Liam Montier - The Furtive Glance - Version 2

The Furtive Glance Three pieces of bizarre magic created by Liam Montier

www.magic-mirror.co.uk

Copyright © 2005 by Liam Montier No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system known or yet to be invented, without express written permission. If you do, I reserve the right to put your head on a stick.


Introduction Welcome to The Furtive Glance. This booklet is designed to be a quick glimpse into bizarre magic, and the impact that it can create. If you are new to this kind of magic, then the pieces will surprise you. At first, you’ll be unsure that such simple effects pack any kind of punch. Once you’ve used them a couple of times, you’ll wonder why you learnt all the oth other er stuff trust me, I know. All the routines are fairly standard in terms of method. There a re some basic card moves, and other familiar gimmicks and techniques. Nothing will cause the average magician any difficulty, aside from the presentation. That’s what sets these pieces apart from the others. Anyway, enough chatter for the time being. I leave you to casual ly stroll through the pages, and enjoy the scenery. I hope you enjoy your (furtive?) glance around.

Liam Montier June, 2004


Discussion For this effect, there are a few points that need to be addresse d. Firstly, we shall deal with the revelation of the card. Of course, there are many methods (peeks, stacked decks etc) but I think you’ll like this one – it is a variation of the old cross cut force where the tthe he spectator forces the card on himself. To prepare for it, choose your force card and crimp it somehow. somehow. I prefer the “Breather” crimp crimp of Dai Vernon’s. It is also al so als o recommended that you mark the back of the force card in a subtle way. The next effect is the pulse stopping, and we’ll use the classic Ball under the arm method. So, at the start of the effect, the deck with the crimped and marked force card is in an attractive box, bo x,, along with your crystal. The ball is underneath box your arm, and the five pence coin is on your right knee, if you are sitting down. Otherwise, you’ll palm it. you’ll have to palm With that done, we are ready to perform…


Performance Begin by introducing the experiment, and then handing the cards to Michael to examine examine and shuffle. shuffle. As he is doing this, secure secure the five pence coin in your right hand. Once the shuffling is done, demonstrate how he is to to select a ca rd by cutting the deck, and dropping the bottom half on top, but at an angle. However, this this is where the the sneakiness sneakiness begins… you cut to the crimped card, and drop the bottom packet on top at an angle. (If you are unsure if you cut correctly, you can check by lookin g for the mark mark on the top card. If it is not no nott the force force card, simply cut again). Continue the demonstration by picking up the top packet with your left hand and showing the top card of the tabled packet with your right hand con cealing hand (which is also concealing conce aling the coin). Finally, put the card into his pocket, but only about half way as you mention he is to put the card load the coin, coin, by card there. It is now that that we load simply allowing it to fall into his pocket. With that done, remove the card again, putting pu back where it came puttting ting it back came from. Finally drop the original top b ack top, thus positioning positioning the force force card. top half back ba ck on top,


Variations As I mentioned before, b efore, met hod be fore, you can vary the method meth od to your own personal tastes. ta stes. cca an deck, a tast es. For the card, card, you can n use a stacked deck, marked deck, a glimpse or even a one way force deck. For the pulse stop, I suggested the use of the ball under the ar m. However, if you would like a completely impromptu version, I suggest you check out the work of my good friend Luke Jermay. His pulse routine appears in “For Andruzzi” from from “7 Deceptions”. Deceptions”. If you are not comfortable with loading the coin so boldly, you can of course course slip it in a pocket long in advance. advance. Be aware aware that they may find the coin or simply not be around at the time of your performance, however. Andi Gladwin suggested an excellent idea to save loading the coin. Simply keep an eye open during the evening, and note where someone keeps their keys or what have you. Then when you come to perform this piece, have the card placed into that pocket! You can now n ow the card and and the other o therr no w of course reveal the othe object that it is with.


Credits Astral Vision has been used as a plot pretty pre tty often in pretty bizarre magic, although my inspiration came from several ideas by Tony Shiels. The Breather Crimp that is used in the force is associated with Dai Vernon. To learn it and some of excellent effects effects available with it, Bob King has several booklets dedicated entirely to the Breather Crimp. Finally, the idea with the coin at the end was inspired by Ted Lesley, who uses a similar idea in a routine where he predicts the amount of small change in someone’s pocket, that I read from his book Paramiracles. Thanks also to Andi Gladwin, for the excellent idea detailed in the Variations section.


