Al Mann - Arca - The Magic Box

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POST OFFICE BOX 144 •

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FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY 071~8

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(201) 431 -Z429 POST OFFICE BOX'... . •

FREEHOLO. NEW JERSEY 07728

AReA Copy right 1978 arca -ae, f. (arce o), a ches t. box. Cass ell's New Latin Dict iona ry FOREWORD Gent leme n, I will use this page to plead to the buye rs of this phen omen al secr et, to plea se2 keep cent s it unde r wrap s. This secr et will be wort hItbut end will ic. if it is expo sed to the gene ral publ sets. c magi up in child ren's puzz le book s and As it is now, it is pric eles s to the work ing b~ men talis t. The publ ic mind is alwa ys myst ified d indee will box magi cian' s boxe s, so this littl e baff le them . This trea tise has only scrat ched the surfahce to the effe cts poss ible. However, there are itenoug star tling effe cts in the book to show that the ishead unde rpric ed. The 'Sec ret of the Swami' and book . line pred ictio n are alone wort h buyin g the rs to It is assum ed that all the subs cribe to the AlE serie s are serio us stud ents who know how this in ed offer is use a Swami gimmick so no excu sed head resp ect. However, the Baff ling Bill s and the les to Need ick. line pred ictio n do not use the gimm many spend will et say that the owner of this secr plea sant hour s enjoy ing expe rime nting with the box and inve nting his own effe cts,

P.S. Best Wish es to you in the comi ng holid ays, 1978 . n- b/W kf p- tz/n j/kf

year~end

tMANN~d~

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(201) 431 .. 24,29

POST OFFICE BOX 144 • FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY 0772B

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ARCA e1978

by

AL MANN EXCLUSIVES

A GENESIS Before proceeding further, let us first examine the concept, created by John Smetana of Morganville, New Jersey, which has resulted in the writing of this book and the incredible effects that follow. Please examine the sample box that comes ,,/_1&.--_ _---(/ with this book. It measures roughly 5 by bottom Ji by J inches. It Top is made up of two almost identical parts as shown in Fig. B 1, A and B. A Box manufacturers Fig. 1 refer to these boxes as "set-up, full telescope" boxes. The bottom section telescopes into the top section. The top section contains a half-moon thumb cut to assist in opening the box. Please note that the box is a 'covered' .- - - - box. It is covered with a paper coating. When the box is closed, it looks like in • Fig. 2. Now take a piece of paper, J by 5 inches and fold it twice, tent fashion, as in Fig. Fig. 2 J. and stick it in between the two walls of the closed box as shown by the dash lines in Fig. 2, directly over the thumb cut. The paper must be placed so that the top of the 'tent' (the vertex) is uppermost. amazin~

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The billet is now out of sight, hidden between the outside of the inner section Fig • J and the inside of the outer section of the box. The box proper is empty. The box can of course be shown all around and everything looks as it should.

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ARCA A GENESIS

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

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Now, open the box by holding it at the thumb-cuts between the left thumb and the middle finger, as shown in Fig. 4 and pulling upwards on the top half with the right hand. You will now see a revelation. After the box is opened you will find the folded billet insidel The billet has jumped into the box automatically and invisiblyl The maneuver took place while you were opening the box. The move is caused by suction rather than friction. Pratice the move several times, with a freshly folded billet. The more the box is used _ the better it will work. That, Gentlemen, is the secret of secrets. You now have a way of introducing a prediction paper into a sealed container! As a matter of fact, the spectator can ~ do the move, unknowingly of course. ~----~ NEXT try making the move with two folded billets, one on each side of the box. Both billets will now jump into the box as it is openedl

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ARCA the box You have received a box that is large Fig. 4 enough to accomodate a deck of cards so that card effects may be done with it. If you look around your house you will probably find similar boxes of varying sizes. A smaller box can be used when doing billet work, or when using the small decks of playing cards. THE THUMB CUT, For the purpose of writing with a swami gimmick, the thumb-cut can be enlarged. Since these come in various sizes, no suspicion need be directed to them. The box sent to you has thumb-cuts the size of a U.S. quarter coin. For billet work, boxes that have a white bottom are the best. You will find many boxes that meet this requirement. Some boxes come with a blue top and a white bottom,for example. If you must enlarge the thumb-cut, be sure that a smooth and clean job is done of it. Any small 'barbs' that remain on the inside of the box will mar the smoothness of the operation. So use a curbed pair of small scisors or an exacto knife. The effects that can be done with this principle are legend and only limited by the performer's imagination. As will be seen all of the effects will have a profound impact on your audience.

