JournaloftheMindV1Issue5

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Mark Strivings Contents: 1This Month’s Spotlight 2 Top Ten Book Test 5 Mark Striving’s Mind 9 Strolling PK

O CTOBER 2007

T HIS

MONTH ’ S

S POTLIGHT :

M ARK S TRIVINGS Mark Strivings will probably be remembered for his incredible Sight Unseen Case, a utility prop that many mentalists use, or use variations of. The SUC is a leather credit card wallet that is a diabolical peek wallet that has quite a bit more uses to it than just peeking. Recently, Peter Nardi was authorized to incorporate this idea into his wonderful and highly recommended Stealth Assassin Wallet. I can’t be certain of this, but I think my first introduction to Mark’s incredible oeuvre of material was his Mobile Mentalism book. It is an anthology filled with some very practical magic that is suitable for walk-around mentalism, but can certainly be used in other venues and types of acts as well.

11 Jheffsmind 15 Strolling Book Tests 24 Mixing Magic Essay

Jheff’s Journal of the Mind, Volume 1, Issue 5. Printed in the U.S.A. Journal of the Mind is published six times a year for members of the Marketplace Membership Club. Edited by Matthew Schouten Copyright © 2007 All rights reserved by the authors. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing by the copyright owner.

Email: [email protected]

Two effects from that book inspired book. The first is “Warm Fuzzies Up Close.” It’s a wonderful routine to present to two people, usually a couple. One randomly selects a card with colors on it without looking at which color they chose; the other selects a gem. It turns out, of course, that the colors match. The other effect was the last one in the book, “ESP For Fun And Profit.” That’s a wonderful three phrase routine using ESP cards and I guess I’ve become a sucker for ESP card routines. Don’t know why. But I do remember that this routine really had me thinking. Another effect that I got a lot of use out of was Symbol Minded. It involved a stack of cards with symbols on them. One was freely chosen and the performer revealed that symbol. It’s very similar to Richard Osterlind’s Design Duplication System, but Mark released his version way before Richard released his. (I’m certainly not going to assume who actually created what earlier than whom, though.) One more aspect that Mark is known for is his advocating mentalism in walkaround venues. Many mentalists don’t agree, but Mark not only defends this idea, but he writes about it, as well. In fact, besides the taste of Mark’s prolific creativity that’s within the pages of this issue, you’ll also be treated to his thoughts on walkaround mentalism. Mark has generously provided some really good stuff for this issue and I hope you enjoy it and use it.

J OURNAL OF THE M IND

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“THE TOP TEN BOOKTEST” from Mental Mix (2003)

Why in the world would we need another book test? Well the basic answer is very simple. Different types of book tests allow for a variety of presentation, not to mention method. What we have here uses a tried and true method combined with a presentational hook, which can be a ton of fun for the right performer. Plus, this particular book test uses some of the rather unique properties of the David Letterman Top Ten Lists books to special advantage, both in method and presentation. If your performing style leans towards the possible use of Letterman-style humor, this could be a major winner for you. Plus it's dead easy!

Effect The performer produces two books, "David Letterman's Book of Top Ten Lists and Zesty Lo-Cal Chicken Recipes" and "David Letterman's New Book of Top Ten Lists and Wedding Dress Patterns for the Husky Bride". One of the books is selected and a page is randomly chosen. Both of these are completely free actions, no force of any kind is used. To add to the fun, a number from one to ten is also called out. The spectator looks up the chosen page and the item at the number called for in the top ten list on that page. Meanwhile the performer looks up the top ten list on that same page in the other Top Ten book. He can proceed to read all or part of the list. Needless to say, the performer now has Letterman's writing staff working for him! This can be a riot unto itself. Finally the performer has the spectator read the selected item to himself. The performer concentrates and reveals not only the item at the selected number but also the Top Ten List topic on that page. In fact, the performer can reveal the entire Top Ten List if so desired! It's a fun-filled miracle!

Method I claim no originality for the actual method of this little mystery, apart from the use of the Letterman books, which allows for some interesting handling ideas, as you'll see shortly. As I said, this is a tried and true method and is very easy to pull of. I'll give you a couple of different method and presentation ideas. But first we need to do a bit of construction. You'll need to get three copies total of the Letterman Top Ten books. You can check online at Amazon.com or any other bookstore you like. Candidly, these are getting tough to find new in a bookstore so your best bet is probably a used bookstore. This is where I found my copies. There are five different volumes available. Three of them are in paperback and the other two are in hardback. Personally I use the two hardback titles listed above. The good thing about all of these books is that they are identical in layout, size and design, which allows for some very interesting possibilities. I use two copies of the 'Zesty Lo-Cal Chicken Recipes' and one copy of 'Wedding Dress Patterns'. You'll need an Exacto(r) knife and some contact cement to do this job. You're going to separate the cover of the book from the main body. To do this you need to open the book all the way (any book of the three books at this point since you're going to do this procedure to two out of the three books), meaning both covers should be touching each other on the opposite side from the closed position. Now take the Exacto(r) knife and cut carefully where the cover meets the first page. You want to cut the piece of paper that is glued to the inside of the hardback cover. Don't push too hard or you'll go all the way through the spine of the book. Cut down the inside of both the front and back cover. You then will have to work the pages loose from the binding. Do this as carefully as you Desert Brainstorm DVD Vol. 1-3 featuring Mark Strivings and friends 20% discount at www.marketplaceofthemind.com


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can because you're going to need either the cover or the pages themselves depending on which book you're currently destroying. In the example above I mentioned that I use two copies of the 'Zesty Lo-Cal Chicken Recipes' and one copy of 'Wedding Dress Patterns'. Remove the guts from one copy of each of the titles, which leaves a single copy of 'Zesty Lo-Cal Chicken Recipes' untouched. Carefully remove any loose flaps of torn paper or other obstructions from both parts that you have separated. You're now going to glue the guts from the 'Zesty Lo-Cal Chicken Recipes' into the cover of the 'Wedding Dress Patterns'. To do this, apply contact cement to both the ends of the guts from the first book and the inside of the spine of the cover of the second book. Let both of these parts dry completely before you stick them together. Once they are dry, line them up carefully and stick them together. Be careful with this procedure because they will stick totally and rock solid the instant they touch! Once all is in position press everything solidly into place and you're done! You will still have the guts and cover from the other two books left over. You don't need them, unless you feel like making another gaffed book. It won't work with the set you've just constructed, but it is an option.

Take this new book and combine it with the regular book that is unaltered. What you have are two books with different covers but identical pages throughout. Since these particular books are identical in layout and design anyway, this is even more deceptive than usual. You can toss out the two books with complete confidence, as there is virtually nothing to discover unless the two books are directly compared side by side. If this is a concern, then perhaps this effect is not for you. There is no reason on earth for the spectators to ever compare the two books side by side, so don't let this stop you. Believe me, this is extremely deceptive and absolutely flies right by every audience. With these two books you have all you need to perform a complete and commercial miracle. Here is what I do in my routine. I'll give you some other ideas after that. Offer up the two books and have the spectator select one. It does not matter which one they pick. Keep the other one for yourself. Have a page selected. You can have someone call out a random number between 1-165 (there are 165 pages in the books) and have your spectator turn to that page. Meanwhile you are apparently turning to the same page in your book. I turn to a page that is actually about 20 pages away from the actual number called. There's no heat and no one can tell which page you are on anyway. The reason for this is to apparently show what top ten list is on that page in the book they did not select. If you have a copy of the book you can easily cover the page numbers at the bottom of the pages with your fingers. This further conceals the deception. Read out the top ten list on that page and read a few of the items. This is always good for a few laughs. I then ask my spectator if the list on their page is the same or not. Of course they will say it's different. I now ask for someone to give a number between 1-10. This will be the item of the list that your spectator will concentrate on. While this is being done, I casually flip through a few more pages and turn to the same page my spectator is looking at! Again, there is no heat and all you need is a glimpse anyway. While looking at that page I For more information about Mark Striving’s products contact the author at [email protected]


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indulge in a bit of acting. I look over the page very openly and get the subject of the list as well as the number item they are thinking of, more if I can get it easily and remember it on the fly. I don't talk as I do this and am apparently reading a random list that I happened to come across. I let out a bit of a chuckle and then comment, almost under my breath that these books, "crack me up." I then close the book. Now I'm good to go. I can have them concentrate on the item in the list and then reveal that item as well as the topic of the list and perhaps another couple of items from the list. It's a miracle! I mention above that I flip to a page a few pages away from the actual named page. Since much of the time there is a certain limited range of page numbers that gets called, I will frequently turn to the same page each show (in my case it's either page 64, 'Top Ten Ted Kennedy Campaign Slogans', or page 69, 'Top Ten Least Popular Mall Shops'). The reason I chose these particular pages is because they can be done at any time of the year (even the Kennedy list), and because they are fairly quick and easy to understand. This gives me the option of reading all ten items in the list and not taking too much time with it. It keeps the presentation moving along. If, on the other hand, the page named is close to these numbers I'll flip to a random page out of range of the actual named page. The main thing is that you want to select a page that is not going to be accidentally discovered by your spectator in his book. Remember, you are mis-calling the page and passing it off as being the same page number as is in the spectator's book. You need to be able to show that page as being different and the mis-call while covering the actual page number is all you need. Just a tiny bit of spectator management along with this small dodge is usually more than enough to make this subtlety fly right by. There are other ways you can go about doing this effect. The above routine is exactly what I use and it works like a charm. But you do have other options. One is to literally memorize an entire top ten list (or portions of a list) from one of the books. Once the page number is called, you can turn to the exact same page that was named, but mis-read the entire top ten list, using the list you memorized. Then you can look at the pertinent info on that page all you want. You can also write the main keywords on a large pad and just reveal those if you'd like. I've done this and it's a great denouement to the routine. Write the main word or two from the main subject of the list and the main word or two from the selected number item. It's easy and plays large. I'm sure with some experimentation on your part you'll come up with several presentational ploys for your set of books. One good thing is that the more you work with your particular set, the better you will get to know them. You'll find that you'll be coming across the same information regularly which makes what little work you have to do even easier. Put a set of these books together. The presentation is lighthearted and fun and it's a rock solid mystery to boot. Have fun!

