Gregarce-lostinthoughtpdf.pdf

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I hope I don’t need to tell you that Xeroxing this book and passing it around is something you SHOULDN’T be doing. If you do then just consider that brain I’m holding to be yours… don’t make me step on it!!! You are allowed to perform all the effects anywhere, but I keep all





























FOREWORD INTRODUCTION ACTING TECHNIQUES SHOOTING LINCOLN FO(U)R EYES VOO-DEUX BOMB ROULETTE PINHEAD’S ROULETTE WHAT A CHARADE SWAP STICKY POP SOME STRANGE IDEAS BIZARRE DUPE SUPER SWINDLE STEAL A SYMBOL COLOR WINE-OH! STICKY DUPE MAGIC WORDS – A RANT POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE THE ___ BOOK B’WAVE HEART OR DIAMOND CLUES ROCK/PAPER/SCISSORS ONCE SILLY MAGNET Q & A GIFT BAG PRE-SHOW SUBTLETY HYPNO-MATH MAPQUEST ADD SENSE

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And now a word from Millard Longman… I’ve known him for quite a long time… as you will see. For those that don’t know him, well, where have you been! He only created one of the best peek ideas using a business card… ever!!! If you don’t know his Acidus Novus then you should… shame on you! Well, get up and go buy it! Don’t just sit there!!

It was a warm evening evening in the late 1970s and I had arrived early early for the magic magic club meeting. I had been president of the club for a few of months and always arrived early. early. As I walked into into the room I saw him standing by one of the tables tables playing with some cards. I had seen him many times before, but this time he seemed different. He kept doing the same move with the cards over and over – getting the mechanics down perfectly – the fabulous presentations for this trick would come later. The trick he was working on was The Bizarre Twist by Paul Paul Harris. That trick trick has remained a favorite of mine ever since. of

fondest

of





























friends. We spent spent many hours hours together together talking and practicing magic, but we also spent much time just laughing together about everything that went on in life around us. Greg was so funny that at times I could barely breathe from the laugher! Greg seems to create both comedic and dramatic presentations with no effort at all – the ideas just pop into his mind as if he was channeling channeling spirits! Hey, maybe maybe that is his secret – he is channeling the greats that came before him! At one of our magic shows, Greg had this birdcage vanish that he made himself; the cage was wrapped entirely in flash paper! He vanished vanished the birds by setting the cage cage on fire! Of course, Greg had not tried setting the fire in practice due to the high price for that much flash paper paper – that that was a mistake. When he touched it off, the whole stage lit up as though a low yield nuclear device had been been triggered! triggered! The fireball went went up almost ten feet feet towards towards the overhead curtains. We all watched in terror – frozen in time – as the world went by in slow motion. Luckily, the the building building survived and Greg just kept going through through his act. act. Afterwards he he told of the fear he felt inside, but none none of it showed outside. Even then then he was a great actor! Since those early days, Greg moved from southeast





























yet to to find a major distributor. Perhaps Greg will release it directly to DVD? So now the teenager that I spent so many happy hours with has become a master magician, mentalist, actor, filmmaker, author, and is still a very funny guy. You are now reading one of his fabulous books and you are in for another another fabulous treat. Greg’s essay on acting techniques is essential reading for any performer looking to increase increase his impact on a live audience! Study this essay often; it will pay big dividends! The rest of the book is filled with routines that will take full advantage of your new acting abilities. Enjoy this book and think about the mind that comes up with this stuff – the fabulous mind of Greg Arce! Millard Longman 5/5/2006































Another book? What the hell do I have to say? Apparently, too much. I decided to put some more ideas together… some I used in the past, some I tinkered with and others came from a mix batch of working out other people’s problems. Within, you’ll find some new ideas that, if I were not a lazy bastard, I might have actually marketed some of them. Also, little rants that often ramble, and rumble, in my mind. Of the effects inside, I can tell you that I’m proudest of creating STICKY POP and the Acting Technique essay that first appeared in AM/PM magazine. I want to thank Tom Cutts for allowing me to put it in this book. Well, I hope you find some fun stuff inside and get a





