:3 ARCA

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE A SECRET CHAMBER

EFFECT. The men talis t, stand ing befo re his audie nce on the nigh t-clu b floo r, platf orm or stag e, calls tion to a smal l cardb oard box which he hold s in his hand . atten The box is tied with red ribbo n or rubb er-ba nds. He infor ms his audie nce that insid e the box are two piec es of pape r with mess ages whic h he will show soon . He then asks one spec tator to pleas e choo se a numb erthem betw and 50. A secon d spec tator is asked to do likew ise. A een 10 spec tator is now asked to add the two numb ers calle d. third The audienc e is told to remember the tota l of the two numb ers. Thre e othe r spec tator s are next asked to choo se and call out lette rs of the alph abet , one lette r each . From these lette rs a word is form ed. Perfo rmer then state s that he is now going to remo ve the ribbo n or rubb er band s from the box but that he -is not going to touch the slips of pape r whic h are seale d insid e. When the box is open ed, he state s, he will ask some from the audie nce to come forw ard and remo ve the two slips ofonepape r and read the mess ages. Perfo rmer then very slow ly open s the and shows every one the two slips of pape r by tilti ng thebox box towa rds the audie nce. He then calls on any one t~ stick thei r hand the box and remove the slips and r~ad the mess ages. The into mess ages pred ict exac tly the number and word just chos two en by the audie nce! METHOD. To perfo rm this mast erly effe ct, you must use your swami gimmick and load the box with two bille folde d as per Fig. J, howe ver the bille t must cont ain a long ts mess pred ictin g the number and word . One bille t on one side age box is used for the number and the othe r bille t is used of the :3-le tter word . It will be nece ssary to place the bille for the that the top of the 'ten t' poin ts downward. The top of ts so of the bille t must be align ed flush with the botto m of the 'ten t' the box. As in Fig. 5. Only a smal l part of the bille t shows throu gh the thum b-cut but that is suff icien t to write in the 2 or J-di git r/------r/ numb er and the J-le tter word . The spac e of the bille t show ing is of cour se blank and is the corr ect space that has \ been left blank to comp lete the pred ictio n. So you must write the pred ictio n mess age '~ .J- , acco rding ly. The box can be tied with rubb~r band s or ribbo ns. The ribbo n can hide the Fig. 5 thum b-cut if the oper ator is cons cious of it show ing a diffe rent colo r from the box. Bear in mind that at this poin t your audie nce does not know what colo r the insid e of the box is. It could be pain ted in chequer s. ~----.

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4 ARCA A SECRET CHAMBER ......

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE CONT.

THE PRESENTATION. After the lecture about the contents of the box, the performer calls on anyone to callout any number from 10 to 50. A second person is next asked to do the same. A third person is now asked to add the two numbers called. This is only a ruse to give the performer time to write in the total which he already knows before the third person is asked to add the two numbers. Performer writes in the total with his swami gimmick on the proper billet that is showing through the thumb-cut. It is important that the performer knows which is the proper billet. this can be done by secret marks. Writing in the total is an easy matter as the performer at this time is holding the box with both hands. As soon as the number is written, the billet is pushed upwards and out of sight so that when the box is turned around that section is unmarked. Next, while pattering, performer turns the box so that the thumb-cut on the other side of the box is now facing him. Performer now calls on three persons to each choose a letter from the alphabet in such a manner that a word can be made with the three letters. This word the performer writes in on the exposed billet and again pushes the billet up and out of sight. Performer now tells the audience what has been done and shows the closed box all around saying that he must first remove the ribbon or rubber bands to open the box. He then opens the box slowly and so that everyone can see and tilts the bottom of the box to the audience to show the two billets inside. For the climax, anyone is invited to reach into the box and take out the folded papers and read out the predictions. NOTE. While writing in the word with the swami gimmick, the billet can be moved to the left with the left thumb to give the operator a little more room to write on if needed. NOTE. The box furnished is of a light grey color. The billet is white so that there is a contrast in color. Please bear in mind that the audience does not know what is to be done and therefore does not suspect at the begining any trickery that will cause the spectators to look at the thumb-cut. Usually the thumb-cut is slightly covered by the fingers. The rubber bands or ribbon around the box also distracts from the tiny piece of the billet that shows. BUT the performer can get a white box or paper of the same color as the box if he feels uneasy about the set-up. Some fine points about handling the box so that the billet does not show at all will be discussed later besides the fact that the performer will develope his own ideas about handling.

