"Mark's talent for thinking outside the box is in over-drive here - this is just unreal! Stunningly original, absolutely impossible and very, VERY weird!" - Dave Forrest
If you want to leave someone with a memory they cannot believe but will never forget, then you MUST learn My Imaginary Friend.
Tricksy sleight-of-hand required? Nope. Sneaky gimmicks? Nah. Special props to carry? No, none. Does it use playing cards? Happily ... no! English only? No, it will work in any language. Best for magic or mental ism? Perfect for both.
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Introduction Many thanks for taking a leap into the unknown and buying this manuscript. As you will see, that was just the beginning of your commitment! This kind of material is very powerful in impact and hugely memorable because of the
lengths that the performer is willing to go to, both in preparation and during the effect's performance. So strap in for ...
The Effect and Presentation
Yourcopy
The performer says that he wants to share something very weird that has been happening to him. He tells the audience that when he was a young child he had an imaginary friend called Jonathan that he used to play with most of the time. Not that he didn't have plenty of other friends - he did - he just got on with Jonathan the best. What was unusual though was that Jonathan stayed around. For a long time. Whilst most children 'lose' their imaginary friend during the early school years, his imaginary friend stuck around through school and beyond, not leaving until the performer was in his very late teens. And Jonathan was still around all the time. He goes on to explain that whilst Jonathan's constant presence was completely normal to him, as time went on his parents and teachers started to become worried and eventually he had talk to different therapists and psychiatrists and finally was tested for dissociative identity disorder. Which he and Jonathan thought was both annoying and amusing, after all there was nothing wrong with him and Jonathan was just ... well... Jonathan! Every test he ever underwent found nothing and Jonathan's presence didn't appear to be having any adverse impact on his life so there was very little more that anyone could do.
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Anyway, the performer continues, at some point just before his 19th birthday, Jonathan (who was a bit younger than him) simply said one day that he was 'going away' and that was the last the performer ever saw(!) of him. He was surprised that he hadn't missed him more, but he since was busy at university and had a new girlfriend, with all the fun and work that goes along
with those two things, so didn't really think too much of it. It didn't seem like such a big deal: Jonathan had always been around and now he wasn't. Until recently. He explains that about two months ago he received a text message asking him how he was doing from someone who signed off as Jonathan! He thought that it was probably just his annoying brother or an old school friend having a joke at his expense, so he replied in good humour and had a brief
corning from and asks the lady to type that number into her phone but not to c .,II it just yet. She does so. The performer sends Jonathan a text asking, "One of the women I'm with wants to know if you can tell her what she's drinking?" Within a few seconds he receives a reply, "Again? You never tire of this do you! If you mean the woman wearing the red jacket, she's drinking wine and oda". And sure enough the woman drinking wine and soda is indeed wearing a red jacket!
text exchange with 'Jonathan' who said that he had been living abroad but was now back in the country. The following day, 'Jonathan' texted again, and the performer explains that whilst his initial reaction had been one of amusement, he was a little annoyed now, so in order to get rid of the prankster he asked Jonathan a very specific question about something that only the two of them could know, as it had taken place when no one else was
Immediately the performer says to the woman: "Call the number! And put the call on speaker ... " The woman does as requested and everyone can quite clearly hear that instead of hearing a phone ring, they hear a woman's voice say "This number does not exist" and then several beeps. The participant hangs up.
there. (And yes, acknowledges the performer, I know I was on my own! Jonathan was just a figment of my imagination - it has been clinically established that I am not mad © ) He thought that this highly personal question would put an end to the situation, but to his stunned surprise Jonathan responded almost immediately, with exactly the correct answer. So the performer sent another question. Jonathan answered. Again correctly. The performer tested Jonathan on half-a-dozen un-guessable times, places and things that no one else could possibly know. Jonathan knew every single one. At this point the performer gets out his mobile phone (that's English for cell phone, dearest American reader) and proceeds to show everyone this text
The performer says, "That's right, my imaginary friend is texting me from a number that does not exist! You've got his number now. You can try texting him if you like, but he'll never reply to you. And you can try calling him anytime, day or night. The number simply doesn't connect... it doesn't exist." The performer continues by telling the participant that Jonathan has always been interested in games and puzzles and a few weeks ago he told him that he had invented a strange little Game where he could predict all of the choices made, even though they are completely random. And that a day later, he sent him the instructions to the Game as an audio file. The participant is asked if they would like to play the Game and they jump at the chance.