Also a big thanks thanks to Millard Longman, Longman, Banachek, Banachek, Richard Richard Osterlind, Larry Becker, John Riggs, Paolo Cavalli, Brad Henderson, Tony Blake, Barrie Richardson, Jheff Poncher, Chuck Hickok, Michael Weber, and all the others that let me run stuff by them to see what they thought. And a special thanks to Paolo Cavalli for once again coming up with the brilliant design that became the cover to this book. That’s three in a row for him. One more thing: I went against everyone’s advice and decided not to include illustrations or pictures. I even restricted going into too much detail when describing a basic sleight. Why? Well, I felt that the best mentalists I know are able to figure things out on their own. Nothing is spoon-fed to them. Something deep inside told me that I’d rather foster thinking instead of spoon-feeding exact details. I’m sorry if it bothers some, but I hope I will create some great thinkers that way.





























This essay can apply to both a magician and mentalist… as a matter of fact; just about any performer who wants to put some extra thinking into his performances: “A magician is an actor playing the part of a magician.” We’ve all read or heard heard that one, but how many of us have really put it into use? I have. I performed magic from the age of five until I was in my twenties, but in college I decided to study theater because of that simple statement I heard that was attributed to Robert-Houdin. The crazy thing is I fell in love with theater and gave up the magic... at least, professionally. But over the years I started incorporating many of the techniques I learned in acting within my magic. I found they were especially helpful when I became fixated with mentalism.





























Before I begin let me give you my own theories on the performance of mentalism or psychic powers. I believe that you, the performer, must act as if it is real... more so than when doing a card trick. People really believe in such things and if you can come across as the real thing, well, you’re 90% of the way there. So when I do anything that is considered mental magic I apply certain rules. I ask myself, “If this were real, how would this look? Isn’t it more convincing that I don’t get it 100% right? Why would I give them a limited choice to think about if it were true that I can read anything in their mind?” So how do I apply those rules and combine acting? I’ll give you an example: The Thought Transmitter. I love this item. But I don’t want to give someone a limited choice as to what they can imagine. What do I do? I open it up and draw a circle (conveniently in the area I need them to write) and say, “Picture this is the earth and it is spinning.” I then draw lines around the circle to represent the earth spinning... these lines now block out other areas on the pad for them





























“Maybe you you are with someone you know. Or with a stranger. Maybe the first thing you see is an object. It can be anywhere on this earth. In one or two words, print where you landed on the earth and close up the wallet. Ready?” (I snap my fingers) “Quickly write where you went. Have you done so?” When they respond in the positive I turn around and pick up the wallet. I put it away into my top pocket as I say, “Was this place or thing important to you?” In that moment I catch a glimpse... I’m talking about microsecond here. I don’t pause to stare at the wallet. I don’t slow down the path of my arm as it goes for my pocket. I don’t stop if I only saw a vague clue as to what is written there. Why? Here comes the acting. Up until that second I have no idea what is on there. If I catch only a brief glimpse of what’s there then I have to start using my mind to work out details. What did I see? Was it a big word? Was it two words? Was it a place? A name? All these questions that now run through my mind project physically on my































memory” to further enhance this effect and I use it in a kind of backward thinking kind of way. What is sense memory? Actors use this to recall an event in their life so that they can bring up a certain emotion. So if you tried to do a crying scene and it wasn’t working, you would try to think back to a time in your life when you really cried. But you don’t just think about the moment you cried, you try to picture everything that happened just before that moment... try to recall if there was music playing... hear the music... was there a smell in the air... try to bring that odor into your memory... maybe a siren was going by your window at that moment... hear the siren... try to picture all the objects in that room on the day you cried.































