Hybrid Mentalism: By Alexander Marsh

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space at the bottom. Once they have done that, they are to flip over the card so no one can see what has been drawn. As you explain that they are to flip over the card, demonstrate by flipping over the top card in your hands but of course you will actually be flipping over the double. Doing all this leaves a blank card on top with the participant’s card underneath it.































This whole move is justified under the guise of explaining (and demonstrating) that you want the participant to keep their hand on top of their card. I knew I was onto something with this ‘Rub-A-Dub-Dub Switch’ when I was first rehearsing the move. My girlfriend walked into the room and asked if I was practicing a new trick, to which I replied “Yeah.





















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































�� The performer approaches a group of spectators and introduces himself as a magician - not of the physical world but of the mind. To demonstrate this concept the performer brings out a deck of playing cards explaining that he will use it to demonstrate how he uses the mind to produce magical results. “The first thing you should do when you sit down to play a game of cards is make sure the cards are shuffled, so go ahead shuffle them for me. Any way you want.”

The spectator does so and the performer makes a humorous but in no way derogatory comment about the participant’s shuffling skills. “OK, so you are happy they are mixed? Good. The second thing you should do is make sure the cards are not marked in any way. The best way to do this is called the ‘flick book test’.”

The performer then demonstrates the ‘flick book test’ by riffling through the cards and showing that if the backs where marked in any way the patterns on the back would change. “A bit like one of those flick book animations that you might have seen when you where young. You know, there would have been a slightly different image on each page and as you flicked through the image would come to life. Well if the cards where marked, the backs would all be different so you would see a change as you flick through.” 54























Both ends are checked and the cards are seen not to be marked in any way. “The last thing you should do is make sure the cards are all different”

The performer begins to spread the cards face up. “So just take a look and make sure they are all different. For example, if you see more than 4 Aces you know something funny is going on! Happy? So So you’re happy happy they are are mixed, happy happy their not marked marked and happy they are all different. Good, if you’re happy I’m happy.”

And with those final words the performer has given them a brief shuffle and cut. “Now, if we were to play a game of cards everything would be very fair. The cards cards have been been thoroughly thoroughly checked checked and mixed, mixed, so no one one would have an advantage over any one else. Unless someone has the ability to very rapidly, memorise the order of the cards.”

He then asks for a moment and holds the deck up to his eyes. He rapidly riffles through the cards seemingly memorising the order of the cards. “Done. Simple as that. Well not quite, you see I haven’t really memorised the deck in the way you might imagine. Actually I have just opened up my mind and allowed all that information to flood in, knowing that subconsciously I will take it all in. And that if I test it, my mind will let me know the information consciously.

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So let’s see, if you name a number between 1 and 52, I should be able to fairly accurately tell you which card is at that number. Go ahead, name a number.”

The participant names a number, let’s say it’s 21. “OK, 21… That’s a black card. It’s a 3… the 3 of Hearts… I think. Let’s find out. out. Now, I can’t mess mess up the order order of these cards cards or this will all all be a waste of time. So I’ll count them like this and you make sure I count fairly, one card card at a time… time… 1, 2, 3… ”

The performer spreads the cards one at a time from the top of the deck, counting as he goes and being careful not to disturb their order. He st reaches the 21 card and moves it to the top of the ‘counted’ pack and gives the remainder to the participant. st

“The 21 card you said. I said it would be the 3 of Hearts, let’s have a look…”

He reveals the card and it is indeed the 3 of Hearts and is clearly relived that his mind has not let him down. He places the card “back where it should be” on top of the remainder pack in the participant’s hands and places the rest of the deck he holds, back on top of that. Excited to test his skills again the performer continues: “Let’s try it again, but slightly differently this time. Another test that memory experts and card counters use is to move or completely remove one card from the deck.

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You see because I have the sequence in my head, if one of those cards were to be removed or moved, the sequence would be broken and that card would in my mind stick out like a sore thumb. Think of it like the alphabet. The alphabet is a sequence of 26 letters, the order of which you know know off by heart, almost almost unconsciously, unconsciously, so so if the letter ‘C’ were suddenly removed completely or moved to later in the sequence you’d notice it wouldn’t you.”

The performer dribbles the cards in his hands and asks the participant to say ‘Stop’. They do so and the card stopped at is the card taken from the deck and memorised by the participant. The performer riffles the cards in front of his eyes. He frowns and looks pensive. He tells the participant to put the card back in the deck but somewhere different so he dribbles the cards again and asks them to say ‘Stop’. The card is replaced at his point and once again the cards are riffled in front of the performer’s eyes. “OK there was a card missing…and it came from here next to the Jack of Diamonds.”

