If you have not seen any of Ross’ work and this is your first introduction to it I would suggest looking into it.
Introduction This is a simple force of a drawing from my book “Ecrof”. If called upon to perform when unprepared, I’ll often use this force and have the spectator produce the drawing on a napkin or on their hand. I like the aesthetic of presenting two drawings side by side, and thus have no problem with classical methods applied to this effect, so the occasions on which I use this are those when the available writing materials are not conducive to my own physical techniques; I do also use it on occasion to reveal a purely thought of drawing, but for me the visual feature of the affect is what makes it so appealing, so this is a rare occurrence. The scripting that follows is a slightly edited and expanded form of the original description in ECROF, further details of which can be found on my website.
“I’d like you to think of a simple shape for me. Now change your mind. And again. And again. And again. Perfect.” This part of the script forces the spectator away from a circle, as they will think of this within the first three choices. By going beyond this, therefore, we ensure they’re on a straight-edged shape.
“To really make sure we’re exploring every option: if you’re thinking of a straight-edged shape, switch to a curved shape. A curved shape, switch to a straight-edged shape. [snap] So this could clearly be any shape or symbol at this point, I don’t know if you’ve gone for a geometric shape or a more intricate symbol – this is completely random ” This script makes use of a principle I refer to as “The Mirror Principle”, to restrict a spectator’s choice whilst apparently expanding it, by having them change their mind across a polarity we create. Because we control them to think of a straight edged shape initially, they’ll now be on either a circle or a semicircle (I’ve never had an oval). We’re now going to have them generate a picture from this shape.
“I’d like you to create a simple drawing out of this, by adding a few lines in or around it. [circular gesture with hands]. Just get something in your head, now [snap]” “A few lines in it” will clearly lead to a smiley face if they’re thinking of a circle. “A few around” has a good chance of leading to a more Cheshire Cat-style grin if they’re thinking of a semi-circle (although admittedly this is closer to 70% than the 85% I’d expect for the circle – figures which, I’ll admit, I have to some extent plucked out of my arse. However, they are based on estimations made from experience.) This effect is a little gutsy, but builds on pre-existing psychological force images. This makes it quite reliable. I have missed on this. Worst case, you draw an image close to the spectator’s in general shape/outline. An out I have used is to draw a smiley face inside a sun, as with the end of the Teletubbies; this can be interpreted either way and accounts for two of the most popular images. It also hits dead on from time to time, which is always nice. I for one am fine with a close miss occasionally, especially given how fair the conditions feel. I don’t have enough of an ego to be bothered by being a little off. The alternative is a little fishing, making general statements about the drawing during the revelation process, to determine whether or not you’ve hit. The line I use is simple: “I’m feeling quite positive, does this make sense? There’s a smile on my face?” If no reaction came from this, I’d transition into a classical method. A slight reaction may lead me to go with the Sun, after elaborating about feelings of
warmth and happiness and gauging the reaction. For a quick, casual, bold effect however, I find this quite satisfactory. Finally, one may consider using sound reading as a confirmation of the success of the method, as a curved line is easy to discern from a straight line even with our back turned. Thus if we haven’t succeeded in our force, we are aware of this well in advance, and have time to jazz a revelation prior to any embarrassment. Don’t be worried about the straight/round polarity being an obvious one. There are several curved-edged shapes once we think about it. Given that the reframe implies they could have been thinking of a more complex symbol, this will not cause you any issues. Furthermore, once we get into the drawing, everyone forgets the initial shape. Equally, a sort of dual reality is created, and the audience at large is never aware of the initial shape; therefore even if there’s some kind of smart-arsed bastard in the group, the force is concealed from them. This is just an additional layer. I hope you’ve enjoyed this contribution. I’d like to thank Pete for his inclusion of my work here, it’s a real pleasure to be considered amongst such great company. I’m sure this will be a wonderful project, and I wish you all the best. With love, Ross x
Pete’s commentary What I love the most about this routine and something I will be thinking about myself is the section wherein Ross forces the participant away from the circle. I have tried this a few times and it works! More often than not we are too quick (myself included) to jump to saying “Don’t think of a circle as I just said that” and I think looking at this it has inspired me to look at them moments in my own routines. The tiny moments in routines are the moments that mean the most to me and I love the fact that Ross has taken a look at a detail it seems a lot of us have over looked.
Final thoughts This brings us to the end of the drawing duplication volume. I hope you appreciate that we have not just tried to jump straight to having a participant draw something and peeking it. It is beautiful (for me at least) to see people thinking outside the box to create drawing duplications. As you can see this pdf entails a lot of different ways to actually do this for real. It is a mix of psychic, psychology and methodology. Please think about the ideas shared in here carefully, they may seem very simple but the reactions you will get from these drawing duplications are massive. The methods littered throughout this volume enable you to create miracles. Don’t just look at these approaches to drawing duplications, go back over the classic texts and take a look at the interesting ways in which drawing duplications were employed in the past to inspire how you think about them today. With that, thanks for reading. Pete x
The End
