Al Mann - The Naked Thought

THE AME ESTATE AT

RIV-ER RIDGE. W.VA..

Tel. 304-947-7730 P.O. Box 155 Great Cacapon, WV 25422

AN AME CREATION

1/t,e Q,aa,u tam L,~p ~

?~'t , MAJOR ARCANA

SERIES

~~·tt!t ~t:a94

Tel. 304-947-7730

P.O. Box 155 Great Cacapon, WV 25422

Copyright by AME (1994)

\

What madness is this? What unmitigated gall! What brash daring! What debased insolence! What a brilliant swindle! The Worker of Miracles picks up a folded card from among several on the table. Each folded card has a secret message written on the inside by a member of the audience. The WOM opens out the card in full view of his audience, and reads the secret message. At the proper time the WOM reveals the messages he read to his audience. The WOM proceeds in a similar manner with the rest of the folded cards. The audience gives the WOM great credit for his thought-reading talents for they are not aware what the WOM has just done. That is correct! His audience is not at all aware that the Miracle Man has been reading writing instead of minds. This, Gentlemen is mental misdirection in its highest form. For such is the power of the fine art of the Mentalist. We all know that the best way to discover a secret message that is written inside a folded card is to simply pick it up, unfold it and read the message! That is exactly what the Master Miracle Man does, openly and without helpers or cover, in full view of his audience, in this masterful pretense at mind reading! SOLUTION: The solution to this daring and most direct method is most simple. It is masterful misdirection accomplished with the aid of a combination of AME principles. It is the Space-Age version of the one-ahead system BUT done without copping the first question or using stooges or behind the curtains preshow preparations. No switching of billets!

To create the effect you need 1. Four blank index cards, 3 by 5 inches, folded twice. Fold the card in half and break the fold by folding the card back and force so that the card can easily fold either way." Next the card is folded into quarters. One of the folded cards is secretly marked with pencil dots and used as the dummy. 2.

Your favorite swami gimmick.

3. You will also need to Opener" effect in the Tesseract.

I use a thumb tip writer.

master

the sleight

from

"An

THE PRESENTATION: As you walk towards the table you carry the writer in your cupped left hand ready to mount it on your right thumb tip if you are right handed. If you use a thumb nail writer then you already have it mounted. In your right or left coat pocket you have four folded index cards. Reach into your coat pocket with your free hand and bring out the four folded cards and throw them on the table. After your disclaimer etc., call for three volunteers and have them come up and stand to your left or right. Tell them to do as you do as you pick up the dummy billet, open it and write anything on it. Caution them to handle the folded cards gently. Not to mark or soil them on the outside so that they will look all alike. Spectators are told to write a name or word or design, and to refold their cards carefully to their original condition and place them on the table and return to their seats. At the same time you have thrown the refolded dummy billet onto the table. Mix them up again as you tell the audience that it is impossible for anyone to tell what the secret messages may be. As you talk you pick up one folded card BUT NOT THE DUMMY. The dummy must remain on the table till the last so be sure to avoid picking it. You can spot the dummy by the pencil dot mark on the open corners. "I have secretly written a two digit number inside this card (you lie) but I will not tell you what the number is because I want you to tell me the number." You say. Next you proceed to do the "An Openner" effect from the Tesseract. Ask one spectsator to callout any number from 10 to 50. Say he calls out 32. Next ask another spectator to callout a different number between 10 and 50. Say she calls out 41. You have by this time readied your swami writer and mentally added 32 and 41 (73). Ask some spectator to add the two numbers 32 and 41. When he calls out 73 ask the audience if that is correct. "32 plus 41 equals 73.

Is that correct?

2

Do we all agree?"

During this byplay you have plenty of opportunity to write the number 73 on the outside of the folded card. Next ask some young lady in your audience to corne forward to assist you. While she is moving you openly snap the card open with the secret sleight from "An Opener." This has caused the number that was on the outside of the card to now appear on the inside! In doing the sleight you must watch your angles. Hold the folded card horizontally and snap it open and right away turn the number side of the card towards the audience. When the young lady comes on stage you show her the card and ask her to verify the number written on the card. She says "73." But at the same time you have read the message on the back of the card which is now facing you! This is shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 1 shows the operator's hand as he holds the card open for the spectator to read the swami-written message on the other side of the card while he cops the secret message! You are now one-ahead and can proceed at your leasure revealing the other written thoughts!

wp-i re

OJ

~l;'JT N'AlI\e r

.::JOhIL----------

-

Tear up the first card and place it in your pocket or throw it into a waste basket. Pick up the next folded card. Place it to your temple and reveal the thought (the one you saw on the first card). Then open it to verify and you now learn the next message! Tear Fig. 1 this card up or just throw on the table and go to the next. Keep the dummy card for the last. Tear up or burn the dummy cards without opening it and then reveal very dramatically the last message! THE OPENER MOVE The feedback from AME subscribers concerning the Opner Move has been nil. But I am sure that the ones who have mastered the sleight know how valueble the Move is. The very fact fact that the Move is used to accomplish this effect proves ts value.

\:?