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AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

ARCA THE SECRET OF THE SWAMI

EFFECT. The master mind claims that he can influence the mind of any person although that person may be thousands of miles away from him. He asks anyone in the audience to call on the telephone anyone whom he knows anywhere in the world and to tell that person to choose any number from 100 to 10001 The person called is of course a total stranger to the performer yet he will prove beyond doubt that a rapport exists between the two. After the person chooses the number and makes it known, the performer asks if the person had a free choice? He of course says that he did. Performer then states "Not sol Please notice that I am holding a sealed box in my hands and that this box has been in sight at all times even before the number chosen was known. Inside of this box is an envelope. And inside the envelope is the same number that the person over the telephone just chose. You see. I influenced his choice as I too was thinking of the same number!" The box is then opened and some one is asked to take out the envelope inside and to remove the message and read it. The message states that the person would indeed be influenced to think of that number which is marked on the paper inside the envelopel METHOD I Only one side of the box is prepared. A pill envelope is used, 2-7/8 by 1-3/4 inches. Its flap is tucked in. A billet is folded like in Fig. 3 and only partially inserted into the envelope as shown in Fig. 6. This set up is placed between the walls of the box with the billet flush with the bottom of the box. The billet has been prepared with a long message leaving a space to fill in the number. IN THE PRESENTATION, after the number is known and written in,the billet is pushed Fig. 6 up and it automatically goes into the envelope with just a small piece sticking out. When the box is opened the performer shows the insides and shakes the box a bit and the billet will go into the tiny envelope entirely. Fig. 7 shows a way of handling the box so that it looks like the whole box is shown but actually the four fingers on one side hide the billet that may show. The box can be handled quite freely as practice will show. The thumb in Fig. 7 is over the thumb cut. Do not make the mistake of turning the flap of the envelope back and under it. That Fig. will cause friction and may foul the operation. 7 The flap must be tucked in and the address side

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ARCA

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

THE SECRET OF THE SWAMI ......

cont.

of the tiny envelope must be towards the inside of the box as shown in Fig. 7. Bear in mind that only the one person who takes out the envelope will ever notice that the envelope is not properly closed. The rest of the audience will be amazed about the message appearing inside of an envelope and inside a sealed box! The box can of course be prepared for a double effect by using two envelopes. Both envelopes will jump into the box when the box is opened, however the directness of the presentation used in The Secret of the Swami using only one envelope is as profound as any effect can be. NOTE. The proper way to open the box so that the envelope or envelopes go into the box is to open it slow but with a continuous motion. If the box is opened too fast the envelope may jump high and fall outside the box. An easy pull upwards does the trick. The pull must be exerted on the center of the box directly over the thumb-cuts. Do not worry about the audience seeing any movement inside the box as it is opened. Since the line of sight of your audience is not parallel with· the top of the box, chances are the audience will see nothing. If any movement is noticed by anyone, it will not disclose the amazing principle. STRANGE COORDINATES ~FFECT. Performer shows a sealed box and states that inside the box is a deck of cards tied with rubber bands. He further states that there is also a paper with a message on top of the cards. He also says that he will not touch the deck of cards or the message again. Then anyone is asked to call out a card. After the card is called performer opens the box and shows the inside to all~ Anyone is then asked to take out the message and cards and to read the message out loud. The message reads, "The card just named is in position 18 from the top of the deck." The person holding the deck is then asked to deal to the 18th card and to turn up that card. It proves to be the card that was called!

METHOD. You will need a deck of cards stacked in the Si Stebbins stack so that you can immediately tell the position of any card called. Or the operator may use any stack that he is familiar with. It is best to secure the deck with rubber bands instead of placing the deck in its case. This will minimize the chance of accidental droping the cards while taking them out of the case. The rest is only a matter of writing in the correct number on the billet.