I’ll say, “Go back to the place or thing or person you saw when you opened your eyes. Be there again. Look around. Take more time to gather information. Wait. I get a sense of instability. Like I’m not grounded. I’m moving slightly. I get a sense of rocking. Take a deep breath. Wait. I smell that the air is cleaner, but there is some sort of hint of... I don’t know, like seawater or something. Listen to what is around you. Oh, I hear birds, but not pets... like a squawking. A seagull? I’m getting seagulls. We’re on or near water! There’s some land far away in the distance. Are we on a ship of some kind?” Try that and see the reaction you get. I’ve had people stand there in shock. What they perceive is that I am jumping in and out of their mind just as they sense or see these things. The opposite is what is happening. I make































you. Well, most beginning actors will just close their eyes and use the tired “snoring bit” to come across as if they are asleep. Try this instead: Close your eyes. Now try to picture the Jack of Hearts. See the card in your mind. Try to see all the detail. Is this a one-eyed Jack? What color are his sleeves? Is this an old card you are holding or one fresh out of the pack? Check to see if it has any marks on it or is crimped in any way... Hey! Wake up! Wake up!! If you do this exercise with your eyes closed you will really look asleep. Your eyes will dart from side to side as you look at your mental Jack of Hearts. This will look like REM sleep. The fact that you are trying to work out details will take your mind to another level and more than likely you will really be startled when the actor calls out































“That’s not the card. It’s supposed to be the card. I wonder what happened?” Try to now remember the name of your first grade teacher. Then try to remember what you ate last night... when you remember think to yourself, “Hey, I know how to fix this problem. I can change this card to the correct one.” I know it sounds silly but this inner dialogue makes you react physically as if what is happening is actually happening. After awhile you won’t need to go through so many steps and you will get use to how your body reacts in that situation so you can recreate it at a moment’s notice without all the steps. Actors will work on a scene for a while and bring up all their emotions and go through all the steps, but then































objects or read minds. Try to see yourself really performing the effects without the help of a tricky double-backer or a nailwriter. When I do my coin bending I always always use use the the idea that I’m not certain what coin will bend or when. I try to put it into their minds by saying, “If it happens I’ve been told that it feels like it’s getting warmer, or colder, or like electricity... one person said it felt like the coins were shifting in their hands. So just relax and concentrate. Just try to feel feel what is happening in your hand.” When I do that speech and stare intently at their hands, I have a 75% record of getting them to react. They will say they feel something. I had one girl scare me when she screamed as she suddenly experienced something

































Okay, now how do you practice acting frightened or angry or confused or happy? Well, actors work on it all the time. The funny thing we do is to try to step out of ourselves when the real emotions happen. There has been many times in my life where I’ve been convulsed by tears and will walk up to a mirror to see what it looks like. It’s kind of a schizo-type thing to do, but the more you think about how you look in certain situations, the more you will develop this alternate awareness. It becomes second nature to think about what you are doing as you are

































born? Who was the first man on the moon? Why do you think they thought the moon was made out of cheese?” Now, of course, you don’t want to know the questions in advance and you should be either setting up your show or practicing it while they toss the questions at you. Go back and look at the tape. You are probably going to see yourself making facial contortions that look silly yet are real. You’ll also notice subtle eye shifts as you ponder information you know and things you’ve never thought

































have to constantly have the inner monologue turned on... it will all come out naturally. I’d love to hear what kinds of actions and speeches you come up with to help certain situations in your magic. Please feel free to write to me at [email protected].

































THE WHAT: The performer pulls out three invisible coins and has the spectator select one then toss that coin and see how it lands… heads or tails. The performer has predicted the outcome of that process.

































Well, one day I was faced with doing a performance at a cabaret and I really wanted to open one set with the coin prediction, but I knew that I couldn’t use John’s ending because it would not be visible to 99% of the audience. Simple solution: I had a color photo made of a penny. Actually, two photos: one showing the heads side and the other the tails. I had the color copier enlarge the photos so that now I had two giant color photos of a penny on both of its sides.



































and here are my answers to those questions: “You have to start drinking… then you’ll see them” or “Good… so you’ve been drinking.”



































through your hands?” And if they don’t look down then say so, “You didn’t even look! You are that sure?”



































the table? Is it heads or tails?” And now you can use the same lines when this happens.



