,.~ .f~

Fig. 2

the thumb and first finger of the As shown in Fig. 2, right hand pinch the folded card by the loose corner of the top fold. While the thumb and first finger of the left hand take the card by the loose corner of the third fold. Both hands are then turned at the wrists only. The left hand turns backwards towards you while the right hand rotates forward away from you. The action is done close to the body and the card snaps open and the 3

outside of the card becomes the inside so that the number that was swami-written on the outside of the folded card appears now in the inside of the card. * * Immediately after the card snaps open the number side of the card is turned to the audience. Watch the angles. When performing on a platform hold the folded card horizontally to the floor to avoid flashing the writing.

AN AL MANN CREATION Beyond a doubt, the move from 'An Opener' in the Tesseract as used in this treatise for the first time is the Quantum Leap for the one-ahead, the two ahead and the three ahead systems. This idea is new! The limit is up to you. Master it. THE EFFECT is similar to the Naked Thought and technique used is far superior.

but

the handling

THE CARDS: Four cards are used. These are index card size 3 by 5 inches, blank on both sides. The four cards are prepared before the show by writing in the requests although that is not necessary. The cards are prefolded first in half making sure that the crease of the half-fold is well broken by bending the card in half back and forth. This preparation makes the Opener Move easier to perform. Three of the cards have instructions like "Write a five letter word." (This is to avoid longwords.) "Write a simple design." "Write a first name." These instructions may be ommitted if the operator feels that too many words may result in detection. But once the routine is mastered the danger of flashing the words is nil. These cards are then folded two ways and are secured with trombone paper clips! The fourth dummy card is left blank but is secretly marked. The third card asking for a simple design is also secretly marked. In the presentation the 'design' card is picked up as card number 3 while the dummy card is the fourth and last card and need not be picked up.

4

THE SECRET MARKS:

Recommended is the fOllowing:

Fig. 3 shows two folded index cards held secured with two trombone clips. A 1/4 inch of wire has been snipped off the SHORT loop of the clip on billet A. While a 1/4 inch of the wire has been snipped off the LONG loop of the clip in billet B. We can let the gimmicked SHORT loop represent the dummy, while the gimmicked LONG loop represents the Design billet.

l Fig. 3

THE PRESENTATION is similar to the Naked Thought. Design and the dummy billet on the table for the last.

Leave the

1. In choosing participants, it is well to use spectators sitting on the back rows. So that when you show the messages you use persons on the front row. This will become clear when the routine is learned. 2. After the messages are secretly written and the cards folded and secured with the paper clip and left on the table, pick up any billet other than the dummy or the design billet, and do the Opener Effect predicting the total of two numbers. 3. After you remove the paper clip and open out the billet (number 1) with the Opener Move to show the prediction number you learn one of the messages (Fig. 1). Say it is the name "John." Discard the paper clip and billet number 1. Since one member of the audience has already seen what is written on billet number 1, nothing is suspect. 4. Pick up another billet (number 2) and as you strain to learn the hidden secret message, push the paper clip upwards out of the way to allow you to write the name "John" on the outside of the folded card with your swami gimmick. This is very easy to do since your audience sees that the billet is folded and secured with the paper clip. They do not suspect or look for any move at this time. In fact your lay audience has no idea just what is to follow. So take your sweet time and write the name secretly and comfortably. Then you say, "Who is think ing of the name "John?" When some one answers, you open out the card with the secret OPENER MOVE and show the name "JOHN" which you wrote to some one in the front row or wherever but not to the writer. At the same time you have learned the next message! Say it is the word "LOVE." 5

5. Next you pick Up billet number 3 and write the word 'Love" on the outside of this billet. You proceed in like manner and learn the design chosen. 6. Only the dummy billet is left on the table. Here you proceed as you wish. You can leave the dummy on the table as you pass out two slates or art boards and you ask the person who chose the design to draw it on the slate or board as you duplicate his design. I have noticed in my shows that when slates or boards are used in a design duplication effect, the audience is so stunned that they forget about the folded billet and have no further use for it. Isn't that wonderfull? You appear to be divining the secret messages on the folded cards before the clips are removed or the cards opened and then you show the messages to the audience (but not to the writers! HA!) to prove that the message is there! You destroy the message cards while the minds of your audience are recovering. You have paid good money for this Forbidden Knowledge, so make the most of it. PRACTICE - PRACTICE - PRACTICE - PRACTICE - and then PRACTICE SOME MORE.

*

*

*

SWAMI-WRITING: In the Naked Thought, writing with the swami is as easy as falling off a thumb tip. After doing the number prediction, I know of the name "John," for example. I then pick up the second billet. I toy with it turning it over. And place the billet to my temple and then say, "I feel that a name is written on this card." "Who is thinking of a name?" When someone acknowledges, tell him to concentrate on the name. "Think of the first letter." You look up and appear thoughtfull. "Is it a J?" You ask and at the same time I write the letter J on the ouside of the billet. The lay audience finds this amazing. I do this in my shows and I have noticed that the audience is looking at my face and not my hands. Since the card is folded twice and secured with the paper clip the audience suspects nothing at this stage. The wise ones expect you to do something after you open the card. But your lay audience is stunned when they see you reveal the name without opening the card. The rest of the writing is easy.

6