message exchange which he scrolls through for them to read. The most recent one is from today, commenting on last night's sports results. The performer laughs as he comments that it is a perfectly normal friendship, apart from the fact that Jonathan does not exist! He then asks a participant to help him try something out. He asks her what
The performer texts Jonathan and asks him to send the Game audio file to the participant's number, but doesn't give that number. Nevertheless, a moment later the participant's phone beeps and she has received a multimedia message containing an audio file! The performer explains that before they listen to the audio file he just needs to set the Game up.
she is drinking and she says "wine and soda". The performer says that he is going to text Jonathan and ask him if he knows what the lady is drinking, but
before he does, he points out the phone number that the text messages are 4
He takes a piece of paper and tears it into nine roughly equal squares. He then writes a different random word (each one is an object) on each piece, 5
mixes the papers and then deals them out into a 3 x 3 square. The participant takes a coin and drops it onto any piece of paper. She then plays the audio file and Jonathan gives her instructions about how to play the Game: she moves the coin a certain number of moves and then eliminates one of the papers. Each time a paper is eliminated the word on it is shown (e.g. phone, wallet, ring, hat, watch etc.). Jonathan's instructions are very specific and always correct, despite the participant making random moves. This continues until just one piece of paper remains. The participant turns it over and the word is: COIN - a perfect match. The recording says that whilst that is a very unlikely coincidence, that's not what will freak her out the most. Rather the fact that the date is XXXX will! And Jonathan names the exact date on the participant's coin!! Everyone is freaked out and full of questions. A minute or two later, the performer's phone buzzes; it's a text message from Jonathan: "I hope your friend liked playing the Game! Anyway, I'm off to bed, speak tomorrow©"
The Method There are multiple components to this so I'll explain them one at a time.
The Imaginary Friend You need to start off by deciding who your imaginary friend is going to be. Write a page about him. Do it now! Because people will ask. And you need to have answers. Choose a name you can live with. And then write some details about him as a child. How much younger than you is he? Where did he live? What colour was his hair? Decide on some simple details that you can easily remember. Don't make it too complicated (unless you want to!) It will definitely help if you base your Jonathan on a real childhood friend and just change their name. But still write that page in order to get the key details clear in your mind.
The Real Friend aka Your Secret Assistant
F.Y.I. There are so many things I love about this routine. It is a genuinely weird participatory experience for the audience as a whole and, of course, in particular for the person who plays the Game. In performance, I do not present it like a magic trick at all. I keep it very real and play the whole thing as if it is a genuine part of my personal history. People really buy into it and the moment when the participant calls Jonathan's number (from which you've just received a text message!) and finds out that it doesn't exist, they start to freak out a little bit and by the time Jonathan reveals the date on the coin they are in hook, line and sinker. There is a lot to talk about and much preparation to be done, so let's discuss ...
Once you have decided on the details of your imaginary friend you need to pick an actual, real friend who will be your secret off-site accomplice. Since this will be quite demanding on him if you perform this effect a lot I strongly suggest you choose a magician or mentalist friend who would also enjoy performing MIF. Helpfully, I have included a second manuscript (it says 'Jonathan's Copy' on page 2 - I bet you wondered what the hell that was all about ... ) for you to give to this friend as a gift in order to help persuade him. You will both also need to buy a second mobile phone. His will be the 'Jonathan' phone and yours will be whatever name he decides on. Although you will both need to do all the rest of the set-up I'm about to describe, for ease of explanation I will describe it as if only you are doing it. But trust me; it is much easier if your secret assistant can also use you as his secret assistant.
The Text Conversation As soon as you have your second phone, you need to start a text conversation with yourself between your regular phone and the second. For the sake of authenticity as well as staging, this conversation should be at
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least four to six weeks old before you perform MIF for anyone. This conversation should include all the details from the Presentation above, plus plenty others that you include yourself. The early part of the conversation the test questions you ask Jonathan - should be about specifics and seemingly massively personal. "Which shop did I nearly get caught nicking from the day after my ninth birthday?" "Where did we used to hide to spy on Sally?" Nothing unpleasant, it's just kid's stuff, but stuff that is mildly selfrevelatory, the kind of thing you might only ever do with or tell vour best (imaginary) friend.
For both of these recordings you can just use the built in software on you smartphone (or download one of the hundreds of free apps) and ask a couple of friends to help. Or if you prefer you can use www.fiverr.com/
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Then the rest of the on-going conversation can be less meaningful: questions you might ask of an old friend you has been living abroad, chatter about films, sports, whatever. Just make sure that none of Jonathan's answers are specific and that you text at least once each day. You will scroll quickly through it during performance, but there must be volume of conversation. Once you have 4-6 weeks' worth, that second phone gets passed to your assistant. From then on just text each other some quick chit chat every day or two to keep the conversation up to date.