If they put the silver coin back then scoop it up and say, “Another tip… great! So you’ve kept the penny for yourself… slap it on the table…” and go from there. But if



































and first take a color copy of them then have them blown up further. If you use a real penny they tend to lose a bit of clarity as they are blown up. But you can get

































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































And if you want to make that idea go a bit deeper, what if you tell the audience to pick any member from their group and that person picks up the card that falls and his name is Harry and he names the number? Now the little folded card reads, “Everybody seems to like Harry. I know I do because he picked my favorite number… 34.” You can see where you would just have a folded card that has all that information except for the two spots to nail-write in a name and number. And let’s not forget those that love preshow or forcing items. What if you know a lot about one person and force that person to be the one to pick up the card? Now the card can read, “Harry loves to travel. Hey, how was your trip to Hawaii last summer? And he loves his pet, Spooky, but who wouldn’t love a cute Pug. And now… well, I don’t LOVE Harry, but I like him a lot for naming the 6 of Clubs and calling out the number 28.” A very big deal out of a simple balloon idea. From Max: “It's worth noting that there is a name for the gaffed deck you described (albeit it's usually made using cards of normal thickness): It is a roughed MeneTekel Deck. The original deck, invented by Burling Hull, used long/short to keep the pairs together, but the ‘Mene Tekel’ title bestowed by W. D. LeRoy has come to define any deck that consists of pairs of duplicates.”





























This one is going to to push the envelope. envelope. Oh, boy. I’ve I’ve taken two ideas from the master of modern close-up: Paul Harris. I started playing with some card ideas that the genius, Paul, put out and realized you could tweak them for mentalism. When I first mentioned what I was working on, Paul wrote back to say, “That is very close to the last use I could imagine for those effects. I can’t wait to see what you’ve cooked up.” And when I sent him the specifics, he said, “Very cool.” A “very cool” from Paul is worth hundreds of other praises. I blushed just seeing those words on my computer screen. I know many of you will think I’ve gone absolutely insane by using some card magic to get a drawing dupe, but I can’t help it. I am insane. Anyway, my only promise to Paul was that I wouldn’t go into the exact moves that are in his original effect so I’ll have to ask you to go into his Art of Astonishment





























THE WHAT: You take out a stack of your business cards and give one to a spectator. He is asked to draw a picture on the back of that card. When he is done, you take back the card and sandwich it between two other cards then place that stack on the table. You explain a bit about transmitting thoughts and how you want him to try and send all the various lines and images that make up his drawing. You then take the other two cards back and begin to draw what you believe is a representation of his drawing. When done you put your drawing down and use the last card to turnover his drawing that has been lying on the table. The two drawings match. THE HOW: For those that know Bizarre Twist and Cros Twist then you can start your engines now. Just add one Mexican Turnover move at the end and you’re done. Like I said in the beginning, I won’t be able to give you all the exact moves in this routine, but if you learn the original Bizarre Twist and then move onto the one-handed Cros Twist, you’ll know how to accomplish this routine. r outine.





























in the middle of the two cards is actually the other card and his drawing is now the bottommost card. Pick up the bottom and top card and start to try and get his drawing… you are staring right at it because he believes the card that is still on the table is his drawing. Draw on the blank back of the other card and place that near him. Now take the last card, his card, and scoop up the card on the table to turn it over and switch it via the Mexican Turnover move. To briefly describe the Mexican Turnover: In your right hand you have his card and you swing down and use it to turn the card that is on the table by scooping it by the right side and turning it over. What happens in that action is your right thumb holds onto the card, that is already on the table, as you continue your right to left sweep and your right forefinger turns the card that was originally in your hand over while your right thumb and forefinger continue holding onto the card that was on the table. In that action you have switched the tabled card for the one in your hand, which was the one that had his drawing. By the way, this routine will not work on some business cards because they tend to stick too much and won’t let you do the “twist” properly. I’ve noticed that cheaper cards work best unless the lettering is raised. And then one day I realized, just use double blank playing cards





























