THE EUREKA MOMENT Robert Domenech
© All copyright owned in its entirety by Robert Domenech – August 2009 No part of this publication may be stored, reproduced, copied or transmitted without the prior written consent from the author. TV and live performance rights granted. Conflicting live performance rights reserved.
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This document has been electronically encoded with the buyer’s personal information for tracking. If you are planning to send copies of this e-book to your friends, please know that I will use this electronic tracking to pursue you and take the appropriate legal action against you. Please respect this Art and keep it protected. Be a part of the solution, not the problem.
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This book is dedicated to all of the men and women, past, present and future, that have dedicated their lives to pushing our beloved Art in the right direction.
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CONTENT
Introduction
p. 6
Foreword
p. 8
Afterthought
p. 10
Brute Strength
p. 17
Poolside Prediction
p. 27
About Face
p. 34
A Strange Feeling
p. 39
Memory Lane
p. 42
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Introduction The year was approximately 265 BC and a young mathematician and philosopher named Archimedes was tasked with the challenge of detecting fraud in the manufacturing of King Hiero’s golden crown. The king had suspected the blacksmith of replacing some of the crown’s gold with silver, but he did not know how to prove it. Archimedes happily accepts the king’s challenge. Archimedes pondered the problem for quite some time, but found himself running into one brick wall after another. Wracking his brain to the point of exhaustion, Archimedes pays a visit to a local bath house where he sinks into a hot bath to help clear his mind and relax. As he sinks deeper and deeper into his bath, Archimedes notices something peculiar; the more of his body that enters the water, the more water is displaced – making the displaced water an exact measure of his volume! He quickly realizes that since gold weighs more than silver, the blacksmith would have to use more silver in the crown in order to make the crown weigh the same as its pure gold counterpart; therefore the silver infused crown would displace more water than a legitimate gold crown. It was at this moment that Archimedes had found his solution. His eyes widened and his mind raced. He sprung out of the hot water and ran all the way home wearing nothing more than his glowing excitement as he famously proclaimed “Eureka! Eureka!”
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Thank you for purchasing “The Eureka Moment”. By now, I’m sure you are wondering what the above story has to do with a book pertaining to the art of Mentalism, so I will now gladly tell you. Anyone who really knows me knows that nearly every idea that I come up with spawns from me relaxing in a hot bath for hours. Sometimes the idea of a plot will come to mind, sometimes it’s an idea for a demonstration, but no method, while other times the routine and the method hits me all in one shot. I have learned to keep a digital voice recorder next to my bathtub to quickly dictate the thought that just came to mind. Before the voice recorder, I would literally spring from the tub, soaking wet, and run through the house desperately trying to find a notebook and a pen. Quite a sight as you can imagine! I call these sudden bathtub ideas “The Eureka Moment” and I do hope that you enjoy them. Robert Domenech Euless, TX - August 8, 2009
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Foreword I would love to share with you one of my favorite magical memories. It was nearly fifteen years ago and a young magician took four coins, sat himself on the floor and began to delicately cover them one at a time, with his hands. Each seemed to dissolve and reappear with a gentle beauty that is hard to recapture in words. This was the first time I had witnessed “Shadow Coins” and I remember being quite taken with the moment. It was a perfect piece of magic. What’s more, is that this elegant illusion was performed by a gentleman too young to be employed as a part-time demonstrator, so he “helped out” by coming to the magic shop on as many Saturdays as he could. This young magician was Rob Domenech. What struck me most about Rob, at that time, was his profound ability as a sleight of hand magician and his age. Rob was very skilled and had a “deft touch” that seemed to be both deliberate and gentle; everything looked magical in his hands. Years passed and I wondered what became of Rob, but heard little of his goings-on. Recently, Rob and I were reacquainted via a popular magician’s forum and I was pleased to learn that he too had developed a profound love of Mentalism. Barrie Richardson once said that “former magicians make the best Mentalists” and this certainly holds true for the work of Rob Domenech.
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Rob’s work still is characterized by thoughtfulness and a commitment to subtlety and nuance that is a common thread, uniting his work. What follows for you, the anxious reader, is a series of intriguing mental routines that are at once powerful and simple. I love his style. You will find that many of the techniques and methods described are familiar (if you have been interested in Mentalism for any duration), but what really impresses me about Rob’s work is the way he frames, maximizes and amplifies these ubiquitous mental methods. In my opinion, this is where the art lies. Every nuance is essential in selling the illusion of mind-reading. While I have my favorite routine (which may be obvious to you later, but a secret it will remain), you will certainly have your own. It is my sincere pleasure to introduce to you the Mentalism of my friend, Rob Domenech. Enjoy what follows… Sean Waters Perry, Georgia - August 8th, 2009
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Afterthought An impromptu way to read minds The Mentalist asks a spectator to think of a date. After a few moments of concentration, he writes something down on the backs of three different business cards and lays the cards down in a row in front of the participant. The participant is then asked to turn over each of the cards where it is found that one card contains their thought of month, another contains the day and the final card has the occasion. - end -
Explanation A few years ago, I found myself obsessed with the oneahead principle and I wanted to come up with an effect that was completely impromptu and had no apparent means of a force to get one-ahead. In most effects utilizing a oneahead, a visible means of a controlled choice is apparent. For example: • A stack of cards containing the names of exotic cars is produced. • A spectator is asked to select one and replace it in the deck. • They are now asked to imagine what color they would like to see that car in and the performer writes something down. • The spectator is now asked to think what their custom license plate would say and the performer writes something down on another card. • Finally, the spectator is asked to think of the model !