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AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

ARCA SPIRIT ANSWERS

EFFECT. The priv ate read er open ly plac es a blank it with busin ess card into a box and close s it and ties any impo rtant state to r sitte the rubb er band s. He then asks to give the deques tion. The good spir its are then summonedopen the busi sired and truth ful answ er. When the box is er to edtheand ques tion ness card taken out by the sitte r. an answ is found writ ten on it! ct. METHOD. Ther e are two ways of pres entin g this effe the to shown Firs t, as per the effe ct abov e, a blank card his has a razo r whic card le doub a is sitte r. This blank card is place d inblad e embedded betw een the two card s. This cardclose s the box to the ARCA box by the sitte r. Perfo rmer then band s are used and plac es rubb er band s aroun d it. The rubb er the box. ling to give the perfo rmer an excu se for handtion ly or othe roral ques his s state r sitte Afte r the d busin ess secon on a wise , the perfo rmer writ es an answ er for it ion. ersat conv card on his lap. Secr etly of cour se, durin g thepad of pape r. Perfo rmer next plac es a smal l writ ing back cove r, over that has been prep ared with a magn et near its pad righ t next the box betw een the rubb er band s so that the the isbox or turns to the cove r of the box. Perfo rmer then tiltsattac h itse lf to it upsid edow n. This gets the card insid e to n. ctio etic attra the insid e top of the box due to the magn be summoned to will its spir the that told Sitte r is ved and the box assi st in the answ er. The rubb er band s are remo fron t of the peris place d next to the edge of the table in of hand s on form er. Spec tator is told to place the tips s his out the ques the top edge of the box. Perfo rmer then write and his left hand tion on the writi ng pad with his righ t hand the botto m of gets the card on his lap and align es it with een the wall s. the box is prep arati on for inse rting it betw and the rmer Afte r the ques tion is writ ten, the perfo now is rmer sitte r both cons entra te on the ques tion. Perfo the slips ess hold ing the box with both hand s and in the proc mess age card in betw een the wall s. turns Perfo rmer next shows the box all aroun d and if the tell to ce it upsid e down again . This give s him a chan box. the of top card is attac hed to the pad whic h is stil l oncard jumps insid e, Next the box is open ed, the mess age and the sitte r is told to take out the card . l the NOTE. The rubb er band s need not be remo ved unti ng pad end. The rubb er band s can help to hold down the writi the perfor easy it make will h place d on top of the box whic vert is band er rubb two e Plac form er to write with one hand . leng th the d aroun one and box the cally aroun d the long side of d so that of the box, vert icall y. The rubb er band s must be space

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ARCA

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

SPIRIT ANSWERS ........ cont. the second business card with the answer can easily be slipped in between the walls of the box. After the sitter removes the card from the box, the psychic simply removes the note pad from the top of the box and lets the dummy business card fallon his lap. The top section of the box is then flashed to show that it is empty. PSYCHIC KNOWLEDGE This is the same effect as the spirit answer but here the psychic claims that he already knew the sitter's question and wrote an answer to it long before the sitter came in. WORKING. Before the sitter comes in, the psychic prepares the ARCA box by simply closing it and tying it with rubber bands. The closed empty box is placed aside and no attention called to it until after the psychic has learned of the sitter's question and has secretly written the answer for it on the business card on his lap. While pattering the psychic places the closed box before himself and secretly inserts the answer card in between the walls. Then he says, "This sealed box has been sitting here since yesterday. I knew you were comming and the question you would ask. I know you find that hard to believe. But I wrote an answer to your question on my business card and sealed it in this box." Psychic then shows the closed box from all angles and removes the rubber bands and opens the box. He then directs the sitter to reach in and take out the answer card! TECHNIQUE. In using a business card instead of a folded billet, the technique is a bit different. The business card is more affected by friction than by the suction force. In order to get the card into the box, the operator must exert a little pressure with the right thumb at position "x" shown in Fig. 8, in the act of opening the box. OPENING THE BOX. While practicing the opening moves with a business card, you will no doubt notice a very audible noice caused by the card as it drops inside the box. This noice is -.J most undesirable so instead of opening the box as In Fig. 4, the box is opened by turning it on - its side with the card at the bottom. That way when the box is opened the card is already Fig. 8 on the bottom side of the box which in this case is its side. The card will not make as much noise when the box is opened. Just a few practice sessions in opening the box will give the operator the necessary technique. j

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AReA

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE THE BAFFLING BILLS Materialization of matter