Ah, the alliteration of it. So this effect was based on another of Paul’s ideas that originally was put out separately in a small booklet. In that miracle manuscript, Paul gives you a way of making a signed card vanish from between two other cards and end up in the deck. It was a fantastic idea… and now how to apply it to stealing info. THE WHAT: You have a stack of business cards and you hand one to a spectator. You tell him to write some personal information. When he is done, done, you you take back his card card and and place it between two other of your business cards. You fold the three-card packet into a little bundle and hand it to the spectator. You tell him to light the packet on fire and stare into the flames. He is to see his private information floating up from the smoke. You stare in the air as if you are watching something appear within the smoke. You pick up your packet of business cards and pull one out and write something s omething on it. The spectator is asked to call out what he wrote. You































THE HOW: Okay, another one I can’t describe exactly, but it’s worth your time to check up this effect. The switch for the spectatator’s card is imperceptible and he always thinks that his packet contains all three cards. It’s a bit knacky to do with business cards, but it is possible. Of course, you could always use blank faced Bicycle cards and do the moves and routine exactly as Paul describes, but now do it to steal valuable information from the spectator. Sorry I couldn’t give you more detail, but your hunt for these routines will lead you to treasure. Oops, while playing around with this some more I realized that you could remove Paul’s tricky gimmick made up with the cards and simply have another card just sandwiched between the top two… that middle card facing the other way. To further push the subtlety, if you know the spectator’s name in advance then write the initials on the card that is sandwiched between the two top cards.





























THE WHAT: A simple routine to start a show. You walk out on stage and decide you want to try a simple experiment that deals with influencing choices. You show five Jumbo ESP cards and have someone stop you as you deal through them… the chosen ESP card is laid to the side. Now you bring out a small clear bag that contains small folded slips. You have someone in the audience pull out a few slips, open them and read what they say. Each slip has one word… the name of a color such as, red, blue, green, etc. You have that spectator fold the slips back and throw them back into the bag. The first spectator, who picked the ESP card, now reaches into the bag and pulls out a slip, but doesn’t open it yet. The performer turns the ESP card around for the first time and it’s the circle. The spectator opens his slip and it





























what’s in the envelope. It is an extra-Jumbo ESP card… and it is a Yellow Circle symbol. THE HOW: Okay, not the most devastating effect, but it’s cute enough to start most shows and I’ve gotten some mileage from it. For most you can see how this all works. The ESP cards are roughed and smoothed so that behind each symbol there is a force symbol. Anywhere the spectator stops you’ll be able to show that he picked the force symbol by separating the roughed & smoothed pairs apart. The bag is a clear forcing bag so one side has all different slips with colors and the other side has slips sl ips all that read the same: YELLOW. Also, I use the ESP cards that come in extra-Jumbo for the prediction. These cards are about 7 inches by 11 and the symbols are in color. You now can piece together what happens. The prediction card is taped under the seat and now you force the proper ESP card with the rough and smoothed set and then force the right color from the bag.





























THE WHAT: The performer walks on stage and points to several paper bags that are sitting on a table. The bags all sit opened and with the openings pointed towards the ceiling. “Inside one of these bags is something I always need to start my shows. I hope you can pick it out for me. Please, we need to start eliminating bags… would you point to one bag that you’d like to get rid of?” The performer has a spectator point to one of the bags. Whatever bag is randomly picked the performer smashes it flat. He continues to do this until all but one bag remains. He picks up that bag, delicately, and reaches inside and pulls out a full wine glass. He holds up the glass and says, “A toast to you all for making the right choices and now on with the show.”





























half of each bag. Each bag now has a small cutout window at its backside. The full wine glass is not in any bag… it’s hidden comfortably in your jacket in a holder or simply wedged between you and your pants. The glass, of course, is sealed by either wrapping a balloon around the mouth of it, or sealing it up with Saran wrap and some rubber bands. You can go to your local magic stores and find many production glasses and items that are meant for producing full glasses of liquids from various items. So, the spectators can have you smash any bag and you then pick up the last bag and reach inside and pull out the wine glass by reaching into the bag then out the back and into your jacket. Inside the bag you push up on the glass cover so that the glass comes out looking as if it would have been a big mess if you had hit that bag. Some pointers: There is a bit of acting that needs to go on here. Remember, supposedly the bag contains a filled glass so you would handle the bag delicately as to not spill the contents as you pick it up. Also, to help the look, tape the largest metal washer you can get your hands on