The Stealth Assassin Wallet 1.1 featuring Mark Striving’s Sight Unseen principle 20% discount at www.marketplaceofthemind.com


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MARK STRIVING’S MIND Besides being known for the creation of the Sight Unseen Case, Mark Strivings is also a prolific author discussing not only various topics in mentalism, but also such topics as performing grad nite shows, libraries, kid shows, and marketing. Plus, he’s released dozens of effects, mostly mentalism. So, why then does someone tip their original work and release all this material? And Mark responded. “Oh my, where to begin? To date I have written 17 books and manuscripts, all but 3 are about mentalism and related subjects. I have also either been the solo performer or part of an ensemble on 17 different videos and 8 audio programs, the majority of which deal with mentalism and related subjects. In addition I have released over 50 different commercial effects, accessories and package sets, again the majority dealing with mentalism. “As to why I created all of these, the answer is simple. These are all items that I use personally in my own professional work. There are a few items in my books that I do not use, but are included to document what I felt were worthy discoveries, usually on the way to working something else out. “If I had to pick out a couple of these as being particularly noteworthy, I would have to pick my Sight Unseen Case (original version and Generation II), “Mobile Mentalism” (Vols. I & II) and the Alpha series of books (“Before The Curtain Rises”, “Miracles From The Hip” and “Silent Partner”, more titles in the series are in the works). All of these have been pretty much universally accepted as standards in their individual realm. “The SUC came about as a desire to be able to do some of the wonderful gimmicked business card case work that I had seen some of my colleagues do, but with a prop that not only looked like a ‘real’ business card case, but also could be shown clearly on all sides in normal use. A window cut in the back of a business card case is capable of some absolutely amazing effects, but let’s face it, that entire side of the case is hot all the time and can’t be shown at all. It was this rather dramatic shortcoming that I was trying to overcome. In the process I discovered a whole universe of utility uses that can be done with the SUC. Everyone is proud of their own children (and brainchildren) but this is one that I am extremely pleased with and is probably what I’ll be most remembered for long after I’m gone. “Of course the next obvious question is where in the world do you get one? Well they have been of the market for awhile now for a whole litany of reasons, but long story short, they are coming back, hopefully this fall. Keep an ear to the ground, you’ll hear the rumble when the time comes. Or you can email me and I’ll keep you posted either way. “The Alpha series of manuscripts each deal in depth with specific and vastly under utilized techniques that are of immeasurable value to any mentalist. They are also topics that have not really received in-depth analysis in the literature before and need to be brought up to date. In order they deal with pre-show work, pocket writing and cribs. I am extremely pleased with all three titles and there are more on the way with three more titles in active preparation right now. And when I asked Mark why he thinks other mentalists can use his materials, he said: Desert Brainstorm DVD Vol. 1-3 featuring Mark Strivings and friends 20% discount at www.marketplaceofthemind.com


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“Anyone wishing to call themselves a mentalist needs to have solid tools and techniques at their command. In everything I have ever released that has been my goal. I have never released anything that I haven’t used or wouldn’t use myself. I work in a very wide variety of venues and types of performances, and I think the variety of my materials reflects that experience. All of this material has been used under fire, and as such I know that it works for me. Having said that, it is also universally true that what works for one performer may not work for another. But since I know for a fact that it all works for me, then I am reasonably certain it will work just fine for many others.” Okay, so why mentalism, Mark? “I have always been interested in just about anything having to do with magic and mentalism. As has often been said, mentalism is in many ways a grown up type of magic. The impact of mentalism cannot be denied, and if it is both entertainment and impact that you are going for, you would be hard-pressed to find anything better than well-performed mentalism. When an audience watches a magician, everyone in the room knows it’s a ‘trick’, but when they witness a performer reading someone’s mind, well they absolutely know that there is no ‘trick box’ in the world that can do that. The impact is immediate and absolute. That’s a combination that is addictive as a performer and wonderful for an audience.”

_____________________

"I mean, these guys were doing just about everything but taking each other right there on the pool tables!"

One of your most outrageous experiences (and he’s shared this quite a few times at lectures and cons) concerns working at a rather unusual venue. Could you describe that for those who haven’t heard that funny anecdote?

“I was once hired to work a cabaret at a gay nightclub. I am not gay and I have no problem with anyone’s sexual preference, but I wasn’t quite ready for some of the joke reactions that I got that night. I have a ____________________ small handful of lines in my show that are ever so slightly risqué that normally get chuckles from the more ‘hip’ in the crowd, but that night the response was huge! Truth be told it actually threw me a little bit. It was odd. Of course it didn’t help either that this club was not only a gay nightclub, but perhaps the term ‘flaming’ should have been in the name of the place. I mean, these guys were doing just about everything but taking each other right there on the pool tables! Talk about distracting!” Having authored a book entitled Annemann for the 90s, it’s probably a foregone conclusion of who inspired your mentalism when you began your exploration of the craft. So what’s the answer? “The very first book on mentalism that I ever came across was a first edition of Annemann’s Practical Mental Effects. It remains my very favorite book on mentalism to this day. I have been a huge Annemann fan ever since I first read it and the Jinx. I was also very fortunate in that early on, long before I really became interested in mentalism specifically I knew a very knowledgeable dealer who specialized in obtaining top-notch books, manuscripts and materials dealing with mentalism, and if he said something was good I went ahead and got it. In most cases those books went unread for years, but when I was ready to really dig in to mentalism I had a killer library on the shelf ready to be read. I had an entire universe of great masters to learn from sitting right there on the shelf. It was a wonderful time.” And is there anyone, or anything, that has inspired you recently? (Continued on page 9)

For more information about Mark Striving’s products contact the author at [email protected]


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MARK STRIVINGS MOBILE MENTALISM Volume 1 & 2

Formidable collections of mentalism for the walk-around performer. Effects are included from such luminaries as Docc Hilford, Richard Webster, Terry Nosek, Ed Fowler, John Riggs, Anthony Lindan, Gene Urban and Robert Waller. You will use this material!

Available from: Mark Strivings 8631 N. Lowell Blvd. Westminster, CO 80031 303-650-6992 phone & fax email [email protected]


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(Continued from page 7)

“I have been extremely fortunate to be able to count many of the contemporary giants of mentalism as personal friends. We have traded secrets, ideas and concepts. I have been privy, to some extent at least, to how they think and what makes them tick. It’s been of inestimable value to me. I highly recommend that mindset to anyone. Try to understand what makes a performer or creator you admire really tick. If you can absorb their thought process, the ‘why’ of what they do, then you will have treasures far beyond what you may get just from learning their tricks.”

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"There has always been a common misconception among magicians that mentalism is easy to do. Absolutely untrue!" ____________________

You’ve written many articles and books on marketing and mentalism. What advice would you give to those starting out in mentalism? “Read, read, read. Read everything you can get your hands on. And for God’s sake PLEASE don’t go with the newest and coolest DVD or toy on the market exclusively. Go back, way back. Read Annemann and Corinda and everyone who has come along since then. You will find stuff that is hidden there that is light years beyond much of the stuff that comes out today, brought out by those who never bothered to learn what came before. If you get a chance to hang out with someone who really knows mentalism, seize the opportunity. Ask questions and listen, really listen. Take your favorite mentalist out to lunch, pick up the tab and ask a ton of questions. That’s what I did when I got started. But that’s another story for another time. They will drop pearls of wisdom in your lap that you simply won’t find anywhere else. And when you can’t hang out with your favorite mentalists in person, read their books and try to get inside of their heads that way. There is simply no substitute.” And what advice would you give to those experienced in mentalism? “Well here I am preaching to the choir. Always act like a pro, always think like a pro, always be ready for anything… just like a pro.” What do you see as the biggest problem facing mentalists today and how do you think it can be solved?” “Mentalism has become hugely popular among magicians in recent years. It has also become much more visible to laymen and those who books shows. This is both good and bad on both counts. There has always been a common misconception among magicians that mentalism is easy to do. Absolutely untrue! If anything it is MUCH more difficult to perform well than magic is, for a lot of reasons which I won’t go into here. A direct side effect of the increasing popularity of mentalism among both magicians and the public is that there are more and more of us performing it. Unfortunately this has resulted in a glut of mediocre performers (who really aren’t ready to strut their stuff just yet) and that doesn’t help anyone. “I think the only real solution is that there needs to be solid emphasis on really learning your craft. Know what you are doing inside and out. Listen to those who have come before, trust what they share, learn from their experiences and apply what you learn. It will cut the learning curve in half, at least! Don’t ever try to perform anything unless it is absolutely as close to perfect as you can get it. It won’t ever be more than 95% there, regardless of what you do, purely because the live audience is a factor in any performance and that can only be worked out in actual performance. But it is the very last part of the entire process. Make sure it doesn’t come too soon. “This question is SO huge that I really can’t even begin to cover all the many and varied aspects of it here. Suffice to say, there is no substitute for your own education, and then applying that education in an intelligent manThe Stealth Assassin Wallet 1.1 featuring Mark Striving’s Sight Unseen principle 20% discount at www.marketplaceofthemind.com