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of this car and, again, something is written down. • Each card is now shown and the performer has successfully written down each fact about this imaginary car on each of the cards. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the above effect and it does have a very nice advantage in that the last thought is never said out loud. The disadvantage of the above effect, in my mind, is the use of the pack of cards. While your force can be executed with absolute perfection and be impossible to detect, I feel that it takes away from the purity of the effect. While contemplating a new routine using the one-ahead, I sought out a way to use a very subtle force that MUST relate to the other free-choice thoughts. I went through multiple subjects and ideas the, suddenly, it hit me like a ton of bricks in the form of a single sentence! “Think of a specific date that is personal to you.” I then went around and asked this question to over 50 different people and the majority of the answers was their birthday. The second most common answer was an anniversary. This command is delivered in the same manner as any psychological force; without giving the participant much time to think about it or change their minds. As with any psychological force, there is no 100% certainty that it will hit every single time, but a few outs are covered in this routine.
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I am providing you only the important pieces of the script to this routine and I strongly urge you to create a full script that is suitable to you and your performing style. Here is how the routine progresses: Remove three business cards (or billets) from your pocket along with a pen or pencil. Hold the three business cards in a stack with the blank side facing you. You now tell your participant the following: “Think of a date that is personal to you. Get this in your mind now and do not change it. Do you have one? Good. Imagine yourself standing in front of a very large calendar. When I say “now”, see yourself tearing out pages from this calendar one by one until you reach the month you are thinking about. When you reach this month, do not say a word, but just stare at the month boldly written across the top of the page. Ready? Now!” Write the word “Anniversary” across the card facing you and move this single card to the back of the stack as you briefly flash the blank side of the next card and ask for which month they are thinking of. Obviously you will want to make a mental note of this. For the next phase you tell the participant to concentrate on the specific date: “Go back to the calendar in your mind and look at all of the different dates. There are 30 days in this month (depending on the month they say) and I want you imagine that you are circling your date with a large, red marker. As you continue to circle the date, imagine the !
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red circle becoming brighter and brighter. Good.” You will now write down the month in abbreviated format (ie. “Jan” for January, “Feb” for February, etc.). Remember that you are supposed to be writing either a single or double-digit number, so if you write out the whole month it will take too long and look suspicious. When you are done writing, move this card to the back of the stack behind the “Anniversary” card and continue: “With that same red marker, write the occasion next to your date. Make the letters bold and large.” Act as if you are having a bit of trouble with this one. Furrow your brow a bit and shake your head. Begin writing out the date (ie. Ninth, Twenty-first, etc) and stop half way. You are expected to be writing out an occasion, so writing a single or two-digit number will be too short. After you pause, say: “Hmmm. I’m really not too sure about this, but I’ll go with it anyway.” Finish writing out the number and you will now appear to move this card to the back of the stack, but what you will really do is move this card and the card behind it as one to the back of the stack. This will put the cards in their proper order just as if you legitimately were doing what you said you were doing. Do NOT make this a move! After you shift the two cards as one to the back of the stack, hold the cards writing side down in dealer’s position. Deal the cards of the top of the stack from left to right in front of the spectator. Begin to put away your pen or pencil, then
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hesitate as you say: “I’m really sorry, but I think I’m going to change this one? (Point to the “Anniversary” card.)” Pick up the card and put a single strikethrough line through the word “Anniversary”. Make sure that the word is still readable. You will now write the word “Birthday” underneath it. Place this card back down and say: “I really don’t like second guessing myself, so I hope I got that right. What was the occasion you were thinking of?” If they say either “Anniversary” or “Birthday” just look uninterested and move on by pointing to the “Month” card as you ask them to, once again, state the month they thought of. After they say, instruct the participant to turn over the card. The same action is done with the “Date” card. When you get to the “Anniversary/Birthday” card, one of two things will happen: 1. If the spectator said their occasion was “Anniversary”, say: “I really had a problem with this one, but I think that you will still be surprised with what I wrote down. Take a look.” 2. For “Birthday” say: “I really had a problem with this one, but I am glad that I changed my mind. Take a look.” In the first case, as long as you left the word “Anniversary” readable, you will still have a hit on your hands. !
