Al Mann - The Purloined Thought

DEDICATED

- - -" '=

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~ho

dare

to

mindre~ders

those persons call themselves an~

.... ho

triumphantly enchant the .... arid ~'Ith their unique art.

AME m

CONT ENT S

CHAPTER

BLUE

RIBBO~

EFFECTS

.,

PROPHESY

o

AND A CENTRAL

THE COVERT TEAR VI I

TEAR ASD FEAD METHODS

71

VITI

THE YOUNG LID'IS

93

IX

p'tRA ~nD

POh'ER

102

x

S .~NS

TEMI tlETHODS

111

XI

PRE - TOR!,; MISSIVES

121

XII

SEALED

'~ESS.~GES

Xln

THE D.AY

OF THE

SIT - T ORES

139

I;';DEX DEDICATIO)l

133

153 III,

CREDITS

IV

"Th. p.,t

II but

t hl

bl, IElnin c

of I

blilnnLni, Ind al L thlt L. and h •• ben. II but

t he

tulU"ht of thl dl v n."

Thl

DLlcov.~y

of

t hl Yu tu t l

Hlthlr. CeO r&1 Willa

,

• You Should Know Sid Lorraine "

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of 192!1 , 10U.~

a

.ut~or

!l"- "r lur , 1$ a t ourl a t "f h i . I I ...

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"" """ ' ...;." ," _- " . , ."",,' • " . . . " ... ,1 ..... :"",•• -. ,,'''.Il'' ... ,....... ,"" """,., _'.,." t .. , .... "".'''' ,,', .. ,.., .. . ......... ". "'p ... ~entIJ onlJ • fe .. cop I . . . . are .nld In'" of .. hlch " ent over.e.s. It II quit~ ~vld""t thlt It . . . . . t t hla tl •• la 1931 th.t Ted

,

Tilt PURL()INED THOUGHT

p. ge. repre sent true first notes on record . . the center-tear ~ethod by LondoD 00 December

~.

......

~f

t~r.e

the

ootea were accompanied by .-:::::~;'O; :lded billet and ~e.e aen t Ton Bowyer and Joaeph Toronto and Ted ~nnenaon of ~

:

,

TilE PU RLOINED THOOGKT

,

Con. fo r lhe Ove l le .. n • . cdhd "IIlIAT IS IT?"

o.ilin.ol

d~ •

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by 11 inch ••

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~4~A7/'c..-0 .. "".,," }:.au bU ." ;>.r~...; • • 10 .. loG ..aU", 1.,4 ....: . 1.a1 ga d oS • • lad t::.. tt ch . : U h Ituogo ,, doub t , l i t . I,," t, t !>a t ,,,rfor:lOr e . . . . loto th" • .:oko oo,.loa jro~ hit ~I"", roue o r e!!~ •. _l> ... reDtl~ tl:, '~Oh Deu 0, • er l·".. 1 I)~O", lor .. u~ .01., 10.0 ~,>elh cut . htU. l Or lUtor . t!:. cotl •• Hut .oG laU cc..;. 01 t!;o toud ;>UI"O . !.1~U1 ... ~OU'

••••••••••••.:'1ouo uOUI". the oo~loud )1 . . 0 c! ,~-", .. , ~Mch It lO .or'" at a '=3;>10 10 tho ~or1r.1t1! o! thU c!focUYC ta~t . . thCd. It .. Ill bl lo .. "e U h c .. U~= .. ; 10 u n ; ,,~, ~~d lor t l:t. reeloa bo1"l"0~d ,"r1tlo, .:t"r1~I' .,,: bl utd. ":.'b • • 1,.. . 1:O.. ~yer h I",>n"o\. ~o lIo~ thet If•• 11.0 01 tho oa.lout c"l'la h b~H, lor tl:h un Iobout 2! " ~ hol>.I.) ~I. h 1=' .... OM,,!' lo r '"rIUc~ 000 or thort ~u.U,,". ~ . . . o 11I~1 Illoh . . the .,.c"foud er "~,,dd. aha . . YOO ;>OG~IlI , t06 , . . .d. \t:r or Ordl"".;, ,I: t o. 0... ordl~"; bos a: ~d~t: cto~u rQ=U h tho "rlor.. ~ .. · ' rlCht h,,,. \rou ..... )oekH. ~'lth 11 ~ll fO';IIIrQd to ~r . . oDt ? ? 'th~t II It ! !