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ner. Read, listen and learn. When someone who has been down the road you want travel says something, listen ten times more than you talk. There is a world of experience there that can save you a ton of mistakes on your own journey. “One more thing, I think mentalism should be special. By that I mean, don’t be one of those guys who feels the need to perform everywhere they go. They can’t sit at a restaurant without forks bending, they can’t have a conversation without some cold reading happening. I can easily understand the mindset of being a psychic and that these things just ‘happen’ around you, but for God’s sake use some discretion. Less is absolutely more, and nowhere is that more true than when our art is foisted on an unsuspecting public.”

“STROLLING PK”

from Mobile Mentalism Volume II In recent years there has been a literal explosion in the number of performers who do demonstrations of PK. More guys are bending stuff than ever before. For good reason, it's powerful stuff! This is my small contribution to the field. I'm going to cut straight to the chase here. We're doing key bending. And before we really get into this, I've got to get something off my chest. There has been much discussion over the years about the pros and cons of key bending (and bending things in general). The biggest point of debate frequently centers on the topic of destroying someone else's property, whether it's a spoon (in the case of a restaurant) or a key, which may result in someone not being able to get back into his or her house. While these demonstrations are genuinely amazing, they can leave a sour aftertaste. Speaking only for myself, I prefer not to take that chance. Obviously if someone has an old key that they are absolutely certain they no longer need, then we're in business. Likewise if there is some old silverware available in an eating establishment that management no longer cares about, the coast is clear. But there are literally legions of restaurant managers out there these days that hate magicians (and mentalists, whether they realize it or not) purely because some jerk destroyed some of their silverware. I know, I've talked to some of these managers. I will make just one plea here. If you are going to do silverware or key bending in a public venue, either supply your own materials or make absolutely sure that it's ok to do what you are going to do. I can give you no wisdom on how to approach a restaurant manager and ask tactfully if it's ok if you destroy some of their property because I have never done it, nor would I ever do it. To a lesser degree, the same goes with someone's house or car key. I realize this reduces some of the inherent shock value that many of us prize so dearly, but better to do that than to destroy yet another lay person's view of our craft. Not to mention, in the case of a restaurant, you may have destroyed someone's chance to work in that establishment for money. Same thing goes for private work for an individual. If you have destroyed their house key without clearing it first to make sure it's ok, it's a sure bet they will not look kindly on anyone involved in what we do. There goes another gig out the window. I fully realize it's fairly easy to get away with, but that's not the point. Try to think beyond those few seconds of amazement and try to have a more global view of what you're doing. If the people you are working with and for are good sports about things, fine. Go nuts. But if there is any doubt, leave it out. End of sermon. Which brings me to the present effect. Some of you are about to be upset with me because I'm not going to give a specific routine here. I'll give the rock bottom basics of what I do, but the main thing here is the finish. We'll get World’s Greatest Magic Metal Bending featuring Banachek and Richard Osterlind 20% discount at www.marketplaceofthemind.com


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to that in moment. The actual routine that you do should be crafted from your own situation and persona. Personally I supply all of the keys that I'm planning on using in the performance. As I stated above, if someone has an old key that they absolutely do not need anymore, I'm happy to proceed with it (and frequently do!) I carry several different types of keys and have the audience pick and choose which ones we'll use. The basic method of bending that I use is using one of keys themselves as the bender. Get yourself a key that has a fairly wide slot, that portion of the key where the key ring would normally go. If you find one that has a fairly wide slot you can simply slide the shank of another key into that slot. Now, by exerting some pressure against the key in the slot, you can easily bend it to nearly a 90¼ angle if you so desire, although a very slight bend is more than enough. The handling that I use is based on a routine by my good friend (and worldclass coin guy) David Neighbors, which was published in The Minotaur Magazine several years ago. It was the first place where I was exposed to the use of a key to bend another key, but the idea actual goes back quite a ways before that. The earliest reference I have been able to track down is by Mark Walker in his excellent book, "Key Bending", (Mickey Hades, 1979). I would highly recommend this great book for several of the ideas presented there. I have incorporated many of the ideas into my own routine and the book is well worth tracking down. One of the things that influenced me the most about Dave's routine was the fact that he supplied all of the keys for the handling. He used a small coin purse of the squeeze variety to carry the keys, which brings me to my small contribution. I have incorporated the Larry Becker coin purse into this effect. I carry all of the keys in the main compartment and in the secret compartment I carry a single, slightly bent key that matches several of the others from the main compartment. I'm sure you're way ahead of me. There are a couple of avenues that can be pursued with this set up. Let's say you've bent some keys and then have one more selected (forcing one of the dupes that match the hidden bent key). Have this key placed into the empty compartment and place the purse in between your spectator's hands. They won't feel anything amiss if the bend in the hidden key is fairly small. Have them concentrate and then dump the key into their own hands, really 'popping' the purse and dumping the bent key instead. Under cover of the surprise of the bent key you can casually pick up a few of the remaining keys from the table and drop them into the purse to clean up. You can also have an even stronger finish with the above set up. Follow the handling above to the point where you have the spectator place a key into the main compartment of the purse. They can have it between their palms as before, but then have them open the purse themselves (a bit gutsy but very doable) and look inside. Of course the key is not bent. Take the purse from them and have them extend their hand to you, meanwhile pop the purse and dump the bent key into their hand, using your free hand to close their fingers around it. Place the purse to one side. If the bend is fairly subtle they will feel nothing wrong. Have them concentrate and then reveal that the key has bent right in their own hands! This makes for a killer finish to the routine. Plus you can let them keep the key. Talk about a brain crusher! Afterthoughts - Once again, I hesitate to offer a routine (or handling idea, in this case) that requires a prop that you may have a challenge finding. Regardless, it's worth pursuing. I also use my friend, Guy Bavli's key bender in conjunction with this. I can store it in the purse when it's not being used and the whole unit is nicely compact. Contact Guy for the details of his wonderful key bender. Desert Brainstorm DVD Vol. 1-3 featuring Mark Strivings and friends 20% discount at www.marketplaceofthemind.com


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Practically any key-duplicating store will have a bucket of keys that have been cut but did not work for some reason. Many of these stores will be happy to give you as many keys as you want, just ask! I like to use Schlage(r) house keys for the bent key in this handling for a couple of reasons. One, they are fairly common and two, they are very substantial brass keys. They are pretty tough to bend and as such it's even more impressive when the spectator bends one! I actually have a few 'bender' keys in the purse in case I lose one or I choose to bend one. Keep a few of these on hand and don't be afraid to use them. With a supply of extra keys tucked away someplace where you can get to them, you can easily stroll through a gig and bend like crazy. And always be sure to give the bent keys away. They create tremendous word of mouth for you! One more thing, I mentioned that I occasionally bend a spectator's key. This invariably happens after I have already bent 2-3 of my own keys. Frequently a spectator will ask if I can do it with one of their keys. That's the time to make sure it's 100% ok to destroy their key. If it is, go for it! They will talk about you forever! [JHEFF’S NOTE: Another great key routine for strolling is Andrew Gerard’s Key Accessory. All you need are keys, colored rubber bands, and a Sharpie marker pen. It’s available on my website, natch.]

JHEFFSMIND Nobody likes thieves, except maybe their mothers. And maybe themselves. Every industry has them and every industry has to deal with them. Mentalism (and magic) is no different. This past year, I received this e-mail. I've included the grammatical errors, misspellings, and typos. He didn't include his name but his e-mail address is Super Store [email protected]. "Jheff, I read in the MagicCafe you have a copy of a Headline Prediction similar to Tim Convers. Just wanted to know if I can receive a copy of it. For informational purposes of course. I can offer to trade any Derren Brown book, Larry Beckers, Banacheck, Ostrelind.... I scanned most of them on my computer and can send them as a pdf file. I would greatly appreciate it. Of course this email will be confidential..... Let me know..................... P.S. Here is a small sample.........I have more.........."