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What if the occasion they thought of was something unexpected like “Graduation”? In this case, you will start with the “Occasion” card first, “Date” second, and “Month” last. This way you end with two hits instead of ending with a miss. You’re just going to have to take this one on the chin, but the two hits should help ease the pain. This is an anyplace, anytime, minimalistic routine that has given me some very strong reactions. I currently use this as my “hey, show me something” routine and has rewarded me quite well. Do not pass this one up due to its simplicity or because you are afraid of the “Anniversary/Birthday” force not working. I have only had the force miss just a handful of times and each time it is not seen as a big deal since the routine ends with two solid hits. Give it a try. You will not regret having this one in your arsenal.
Additional Information From the time that you ask your volunteer to think of the date up to the time for the reveal, you have a really nice time misdirection that you can exploit. When I get to the moment that I am about to flip the cards I say: “You could have thought of any date you wanted. You had a completely free choice. That means that I have a one in 365 chance of getting this right!”
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The above statement can be said with 100% confidence because it is absolutely true. What you are doing is erasing the memory of when you told them to think of a specific date that is personal to them and replacing it with a memory of you simply asking them to think of a random date. Don’t pass up this opportunity to add this extra layer of deception!
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Brute Strength A demonstration of mind over matter The Mentalist asks his audience to remove some change from their pockets and hold it on display in their open hands. He walks around to each spectator looking at the change in his or her hands and then finally reaches into one person’s hand and removes a single quarter. He asks this person to help him with the next demonstration. Keeping the quarter in full display, the Mentalist removes a marker from his pocket and asks the participant for his or her initials. Using the marker, the Mentalist writes these initials on the quarter and asks the participant to confirm. The signed quarter is now placed in the participant’s hand and the Mentalist asks the participant to close her eyes and simply believe that the coin is becoming soft like rubber. Shortly after focusing on the coin, the participant proclaims that she feels something strange in her hand. At that point, the Mentalist quickly tells her to squeeze the coin. The participant is asked to open her eyes and open her hand. She looks at the coin and is shocked to find that the signed quarter is now bent! - end -
Explanation I’ve always enjoyed watching a PK effect when it was done in the right hands without any funny looking moves. My friend Banachek is a perfect example of this. His silverware bending is so polished and each move is motivated. No !
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jerky hand movements. No strange gestures. He never fails to drop the jaws of his audience with his artistic metal bending. I wanted a PK effect that could be performed close-up and it had to look impromptu. I knew that I did not want to carry around a bunch of spoons and forks, so I opted for a borrowed coin. Of course I’m not really going to bend the borrowed coin, but it sure will look that way. I’m left-handed so I will write out the instructions as such. For you right-handed folks, you will just have to do what all of us left-handed people have had to do for so long and read “left” as “right” and “right” as “left”. I’ve dealt with this for the vast majority of books on magic, so I’m sure you can endure it just this once. You will need a black, fine-tipped permanent marker in your front left-hand pants’ pocket and a quarter that has been slightly bent near the edge of the coin in your right-hand pants’ pocket. I keep the marker’s cap clipped to the lefthand pocket for quick, no fumbling removal. It’s not necessary, but I find it makes things run much smoother. You are now ready to perform. I find that it is best to not use this effect as a “let me show you something” routine, but, rather as a “hey show us something!” demonstration. What I mean by that is it’s best to wait for the inevitable moment when you are asked to show your stuff. When this moment occurs, ham it up and appear to be reluctant to do something, then finally give in to the pressure and begin.
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(Please note that the instructions below are supplemented with a video demonstration that comes with this book that shows you what the moves should look like. Nothing is exposed in the video in an attempt to keep it from being an instructional video to pirates. Between the video and these instructions, you should be able to get a grasp of what’s going on here.) Begin by reaching both hands in your pockets as if looking for something during which you clip the bent coin, by the bent edge, between the right-hand index and middle fingers. Look up at the group and ask, “Does anyone have any loose change?” As people begin searching for change, casually remove both hands from your pockets and allow your right hand, with coin, to hang down at your right side. If you keep your right hand wrist slightly (and I do mean slightly!) turned inwards towards your body, the coin will easily be concealed. You will now ask for everyone to hold out their change in their open hands as you walk up to each person examining the coins. What you are doing is looking for a quarter that closely resembles your bent one. This is important because you don’t want to choose a dull coin for the effect only to have it miraculously become shiny after it bends. That’s a trick in itself, but not quite what we’re looking for. Once you have found the perfect coin, you will openly pick it up with your left-hand fingertips and ask the owner of the coin to help you. Allow the coin to fall onto your open lefthand near the tips of your fingers in full display. You are now ready to make the switch right under their noses. This is my favorite part!