I did not want to give this up. And I actually have another version of this that I’ve only taught to a few, but when I was researching for the book I was told by Banachek that my other presentation is similar to something that Basil Horowitz had already done. I didn’t know it at the time so I won’t give away that idea, but the smart ones will be able to figure it out from this method. THE WHAT: You bring out a small stack of your business cards and small pay envelope. You have the































On the back of the envelope you put a dab of sticky glue or a small dot of double stick tape. That’s it. You are ready to capture a drawing. You bring out a stack of your cards and have the spectator pick one. Then you tell him to draw something on the back of the card as you turn around. You’ve left the other cards in a stack on the table. When the spectator says he is done you turn around and have him place his card, drawing down, on the stack s tack of cards. Now you bring out the envelope and place it on the stack as you talk a bit about what most people will draw when asked to draw something. As you talk, you point to the hidden stack and press you finger down on the envelope… this will make the topmost card stick to































card so it falls with the others into pile. Have him look for his card and then turn it around to match the drawings. Here’s a hint on my other presentation that uses the same method: in that presentation I only use cards and there is no envelope. Hint, Hint. And finally, Banachek reminded me that Max Maven had put a similar idea in Magick called Cue Stick. I believe he was using the idea of sticking the next card so you can see what card the person selected in a stack. Also, when researching, I found a similar idea in Mainly Mental by C.L. Boarde, but he uses an envelope and some wax to switch a billet for a dummy billet.































No, the title is not about the “wonder of magic”, but I how I often wonder why a lot a magicians, and mentalists, think the way they do. I started a bit of this rant in my first e-book called DEEP THOUGHT, but time has not changed anything… it actually has gotten worse. We are in a field that deals with creativity and a unique take on entertainment yet many settle for NOT































Some got mad at me for wanting to keep him a secret, but I defended my point by saying that once other magicians saw his stuff they would try to copy it. And it happened and will continue to happen. Instead of watching Cyril’s effects and thinking, “Wow! Look at all the new ways and presentations this guy has! Maybe if I sat down, and put some thought into it, I could come up with something fresh, new and innovative.” But that never seems to happen. It’s always, “Where can I buy that?”, “Does anyone know if that’s for sale?”, “I need to be doing that effect!” And it always happens when those effects appear on TV. You would think that someone, hopefully most, would

































The group I know consists of many amateurs, hobbyists, semi-professionals, and others, you will probably never see on TV, or in a magazine, or even have their own shows… YET… these guys toil away in the library looking for just the right combination of moves that could enhance their acts. Work on every detail. Constantly try to stand out from the crowd. I have to sit back and ask, “Why are THEY different from most of what I see on the Internet?” I don’t know…

































actors? Would you be happy plucking down your money if every actor was trying to look and sound like Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Julianne Moore, Morgan Freeman, ad nauseum, ad infinitum? I know I like diversity… don’t you think your audiences deserve it? I once said such things in one of the magic forums and was immediately attacked for such thoughts. One answer to my question was, “What about cover bands? They are just doing other people’s music? They work all the time.”

































THE WHAT: You tell the story of once having a personal assistant that had some weird powers. He was able to organize your mess in such a way that it appeared to be of a psychic nature. He was especially adept at sorting

































the envelopes are addressed to the correct place and people that are on the back of the postcards. What’s even stranger than having found the correct matches is the fact that all the other postcards have nothing written on the other side and the spectator not only picked the correct ones, but the ones that matched their envelopes. THE HOW: I know many are already ahead of me. This

































like Hawaii. That information should match what you wrote as a short note on the postcard. The second envelope will have what appears to be your real address where it’s coming from and then the name of the family member and the address of where you mentioned they moved to in the note. Are you getting the picture?



































and stop anytime. When he does that have him place the envelope at that spot then place all the postcards he has left in his hand on the stack that is now on the table… the one that now has an envelope sitting on it.



