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He sent along a copy of Banachek's Psychological Subtleties, which has never been released in electronic form and is unquestionably bootleg. Originally, I wanted to skewer this joker and write a reply to him which bluntly points out how immoral, unethical, illegal, and stupid he is for making such a request. However, I was wisely advised to try and get this jerkwad to give me his actual name and address. So I wrote to him explaining that I'd be more than willing to snail mail him a printed copy because I'd since lost my e-file on it (and I actually have misfiled or lost it). Unfortunately, he didn't take the bait. The question, though, is what to do about these guys. They seem to be everywhere. Certainly, for the authors of the products that these scumbags have stolen, there's no question that they should be gone after with the legal equivalent of a nuclear device up the arse. And, to those who've unwittlingly purchased some of these bootlegs, get your money back and report the lowlife scum to everyone you can think of. This is also why it's a good idea to pay for stuff on the Internet using Paypal or a credit card. You can easily get your money back. Well, at least there's more of a chance of recouping your money. But how do you ultimately stop them? The answer can be found in that classic philosophy of Mohatma Gandhi and his passive resistance that he named "satyagraha." In his one words, Ghandi defines it as a "vindication of truth, not by infliction of suffering on the opponent, but on one’s self." This, of course, does not mean that we should nothing. It does mean that we shouldn't waste our valuable energy by aggressively attacking these guys. We simply either let these guys continue doing this until they realize their efforts are valueless or we send their efforts back to them in terms of legal punishments. In other words, we show them that their actions don't bother us or let them give us the tools necessary to easily smite them. Before we go further, let's take about these lowlife thieves. The most telling thing about them is that they seem to miss the point about what's important to magic and mentalism. We're performers first and foremost, not librarians of invaluable secrets. These thieves think that just having access to this knowledge, or having it at all, is what's valuable.

_____________________

"The information, by itself, is useless unless you perform and use it. "

Consider this: There are two men, Richard Osterlind and another who has Richard Osterlind's Dynamic Mysteries book, which is now out-ofprint and highly sought after. This latter gentleman has the book in his ____________________ e-library, has read it, and isn't a performer. To which person, then, is this information most valuable? Yep. Richard Osterlind. He's using the material and making money from it. In the case of the other gentleman, the only value it gives him is the pride of having it and having the knowledge of the book's contents. Certainly, that's something to him, but very little compared to the amount of value that Richard Osterlind is gaining from the same information.

The information, by itself, is useless unless you perform and use it. The only other way is to sell this information to folks who think the same way that these irredeemable scumbags do, which is that the information itself is more valuable than the use of it. Here's yet another perspective: Have any performers ever gotten a prospective client saying, "I'm sorry. I read your material and I'm truly not impressed with how you do that stuff. It's all fake. Sorry, we're hiring another guy."? I certainly haven't. That's because most clients who are hiring us for a party could care less about whether we are fake or not. They could care less how we do the stuff. What they care about is our ability to entertain their guests and provide a memorable experience for them. As to those performers or psychics who hire themselves out as readers, I highly doubt that anyone will hire them because they know "how it's done." Really, if the clients did know, why would they hire them? The Stealth Assassin Wallet 1.1 featuring Mark Striving’s Sight Unseen principle 20% discount at www.marketplaceofthemind.com


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Knowing that the information that thieves and dishonest purchasers are spending money on will be worthless to them makes it a lot easier to fight them. I simply just don't let them bother me. It was like what happened when the Masked Magician made his vile appearance on Fox TV. The more that magicians cried fowl, the more publicity that the Masked Magician got. Magicians openly put a bigger value on knowing their secrets by complaining. (Remember a funny little film by Monty Python called The Life of Brian? It didn't have the advertising budget to do well. Fortunately, many religious groups protested the film and gave it the publicity it needed to become a hit.) If we simply showed that this masked exposer will not stop us from continuing to entertain the public, then the public will lose interest. Which is what eventually happened. (Yeah, I'm simplifying things, but it's to make a point.) So, if we simply continue on and act as if these lowlife scumbags are not hurting us as a group entity (which they aren't), and they're not stopping us from doing what we do, then they will retreat into a corner with other like-minded individuals. The sad part is that people don't change. Sure, we may be able to eventually stop some scumbags but, like the Hydra, two or more will come back and take their place. Fortunately, knowing that people don't change, Ghandhi's principle will continue to work on them, too. And then there's the issue of today's generation thinking that downloading artistic material (movies, songs, etc.) is a victimless crime and that's it's perfectly legal to do so. As an educator, I've tried very hard to try and convince my high school students that it is a crime. It's not easy and I'm not always successful. I suppose I need a more convincing argument for them. With mentalism and magic, though, I know that these pirate scumbags will be catering mostly to folks who won't be using the material and wouldn't have bought my stuff in the first place. I know that they'll be making money off other scumbags who feel that it is okay to do this. While they do that, I'll be directing my energies where it should be. I won't be getting angry and spending money and time searching for these buttwipes. I will be creating more material that I can use. I will be performing shows and entertaining people and getting paid the big bucks for using the material. I certainly will do what I can to expose these scumbugs, but I'll be using Gandhi's satyagraha and just show them that I'm not suffering. However, just let them provide me a good legal opening and I'll let my lawyer loose on them so that their own mothers will want to use them as poster children demonstrating the need for pro-choice.

_____________________

"I know that these pirate scumbags will be catering mostly to folks who won't be using the material and wouldn't have bought my stuff in the first place." __________________

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STROLLING BOOK TESTS

from Mobile Mentalism Volume II The classic book test would seem to defy most modern strolling conditions for a lot of reasons. For openers, there's the book itself. Many of the better gaffed book tests don't lend themselves to being carried in the pocket. Plus, it would have to be very examinable since these are close up conditions, and some of the gaffed book tests don't pass the rigid examination test very well. Some would pass with flying colors, but they may be too big to work with comfortably. It would be best if you could use a book that your spectators may be familiar with. There are hundreds of pocket-sized paperback novels in print that can be obtained just about anywhere. These very common books are ripe for this type of demonstration. There are also several literal pocket books that can be found at the check out stand of any supermarket that also work like a charm. To pull one of these books out of your pocket would not excite undue suspicion from your spectators. There is also the repeatability factor that has to be taken into consideration. In order to do a successful book test under strolling conditions, you had better be able to reveal different words all night long or risk being caught out. In fact, one yardstick that I use in formulating my own book tests for strolling is that I want to be able to give the book away if necessary, and I frequently do at the end of the night (to the CEO of the company that hired me if at all possible!). Therefore the book needs to be normal and one that is commonly available. (As you will soon see, I have one somewhat notable exception to this guideline in the methods that follow). I also wanted to avoid any of the mathematical methods or those that use playing cards or dice as part of the method ("roll these two dice, add the digits together, multiply by four and add thirteen, now look at that page number," etc.). I want to use the book only, no other props at all. Well, almost no other props. In all of the following methods I do use a ballpoint pen, but apart from the book itself, that's it. The pen is easily justified since its use will provide proof of the exact word or words you will be trying to divine later. With all of these considerations in mind, I will give you a few of the various avenues I have used over the years to perform the classic book test under strolling conditions, including my own personal favorite. Try them all, they work like a charm. Decide what works best for you and then go fry those spectators, close up!

“Tip—No Tip Booktest” This is a very versatile strolling book test that is highly adaptable to a variety of situations and books. It also has a critical element for strolling conditions. It's repeatable! And you reveal a different set of words with each performance. I'll give two methods, more accurately two techniques. Find what feels comfortable to you.

Effect The performer produces a small paperback book and has the spectator open it to any page behind their back. The For more information about Mark Striving’s products contact the author at [email protected]


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performer then hands the spectator a pen and has them draw a small circle anywhere on the page. The pen is returned and the book is brought back into view. The performer concentrates, the spectator thinks of their circled words and then the performer utters 3-4 words in a halting fashion. The page is checked and it is found that the words the performer uttered are the exact words circled by the spectator!

Method There are a variety of ways to present this, the above being just one. One nice aspect of this method (as well as the following) is that you have wide latitude in how you can present it. This is a worker! By the way, I would recommend that you read the entire description of what follows before you construct the props you'll need, just a word to the wise. This method is based on somewhat standard methodology. In fact, you may already have your suspicions as to how this works. Well I can assure you that this combination of principles takes things into a whole other arena from what you may already know in that it makes the whole thing repeatable! This is a combination of a ranging force along with the 'dry tip' principle. Here's what you'll need. You will need a standard ballpoint pen. Actually you will need two identical pens, one that writes normally and another where the ink has run out and won't write anymore. Just to be sure, I usually coat the empty ballpoint with a clear nail polish. This same technique can also be used with a felt tip pen (like a Flair pen). Just let one dry out completely, coat the tip with clear nail polish and you're good to go. So, now you've got one pen that writes and another one that doesn't, each identical to the other. Now we come to the book. You can use any book that you like. It should be a paperback and small enough to fit comfortably in your pocket. It should have all type with no pictures. Another consideration is that you may be working in situations with somewhat subdued lighting, so try to find a book that has decent size type that is as easy to read as possible. There is some small onetime preparation for the book. Some of what you ultimately do with the book to prepare it will depend on the book itself. You'll see what I mean. This may seem silly, but trust me it's the best way to do this. Take the book and place it behind your back. Open it anywhere near the center and, using the pen that writes (see above), draw a circle about the size of a dime on one of the pages. Draw it somewhere near the center of the page. Do this again eight to ten times in different sections of the book. Be sure to draw your circles on each side of the book. First page, draw the circle on the right hand page. Next time do the left hand page and so on. Now when you look at the circles you have drawn, they will look roughly the same as when your spectator would have done it later in the performance. So, you've got a paperback book that has about a dozen pages with circles drawn in the center of them. Take a look at the pages where you have drawn the circles and see what words got 'hit' and are contained either completely or partially within the drawn circle. You'll see that some pages offer interesting presentation possibilities while others may seem somewhat bland. Also be on the lookout for something unique on each of your chosen pages. This could be a name, a place, a distinct number, anything. But each page should not only offer interesting presentational possibilities, but also have something unique and different from the other pages you choose. You'll see why momentarily. (Continued on page 19)