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The switch we will utilize here is the Larry Jennings’ Bill Switch. In one smooth motion, your right hand (concealing the coin) is going to come up with the back of the hand facing the audience.
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From this position, your left middle finger will lever its coin up and press it against the ring finger of the left hand. You need to be very careful that the coins do not “clink” together during this motion.
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With the coin pressed against the left ring finger, your left thumb will now go below the bent coin (clipped between the first and second finger) and secure the unbent coin against the fingers.
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Once the coin is secured, the left thumb will now move upwards and under the bent coin pushing it up and into view. At the same time this is happening, the left ring and pinky finger will curl over the unbent coin and putting it in a finger palm position.
If you want to learn more about the specific mechanics of this switch, please refer to The Classic Magic of Larry Jennings (1986, p. 216) and/or Larry Jennings’ Japan Lecture Notes (1979, p. 5). If you do not know this switch, do yourself a huge favor and learn it. I’ve also used this move for switching billets as well, but that’s another story.
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After the switch takes place, you will now be holding the bent coin at your right-hand fingertips concealing the bent edge. As a nice subtlety, briefly gesture towards the person with your open left hand as you ask the participant for his or her initials. Don’t make a big deal about it or even try to draw attention to it because, after all, it is a subtlety! Once you know their initials, retrieve the marker from your pocket with your left hand and remove the cap with your right hand and replace it on the back of the marker (see the video!). Neatly write their initials on the coin then blow on the ink to help dry it. Recap the marker with your right hand (again, watch the video!) and hold onto the marker with the same hand. You will now transfer the coin from your right fingertips to your left fingertips. As the transfer takes place, you will turn the coin initials towards the participant. Hold the coin at eye level to the volunteer and say the initials out loud. This is a simple way for the participant to confirm what you have written and as this takes place, your right hand ditches the marker and coin in the right pants’ pocket. The marker has served its purpose, so it is not suspicious to get rid of it. At this point you will ask the participant to open their hand where you will drop the coin in and “assist” them closing it. You don’t have to do this in a hurried manner because the coin is only slightly bent and no one knows what is about to happen. Take your time. Turn their hand over and use whatever suggestion you want to enhance the effect. I personally tell them to close their eyes and imagine that the coin is getting soft like rubber or putty. After a few beats of silence, I then say, “Hold the
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coin tightly. In a moment you will feel something strange. I can’t tell you exactly what it is because it’s different for everyone, but it might feel like the coin has a pulse or expanding and contracting. Do you feel that?” At this point, I have never had someone say that they could not feel this. Really all they are feeling is their own pulse from squeezing the quarter. This gets a great facial reaction from the participant and is the only suggestion that I use in this routine. If you want to use others, feel free, but don’t overdo it. A little goes a long way. After they confirm that they feel “something” in their hand, you now tell them to squeeze the coin even tighter. Pause for a beat or two then ask them to turn over their hand and open it. Take a step back away from them and let THEM discover the bent coin themselves. This is important. They will react and they will show the coin around to everyone! This is their moment. Let them have it. They will eventually come back to you and you will examine the coin yourself with a look of surprise. Thank them and congratulate them for a job well done. Make sure to give them the coin back. This routine is all about the participant and their ability to do something seemingly impossible. Leave your ego at the door for this one. I have performed this routine for many years and it always gets a huge reaction from everyone that is watching because of the reaction of the participant who just bent the coin. I have had people tell me months and, in some cases, even years later that they still have the bent coin! Some even carry it around with them as a lucky charm of sorts.
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This routine has been very good to me over the years and I hope that you get even more out of it than I have.
Additional Information A few years after I came up with the idea for this routine, I read a similar routine called “PKoin” (p. 21) in Paolo Cavalli’s excellent Omicron e-book. Paolo’s handling is very clean and the coin is signed on both sides. I really like his thinking and I urge you to seek out anything and everything he has to offer. The man is a real life mystery machine!
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Poolside Prediction A pool hall favorite The performer walks into his favorite pool hall and approaches a group of people enjoying a game of pool. The performer introduces himself and asks if the pool-players would like to take part in something that they’ll surely talk about for the rest of the night. After the patrons say “yes”, the performer places a small, sealed, envelope on the edge of the table, in full view, and continues:
“Let’s rack up the balls and start a new game. At any point during the game (Pointing to one of the onlookers in the group), I want you to call out ‘Stop!’ Once she says this, you two (Pointing to the two pool-players) will put down your cues and step away from the table. Does everyone understand?”
Once everyone confirms that they understand what’s about to take place, the game is on. At some point during the game, the assigned onlooker calls out “Stop” and the players walk away from the table. Picking the still-sealed envelope up from the table, the performer approaches the onlooker and briefly recaps what just took place:
“You could have stopped the game at any time and, yet, you chose to stop at this specific moment. Stopping one minute before or after this moment would have completely altered the outcome of this.” !