The performer explains as he spreads through the now face up deck. “What was after the Jack… it was the 4… the 4 of Spades, is that right?”

The participant confirms that he is correct much to the performers delight. “Now, this all very well and good me showing off like this but all I’m doing is trusting my own mind. Trusting that my subconscious mind has taken in all the information and will consciously let me know the card. This is what our subconscious does, among other things. But ‘how’ it let’s us know is different for different people; it may come as a mental flash or as an intuitive gut instinct. 57























So with that in mind I want to try something with you to show that you can do exactly what I have just done. It sounds impossible, but if you trust me and do as I ask this will work.”

The performer spreads the cards and asks a spectator to remove a card but not to let him or the participant see what it is. While the card is being memorised by the other spectator and shown to the rest of the group, the performer instructs the ‘would-be card counter’ to relax and take a few deep breaths. This, he claims, will help open up her mind and allow all the information in. He riffled the cards in front of her eyes just like he did in front of his own eyes. “You may not think you saw everything but trust me, it’s all in there.”

The card that had been removed is now placed back in the deck at a random point. He approaches the participant and tells her to relax. “I’m going to show you the cards again. Just relax and notice how this time one card just stands out to you. This is different for different people. Some Some people think think it’s like time has slowed slowed down. You will will see all the cards again but one card will seem to stand out from the others, it may seem to linger for longer in your mind. Just remember it consciously.”

The performer riffles the cards in front of the spectator again and asks: “Did you see the card, one that seemed to stand out form all the others? Me too, just focus on that card and remember it.”

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The performer goes through the deck and out jogs a single card. He asks the participant what colour the card is. She replies and the spectator who had chosen the card confirms that she is correct. The same is done with the value and finally she is asked to name the card completely. She is 100% correct and is congratulated by both the performer and the spectators alike.

�� So, this is my ‘not memorised deck routine’. So called because you don’t genuinely memorise the deck (no surprises there) but also because you actually explain this to the spectators. Instead I have chosen to spin a tale of ‘subconscious recall’, which, for those of you that don’t know, is the generally accepted explanation behind our ‘intuitive’ or ‘gut instinct’ reactions and decisions. Our subconscious (or, if you prefer, unconscious) mind is constantly taking in everything around us and can ‘remember’ everything we have ever seen, heard, felt or thought. It then makes decisions based on all this input and then sends the relevant information to our conscious mind in some way, more often than not as a ‘feeling’. I’m sure you have heard people say something like, “I’ve got a bad feeling about about this” when faced with something that is similar to an event that happened previously in their life and something went wrong, whether they remember this event consciously or subconsciously. I highly recommend you do a little research on the idea of ‘subconscious recall’. I personally find it fascinating and a far more interesting plot for a routine than simply having mastered esoteric memory techniques.

























of the cards if the spectators think the deck is either not properly shuffled and therefore stacked, or is marked in some way. These suspicions are straight away blown out of the water by asking the spectator to mix the cards and making an amusing comment about their shuffling. Nothing harsh or derogatory, but something that can be used again later and will draw attention to the fact that the cards are being mixed. This is reinforced by showing them how to test for marked cards using the ‘flipbook test’ or ‘riffle test’ which is done exactly as described in the presentation above. Derren Brown is the first person I saw use this idea but I have since seen Luke Jermay use it, and use it brilliantly. The other issue I have with most memorised deck routines is that it’s all about the performer and his brain. With this routine and its final phase, I have hopefully created something special for the participant in showing them that they too can do this. This not only adds some realism to my pseudo-explanation but puts the spotlight on the participant, which is where I feel it should be.

�� The deck is a perfectly ordinary one, but has one minor change: one card is a short card. I personally use the 3 of Clubs as it’s a rather innocuous card. I trim of a few millimetres from both the short ends of the card in the usual fashion. The only other thing I do is remove the jokers as they just get in the

























give the cards back and you ask if they are happy with the shuffle, give them a brief mix and a cut yourself, in the process bringing the short card to the bottom of the deck. This is done to get the short card out of the way for the first 2 phases of the routine and so it won’t disturb your riffling of the deck as you supposedly memorise the order. Then, as in the presentation, explain and demonstrate how to check for marked cards. After this you will spread the cards face up: “The last thing you should do is make sure the cards are all different”

This is purely as motivation to look at the faces of the cards, and in particular the top card. As you spread through casually catch a glimpse of what the top card is and remember it. This will be the card you claim is at the number they call out. This first phase is straight out of Corinda with minor handling changes from me. It’s called “Photo-Memory” by Hans Trixer and can be found on page 308 of “13 Steps to Mentalism”. So you have got to the point where the cards have been mixed and examined. The short card is out of the way on the bottom and you have remembered the top card. You will now seemingly memorise the cards by riffling the cards in front of your eyes. I do this quite fast and riffle up whilst counting slowly to 4 in my head. After the first riffle, I pause for a beat and look up as if thinking and then riffle the cards again.

