Before you put it out, write a letter in both envelopes that gives some details about the specific spectator.





































































Now you look at the page closer and start to fixate your eyes on certain spots as if that is the process of seeing the formulas. You ask the person that opened his book to start reading, to himself, from the top and keep



































First, get four paperback books. They should have different covers and even different sizes. Try to find small books that don’t go too much over 200 pages. Also, get two of each book you are going to use.

































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































you are a male reading this card then the birthday you missed was Mary’s, but if you are a female you missed Tom’s birthday… please write Male or Female in this box…” and there’s a box for them to fill in. All the other pieces of information are choices that she must make on the card that have two outcomes, but one is for male and another is for a female. Using this you can use the dual reality that she has written that info in the card herself. Also, if you know things about her like her age or name or both, in advance, then you can have cards made up that have other choices like “If your name starts with a P then print the name Mary, if it starts with a B then print the name Carla…”, this way you can say things like, “You chose to give yourself a new name instead of putting in your own… correct? Think of the name you chose to write… Hmm, was it Lynn? Yes.” Now if you know her age in advance you write instructions that say, “This is a card about a memory so subtract 15 years from your present age and that is the age you tried to attend this party. Also, five years from your present age you will choose to meet up with the birthday person so put that age here___” Now you can say, “I see this party took place when you were younger… in your teens? Yes. I think you were about





























if at a certain age you would accidentally meet up with him… think of that age that you would want to meet up with this friend. Hmm? Are you thinking that by age 35 or so you might catch up to him?” As you see, you can write up various bits of instructions that you later use to show that you are tapping into the spectator’s mind. If you know where she lives then use that info to write something about the State that the event took place. Any information you know in i n advance about the spectator can be used to stage a dual reality event here, but if you don’t have that at your disposal then you can merely use the fact that you know the person you will choose is a Female so use that to force them to check certain boxes on the card that only concern a Female… then throw back that information i nformation at them. This is an open-ended routine that has no limitations. It is up to you to supply what will be written on the card and then how you will later predict that information.





























I have to get this off my chest. For the past few years I’ve seen this trend on the magic boards where people seem to think that their opinion is as valid as someone who has worked professionally for decades. These people constantly come on to say that just because they are new to magic or mentalism doesn’t mean there opinion is any less worthy than some of the working pros. I hate to tell them, but it isn’t as valid. It is an opinion and you are all definitely entitled to them, but they do not hold as much weight or truth than an opinion coming from someone who has done hundreds upon hundreds of shows and has worked out all the kinks in their presentations. I see and read people attacking Maven, Osterlind, Becker, Sankey, etc, and I can’t believe it sometimes. Most think that because they’ve now read 13 Steps, own a nailwriter, and have done a couple of shows to some friends, that they are on par with some of the working pros that have been doing it a lot longer than some of these guys have been existing on the planet. Look, it’s a free country and you are entitled to your





























your big toe. Over the following weeks the pain gets worse and then the toe starts getting black. Which opinion will you take: The one from your best friend that says he owns a set of Dr. Scholl’s Odor-eaters and once cured his own athlete’s foot or do you listen to a foot doctor that went through ten years of schooling and has been specializing in feet for over three decades? Hmmm? I wonder. In the magic forums it seems a lot of people turn to their friends’ opinions and not the experts. Oh, well, at least they have nine more toes after that. And that’s just my opinion.





























FEAR OF NUMBER TWO I kept hemming and hawing about putting this out somewhere and mostly because of its similarities to Scott Alexander’s effect SHATTERED. A little history: I was working on using the same gimmicks that Scott uses for the same exact effect a year or so before I even heard Scott had the same idea. My routine was a bit different and I actually like Scott’s handling and presentation. While working with the idea i dea I came across another way of using it with another prop and that prop ended up creating a routine that was more similar to Scott’s than the first one. It’s crazy, I know. Anyway, I had put together the basis for this routine before I actually knew Scott’s exact routine. Once I heard his routine I realized this one was too similar to put out and not hurt his sales. So, I’m only going to give this out to the few people that order LOST IN THOUGHT during the presale period. I will not put this anywhere else for quite some time… if ever. I know a lot of this doesn’t make sense, but it will once once you read the routine.