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At this, the performer hands the envelope to the onlooker and instructs her to open it and remove the contents. Inside, she finds a piece of card that reads: The game will stop at 36
As everyone looks around in confusion by this, the performer calls attention to the balls left on the pool table; 2, 4, 8, 10 & 12. It takes just a moment, but inevitably, someone will call out: “They equal 36!”
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Explanation This is a relatively simple demonstration that you can perform anywhere with a pool table and three tools: Stylus swami, a graphite transfer paper infused envelope, and your brain.
The stylus that I use is self-made. It’s not pretty, but it does the job. I’ve taken a thumbtip and cut it into a bandwriter, then made a small hole in it and glued in a dried out rollerball pen tip.
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I also make up my own envelopes using some small, black envelopes with one entire inside wall made up of graphite transfer paper. I chose this type of paper because it looks exactly like pencil.
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On a piece of paper (Osterlind’s Center Tear Paper is perfect in size and weight for this envelope), you will need to pre-write, in pencil, the following message leaving space at the bottom for the number:
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This is inserted into the gimmicked envelope with the writing side facing the transfer paper. Make sure you know the orientation of the card so that you do not accidentally do your secret writing over the pre-written message. Seal the card in the envelope and you now have the physical tools ready to go. Let’s move on to the brainwork.
A standard set of billiard balls consists of one white ball and 15 colored balls conveniently numbered from 1 through 15. It’s with these numbered balls that give you a few ways to achieve the desired effect.
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If you add all of the colored balls together, you get the sum of 120. As the game progresses, you simply just pay attention to each ball that is pocketed and subtract that ball’s number from 120. For instance, if the 10, 2 and 15 balls are pocketed, you will subtract these numbers from 120 giving you the new total of 93. If the game stopped here, you will simply write 93 on the outside of the envelope with your stylus before handing the envelope over to be opened.
Alternatively, you can do my preferred method. Using your favorite mnemonic, associate each color with its number so that you can quickly add up each ball left on the table without having to look at each number. This does take some practice, but I think this is best method because you don’t have to actively pay attention to the game as it is being played.
As you are re-capping what just took place, you have more than enough time to secretly write the number on the envelope before handing it over. If you’re envelopes are made correctly, you should have no worries about placing it in their hands. Just be sure to casually take back the envelope after they remove the card. Most importantly, don’t be the one to point out that the numbers on the table match your prediction. Let them discover this on their own!
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Alternative Handling If you don’t feel comfortable with the math, you can also just write the number of balls left on the table. When your assigned spectator calls stop and there are five balls left on the table, simply nail-write the number five on the envelope.
Another handling would be to tell the on-looking spectator to quickly name a number between one and 15 before the game starts. Let’s say that they call out “Six”. When there are six balls left on the table, stop the game and quickly add up the numbers. This allows you to not be surprised or caught off guard when the game is stopped.
However, I think that if you take the time to practice the math, you will be rewarded with some very surprised reactions.
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About Face A unique plot with an old method A random spectator is asked to assist with a demonstration in intuition and identity. The Mentalist writes something down on a piece of blank card and seals it in an envelope. The spectator is asked to visualize a person in their mind and then give that person a name. After the spectator says the name, the Mentalist hands the envelope to the volunteer instructing her to remove the card. The card is removed and the name written across the card is the same as the imagined person’s name. - end -
Explanation This effect utilizes the same graphite paper-lined envelope as described in the previous effect “Poolside Prediction” and a stylus nail writer also previously described. At the moment when the spectator says the name, you quickly recap what just took place. This misdirection allows you plenty of time to nail write the name through the envelope and onto the card. Let’s talk about the details of this process. The stylus writer is finger palmed by the pinky and ring finger of your writing hand. By holding a pencil in the writing position, your ringer and pinky fingers will naturally curl over the stylus thus concealing the device. The position of the writer is important here because you need to be able to quickly attach it to your thumb with minimal movement after the pencil is put away. !
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In your opposite hand you hold the envelope and a blank piece of card stock paper cut to size resting on top of it. The card should be resting on the smooth side of the envelope. Approach a spectator (We’ll call her Mandy): You: “Would you mind assisting me?” Mandy: “Sure.” You: “What is your name?” Mandy: “Mandy.” You: “Pleasure to meet you, Mandy. My name is ____. Now, Mandy, do you consider yourself to be an intuitive person?” Mandy: “I guess.” You: “Well let me ask you this: Have you ever met someone for the very first time and upon finding out that person’s name, you kind of notice how perfectly their name matches their character? It’s almost as if no other name would suit them at all. For instance, now that I know your name is Mandy, I could not imagine you being called Stephanie or Diane.” Mandy: “Yeah.” You: “Well, we’re going to try something along those !