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P AGE 18


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You're going to need to be able remember all of these sets of words by memory (if you plan on doing this properly), so make it good! This isn't even remotely as hard as it sounds, so stick with me. See the notes at the end of this for more ideas on this. The pages with the best possibilities will become your force pages. Now you have to decide how you're going to force these pages. Depending on the book itself, you may be able to break the spine slightly so it opens automatically at your force page(s) when you flip through the book. Likewise you could trim the edge of the page before or after the force page so it flips open to the right page, depending on which way you flip through. I generally use the short pages, as they are more sure fire. Whatever you decide to use, make sure it works every time. The book must open to one of your force pages whenever you flip through. So now you have a book with several pages that have random circles drawn on them. Some of these pages have been prepared to open up automatically when you flip through the book. The book is now ready. The book is in your pocket along with the two pens. For this presentation you will only use the pen that does not write. The other regular pen is on hand for any times that you do need to do some writing. If you use the regular pen for all your other writing needs in your performances, there will be no heat on the ‘dry’ pen when it is used. You are now ready to go. _____________________ Break out the book and show that there are several pages that have small circles written on them from previous performances. You explain that one of your spectators is about to do the same thing for a little experiment. In this 'show' of the circles in the book, try to concentrate on those pages that are non-force pages. The more you handle your book, the more you will get the feel for this procedure. There is no heat of any sort since you can be very open about this whole procedure, so don't be concerned. Just show the book, establish the existence of the other circles and explain that you are going to have one of your spectators do the same.

"Using multiple force is an extremely disarming technique and makes the whole thing virtually a carefree procedure." ____________________

You will need to do some experimentation with your particular book for this part of the handling. You're going to do the standard flip through the pages of the book and have your spectator say ‘stop.’ When they do call stop you will be able to easily stop on one of your force pages. Using multiple force pages (or a ranging force as it is technically known) is an extremely disarming technique and makes the whole thing virtually a carefree procedure. Anyway, you have to have them call stop on one of your force pages. If you are confident in your spectators handling the book, have them riffle through the book behind their back and stop anywhere they want. If your book is sure fire, this is definitely the way to go! Experiment with this with some volunteers before you rush out and try it. In lieu of that, riffle through the pages yourself and have them call stop. Obviously when you open the book there will already be a circle drawn on one of the two pages. This must not be seen! There are a couple ways to handle this. The easiest is to open the book with the pages facing the floor and hand it to the spectator behind their back. They don't get a chance to see the pages that way. Another way to handle it is to hold the book about waist high. Sight where the circle is and immediately reach down over the book and point to the page number at the bottom of the page, covering the circle with your arm and hand. Ask them to note what the page number is, then hand the Desert Brainstorm DVD Vol. 1-3 featuring Mark Strivings and friends 20% discount at www.marketplaceofthemind.com


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book to them and have them place the book behind their back. This is the only time in the entire handling when there is any heat, but don't make a big deal out of it, except for making it clear that you have no chance to see any words on the page. This is critical. If the spectators think you had a chance to see some of the words on the page when it was opened, the entire effect is blown. Turn your head away. Focus your attention and that of your spectators on the fact that you cannot see anything written on the page, and they will have no idea that they never actually saw the page themselves. It's easy. Don't be guilty. Just do it and everything will be fine. So, position check here. The spectator has a book behind their back, opened to one of your force pages. You now hand them the pen that does not write and have them draw a circle on either page. Obviously nothing will be written at all. I then have them stick a finger into the book where they wrote and close the book, marking the page. Take back the pen and put it away. The effect is now nearly done. Have them bring the book out front and open it again to their chosen page. There will be a circle drawn in the middle of one of the pages. Now at this point I have to address something. You see, I'm a mentalist and I know what you're thinking. Some of you are wondering, "What if they have drawn the circle on one side of the book and when they bring it out, the circle is on the other side?" Am I right? First of all let me state unequivocally that if you were wondering about this before I even brought it up, my answer probably will not satisfy you. That's ok, but I'm going to ask you to trust me on this. If on the other hand the thought had not even entered your mind until I brought it up, you're probably going to be just fine with this. Having said all that, here's the answer. Don't worry about it. That's right, I said don't worry about it. Stop it. Right now. Some of you aren't listening. Don't worry about it. There, that's better. There are two reasons why I say this. First, even if your spectator does wonder about this, they will immediately dismiss it because they won't have even given it the slightest thought prior to bringing the book out from behind them. If they do wonder about it, they will dismiss the thought just as quickly assuming they just weren't paying attention (which they weren't). This line of reasoning is compounded by reason number two, which is don't give them the time or the inclination to give it a thought. Immediately move on to the rest of the presentation and give them something else to focus on. This is simple audience management. Don't rush through this portion of the presentation, because it will place too much importance on something that is completely unimportant. Just do it and everything will be fine. Trust me. I'm a professional. See the afterthoughts for more ideas on this portion of the work. Ok, now back to the action. The spectator is now looking at a freely (?) selected page in the book that they drew a random circle (?) on. This is the part where you move on and don't give them time to think about which side of the book is where. Immediately have them check out the words that are enclosed in part or completely by their circle. Have them focus on those words. Now we come to the next part of the process. For more information about Mark Striving’s products contact the author at [email protected]


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The only information you don't have at this point is which set of words they are looking at. Remember I had you choose those sets of words that had something unique about them (a name, number, etc.)? Here's where that comes into play. You're simply going to pump for the main feature of the set of words they are looking at. Once you've got the main one you know all the rest of them. This is very easy, but you will have to work this out for your particular book. Again, this is not nearly as hard as it may sound so don't let this one feature discourage you. Once you put in the work on your particular book, you will be amazed at how easy it will be for you to remember everything you need to know. Here's an example of how this might play. Let's suppose that your particular book has a force set of words where the unique ones are a woman's name, a man's name, a date in history, an exotic location, a type of car, an animal, a child's toy, a product brand name and a type of food. Here's what might happen. "Look over the words that are either completely or mostly enclosed by your circle. Have you got them? Now concentrate. I get a feeling from you, is there a name there? (Yes) I get a feeling of a man's name? (No) But it is a proper name, correct? (Yes) You now know that it's the woman's name and the group of words connected to it. Easy! What if you get 'no' answers to your first questions? No problem. Remember, you are reading their mind, not reading the book. Put your unique words into categories. For instance, from the above list a 'name' could be the man's and woman's name, the product brand name, the car, the toy and the food. I realize it's a bit of stretch from the name to food, but it could be made to work. There are no hard and fast rules for this procedure and you'll have to work this out for yourself, but it's not as hard as it may seem. Another option is to have the spectator look over the letters in the words. Obviously you can work out a procedure whereby you get the most popular letters among your sets of words and work from there. Those of you with anagrammatical tendencies (is that even a word?) will have a field day with this. I try to work in terms of pictures. Most of my unique words can be visualized, and those words that cannot be visualized can be easily narrowed down. Sometimes a combination of spelling and pictures works out best. Just work with your particular set of words and you'll come up with a very workable procedure for yourself that you will have no problem with. See the notes at the end for more thoughts on this. Bottom line is that you then reveal the words that your spectator randomly circled on a random page, all by reading their mind! AND you can do it again and have a different set of words come up!