Here are the instructions that Jonathan (the voice recording) gives after a five second pause (and they should be delivered at a fairly slow pace): 1. Move the coin four times please. One ... two ... three ... four. Good. Now please pick up the papers at positions 3 and 7 and turn them over. You will see the names of two random objects. They are eliminated so please place them off to the side. Five second pause whilst the participant complies. 2. Move the coin another four times please. One ... two ... three ... four. I don't believe you are on number 9. So please turn it over and read which object it is. It is eliminated. Five second pause again whilst the participant complies.
This second phone's number should be stored in your phone memory as 'Jonathan' so that the entire text conversation can clearly be seen as between you and him.
3. Now make three more moves. One ... two ... three. Done? Then please pick and eliminate whatever object is at position two. Five second pause.
The Recordings
4. Next make four more moves. One ... two ... three ... four. My knowledge of the Game tells me that you are not on number 8. So please look at the object there. It is eliminated.
You will also need to get two things recorded by someone: 1. a woman's voice saying the message, "This number does not exist" followed by several beeps.
Five second pause. 2. a man's voice giving the instructions for the Game that your accomplice will send as an audio file (mp3, whatever). Since that is supposed to be Jonathan, obviously a man's voice of about your age with a similar-ish accent to the place where you grew up is ideal.
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5. We are nearing the end. Move two more times. One... two ... You are not on the number 6. So read the object and eliminate it. Five second pause.
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6. There are three numbers left, so make three final moves. One ... two ... three. Whatever number you have ended on, that is your chosen number. Pick up the other numbers, look what the objects are and eliminate them. Despite the fact that all of your moves were random, you have played the Game perfectly and caused a statistically unlikely coincidence: the coin is resting on a piece of paper that says ... COIN. Check it out... Ten second pause.
7. Wait! Whilst this coincidence is highly unlikely, it is certainly not impossible. Not something you should lose sleep over. No. What you should lose sleep over is that as well as knowing where the coin would end up I also know the date on the coin! Your coin. Check it out, it's 2008... Thank you for playing my Game. Once you have it recorded (and don't forget the five second pause at the beginning), you need to send it from the second phone to your regular one so that you can show the audience the Game file in your text conversation when you reference it. Then during performance your assistant sends it directly to the participant. This is easy for him to do, since she has just tried to call him! (During the performance, I mention that when I first heard Jonathan's voice in the audio file, I just knew that it was him, even though it was the first time I'd heard his voice as a grown man. Let the audience interpret that detail however they wish!)
The ''This number does not exist" message is set as the phone's permanent voicemail message and the phone needs to be set-up so that all calls are immediately diverted straight to this message, but without the option of anyone leaving you a message. Very likely your service provider won't offer this function, so you will need to download an app to handle your voicemail. As of this writing my second phone (which resides permanently with my secret assistant) is an Android and is using an app called Visual Voice Mail Plus, which handles the job perfectly. There are plenty of other apps though, for Android, Apple and Windows phones. Your assistant should NEVER 10
answer this phone no matter who rings him, even you. It should only ever be used for sending texts between your phone and his and the audio file for this trick.
Set-up For Performance You will need to text your assistant and let them know that you are about to perform MIF and let them know the answer to the question you will ask. Make it something simple, but something that will feel like you just thought to ask it in the moment. E.g. what is the lady drinking? Where are we? What is on the man's t-shirt? Also provide one extra detail that Jonathan can add in that wasn't asked. E.g. the woman is wearing a red jacket and drink wine and soda. We are in a pub called The Cross and there are eight of us. Send your assistant two pieces of info, about the same thing, and then only ask him for one, so that he can add the other seemingly of his (Jonathan's) own accord. Once you have texted him, delete the text. You will also need to have in your right hand pocket a coin whose date matches the one in the voice message. In the UK I always use a lOp coin. A Euro coin or a Quarter is also ideal (depending on where you live of course!)