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lines. I’m going to write down the name of a friend of mine and I will describe this person’s characteristics to you. Upon doing so, you are going to imagine what this person looks like and, based on that mental image, you’re going to use your intuition to put a name to this person’s face. Does that make sense?” Mandy: “Yes.” You: “Good. Here we go.” Begin to write down the name on the paper, but abruptly stop and look up at your volunteer. You: “No peeking! Please look right at me.” Gesture to your eyes as you say this and lock eyes with the participant as you act to write on the paper, but leave it blank. This justifies your not-so-neat handwriting because you were not looking as you wrote it. I also like to look down at the paper and say this line with a slight smirk on my face: You: “I hope you can read that!” Now you will put the card in the envelope, lick it and seal it closed. Reach down and pocket or table the pencil as you slip on your stylus writer. This action should be quick and smooth as the hand comes up to retrieve the envelope from the other hand. I now begin to describe someone I know. I begin with their gender (I usually use males as the names are more easily shortened.) and then move on to this person’s general !
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characteristics, but not their appearance. Of course, you could make this all up, but I find that using someone that I know makes it much easier to describe then trying to come up with something on the fly. After describing the characteristics of the target person you continue with the following: You: “You should now that you have a picture of this person in your mind. What name do think would suite him?” Mandy: “Uh…William?” You: “William. (Pause for a beat and smile) That just feels right to you?” Mandy: “I think so.” You: “What does William look like to you?” As the participant responds to the last line, I write the name “Bill” on the “hot-side” of the envelope using the stylus. I have plenty of time to do this as the participant is misdirecting themselves with their own words. Reach into your pocket using the hand not holding the envelope and remove a letter opener. I use a small keychain size opener found in most office supply stores. I cut open the envelope and hand the envelope to the volunteer “hot-side” down and I ask them to reach in and remove the card and leave it writing-side down for the time being.
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Since they are now holding the opened envelope and the slip of paper, you now graciously take the opened envelope off their hands and you discard the envelope into one of your pockets along with the opener. The gimmick is now gone under the guise of you helping out the spectator by discarding the “trash”! All that’s left now is to have the spectator turn over of the card to reveal the name. Even though they said “William”, they will still be amazed that the name “Bill” (short for William) is written on the card. To me, this also adds a bit of realism to the overall routine.
Additional Information Why the letter opener? On the “hot-side” of the envelope you just secretly wrote on, there will be a light impression of your writing. The opener also helps to camouflage the gimmick in the envelope by roughing up the top edge where it is opened. This really makes the gimmick virtually invisible. Also, the use of the envelope is not necessary, but I feel that it adds a nice layer of deception. You could easily do this routine with a bit of card or paper and your trusty nail-writer and I’m sure you’ll get really good reactions. It’s not the materials that makes this routine different, it’s the plot.
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A Strange Feeling If you never take a chance, you’ll never have a chance I am going to simply describe what the routine looks like without going into a detailed section describing the method. Why? Well, if you cannot understand how to use this routine after reading just the description, then you should not be reading this book yet. This is not a bad thing. This is a very daring routine and requires full confidence and a performer that is not afraid to fail. I’ve used this routine for years and it has been very good to me. I doubt that most of the people that read this routine will not even attempt this nervy demonstration. Please prove me wrong and I guarantee that you will be rewarded for your bravery.
I double-dog dare you to try this one. The Performer begins: "Let's try an experiment using two of your known senses, touch and sight. I'm going to mimic writing a two-digit number on your hand and you will use your senses to figure out the number. Ready?" The spectator confirms they are indeed ready and the performer continues by using a capped marker to mimic writing the number "15" on the spectator's open palm while she watches. The performer enquires:
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"What number do you feel was written?" The spectator replies: "Fifteen." The performer then responds with: "Good. Now let's try this again, only this time, you must not look. By not allowing you to see what I am writing, this will enhance your sense of touch. Please close your eyes and turn your head. Now to help you out a little, I will tell you that the number I will write is a two-digit number from 1 - 50 and both digits are even. Keep in mind that it is best to go with the first thought that comes to you and not to second-guess yourself." The performer then asks the spectator to close her eyes and turn her head while he "writes" the number "48" on her palm. The performer repeats the process of having the spectator announce the number she felt written on her palm. The performer continues: "Correct! Now let's try something more difficult. We started with two of your known senses, and then limited you to one, now we will try none of you known senses. I am going to write a number on my own hand and we will see if you can pick up on it. I need you to hold out your hand and keep your eyes closed. Remember to go with the first thought that comes to mind and do not secondguess yourself. I will help you out and tell you that this !