Afterthoughts For those of you who are intimidated by the small amount of memory work needed to do this, let me reassure you that it isn't even remotely as difficult as it may appear. If I were to have a specially made book for you to have to memorize the circled portions from, that would be much more difficult than what you will find if you do exactly as I have outlined for you here. The reason is simple; I would have done the biggest portion of the work for you! Just the process of doing the work involved in getting this book ready for the performance along with the word selection, thinking everything through, etc., will give you at least 90% of the memory work you need and make it easy for you. The reason is because you are the one who made it all happen! Trust me when I tell you this. Take my word for it and go through the relatively small amount of work it takes to make this up and you will see what I mean. You'll amaze yourself! Of course if you already have a trained memory using mnemonics and peg words (or whatever system you use), you're already way ahead of the game and you can readily see how easy this really is! If you want to improve The Stealth Assassin Wallet 1.1 featuring Mark Striving’s Sight Unseen principle 20% discount at www.marketplaceofthemind.com


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your memory (and as a mentalist it would be in your best interest to do just that) go out and get a book on memory and learn it! There are several by some guy named Harry something, I forget the last name. Now some of you may be tempted to come up with a crib sheet of some sort to do this effect. First of all I would strongly advise against it for two reasons. First, it will cause to you to be less 'invested' in your particular piece of mentalism and make you lazy. This will show in your performance. Secondly, in strolling conditions, it's virtually impossible to know exactly where those peering eyes will be and that makes the use of a crib extremely difficult if not impossible to do convincingly. If you still insist on wimping out and using a crib, at least do yourself a favor and get a copy of my book 'Silent Partner' which is an entire book specifically dealing with the subject of cribs and how best to use them. This is not a shameless plug but rather just me being responsible and giving you your best shot at doing this without getting caught. Just don't say I didn't warn you! Now for those of you who don't believe me when I tell you not to worry about your spectator discovering that their 'circle' is on the wrong side of the page, here's a solution for you. Again, I don't recommend this, but you may still want to use it. After they have drawn their circle behind their back have them return the pen and you place it back into your pocket. The book is still behind their back. You could then reach around and have them close the book on your hand, using your hand as a bookmark. Tell them that you should touch the book for a moment to sense the vibrations (or whatever). In the process of bringing the book forward, it will be impossible for anyone to keep track of which side is which, especially if you display each side of the book after it is brought into view. Hold the book with both hands and concentrate for a moment then have your spectator open the book right where your hand is and check out the words. You can go from there. Like I said, I don't recommend it, but it does work like a charm. I just wouldn't want to be accused of somehow catching a glimpse of the words while I was holding the book. 'Hands off' is always best in this situation. If the spectator remains in control of the book at all times they will be witnessing a much bigger miracle. But you'll have to decide that for yourself. And finally, one more thought on getting the pump for the proper unique word when the time comes. Just as with the memorization of those sets of words, you will begin to see ways that your particular set of unique words can be connected and narrowed down without it looking like you are fishing for information. Combinations of pictures, letters and categories can be easily made to work for you. Plus, keep in mind that you are not locked in to any particular set of words. As you are constructing your book, look for sets of words that you find easy to work with and meaningful. Circle them and make them into your force pages. Of course you could also easily spread your sets of force words out in different portions of the book and just see where the book is open when the spectator brings it out into view. Once you know which part of the book they are in, you will easily be able to narrow down which set of words they are looking at. Make this special book 'you' and you will have a miracle on your hands that no one else can duplicate!

(Continued on page 24)



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My friends, this IS a miracle. Imagine this: A spectator is shown a paperback book (it’s real and ungimmicked) which contains literally hundreds of thousands of words. One or o are going to be selected totally at random. A package of ten retractable crayons (like a crayon built into a pen) is introduced. There are ten colors to choose from. One is select. Using the chosen marker, the performer demonstrates that he wants the spectator to draw a circle ‘about the size of a nickel’, drawing a circle on the title page of the book. The spectator places the book behind his back and opens it at random. He then draws a circle somewhere on the page and closes the book. The performer then shows that there is an envelope taped to the back wall of the auditorium, and inside is revealed the circled word(s). Or the performer can have the book held between his hands and psychically divine the circled words. Or the spectator can open the book and find the circled area (there’s only one and the book is completely examinable); the performer can then read the spectator’s mind and divine the words that way. Once all of this is done, the spectator can keep the book, or newspaper, or magazine. Whatever you want to use for this, you can. It’s a miracle. The book, newspaper or magazine is completely regular and can change every performance. You never peek or handle the book in any way once it is in the spectator’s possession. The circle drawn in the book is the exact color of the marker which the spectator chose. The preparation for this takes all of about 15 seconds to do. This is very labor-intensive to make. Each set of this miracle takes over a week to prepare, thus we are making a very limited supply of these available. Once the are gone, that’s it. Never again! For workmanship of this high standard, for a virtually selfworking miracle this caliber, this is a bargain. The special markers, complete handling and routine can be yours for only…

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“Definitely No Tip Booktest” This is similar to the previous version in some respects but uses a completely different methodology. It has a number of advantages (most notably that it is 100% examinable) over the previous version but it does demand more of the performer in that it is somewhat bold. In fact, I predict that most of you reading this will decide to pass on this particular handling once you learn exactly what makes this go. Personally I think that would be a serious mistake. You decide for yourself.

Effect Same as 'Tip - No Tip Booktest'.

Method This method uses only one pen and it is completely normal. In fact, it can be borrowed in many circumstances! I borrow the pen every chance I get when doing this. The book is completely normal as well and has all of the same considerations (size, format, etc.) as with the one used in 'Tip - No Tip Booktest'. This method relies more on confidence in presentation, audience management and sheer cheek than anything else. Some of the methodology is similar to what we've just discussed, but there are some very important differences as well, as you will see. There is a fairly simple, onetime preparation of the book. Do just as you did with the book as described in 'Tip No Tip Booktest', drawing circles on several pages of the book while it is held behind your back. I use a regular black ballpoint pen for this. Again, this is necessary to accurately simulate the circles your spectators will be drawing in the actual performance. I'm serious here. Place the book behind your back when you draw these circles. Do this on 8-10 pages, spreading them evenly throughout the book. The book is now ready for performance. Have the same pen you used to do this preparation available during the performance and you're ready to go.

A quick word about the pen is needed here. I'm sure you've already figured out that the spectator will actually be writing in the book with every performance. As I mentioned at the top of this description, you can borrow the pen used in the presentation. Obviously if you do the preparation of the book as I just described, you're pretty much locked in to using that particular pen. I just keep my eyes open when working with my spectators, and if I see that someone in my crowd has a pen in their pocket that appears to match mine then I'll use theirs instead. This is why I use as ‘normal’ a pen as possible. I'm hoping to find a spectator who is carrying the same or similar pen with them. Using their pen makes the presentation just that much stronger. See the notes at the end of this write up for other thoughts on this. For more information about Mark Striving’s products contact the author at [email protected]


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With the book prepared as described and the pen on hand, you're good to go. Some of you reading this are about to be very disappointed in that I'm going to have to be somewhat vague about the exact procedure you will use in performance. Much of what follows will depend on the exact book you decide to use (see notes at the end of this write up for more thoughts on the book selection), the format, the size, etc. Once you get the idea of what makes this go, you'll be able to easily adapt to whatever book you decide to use. Here's the basic procedure. Since the book is completely normal, you can hand it out for complete inspection with no fear. Point out that several pages have small circles written on them. These are from previous performances earlier in the evening (or so you say, eventually that statement will be true). State that you will have your spectator draw another circle somewhere in the book for a random selection of a word or words. Here is the part of the presentation that will send many of you heading for the hills, but trust me, this is the exact phase of the handling that makes this effect so convincing. As you flip through the book and point out the various circled portions of the pages you will need to instantly memorize a few of the words contained in one of the circled portions as well as the page number. In a moment you will force that page on your spectator. I generally try to find a page near the center of the book. I realize that the mere thought of 'instantly' memorizing some circled words on a page on the fly could seem to be more than a bit intimidating. Trust me, this is not nearly as difficult as it may seem, plus, as you will hopefully see, this introduces a dynamic to the performance that actually strengthens the overall effect. Try to follow me on this. First of all, how in the world can you instantly memorize some words on a page? Obviously, you must first locate the circled words on the page. Once I locate them, I try to take a mental snapshot of that portion of the page. I literally try to make a mental image of what that part of the page looks like. I'm not reading the words themselves but more trying to get a picture of the words in the immediate area of the circle. Of course this means that I'm not going to get everything that is there. That's ok! All I need is a word or two. There are a few avenues down which you can go at this point to force the page. I'll give you the main technique that I use. This method has its pros and cons, so you'll have to decide for yourself if it works for you. Believe me when I tell you that this works beautifully, so be sure to give it a chance. In this method I maintain at least some control of the book, but it flies with no problems. As I flip through the book, pointing out the various circled portions (and getting my instantly memorized words in my head), I get a pinkie break on the page I zero in on. Basically I just lay my little finger into the book as I flip though, marking the page. As long as the book is kept in motion and there's no guilt behind the action, there's no problem. I now flip through the book and have the spectator call stop as in the first method, stopping them on my force page (which is easy because of the little finger break). I then simply place the book behind their back and have them draw the circle on the page. Now you'll recall there is already a circle on that page. No problem! They will draw a second circle on the same set of pages. Once the book is brought around front, you simply direct them to the circled portion that you memorized earlier in the presentation. If they comment on the fact that there are two circles (and they usually do), I simply tell them to focus on one and then make a vague stab at the information I already have memorized. If I hit, great! If I'm not hitting, then I know that they are focused on their actual circle. I lie and tell them that they need to focus on the other circle (the one I memorized) in order for me to have my The Stealth Assassin Wallet 1.1 featuring Mark Striving’s Sight Unseen principle 20% discount at www.marketplaceofthemind.com


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best shot at making this work, giving the impression that it is their actual circle. You already know the rest. Focus on what they are seeing and read their mind! Of course, you can also use the dry tip principle (as in 'Tip - No Tip Booktest') and use the pinkie break to force the page. In this case there is only one circle on the page and you can read their minds just as easily.