I explain that I haven’t really memorised the cards, but allowed my subconscious to take in the information et cetera and get the participant to name any number between 1 and 52, saying that I should know which card is at that number. Whatever number they name; name the top card: the card you remembered earlier and put the bend in. I tell them that I can’t mess up the order of the cards so have to count the cards in the following fashion. The truth is that counting them like this makes the effect possible by keeping the top card on top. Hold the deck in your left hand and use the left thumb to spread the cards, one card at a time off to the right, counting as you go. Let’s say the number called is 21. st

When you reach the 21 card, thumb it off on to the top card and break the deck at this point. Hand the participant the left hand, lower portion of the deck and retaining the right hand, upper portion. Reiterate the number they said and the card you said would be at that position. Perform the double lift and reveal the card. Simple as that. I like to act relieved and excited at this point, as if I’m pleased my mind didn’t fail me. A nice touch here is to take the double as one card and put it “back where it came from” on top of the participants lower part of the pack, followed by your upper pack on top. Notice how these actions and

























The next phase is nothing more than a cunningly disguised key card effect. Dribble the cards in your hands and request the participant say stop. Ask them to take the top card of the lower portion and remember it. As they do this, riffle the cards in front of your eyes but seem unsure. Almost as an afterthought tell them to put the card back but in a different position, so dribble the cards again and when they tell you to stop, break the deck at that point. Tell them to put it face down on top of the lower portion of the deck and as they do so, catch a glimpse of the bottom card of the upper half of the deck. More theatrics now as you riffle the cards in front of your eyes again. Immediately turn the pack face up and begin to spread through it. As you do this, look for your key card and remember the card next to it, this of course will be the card that was removed and then moved in the deck. “OK there was a card missing…and it came from here next to the Jack of Diamonds. What was after the Jack… it was the 4… the 4 of Spades, is that right?”

This is sheer bluff but the idea behind saying it is to move away from finding the participants card (and any thoughts of key cards the audience may have) and in to the area of the effect you are presenting, that being a memory or ‘subconscious recall’ of the cards and their



























Again, a nice touch here after having your guess confirmed, is to actually find the card that had been moved and put it ‘back’ next to the Jack. Now we get to the final phase: the ‘spectator as mentalist’ moment. This is where the short card comes into play. We will be using the classic ‘Visual Riffle Force’ made popular amongst magicians by David Blain, and earlier than that, Chan Canasta. Banachek also writes about this in the first “Psychological Subtleties”. You explain, as in the presentation, what is going to happen and have a card removed and remembered by a bystander. As you are talking to the participant casually shuffle the cards as it doesn’t matter any more because the participant is going to be doing all the work. As you shuffle, bring the short card to the top of the deck. I really like to get the participant to relax, as if I am putting them in a powerful state of mind. Riffle the cards in front of the spectator’s eyes in a similar manner to how you did in front of your own eyes. Assure them that all the information is in their head.



























The words here are very important. Essentially you are prepping them to notice and remember the card that, thanks to the short card, will be seen for longer than the others. At the same time you are suggesting to them and the audience at large that this is due to the power of the mind and its natural functions. “Did you see the card, one that seemed to stand out from all the others? Me too, just focus on that card and remember it.”

I then go through the deck and out jog the card above the short card and encourage the participant to reveal the information bit by bit, rather than blurt it out, to build the tension. I can congratulate them on doing a brilliant job, telling them that I knew they could do it and encourage the others to give them a round of applause.

�� As stated in the text, the first phase of the routine is “Photo-Memory” by Hans Trixer and can be found on page 308 of “13 Steps to Mentalism”. The idea of putting a slight bend or crimp in a card to



























Finally, the presentational idea of showing the participant how to check for marked cards was brought to my attention by Derren Brown in an episode of “Trick of the Mind”.



