The following effect is quite profound as it involves unknown psychic forces. The effect is credited to Willane and was published in ABRA #841 under the title of "The Baffling Notes" described by Fabian on March 10th. 1962. The effect was also a favorite of Al Koran and appeared under his name in Magick #100 for May Jrd. 1974. In EFFECTs The performer borrows two one-dollar bills from the audience and openly tears them in half. One half of each bill is returned to the owners and the other two halves are given to anyone to burn. A box that had previously been shown empty is now opened and the two half-bills are found inside. The two halves are given back to their owners and of course they fit perfectly! This is indeed the easiest way of performing the pseudo-materialization or teleportation of matter. since no sleight of hand is used and the whole thing takes place long before the show starts. PREPARATIONs Before the show take a one-dollar bill and tear it in half. Place the two halves together and fold them once and stick them in between the walls of the ARC A box as shown in Fig. 5, so that the bills show through the thumb cut. Place the box aside. THE PRESENTATIONs Pick up the box and place it in your left hand with the loaded side towards you so that no one can see the bills as they show through the thumb-cut, and place the left thumb on bills, as you say, "Ladies and Gentlemen. May I call your attention to this box. It is empty." Next open the box and turn the top section over Fig. 9 and place it along side the bottom section so that the folded bills are covered as in Fig. 9. Pinch the two parts of the box at "x" with the right thumb and middle finger and show the box all around and turn it upside down so that everyone can plainly see that it is indeed empty. The left thumb keeps the bills in place while opening and closing the box. Close the box keeping the halfbills in place and tuck them up out of sight. Place a rubber band around the box and give it to some lady to hold. Next borrow two one-dollar bills from the audience and openly tear them in half. Go to the person on your right and

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ARC A

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

THE BAFFLING BILLS .....• cont. give him the right half of one bill as his receipt. Go to the person on your left and give him the left half of the same bill. AS the half-bills are given to their owners, performer folds them once with the serial numbers inside preferably and so that the folded halves will resemble the halves tucked into the walls of the box. A lady is next called forward and is given the two other half bills. These two half bills are actually one of the bills that was torn in half, but the audience believes are two nonmatching halves. The lady is asked to burn the bills. For the climax, the box is opened and the two halves are found inside. Performer takes the two halves and goes to the person on his right holding one half bill, takes the half bill from him and tries to match it. In the process, performer changes the persons right half for the right half that came from the box and gives it back to him together with the left half that came from the box and says, "There you are Sirl A perfect match! " Performer then walks to the person on his left and gives him the right half of the bill that he took from the first spectator and says, "Will you please see if the halves match?" End of Miracle. The strong point of this presentation with the box is that the box is first shown empty. Later the bills show up inside the box which points to something strange indeed. One of the bills is destroyed by fire, but the other bill is not. Which means that the second bill may be marked or signed by anyone, but on one end only. The bill in the box is of course a stranger bill that is palmed off as one of the original torn bills. If by chance one of the bills borrowed from the audience is too new, it must be rejected by collecting more bills and then returning the too-new bill to its owner saying that it is not needed. * * * See page 16. THE WINGED HORSE This is the Pegasus Page mystery. It is worked in similar fashion as the Baffling bills. That is, the duplicate page is loaded into the box as in Fig. 5. Two duplicate books are needed. Use paper backs. A page is removed from one book and folded twice and tucked into the walls of the box. The page from the other book is first forced and then torn out and burned, and while the page is burning the performer switches books. When the box which has been shown empty is opened the missing page is found inside and it matches the book exactly! Here is a good book force. One of the duplicate books is given to a spectator and is told to just hold on to it. The

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ARCA

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

THE WINGED HORSE ...... cont. other duplicate book is out of sight easily within reach for the switch. A third book that has been prepared by cutting short two pages after the force page,is offered to a spectator who is told to stick his finger anywhere in the book as the performer riffles the pages. The book is opened where the spectator's finger is and the magician calls out the force number, but as he turns around to tell the other spectator holding one of the duplicates to open the book to that page number, the performer closes the book and then flips to the force page and then turns around and shows the page number to the spectator. who supposedly just chose that pagel The spectator with the duplicate book is told to tear the page out. The page is then burned, etc. THE BOOK TEST The book test is quite easy to perform with ARCA. The box is loaded with a prediction paper as in Fig. 5. and tied with rubber-bands. Spectator is asked to choose any book and open it to any page and to choose any short word. If the word chosen is too long, Spectator is told to choose two more short words of ), 4 or 5 letters then the spectator is told to choose just one of the words in the hope that he chooses a short word. In any event a short word is desired and can be easily had simply by asking for it. The chosen word is then written on the billet, etc. TWO WAYS The most popular predictions today are the two-way predictions. Not only can this type of prediction result in a lot of newspaper publicity, but the whole world goes bananas with it. Whether the masses realise that the magician has a 50-50 chance of being correct does not matter, the fact is that the whole world adores the man who can tell them who will win the World Series, or a price fight or the presidential elections. There are fortunes to be made. The ARCA box is excellent for the two-way prediction. Simply use a white full telescope box and load it with one prediction paper on each side as in Fig. 5 and seal the box all around with masking tape or stamps but do not cover the thumb cuts. Then wrap the box in heavy paper with instructions not to open the box but to await further instructions. When the box is opened simply hold back the losing billet!