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is another two-digit number between 1 & 50. Both digits are odd, but this time both digits are different from each other." The performer holds up his hand and openly writes the number "37" boldly on his palm with the marker this time actually marking his hand with the thick black ink. After a brief pause the performer asks the spectator: "What number do you feel was written?" The spectator responds with the answer: "Thirty-seven." This is my original take on the 37 Force. To the best of my knowledge, no one else has devised a presentation like this one for the 37 Force. I also enjoy this effect because the language presents a bit of a dual reality effect. The simple repetition of saying “What number do you feel was written” has a different meaning to the volunteer and to the on-looking spectators. You see, to your participant, it sounds like “What number do you think was written”, but to the spectators, they hear “What number did you feel me write on your hand” even when you never touched them in the third phase. It’s a beautiful illusion. In the effect detailed above, a one on one with a volunteer is described. However, another strong version is using two people and instead of writing on your own hand, you mimic writing on the second spectator's palm. This is an incredible lead-in to any PK Touches routine. !
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Memory Lane Making a lot from a little The Mentalist invites a young lady (Let’s call her Amber) to join him on the stage and they both sit facing each other in separate chairs. Mentalist: “Would you tell everyone your name please?” Amber: “Amber.” Mentalist: “Amber, I want you to think back to a childhood memory; something that really stands out to you. Take your time to think about it and really put yourself back into this memory. See the sights, smell the smells and even feel what it was like to be there.” Amber thinks for a moment as she puts herself into the memory and the Mentalist continues. Mentalist: “Do you have something clearly in mind?” Amber: “Yes.” Mentalist: “Please close your eyes and just relax as you find yourself falling deeper and deeper into this memory. Good. I’m going to ask you a few questions and I want you to search your memory for the answers.” The Mentalist sits back in his chair and closes his eyes for a few seconds then quickly picks up a large pad and a marker as he continues.
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Mentalist: “Ahhh…this is a very happy memory for you. In fact, this is a celebration, isn’t it?” Amber: “Yes.” Mentalist: “The air around you is fresh and clean. You’re outside, aren’t you?” Amber: “Yes.” The Mentalist openly writes the word “Birthday” in large bold letters on his pad and holds it for the audience to see. Mentalist: “What is the occasion that you are celebrating in this memory?” Amber: “My birthday.” The audience begins to react and the Mentalist quickly gestures for them to remain quiet. Mentalist: “Very good, Amber. Is there a birthday cake near you?” Amber: “Yes.” A fresh page is turned to on the Mentalist’s pad and he writes a large number 9 and displays it to the audience. Mentalist: “Focus on the cake and count the candles. How many do you see?” Amber: “Nine.” !
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Mentalist: “Excellent! You’re doing great! I see someone close to you giving you something. Is this your father?” Amber: “No. It’s my mother.” Mentalist: “Oh, so it’s your mother? Can you focus on her name?” The Mentalist writes the name “Alicia” in bold letters on the pad and shows the audience. Mentalist: “And what is her name?” Amber: “Alice.” Mentalist: “Alice is giving you a gift. As you hold the gift in your hand, your emotions run high. This gift means a lot to you. Don’t say what it is just yet, but just get a clear picture of this gift in your mind.” The Mentalist pauses for a beat then writes the word “Necklace” across his pad. Mentalist: “What is the gift you are holding in your hand?” Amber: “My grandmother’s necklace.” Mentalist: “Amber, you can open your eyes now and come back to the present. You did absolutely amazing and this applause is for you. Amber, everybody!” !
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Amber is ushered back to her seat to the sound of applause. - end -
Explanation The above description has been deliberately shortened because this routine allows for a lot of creativity and improvisation without fear. This is a flexible routine that can be a quick five minutes in length, or a full twenty-minute performance. I feel that you, dear reader, need to use your own skills as a showman to make this routine a unique experience for both you and your audience. So, let’s get into it. The main method behind this routine is pre-show. I can hear the moans and groans now, but stick with me and you’ll see the practicality of the effect and how you can take a small amount of information and turn it into something really big. We will begin with how I work with the pre-show participant and then move onto some of the subtleties I use and some resources that will help you expand upon the routine. Personally, I use an impression pad to learn the information from the participant, but feel free to use any method you feel comfortable with. I will be using the example of the impression pad in this explanation because it is what I use and what I have experience with. On the pad, I write the following:
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%$ Occasion: Age: Who’s there? Relation: What’s important? During the pre-show process, and after I introduce myself, I instruct the participant as follows: (Please note that I am not disclosing my personal pre-show preparation script as I assume that the reader is experienced enough to have their own. You will only find the pre-show scripting that I use pertaining specifically to this demonstration.) “I want you to think back to a childhood memory that really stands out to you because of some kind of emotional attachment. This could be something happy, it could be something sad or even something funny that brought you joy. Whatever it is, this should be something that you can remember quite vividly. Do you have something in mind? Good.” I now remove my pad, with the prewritten info above, and hand it to them along with a pencil. “I’d like you to record some of the important details about this memory. Try to sum up in one word, if possible, what the occasion is and write that down. For instance, you might say something like ‘Christmas’ or ‘Dance’ or whatever pertains to this memory. Got it? Good. Also write down hold old you were. If you don’t remember, it’s okay to just guess. Now think of one person that really stands out to you in this memory. Maybe this is someone that gave you something or did !