object: It’s a number two pencil. Although the pencil looks harmless, the performer shows how it can become a lethal weapon. He sharpens the pencil to a fine point and impales it into a tomato. He pulls the sharp object out of the tomato then props it, point up, onto a coaster that has half sponge ball that will hold the pencil. Now the performer covers the coaster with a large white Styrofoam cup. He then brings out five other cups that are covering other coasters. Those coasters, the performer states, are safe because they do not have the sharp pencil beneath them. A spectator shuffles the coasters around until no one is sure which coaster is the dangerous one. The performer stands behind the coasters and raises his hand over one of them. He suddenly smashes his hand down on the cup and flattens it. It is a safe cup. He throws the mess away into a basket.





























THE HOW: Okay, for those that know or have SHATTERED you can see why I was hesitant to put this out. But you might be asking, “Wait, wait. Pencils are still dangerous. How is this a safe roulette?” Well, yes, regular pencils are extremely dangerous to smash your hand onto… especially in the sharpened condition. But rubber pencils are very safe. s afe. Rubber pencils? Yes, at most novelty shops or magic magic stores you can buy rubber pencils for about two or three dollars and from the shortest of distances they appear to be just regular sharpened pencils. Now you know how this works. You’re going to need six of these rubber pencils. First, my stands are made by attaching these little balls made out of sponge that I found at a 99-cent store. It’s not the kind of sponge ball used in magic. These balls look like tiny basketballs and it’s a thicker and stronger sponge center.





























have a rubber pencil wedged, point up, into the half-ball. Cover these coasters with over-sized Styrofoam cups. You’ll also need a sharpener… electric one is best, but a good manual one will work and you need a real pencil. Try to get a very generic yellow pencil that either has little or no writing on it. The rubber pencils have no writing on them so you want to match it as much as possible. Also, get a large tomato and a cloth to wipe the pencil off; and a wastebasket to toss everything into. I think you might be getting ahead of me and already know where this is going. I played around with a lot of ways of switching the pencils, but finally got around to the easiest and most deceptive… I think, anyway. In the tomato, drill a pilot hole with the real pencil by pushing it in a bit further than half way then taking it out. Now put the rubber pencil in that hole and push it a bit further in. You should be able to hold and display the





























protruding out of the tomato then reach for the cloth that you will use to wipe the pencil. As you reach for the cloth you will rotate the tomato somewhat so that the rubber pencil is now exposed and your hand hides the real pencil. Pull out the rubber pencil and wipe it as you place the tomato down so that the pencil is facing away from the audience. You can then dispose of the tomato by dropping it in the wastebasket. You continue continue by wedging the the rubber pencil into the half ball. Be careful how you hold and press on the pencil as you don’t want to give away its special properties. You can use your hands to hide the action as you press it into the half ball. Okay, so you are ready. You cover the pencil with the Styrofoam cup and then bring out the other cups. Have someone mix them and then just start smashing. Some hints: When you smash the cups you want to come straight down, but then sort of push back at an angle towards yourself. This is to insure that the pencil





























Also, although I’ve never done this, you can switch out the rubber pencil at the end for the regular one by doing the same tomato switch. This time you plunge the rubber pencil into the pre-made hole then pull out the real pencil and hand it to them. Or you can switch out the rubber pencil at the end by jokingly wiping off blood from a past performance and having a real pencil in the cloth. You pretend to wipe the pencil then bring out the real one as you crush the cloth and drop it into the basket. One more thing that that I hate to give away: away: When playing around with this I realized that since I am the one deciding which cup to smash that I could mark a few of the cups and have them actually be free of any pencil. That way I could actually show them as empty by lifting the cup up instead of smashing it. Soon after coming up with that idea I saw Alain Nu perform SHATTERED on his TV show and he had the same premise of having one bag be free of any bottle. So there you go.

Gregarce-lostinthoughtpdf.pdf

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