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Sll~. ,d ~Q"oll. hc.vlog \0.0 ~1.tr1b"Ud to tho .,.eut· orl t ho ;>~~4 ••• 'lio\\ 1 ,"~o~ ;'011 t~ i.:ro ~our "'Io~ :bloIUo};

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tho II,.., O~ •• 01 0 1 vloS .,onoo tl::t o~Ur" ;'o:l.r·",jod.' U t1>o '0'· \.... lor:.... 000 ,'=plo billot /O",Isldo ~ott~d lIu) to {ally uC.,.U"O' Lo~ th~ ·'.~C· 0'''0 II tOrO fro .. r.,,"la~"r 01 ~1l1~t. \Ohl1. aD'" ,,~cutor 1& a~ttlo~ flte 1.0. the tOrO pleeo., n •• pnla.a., 10 ,1:.0 :H 01 CHUar: ht. .,:\ct.". I.IID 1>h ;>cebt. ,"lUI ,"h.ch to. 11"" " cll::r~t\o ItO J"U pl:c •• In hH ~~uUl. un{OH. n. "40~C· "" .. I ud ~~1 ... It. ~ .. 1~,1.t: It ~u ' . p.l,"'~. "lUI ..:Iet bo~ I t flo.!er U,., t.. rOLh I t ~. 1.0 th, clxa rctte.

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.... Ithy ~fI " Ydr" •• find '.gle ~ot;hull ... t, b~e ... " con,,~ro .. nt .. Ith tha center-tOlar . . thod .fter the rele ••• of the O,,"tt~.... "nd aun though th. p.lnclpl~ waS al ••• dy ~II known by .. s.all sroup of ... glc1400 who ...... Investigating tha .,dlu", like Dunnlnger, Joseph Rlnn , L,t.nd "y ... n of Bo.to~ (",hn .. ho"ed the oethod to GarruI) . nd Id Saker , the cen"er-tear principle 11 o wl y b"CiU'" th .. rase "It h .o-'"e •• ~Icla fll like Tad Arnold and Hanln Sunshine. But even then th. c.nt~r- t " .. r principle "'88 to ..... In very uC\ushe for "nother

v.,,[.

In a a"cond I~tter, Sid Lo . . ,lna afur .efr~.hln~ ~iI .".ory "'fote to "" t~'l h~ r.. ..... b"r~d th.t .. ft~[ r .. toa"ln~ fro. [n~land ~ • • • ked about. I1r. ",/" ... n fro. BOlton but n .. " ... did find out ..1,0 ~

.......

In .y [ .. aorel, I found out that he w." Dr . t.t.nd C. lIy.on """ pre,ldenl of t he Bo.ton nUMbly ~o . 9 o f til. ,oclcty of ~"~~Iean '1"lllcl~n. , D~ . Wym an wa~ I ftno ". gt~!." and a .. r10u" tUdent and Inv •• tlgate, or tilt Splrltuall.u and the ,..dlu •••

J~O

It is curloua to nOt" tha t of the th [ " .. pt[.onl who rec.lv~d Sid'. l .. tto • • • bou t t h" C- T, only Ovett< boomw,d, No ... ,,," '" d.",,,,,. P'''''''t< u"d TIle 0""'" 'or" "Of> .. "..." ' v".

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. 11 la b r, 10 H fo r ti l. U h o t . Ito ot , ·Jto ~'al ~1o' . J.IIO .;r.~. S h. . . . ou d I, .. .. .. . u o lt n . . p.. . le t 0&1114. t n l' k 0" C.. .. . r fe u ." n. Jr ,. h .. do no · " c U l· . aI d ,b a pa , 00 .) • M ot · o n U ' t .... C.o .. . n \ . . . .d 10,10 u r u u . I .. . r. .r . u • ., . 1 " llT O D • it ,. . • • ro o f til .. .. P'~I lo fo r- U '" , .. . o r. lo ot l "o;HoUl0". ,GO .-G ,,) 4 5 "' \1:, lOr h u rd 01 '11 1 .p ir ao a. ll .. to r. I ". U .. . T er ri d n p o ld 'b .41 ua u ll tl 10 of tl .. th o IIP "'. "

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...... .. I , ,oag . fer August, 1923 . The r ... wad wBS never collected and challenged only t " ic e but it p r oved that thue Olen of t he psychic co ... t t t ee kne .. just about .... erything there " a l to kno w about the .edlu.'s buslne., plus "any trick s of thdr Oll n . IIhlle vl.ltlng with AI Flosoo on Jan u ary 3, 1975, I . . ~ad flosso .. bout th e C- T pelncipl e . He said , -The C-T was v\O r y Fuhr a r ound Ne w York In 1925 . Count Orloff . t he sleight of .... ~ e~p e rt, .... . a gre a t e xponent of the C- T . He had nu .. erou. _t.iona a nd outo for pr esenting It." On January 25, 197~, a lIonth a n d a half hefore Ounnlnger ad , I vl$lted hI. ho .. ~ . H~ was ve r y 111. I just as k ed hi .. one otlon a bout t he tl .. e t hat RiDn a nd he wer e ch a ll e nging th~ lUllS through th .. Science and Invention .... ga.lne In 1923 and rher they knew the C- T lI"thod then . He answer .. d, "~e . ! of ___ ae, everybody kn e w tt!And he f urth er saId that he did not " "' ho Inve n ted it a n d t h ought th a t no h ody kne w. By _rybody' kno wing the C- T, he lIeant the cl r cl~ of lIediuu I!n~ cians who we re Inve.tigatlng the OIe dlu •••