Afterthoughts Those of you who read this closely will realize that at some points I'm telling you to use a pencil and other times a pen. The fact is that I frequently carry both a regular pen and a mechanical pencil with me on a gig. But for this particular demonstration I will generally use the pen, as it is easier to see the writing on the page. This can be very important depending on the lighting of the venue. Since I also am hoping to be able to use a borrowed writing utensil the pen is the way to go. If I am presented with the possibility of using a borrowed pen, I will generally use it for another demonstration (perhaps using a business card) and check to match the writing. If it's a pretty good match to what I normally use I'll go for it. This just adds one more dimension to the effect when it does work. I always stick with a smaller format paperback book for this handling. There are some wonderful books available at second hand bookstores that fit the bill nicely. A book with anywhere from 75-125 pages seems to be perfect for me, but you look for yourself and see what you can find. I use a book with virtually all print and no illustrations, it just seems to work better for me, although you could certainly use a book with pictures or illustrations and weave some of them into the handling. I have been asked about this 'mental snapshot' of the book when I take my peek. For me it is literally just that. I make the peek as fast as possible and just try to get whatever stands out to me in that moment. However you will find that as you work with the book you will get to know more and more of those portions that have already been circled along with those yet to be circled. This is not nearly as challenging as you might think. Just try it a few times to appreciate how easy it is.

“Mixing Magic, Mental Magic and Mentalism in Strolling a.k.a. Who Are You Anyway? a.k.a. Is It Possible To Be A Strolling Mentalist?”

from Mobile Mentalism, Volume II I'm going to be completely honest with you. I don't even want to write this essay. It's an incredibly involved topic with so many in's and out's, there is no way I can possibly do justice to it without losing at least some of you. I can't keep this simple without diluting the message and derailing you from thinking hard enough about this allimportant concept. At the same time there's no way I can go into enough detail here to fully cover the topic. I've Desert Brainstorm DVD Vol. 1-3 featuring Mark Strivings and friends 20% discount at www.marketplaceofthemind.com


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got a feeling like in many ways this will be an exercise in futility. At the same time it's such an incredibly important topic that I can't leave it alone. Some of my readers will be all too familiar with what follows. These are the experienced mentalists who have already worked out all of the following for themselves. However, in recent years there has been a literal explosion of interest in the art of mentalism, with magicians flocking in hoards to join the ranks. This has exacerbated some of the classic debates that had gone on for decades, but has become an epidemic because of the Internet and the fact that the whole world is now instantly connected. There has always been a misconception among magicians that mentalism is easy to perform, but that's not the base concept in this discussion. Suffice to say, in most ways mentalism is much more difficult to perform than magic for a whole lot of reasons that have been covered in many other texts time and time again. I won't rehash them here. No my friends, today we're going to wade into the murky waters of magic, mental magic and mentalism. How can they be combined? Should they be combined? What happens if you combine them? Should they stay separate? Who cares? And above all else, why? While I have no intention of seriously diving into the time-honored debate which rages constantly in online forums the world over, comparing and contrasting these three performing mediums, I will give some thoughts about a variety of approaches that the serious performer might consider.

_____________________

"Magic frequently is presented and/or perceived as a challenge or a puzzle to be solved."

This may well be the single most important section of this entire tome, and it is something that you must consider when performing this material. For some of my readers this may well be the most confusing section of the book. For some others it will be the most controversial section of the book. It specifically depends on your experience level in mentalism and what your world-view is as to how you will ultimately ____________________ feel about the thoughts that follow. It will also depend on your own feelings about just how powerful mentalism is and the effect it can have on an audience. If you are fairly new to mentalism then I can assure you that there is much that you have not considered. For those who may be somewhat new to mentalism allow me to fill you in on a couple of the basics here. Briefly, here is how these three genres are generally defined. I'll give an example of each. Now I'll warn you right now that there is some apparent crossover in these definitions and some gray areas to be sure. This is part of the reason why these things I will discuss now are debated no end (seemingly). The bottom line is that at least some of what follows depends on your perception. There is no definite, clear-cut right or wrong answer that is universal and works for everyone here. These are just general guidelines and a place to start. I think we all know what magic is and how the lay public generally perceives it. An example would be the ambitious card or the cups and balls. There is usually no question in anyone's mind that these are magic tricks. They are not generally viewed as being genuine phenomena, at least not by any mature and intelligent audience. No matter how well performed, no matter how clever, no matter how amazing the trick may be, everyone knows it's a trick of some sort. The audience knows on some level that if they knew the secret of what makes the trick 'tick' they would have it all figured out. As such, magic frequently is presented and/or perceived as a challenge or a puzzle to be solved. How all of this plays out depends primarily on how the performer presents his miracles. Mental magic is generally defined as magic that has some kind of mental theme. One example of this could be where a playing card is shown and laid on the table. Then another playing card is merely thought of by the specFor more information about Mark Striving’s products contact the author at [email protected]


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tator. They name their mentally selected card and when the tabled card is turned over, it has changed into their mental selection. There are generally two parts, or more correctly two dynamics, in any mental magic trick. There is the magic part of the trick and there is the mental part. In the case just cited, the mental part is the mental selection of the playing card. The magic part of the trick is that the tabled card magically changes its identity from the previously viewed card into the mental selection. In short, if there is a magic effect of any kind in the course of a mental-type presentation (see Fitzkee's Trilogy for perhaps the most complete discussion of just what constitutes a magic effect), then it is mental magic. There can be hints of mentalism (the mentally selected card in this case), but the fact that there is a magic effect (the tabled card changing into the mental selection) automatically classifies that trick as mental magic. Obviously there can be some gray areas and _____________________ I won't dive too deeply into that pool here.

"They just can't see how

Mentalism is generally defined as any demonstration of some power of it could be possible, not the human mind, and includes mind-to-mind communication, psyeven as a trick." chokinesis (PK), clairvoyancy, predictions of the future, etc. Sometimes things like memory demonstrations, lightning math and similar ____________________ presentations fall under the broad umbrella of mentalism. All of these demonstrations have the appearance, or at least the potential of appearing to be real. In other words, genuine phenomena. The real deal. In the case of memory and lightning math, these most definitely could be real (although frequently they are indeed a trick of some sort). There's no question that there are people out there who believe that predictions of the future, mind-to-mind communication, ESP, PK and similar phenomena could be real. I'm quite sure that you have an opinion on the subject as well. One very important distinction between mentalism and mental magic is that at no time does anything appear, disappear, change color or size, or any of the other things magicians are so fond of doing. Just to add to the fun, there are some mentalists who maintain that any effect using playing cards automatically becomes mental magic. While I don't happen to agree with this perspective, I can see where they are coming from. They feel that if you use playing cards some members of the audience will automatically perceive that you are doing a card trick. The other side of the coin (and this happens to be my own perspective), is that it depends entirely what you physically do with those playing cards and how the effect is presented that will determine whether it will be perceived as being a card trick or mentalism. If someone in your crowd happens to be preconditioned that playing cards equal card tricks, the notion will soon be dispelled due to the total lack of anything even remotely resembling a card trick. If anything they will be doubly befuddled. Again, that's just my opinion. Confused yet? We're just getting started and this discussion could go on for reams of paper. But here's the short version and the basic bottom line. So far what we're really discussing is how these three genres are, or can be perceived by the audience, both individually and in combination. For the overwhelming majority of intelligent audiences magic will always be perceived of as a trick. No matter how well you do it (and I feel if you are going to do magic, it should always appear as close to being real as possible or else it will become nothing more than a puzzle) unfortunately it will still be perceived as a trick. (As a side note, my dear friend Richard Osterlind has some excellent publications that address your own beliefs as they pertain to the performance of magic, and how they can make or break your performance. He feels, as do I, that you as the performer need to believe that what you are doing is real, even if it's the hippity hop rabbits. He makes a strong case for this seeming dichotomy, and I highly recommend you do a quick web search and find Richard and order his publications. They just may change the way you view your own magic.) The Stealth Assassin Wallet 1.1 featuring Mark Striving’s Sight Unseen principle 20% discount at www.marketplaceofthemind.com


