Open Transmission by Kennedy
Kennedy, aged 20 has been performing mentalism in the United Kingdom for over two years. His performances have lead him to display his skills of thought reading and perceptual manipulation for after dinner presentations , colleges and universities as well as having captured a market of house parties in the North of England near where he is based. "My years of theatrical training have pushed me toward looking at the performance of mentalism, with careful consideration of what suggestions I am making through my actions, words and effects"
Effect: Two people sit on chairs aboard the stage. You indicate one to be the transmitter and the other to be the receiver. You furnish both people with a drawing board and ask them to draw. When the images are turned around, they match.
Method: Let us look at the preparation first. You require two large boards; for convenience I use two A4sized dry-erase boards. I recommend that, if you are going to do this, you use dark blue marker pens. The reason is that they are the easiest to see from a distance - even better than black, as black seems to be very fine and blurry from a distance. Red and green are too light in terms of contrast between the board and the written information. Along the top of both of the boards I have a sticker which is typed with the following information: "You are the sender, please draw a boat." This is in typeset from a computer printout; this means that it can be in particularly fine print and still be legible, and it is also in green lettering. This green lettering is the is the least legible, or even perceivable from any kind of distance. Now both people are sat down and asked to close their eyes. You now state: "In a moment I will tap the "sender" on the shoulder, this person will send an image to the other person who shall be the receiver." r eceiver." At this point I am standing next to the spectator on my left (that is stage left also) and I secretly touch him on the shoulder, under the guise of straightening his board. I then t hen move over to the other person and very openly touch him on the shoulder. Now I move centre c entre stage and talk once again. "The person I tapped on the shoulder a moment ago is to be the sender, the other person" - I indicate with my hand toward the person on my left - "is the receiver. Please open your eyes and focus in on your drawing board. Take in the space you have to play with, allow your eyes to become focused once more; since they have been closed you may feel a little disorientated. Do not worry; just begin to focus on the board" This is indirectly telling them to look at their instructions on the board.
"Sir, do you know what to do, yes or no?" - he answers yes. "And you madam, do you know what to do?" - of course she does. After three I want you both to begin to draw. It is important that our receiver just draws instinctively and does not try and judge the drawing at all, just go with the flow of things. As for our transmitter please be very focused and see what you are meant to draw in your mind now. One, two, three draw now!" As a result of this dual reality, what is in fact happening is that both spectators think they are the transmitter and are sending this "boat"; in addition to this they assume that the other person is the receiver. All is above board, apparently. Once they have finished, you ask them to hold their pictures up above their heads, you ask the person to your right to reveal first and then follow with the spectator to your left. They match. I must say that through asking them to draw a "boat" you will get a fantastic difference between the pictures which makes the whole experiment seem all the more real. If they both drew a yacht, then this would seem a little too exact, but since they are meant to be sending thoughts they are allowed to have interpretation. Please take heed of all the subtleties, including the reinforcement of who is who in the routine, with the tapping on the shoulders as well as the label on the boards. Together they make no question in the minds of the spectators that they are the transmitter and they know what to do. I must say that I would recommend against using someone who is wearing eyeglasses for participation in this routine. The reason is that many people require different types of glasses, or to remove them for reading small text. When sitting watching your show they will be wearing their long-distance spectacles and therefore, once on stage, they realise they are required to read close-up. We can not have them removing their glasses and straining to read, or worse still, saying "I need my other spectacles from my bag"; this will blow the whole effect out of the water. I also dread the idea of a person with graded focal lenses tilting their head to read; you do not want the audience to realise that the on-stage volunteers ever read anything at all… ever. This is a very strong effect and has been performed many, many times by m yself and I have to say it was part of a routine which won the stage award at the acclaimed Newcastle Upon Tyne Magic Circle which is quite an achievement when you see the competitors. Credits: Banachek, "Psychokenetic Touches"