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something for you. Write that persons name down and how they are related to you. Finally, in just one sentence, write down what it is that’s important to you about this memory. You might say something like ‘Got my first dog’ or ‘My little brother was born’. All done? Go ahead and tear out the piece of paper, fold it up and put it in your pocket. Do not show this to anyone. Later on tonight, I might try something with this memory, so keep this information to yourself. Okay?” I generally like to pre-show 2 or 3 people for this because it gives me the option to pick out, what I think, is the best information that I can work with. It’s always good to give yourself some variety. Now that you have this information, you now need to determine how you want to use it. The good part is that, depending on how much time you have before showtime, you can actually script out exactly what you want to say based on the what you now know about this person. Let’s go back to Amber (this is a real-world example by the way) and see what she had written down: Occasion: Birthday Age: 9 Who’s there? Alice Relation: Mom What’s important? Mom gave me nana’s necklace So what can we deduce from just these five bits of information? Well, we know it’s a birthday, but for who? Looking at the “What’s important” line tells us that Amber was given something, so we can assume that the birthday is !
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Amber’s. A child’s birthday is usually a big deal to most parents so we might assume that, in this memory, there is a celebration. A celebration like this might happen indoors or outdoors. There might even be music playing or even some form of live entertainment at this party. People may be playing games and she probably has some of her school friends there. We can also assume that the overall emotion of this memory is happiness and joy. I won’t go over each line, but you can see that with just knowing that her memory is about her birthday, we can paint quite the mental image. Of course, some of the assumptions we make could be completely wrong, but that’s okay because we always have the accurate information to fall back on. By using some deceptive language, you can always appear to be correct on some details that might even be wrong. For example: “In my mind, I hear music and people laughing. There are even some people dancing and having a good time. This is a celebration of some kind, isn’t it?” Whether or not there is music or people dancing, Amber has to answer “Yes” because your question is if her memory is about a celebration and it is! To the audience at large, this appears like she is agreeing with the details that you are describing. Because of the security you have with the sure-fire hits, you have the freedom to take some risks. It’s okay to throw in some guesswork because if you’re wrong, it’s no big deal! What we do is not an exact science and making a few mistakes can actually enhance the believability of your act.
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But you already knew that. The bottom line is simply this: If you don’t take a chance, you never have a chance. One of my favorite subtleties to use when bringing a preshow participant up to the stage that I have been using for years is a very simple one; asking the pre-show participant to tell everyone their name. I’ve seen it to many times when a performer asks a pre-show participant to stand and then asks, “What is your name?” and the participant has a puzzled look on their face because the performer already knew their name during the introduction of the pre-show encounter. So, why is the performer asking for their name again? Maybe he forgot? That certainly does not make someone feel good being so easily forgotten. Maybe there’s something else going on? This puts the participant in the wrong state of mind for you to expect them to gladly co-operate with you. By telling the participant, “Please stand up and tell everyone your name please.”, you are essentially saying “I already know who you are, but they don’t. Please introduce yourself.” and the audience hears “What is your name?” I know that this seems like a really small thing, but it’s the minute details that can make all the difference. There is another hidden subtlety that you will only notice if you try out this routine and that is when you ask the participant to “…think back to a childhood memory; something that really stands out to you. Take your time to think about it and really put yourself back into this memory. See the sights, smell the smells and even feel what it was like to be there.” There is a very good reason why I do not have them close their eyes to do this just yet. By telling them to really put themselves back into the memory and
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experience the details of it, the participant’s face will display their attempt to visualize every detail, which looks an awful lot like they are trying to come up with the memory on the spot. This is obviously a very good thing! Only after I get this reaction from the participant do I ask them to close their eyes. Of course, you are not limited to using just occasion, age, etc. See what you can come up with and experiment. The only real guideline here is to not ask the participant to write down a ton of info or just feedback only what the participant has given you. This defeats the whole purpose and spirit of the routine. This demonstration is all showmanship by taking a small amount of information and turning it into something rather large by painting a very detailed picture of images that only exist in the mind of your participant. This routine should remain jazzy to give it the right kind of feel. If you need some good information on how to make it that way, I implore you to purchase works such as “T&R” and “Random Acts of Kindness” both by Jerome Finley. Those of you who are fortunate to own Jerome’s “Thought Dial” book, you will find many ideas for subtleties and principles that can really benefit a routine such as this.
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