Discussion This effect is a very effective one to combine in with a reading . The “sitter” can cut to a card, you can read it, and and then use this ritual to demonstrate the relevance of the main card in the reading. Having convinced her of her future being related to that card, g iving her a nicely presented written meaning of the card, together with the actual card, in an attractive envelope is a good idea. It makes a treasured artefact. Anyhow, you will need two candles, ideally in holders. A nice, expensive lighter or alternatively, matches, although I prefer lighters as they are more reliable. Then find a tarot deck, and a matching duplicate of the card you want to force. On the duplicate, attach a square square of flash paper, sticking it to the face of the card with magicians iim mportant magicians wax. It is important portant that this square is stuck on the top half of the card, so that your spectators’ fing ers will not be burnt to a crisp. Before we head into performance, we’ll assume that you’ve already forced your regular tarot card. Your spectator knows what her card is, and the gimmick lies about fifth or sixth from the top of the deck.


Credits The basic idea for the presentation came from “Doc” Tony Shiels (again!). It was also from his original effect that I discovered the candl e stunt, although he mentions that it is an old party trick. The other main source of general inspiration comes from a Eugene Burger effect called “The Burned Card”. It originally appeared in his booklet “Secrets and Mysteries for the Close Up Entertainer”, Entertainer”, and was later reprinted in his hardcover collection, “Mastering The Art of Magic”. Eugene later published another variation of “The Burned Card” that also used the tarot. That variation you can find in his book “The Experience of Magic”. On the subject of The Burned Card, you may like to check out Dav id Parr’s work on it. In his book variation of Eugene’s effect book “Brain Food” there is a variation that features some lovely touches. Both effects are very different from the one just explained. The tips for preparing the word on the card at the end came from Book One by Shane, which is a truly excellent book. Colin McLeod also deserves another mention for the inspired “yours” approach to the final message that personalises the card without all the hard work.


Cruel Hand of Fate “How many of you here here have heard of Marcus Blacke? He was was an occultist expert, and the author of of many books on witchcraft, cartomancy, astrology, and so on, who died in 1996.” “However, for an expert expert in his field, he had one embarrassing phobia… phobia… he was petrified of tarot tarot cards.” “Eventually, however, he had to research research their meanings and study them, to form form part of a forthcoming forthcoming book, so he summoned up the courage.” “According to the story, his plan was to select a tarot card, and place it, sight unseen, unseen, into a sealed envelope. He scribbled the date onto the the envelope, and continued with his day, the idea being that he could record the day’s events, and then check if the tarot reading was accurate when he arrived home.” From a box, the performer removes a deck of tarot cards and a brown envelope. The spectator shuffles the tarot, and then cuts them placing one of the cards into an envelope. “However, on the day of the the experiment, Marcus was killed. Since then, this envelope has sat in the folds folds of his wallet, with the date of his death crudely scribbled on it in pencil. Just hold your hand out for me.” The envelope is laid onto a spectators’ hand. “Close your eyes, and imagine a date in your your head. Name it out loud for for me.” The envelope is turned over, and has the same date scribbled on the other side. “And had he been able to check the results of his his little experiment, he’d have found that the tarot tarot predicted his sudden end quite nicely…” For the first time, the spectators’ tarot card is tipped out of the envelope… It’s the Death card. “Perhaps a lesson to us all that these things are are to be taken seriously?”


Discussion This effect was inspired by Paul Hallas, who, in Son of Totat, published a story about an occultist who was afraid of the number 13. I have changed the story a little, and the method, doing away with the need for a switch wallet or pad. The effect has also been expanded, expanded, now featuring the coincidence of the date matching. Finally, the climax has been altered for maximum impact, as the the production of a blank tarot card didn’t make as much sense to me as the Death card. The story is set in i n modern times, so this is one routine where your props do not need to smell of coffee. As long as the items look a little worn, worn, as in used, they will do nicely. To perform this little routine, you need to assemble the following… • A deck of tarot cards. • An envelope that fits the tarot cards, and in the wallet. • A thumb writer. By now, I suspect the working working is clear. You introduce the props, and force the spectator the the death card, which goes into the wallet. The force that I use is the Cross Cut variation that you can find in Astral Vision. So, set up for the effect effect by crimping the death card in your tarot pack. Then put the empty envelope and the thumb writer in the same pocket, so that that you can get both easily. Now it is simply a case of of forcing the Death card as you remove the envelope from your pocket, putting on the nail writer at the same time. Have the card placed into the envelope and then then nail write the date that the spectator named. Finish up by revealing the date matches, and then reveal the death card.


Final Words Thanks are due to the usual “suspects” for this publication and any others that come in the future – Andi Gladwin, Luke Jermay, Morley Budden, Colin McLeod and Steve Dela are the ones that come immediately to mind… apologies to anyone that I’ve missed. Also, a big thank you to yourself for purchasing pur chasing (or at purchasing least reading!) this work – I genuinely hope that you find something of use within its pages. All the best, Liam Montier Website Email

www.magic-mirror.co.uk [email protected]


Liam Montier - The Furtive Glance - Version 2

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