�� Whilst we are on the subject of being dishonest about your memory, here’s a little idea that although isn’t strictly speaking an effect, it should leave a firm impression about you and your mental abilities on whoever you perform it for. Before I explain the idea, let me tell you a quick anecdote that I feel illustrates the point I am about to make. I was performing at a private party held in a rather nice home in Cambridge. I introduced myself to the hostess, Lynn I believe her name was, and she introduced me to the first little group of guests that had arrived. I did ‘my thing’ with the four or so guests in the group, asking names and involving them all in the routines.



























names that evening, I could recall her name, it was Rose (quite a memorable name really). I touched her on the shoulder and said something like, “Rose, have you seen Lynn, I need to say goodbye.” Rose had a look on her face of utter surprise, with a smidgen of glee. She apologized for looking a bit dumb struck and revealed she was shocked and impressed that I had remembered her name, adding something along the lines of ‘…but of course you would, you’re the mind magician’ and proceeded to tell me that Lynn was having a wee. The point of this not-particularly interesting story is: it’s the little things that make the bigger picture more interesting. Thinking about it, of course Rose felt special that I had remembered her name, who wouldn’t, but I think it resonated a little deeper in Rose due to the fact I was ‘the mind magician’. Her initial shock that I had remembered her name came from the fact that when you meet someone at a party, usually their name goes in one





























This notion has inspired a few ideas within me, one of which is detailed below.

�� You are performing at some sort of event and a spectator has expressed an interest in hiring you for their next ‘do’. You of course give them one of your business cards but you also ask them to give you their phone number (it’s just good business practice). But what do you do if they don’t have a business card, or they start scrabbling around looking for a pen and paper to jot it down? Well, you tell them not to worry, they can just tell you the number and you’ll remember it.





























The less mentally taxing and cardio-vascular inducing method is pocket writing. Just very casually put your hands in your pockets as you are speaking to this potential customer and ask them to tell you their number - one digit at a time. With each digit simply write it down in your pocket, it’s as simple as that. In a more ‘impromptu’ setting I have managed to do the same thing using my mobile phone. Again, I just casually put my hands in my pocket, unlock my phone and dial the number by touch alone. I would then hit ‘dial’ but then immediately hang up. This would store the number in my ‘recently called’ list, and save me trying to save it into my address book with the phone still in my pocket.





























�� The performer hands out four of his business cards along with four pens, to four people. He then asks them to write the name of an object, a person or a place that means something to them on their card. “I would like each of you to write down a name. This can be a name of a person or a place that has some sort of meaning to you: someone close to you that you see quite often or a





























One such task was for someone from a small crowd to write down a piece of information while the horse and the trainer were out of sight. The horse would be brought to the group and the card would be shown to him. Clever Hans was then led around the group until he stopped in front of one person and tapped his hoof to indicate that this was the person Hans ‘thought’ had written the information. information. He was surprisingly surprisingly accurate at it, much to the surprise of anyone who witnessed it, including his trainer. No one at the time knew how a horse could do this sort of thing, not even the owner, but in 1907, psychologist Oskar Pfungst demonstrated that the horse was not actually performing intellectual tasks and reading minds, but was watching the reaction of his human observers.





























The performer seems to study the card and the gathered participants, repeating out loud the information written on the card, even adding details that he ‘senses’. “Luke! This is clearly a name… someone close to you. Someone you have a connection with. I’d say this Luke is a young man, I also think he has been troubled by something recently… maybe this is something you have have spoken about about with him…”

The performer is speaking to no one in particular but at the same time speaking to the person who wrote on that card. He wanders from person to person, mimicking Clever Hans being led around the group, as if by some unseen force. Finally he stops in front of one person: “Say hello from me next time you see Luke! Am I right?!”































He immediately ‘pounces’ on the last participant, revealing what this person is merely thinking of almost exactly, despite the fact that the card with his thought on is still being held by an indifferent spectator.

�� Larry Becker’s Sneak Thief has become a modern day classic. Many































Now, let’s break down the effect in to its component parts. In a moment I will detail the marking system I use and then move on to how I like to get my peek. I’m going to resist the temptation and turmoil of writing up exactly how I like to perform the revelations but essentially I do it as written































I look at the participant whose card I peeked earlier and reveal that they are thinking of the name of a person (or whatever it is) and that the other person is thinking of a place (or whatever). “Which tells me that this is yours!”































“This can be a name of a person or a place that has some sort of meaning to you: someone close to you that you see quite often or a place you you have been been to and have have fond memories memories of being there. Or this could be an object that has some sort of significance to you.































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Pazzo Daisy – For her proof reading, help with illustrations and putting up with the manor in in which I write – a large Edwardian affair with gorgeous sash windows. Dad – Look Dad, your Sunshine wrote a book!

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Hybrid Mentalism: By Alexander Marsh

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