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AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

AReA

THE MYSTERY OF THE TRINITY Telling a spectator what the third card is from the top of a deck after it is shuffled mystifies everyone. In this version of it with the ARCA box, the performer never touches the deck so the mystery is more baffling! Use a box that measures 2 inches high by 3 or 4 long and 2i or 3 inches wide. Get also a deck of playtime cards which measure 1-3/4 by 2!. For some unknown reason this size of card works quite well in the presentation that follows while larger cards do not. Load your box ~ placing three cards faces inward on one side of the box between the walls. The box can be shown casually and all seems well. The thumb covers the cards as they show through the thumb cut. Now have anyone shuffle the tiny deck of cards and then open the box, holding the three hidden cards back with the left thumb. Watch the angles so no one can see the three cards and show the box empty top and bottom. Then have the spectator place the deck into the box and close the box. Now the performer can have an easy time by naming the third card down or the second or all three top cards. Next to open the box, performer must place the tip of his right thumb under the lower edges of the three hidden cards as he lifts off the top of the box. The cards will make a little noice as they drop but this can be disguised by shaking the box. The strong point of this effect is that the box is shown empty and after the effect no trickery can be found. The box is not a magical looking apparatus that may cause suspicion. THE THREE WATCHES Place three watches (not running) inside the box and prepare the box with a prediction paper. Tell specs that inside the box are three watches. One is silver color pocket watch. The second is a gold color pocket watch and the third is a wrist watch. They are to choose one. Inform them also of the prediction inside. Performer knows at what time each watch stopped but the audience does not know this. The prediction predicts the time on the chosen watch! MINDING TH~ STOR~1 If the reader owns the effect, "Minding the store" by Ned Rutledge he can work it with the ARCA box. A piece of merchandize chosen by the audience appears inside the box plus the price of it!

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AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE SEVEN KEYS

If the reader likes the Seven Keys to Baldpate effect, the ARCA box can be used not only to tell what spectator will get the correct key but also to tell the choice of what card that spectator chose. Use as many as 10 keys and have spectators chose one card each from cards Ace to ten. Performer can tell what spectator got the right key and what his card was so the predictions appear inside the box. ESP DESIGNS With ARCA the predicting of the choice of ESP designs is quite easy. Use 10 or more different simple designs and load the box with two prediction papers. If marked cards are used, performer pretends not to know the cards chosen but instead opens the box to read the predictions and then tells the . spectators to turn their cards over.

THE SWAMI GIMMICK Every magician and mentalist has his own idea as to what a swami gimmick should be. This write~ has two very clumsy thumbs so that the only proper writer to use in my case is a metal thumb tip (one inch long) with a band type thick lead gimmick cemented to it. This type of gimmick never gets lost and is easy to find and never falls off which is more important. BOXES

BOXES

BOXES

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The reader can get all the boxes he wants simply by asking for them. Write down the sizes of boxes you need and then go to one or more box manufacturers and tell them that you are interested in buying several hundred boxes. Some will not sell less than 1000. Some want an order for )000 boxes. But they are glad to give you one sample of each. They will mail you the sample free of charge. Be sure to ask for white covered full-telescope set-up boxes. Also ask for a 2/) telescope box. These manufacturers are listed in the yellow pages of your telephone book under "Boxes-paper."