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On the other hand mental magic is frequently perceived of as a trick with a bit of an edge. In other words it's a trick, quite clearly, but there are certain aspects of the effect that the audience cannot possibly think of as being a trick. They just can't see how it could be possible, not even as a trick. This invariably is the mental portion of the trick. Of course this is not always true and there are various degrees of separation present, along with endless variations. However, strong mentalism, performed well, has the possibility of being perceived as the real deal. I don't know of anyone who thinks that the ambitious card is real. They will be amazed and completely bewildered as to how that card keeps coming back to the top, but they don't believe for a second that it's happening by any means other than a trick. On the other hand I know plenty of people who do believe in ESP or some form of it. When they see someone apparently reading minds, they can very easily see it as being real. What this means to you is that if you are going to perform strong mentalism, you are facing the very definite possibility of being perceived of as being real. For most, this is the crux of the matter and something you most definitely have to consider. Now, if all of the above has confused you somewhat you're not alone. Every performer who seriously delves into the waters of mentalism has to come to terms with and figure out all of the above and much more. It can be incredibly involved. Just to give you some perspective, this topic and several others that are directly related are so complicated and interweaved, and there are so many angles to consider that several years ago I produced a four audiotape series entitled 'Mentalism: A Viewpoint' that discusses these many issues in great detail. It's over 4 1/2 hours of discussion and opinion. That's a lot of stuff to be talking about. If you are interested in this give me a call. But the bottom line is that this can be an incredibly involved topic and we are just barely scratching the surface here. The real issue at hand deals with persona, style and the impression you wish to leave with your audience. And keep in mind that there are no universal right or wrong answers here. What works for you may not even be close to what works for the next guy. You need to figure out exactly how you wish to be perceived by your audience. Since you have the option of being seen as genuine, you must consider whether that is something you want, and what are the ramifications for you and your audience. Are you going to be a strolling magician? A strolling mental magician? A strolling mentalist? All three? A mixand-match performer? You have to decide if you are going to mix magic and mentalism, in what ratio and in what style it will be performed. Standard wisdom is that if you mix magic and mentalism, the magic (not essentially capable of being perceived as real) dilutes the mentalism, thus making the mentalism more likely to be perceived of as a trick. This is almost universally true if you are primarily a magician who adds a mental piece or two to the repertoire. However if you are primarily a mentalist who does some other stunts or tricks, they may or may not dilute the mentalism, depending on what you do and how it is done. See how this can become complex? Just to add to the mix here, keep in mind that there are a great many very successful performers out there who do mix magic effects in with their performances and it doesn't do the slightest bit of harm to the perception of the mentalism. Al Koran and Kreskin both immediately leap to mind and there are many others. However, in most cases these magic tricks are of a very specific nature. You won't find these guys doing the sponge bunnies. Not for one split second. But they will do things that are most definitely strange. For example, both of these fine performers do (did) the linking finger rings. While they are not really much of an option for the strolling performer Desert Brainstorm DVD Vol. 1-3 featuring Mark Strivings and friends 20% discount at www.marketplaceofthemind.com


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(at least not as done from the stage), this is a good example. This effect is definitely a magic trick, but it is also not even close to the norm. I wish I could define why this seems to work, but I can't. Suffice to say, that some magic tricks, used sparingly and interlaced with the mentalism, do seem to work without diluting the power of the mentalism. Just so that we have a frame of reference let me fill you in on where I personally am coming from. My personal belief is that the vast majority of audiences can possibly perceive no magic trick as being real. I also believe that strong mentalism, performed well, most definitely can be taken as being real. I firmly believe in, and have experienced personally just how much stronger the impact and resulting reaction is on the audience than either magic or mental magic can possible deliver. I have worked as a strolling magician who does no mental stunts of any kind. I have worked as a mental magician, doing both straight magic and mental stunts but without going for any heavy mentalism hits. I have worked as a strolling psychic entertainer, doing nothing but demonstrations of ESP, clairvoyance, etc. I have also worked as a psychic entertainer who does some other carefully selected strange things (ala Kreskin and Koran above). Speaking only for myself, I have found that the most effective combination, for me, is to work somewhere in the middle. I am perfectly comfortable with the perception of some of my _____________________ mentalism being a tiny bit watered down (but only a tiny bit!). Still extremely powerful, capable of being perceived as being real by those "Until you experience who are so disposed, and leaving the 'out' that this could be a trick for this for yourself, there's those who are skeptical. Along with the mentalism I have a very careno way you can possibly fully selected repertoire of what many would call 'bizarre' magic that I weave in and out. This is fairly strange stuff (no gore or anything occult have a truly informed in nature, just very off the beaten path kind of stuff) that my audiences opinion on what will have probably never seen before. As such, it doesn't really detract from work best for you." the mentalism the way sponge bunnies most definitely would. To top it all off, I play things somewhat lightly, using humor and trying to al____________________ ways have fun (first and foremost!). I find this combination works particularly well for me. What will work for you is up to you. There are a lot of what I would call 'straight magicians' (no sexual implications here, please) who include mental effects in their strolling repertoire. As has virtually always been the case, these effects are, at best, viewed as very powerful magic tricks. There's certainly nothing in the world wrong with this. I have had a few strolling magicians tell me of cases where they have done a strong mentalism piece in with their magic and have had spectators believing that they actually had special or psychic powers. I would venture a guess that situation doesn't happen often, but if and when it does, I would also guess that it might have a lot to do with their own persona and how they present their material. If you are primarily a magician doing standard strolling fare (cards, coins, sponge bunnies, ring flight, etc.) then whatever mentalism you decide to do will most likely be viewed as a trick by the vast majority of your audiences. If you are ok with that and that is what you are going for then there is no problem. Go. Stroll. Have fun. Amaze your audiences. Pretty much exactly the same goes for the strolling mental magician. Most everything you do will be perceived as being a trick. As long as you are comfortable with that, you're good to go. However if your desire is to be a strolling mentalist you may have a serious challenge for yourself. The discussion splits at this point. There seem to be basically two points of view when it comes to being a strolling mentalFor more information about Mark Striving’s products contact the author at [email protected]


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ist. First of all, both of these viewpoints agree on one thing: that mentalism is capable of being perceived of as being real. Both of these viewpoints encourage (or perhaps, do nothing to discourage) this perception. Both sides of this current debate are going for reaction and impact, the kind that only good mentalism can deliver. (As a side note, unless you, too, personally experience just how powerful mentalism impacts an audience - and this can only be done through performing it yourself, there's absolutely no other way - until you experience this for yourself, there's no way you can possibly have a truly informed opinion on what will work best for you. You can hypothesize and theorize, but there's no way you can know unless you take the plunge and really go for it. In other words, play it for real. No disclaimers, no back doors, no escape clause. If, after genuinely going for it, you decide it's not for you then you will have no arguments from me. Until that day comes, there's simply no way on earth that you can truly know.) Back to the debate, and here's where it hinges. One camp of contention states that there can be no such thing as a strolling mentalist. There are those who insist that the very act of doing strolling mentalism automatically deteriorates the act itself into an act of mental magic, or worse, mental puzzles of some sort. This line of thinking maintains that mentalism should not (and cannot) be presented as an 'on demand' type of medium (no pun intended), which strolling calls for. Of course the opposite camp insists that indeed it is possible to do pure strolling mentalism and do it well. My personal opinion is that whether a given performer can pull off the very act of strolling mentalism and 'ESP on demand' is almost entirely dependent on that performer's own persona, skill, experience and style. There are some styles that only play well in a formal setting, such as the stage or parlor. I know of others _____________________ who perform almost entirely in the more personal domain of the strolling, 'on the go' performer. It will also depend on the actual job itself. I "Whatever your ethical can tell you for a fact that some venues and performing situations ab- stance may be on the solutely defy allowing some of the dynamics present in good mentalperformance of mentalism to happen at all. Obviously this is a losing battle and needs to be clarified with the booker ahead of time. In these situations it would be ism, it will probably be the major driving force wise for the performer to have a good back up plan, such as a solid repertoire of mental magic that can get through the gig with some behind how you apstyle, even though it may not be what was absolutely wanted. This debate also seems to be most affected by the rather stringent conditions imposed by strolling conditions, where you must keep the pace up and work more or less nonstop. If, on the other hand, you are merely doing the occasional miracle in a casual setting, there's very little problem.

proach the topic at hand."

____________________

The only advice I can offer is to just go for it and see what happens. See if you've got the guns to play the genuine stuff in a nonstop manner. If you do then you can play just about anywhere under any conditions. On the other hand if you discover that your persona can't pull it off, you can adjust appropriately and also book the right kind of gigs for you. I wish I could be more definite that this but unfortunately I can't. There are professional colleagues of mine on both sides of this debate whose opinions I respect. I think both sides are right, it just depends on the performer The Stealth Assassin Wallet 1.1 featuring Mark Striving’s Sight Unseen principle 20% discount at www.marketplaceofthemind.com


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and the gig as to whether this type of work is a 'fit' or not. So now it's up to you. Go forth and amaze. You will notice that I have ever so delicately sidestepped the issue of ethics in all of this. I will say only this much on the subject, whatever your ethical stance may be on the performance of mentalism, it will probably be the major driving force for you behind how you approach the topic at hand. I have no intention of trying to sway anyone's opinion in any direction. Whatever your stance, I accept and respect it. If you prefer to perform your mentalism as if is real then you will probably choose to stay away from anything having to do with magic. If you have a problem with this perception, you may choose to do powerful mentalism with a disclaimer of some sort. If you are a mental magician, then your performing style will, for the most part, automatically dissuade any possible perception of your material as being 'real'. If you are a magician then you can do anything your little heart desires and it's all well and good. Just know that the mentalism will not be nearly as powerful as it could be. These are just generalities, of course, and all just my own opinion. Here's the true bottom line that supersedes everything we've just discussed. No matter what you do, no matter how you choose to be perceived, no matter how you present your material, no matter what world view you may have, no matter what anyone else is doing make sure that you are entertaining. Regardless of where you land in all of the above, you simply must be entertaining in what you do. Otherwise it is all for nothing. Above all else, entertain!!!!



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For more information email [email protected]

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more information email [email protected]


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For more information email [email protected]

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