The Game Once you have performed the 'phone' part of the routine as described and explained above and the participant has received the audio file you proceed with the Game. On the papers you write nine random objects: WATCH, COIN, WALLET, RING, PHONE, HAT, PEN, NOTE and STAMP. The audience is not allowed to see what you write on the papers. As you shuffle the papers up you need to keep track of the paper with COIN written on it and make sure it ends up fourth from the top. You will now deal three rows of 3 papers each like this: 11
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 This puts the COIN paper at position 4. As soon as you have dealt them out, take the pen and write the numbers 1 through 9 on the backs of them as per the layout above. As you're doing this explain to the audience that this is how the Game is played: nine random words which the player doesn't know dealt out into a random square and then numbered ready for the Game. Ask your participant to remove some change from their purse and as she does so, you finger palm your 10p coin. As you reach over to see what coins she has, simply add the 10p to the pile as you pick up a few other coins along with it. Drop all the others back into the pile and say that the 10p is ideal, she should use that and place it down in front of her. Regular readers will know that this gambit of adding your own coin to the participant's money and then using it is a favourite ploy of mine. There is zero heat on this and everyone will forget that you ever went near the coins Ask the participant to open the audio file ready to play, pause it and put it on speaker. Now ask her to drop the coin onto any paper, explaining that when the instructions tell her to move the coin she can move it either up or down one place, or left or right one place, but she is not allowed to move diagonally. For the trick to work the coin MUST start on an even number - 2, 4, 6 or 8. If she has dropped the coin on one of those numbers, you are good to go. If not, simply tell her that you just need to make sure that she understands how she is to make a move, so please make three random moves. This will ensure that the coin is now on an even number and you are ready to start. Ask the participant to press play ... Now the participant plays the Game as per Jonathan's instructions ending with the coin on 'The Coin' paper, which will be a pleasant minor surprise. 12
And then, following the pause, Jonathan gives the date revelation as the kicker, which is a major blow-your-mind surprise. At this point everyone will want to see the coin! And they should. People will be stunned. There will now be a lot of questions (see below) and as you are answering, make sure that your assistant deletes the audio file, or do it for her. Simply explain that this is the price you have to pay for Jonathan allowing other people to play the Game: they have to delete if afterwards. It's fine for her to know Jonathan's number, but you don't want her playing the file again and realising that it was just a force. Your assistant knows that five or six minutes after he sends the audio file he should send you a final text message and this duly arrives: "I hope your friend liked playing the Gamel Anyway, I'm off to bed, speak tomorrow©"
More Questions You will need to think about some answers to the other questions people are likely to ask afterwards: Did it not seem weird to you in your teens? Why did Jonathan come back? Why does he only communicate by text? Why don't you arrange to meet him? You need to have answers ready for these. Try not to get too existential. I give funny answers rather than dark, but I do insist that the whole thing is real and that I fully believe that somehow Jonathan IS my childhood imaginary friend returned. Whatever answers you settle on should be consistent with your personality, performance and story.
Final Notes Just a few more things to mention. In a casual performance setting I see who is paying for food or drinks and receiving change (coins) and then ask that person to be the participant. Otherwise, I know that almost all women carry purses with money in, so asking a woman to participate is certain to be fine. And if that isn't possible then I pick a middle-aged man, as he will almost certainly have loose pocket change. 13
I know from experience that the participant always keeps the coin as a souvenir. It is quite amusing that they are making a point of keeping something which they believe was already theirs anyway! Such is the power of a magical experience. Quite how they later describe the whole experience to someone else when all they have to show as 'proof is a normal coin is very intriguing to me, I would love to be a fly on the wall. The routine can also be used quite comfortably for a small parlour environment or house party, although of course it does become more difficult to let everyone see your phone. For a stand-up performance of MIF I have successfully used a blue tooth speaker connected to the participant's phone so that everyone can hear. On occasion I have also simply played the Game file from my phone rather than having it sent to the participant's phone. MIF works very well in this environment although you do need to pay careful attention to the staging.
Credits: Whilst the Game part of the trick is undoubtedly mathematical in nature, that fact is acknowledged throughout and that makes the ending all the more impossible. Martin Gardner invented the principle upon which the Game is based and he published it in his column in Scientific American in August 1960. My version is a reworking of the effect 'Live 1000 Years!' by the hugely-underrated Will Dexter. His handling appears in his book A Little Magic Amongst Friends and is a clever card trick. I have ditched the playing cards, substantially altered the premise and added the climax. I have also (obviously) updated the format of the prediction to use 21st century technology. Wisely though, I have followed his lead for the layout and the wording of the instructions. The Game part of MIF previously appeared in my CAM 5 booklet.
Obviously, MIF requires a certain level of commitment both in terms of preparation and delivery. I can promise you that it is well worth it and that the reactions you will experience from performing MIF are very different from performing a 'straight' magic or mentalism effect. But, you must commit. Finally, once you have been performing this for a few months, the initial texts from Jonathan can now be seen to be five or six months old. Since I always want the whole 'hearing from my imaginary childhood friend again after all this time' weirdness to feel recent, I have another second phone (with a different number) that I use which is two months more recent. When it gets to six months, I switch to that other second phone and then delete the whole original message thread from my personal phone and continue with the more recent set of messages. I also delete the 'Jonathan' contact and set the new second phone's number as 'Jonathan'. So I always have two second phones on the go; one in current use (which is with my secret assistant) and one being prepared to use when it's ready. This keeps the whole thing recent. I did tell you that you needed to commit, right?
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