14 AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

ARCA JOANNA SOUTHCOTT'S BOX

This is a new approach to the Headline Prediction. The reader may be surprised to know that the principle of the ARCA box can be used as a headline prediction just by altering the box a bit. Yet the box is totally ungimmicked and once it is mailed it is never opened again until a member of the committee opens it in his own hands while the mentalist is several feet away, and finds the latest events predicted on a piece ~f paper Needed is a box that is similar to the full telescope set-up box except that it is only one-half or two-thirds telescope as shown in Fig. 10. (This box is excellent for slipping in a card or prediction while sitting at a table as for doing the "Spirit Answers" and "Psychic Knowledge.") ,'-_ _ _ _-' PREPARATION. Place a piece of paper Fig. 10 2i by 3 inches, folded twice one way and once the other way to make a small pellet 1; by 3/4 inches, and with the message of the date of the sealing of the box, inside the box and close the box. Then seal the ends of the box with 'removable' red of blue labels. The removable labels are used so that the box can be used again. Then place two or three rubber bands vertically along the length of the box. The box can then be wrapped in heavier paper or locked into a chest. Also needed is a metal thumb tip that is about lt inch long. THE SHOW. Write the day's news on a piece of paper the same size as the one described above and fold it in the same way and tuck it into your thumb tip. WE will assume you will use the tip on your left thumb. When the box is unwrapped take it and patter and ask anyone to come forward to open Fig. 11 it. Mention the seals, the date it was sealed and what you predicted would come true. The box is held with both hands as shown in Fig. 11. Behind the scenes, the right thumb pinches the thumbtip while the left thumb takes out the prediction billet and tucks it in between the walls of the box. The thumb tip is put back on the left thumb and the trick is done. *** See page 16.

15 ARCA

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

JOANNA SOUTHCOTT'S BOX ... ' .. CONT. After the billet is in place and the rubber bands and give the box When the spectator opens the box, the the box and two billets will be found

remove the stickers to anyone to open. billet will jump into inside.

NOTEa It is impossible for anyone to see the secret moves with the thumb tip as shown in Fig. 11. No one can see your thumbs unless they are looking over your shoulder. Your thumbs are completely covered by the box and your hands. Once the billet is in and the thumb-tip back on your left thumb, the box can be held at the finger tips while the rubber bands are removed. The moves necessary to load the billet can be done in seconds and the rest of the time devoted to showmanship. NOTEa When the billet is loaded into the thumb-tip it should stick out of the thumb-tip about 1/8 or 1/4 inch to make sure it will come out easy and will not get stuck inside the tip. If the reader does 'Headline Predictions', he should not hesitate to do this test even if he has to open the box as nothing can be seen amiss all during the presentation. Your author has done considerable research into prediction boxes even to the extent of having a collection of 12 boxes and I consider the ARCA concept one of the most amazing. The 'box' can be left behind after the event. A good question is, "Why do we need such a large cardboard box to hold such a small piece of paper?" The box can be filled with confetti, or gum drops, or a nice gift for the committee lady or man, but this would only distract from the awesome implications of the prediction. But the box can be filled with soft paper which will fill the box for some mysterious reason and also minimize the noice of the falling pellet. Fill the box with your own publicity!

*************** AME

FLASHES

10/9/78. As this book is being written, ALLEMANN the mindreader, has accurately predicted that the New York Yankees would win the World Series 1978 on the 6th game. The predictions were sent to seven newspapers in the New York-New Jersey area, written on single sheets of paper and enclosed in ungimmicked envelopesl The envelopes were opened before the games startedl

16

ARCA

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE NOTES

The Baffling Bills. Another way of showing the box empty is as shown in Fig. 12. The top of the box is remomed and placed alongside the bottom, covering the bills, without turning the top over. The left thumb keeps the bills in place. The top is next removed and shown empty. When collecting the bills, collect the first bill from the person on your right and right away tear the bill in half and ~ ~ give him the right half. This proves to the audience that you indeed gave him half of the ) bill, his own bill. With the person on your left, take his bill and tear it and give him ~~ the left half of the first person's billl \

,

Joanna Southcott's BoX. Using the halfFig. 12 telescope box, the performer simply palms the prediction billet behind the four fingers of his left hand, then picks up the box and places it on his left hand, back of fingers to audience. Then performer turns the box around as he patters about the box being sealed and easily maneuvers the billet into the walls of the box with his left fingers! The Swami gimmick is not used here. Any billet can be introduced in this fashion, even a billet from pocket indexes. BOXES. It is recommended that only simple looking boxes be used. Some boxes come with a beautiful velvet covering but the beauty of the box will surely distract from the impact of the effect. A tall box creates more suction than a low one. The owner must experiment for his own benefit. Some 'mailing' boxes are loosely wrapped and should not be used. The sample box sent with this book is just right. The box must have a loose but close tolerance between the walls. If the box is too tight it will cause trouble and if it is too loose it will fail at times. That is why a sample box has been sent to you. FLASH, Al Mann will lecture at the Magic Castle in Hollywood on Jan. 14th, 1979!

AM~

17

tMANNg'd~

(201) 431 -2429

POST OFFICE BOX 1," • FREEHO LD, NEW JERSEY 07728

ARC A --CO pyrig ht by Al Mann Excl usive s A HISTORY a John Smet ana from Morg anvil le, New Jerse y, is cial offi bank g youn a , member of the AME think tank . John talis t who in New York City , is a mast er magi cian and menand rece ives vals festi perfo rms for a close circ uit of bank a high fee for it. ing's In 1971, John became inter este d in otis Mann#137 Jinx in ared appe "Gho st of a Chance" prin ciple that ciple expou nded and also in Prac tical Ment al Effe cts. The prindepo sitin g for top a Shra fft's cand y box with a slot on ler secr et smal a has bille ts. The inno cent look ing cand y box is used and box the of box paste d unde r the slot at the top for switc hing bille ts. ot John prop hetic ally surm ised that Mr. Mann ing'sleball forsimp the es besid box shou ld have more and bett er uses cing of a number or ques tion. John 's impro veme nt to the Manning ball ot box towas Perfo rmer prete nds an orig ianl conc ept as follo ws. r and folds it write out some pred ictio ns on a piec e of papeperso ns are three Next and drop s it into the ball ot box. etc. When s, word s, citie s, asked to call out item s like , name ectl corr e prov ns ictio pred 's the box is open ed the perfo rmer r pape n ictio pred d folde John 's idea was to get the aid the by then and box the secr etly in betw een the wall s of of open ing of the thumb push the pape r into the box in theitact not nece swas that d vere itl Toyi ng with the box, John disco The box. the into r pape sary to use the thumb to push the woul d et bill the , more 's box did that auto mati cally l And what itt ed jump into the box no matt er who open t in The real probl em was how to"g et the folde d bille his ed shelv betw een the wall s of the box unob serve d. John 'gem 'for the time bein g. "Pan dora 's In 1976, your auth or was colle cting note s for ment ioned then He s. boxe Box" and I asked John if he had idea s on I did But etc. it," his 'ball ot box' and said "anyo ne can open abou t ng talki was John not catch the thou ght at all. I thou ght could we that John 'The Dev il's Devi se' (Jinx #89) so I told been think ing abou t give that some thou ght late r as I too had it. s again In Septe mber 1978, I spok e to John abou t boxe be to s boxe n ictio pred on as I was prep aring a secon d book

18 ARCA

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

A HISTORy .....•.. cont. called "Pandora II." I asked John if he had any thought on inexpensive prediction boxes. He said, "I still have that ballot box that I mentioned to you before." That last sentance activated a haunting memory about something he had said years before, so I said, "John come on over and bring the box with you." On 9/1)/78, John and I had a hefty session at the AME office. He demonstrated his principle with the 'ballot' box. Unbeknown to him, I sat across the table completely stunned. John said, "It isn't much AI." "What do you mean? It isn't much. That is the most remarkable piece of mental business I have seen for many a year. Do you realize how much thought, time and effort has been spent by magicians looking for a method to introduce a prediction billet into a sealed box? You have just shown me a move that does that automatically!" John and I spent the next half hour trying to invent some way of placing the billet between the walls of the box in the act of handling it. We failed utterly. We could not come up with any sleight-of-hand move that would stand up to the caliber of the presentation needed. So we decided to sleep on it. John went home very gratified that I had thought highly of his discovery. That night, I had no sooner laid down to sleep when the whole concept of ARCA came tumbling down before my eyes like a house of cards. I called John right away. "John, I've got itt" "Got what? AI." -- "The solution to your ballot boxt" "we can load the prediction billet between the walls of the box before the showl simply by enlarging the thumb cut and writing on the billet with a swami gimmickl" The rest of the story in included in the book. One effect led to the other culminating in the headline prediction effect in "Joanna Southcott's Box." The AME offices salute John Smetana for the discovery of this amazing and fabulous principle that has led to the formulation of some potent weapons for the mentalist and the enchantment of their audiences.