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Relde. DO" p&n"~1 .bou~ ,,"ychlc p'henOI'''' and loe .. of of the past as III lIelV" th~ tOfn pL.,etl about wltll " pencil lind then drop. all the plletl into .. fire bowl .. heu. the plecu a u conlu .."d. Th ... Plychlc Reid .. t h en proceed, t o aad the thought. and divine th,. n .... and .I~ • • r eldlng on It and then picking up • Illte the Re.d ... ubltah.~ In two . . nu.crlpts, Six Coluenl Ind Of 1I0rds lind \'/I~ardl In .. hleh three boo k . ,II IHlte but .. \th d l ffar.nt Jlc~et. w,ra u.ed !

liold-outl fo r the torn eenter aff,ct ~re few but .11 you aetuilly need I. one good ana. T~e D.I \',rnon tabht hold-out nad In above efflet. I. one of the be.t Iince It leave. the pe~for.e r- . handl e.pty Ind unencu .. bered. ~ . I . u II also lIood tQ uoe In place o f the tablet In thou e . . . . whe~1 you Intend to Ule • • IIU In the prelenUtlon. ~ bool: .In na used In like alnner In" '0 .In yo u. leereta ry- type ... Ilet. Ul you naed \I a ••• 11 piece of double-I tick .cot.h tape . n,e ... llat Is handlad In the open po.ltlon and the to r n billau a . e droppad over the p.per p.d of th' WIllet.. Than the papar pld in tha ".llet II uoed for Jotting down notei. l1~TCH-BOOI: ~OLD-OllT: ~h.t c.n be .He Innocent looking tha n • tle.n aln trlY with, book of •• tche. re.tlng III it? So yo .. t.ar up the . . . . . Be billet lind then pllc. the "ad of p.pen O"tr tha .Itch boo~ .. h.ee the folded canter piece baeo ••• att.ched to the uriI' of Icotc h tap. you plsced on the cover of t he book of .atchel. Hter 10'" patt.r you turn ov.r the book of ",atChll and pick It up , pal. the FC piece ~nd op.n the latc~-boo~, tIl:. a a.teh mild burn the papers In the ash tray! I 11 ... y. I:aep • • • n of ltghtar fluid clo.e by Ind pl.ca a •• a11 .. ad of .otton In a deal' fire bo .. !. Then 1 Iprlnkle th" cotton with the flUid, throw tile papa .. In and ot rlk e the ... tch. That .al: •• for a hat and fl •• hy flu.

H.-I.TCH ST 1 el( AOLD-O~T' Till. " I variation of the effact titled "GUt Fold," by A. P. ~f.ha. which appelrad In the Phoenix So. 104. In the •• h tr.y He tWO I:ltchen .. oode" ..... t.hel. One of the IIMtch Hlckl h .. been preplred .. Ith I ••• 11 gob of blue tack Or .aglcla,, ' . . . I" or double-Ilded scoteh upe on th e wooden "n d. During the .Iltlng, the Iltt,r Is •• ked to "ri te I thought On It piece of paper th.t the p.ychlc then de'troys by tearing the p.per to bltl durin! the roullna ritual. The p.per. are thro .. n into the .Ih t .. V. The p.ychlc thin pld~ Fig .

32

Fe

•

n.

T he '1enu\{st then pro.eed. to te~r the rolded p~per t o b t u , . l owly and openly and dl.card. each plec~ .. It I. torn . lie first hold . the billot 50 t~~t the FC I . to the upper left ~orne r a. '~en by th e '1enallst and he can He hi • • ignature on it AO t'le .Itte r H e . hi. signature on the other .lde. ~ • • hown In Fig . !~ th e Hent al l.t tear" do wn th~ dddle ~" per the dash lines and discard. the dght hand piece "I th a flQud. h. The re,.alnlng half of the billet .ho ws the " rlur's .Ig nature to the nudlence and the Mentalist cali. attention to that. The bal f billet r e ~alnlng i. nO .. turned over so that the writer' . Sign a ture face. the Ment~lt.t and It Is held as In Fig. 35 .. I th t he FC on the uppe r left corner . Iorhlle doing the above turn the Mentalist mak e' . ure th"t the left end of t he bille t goes under the Fe du •• y ~uarter plec. pah\ed In the I~ft h8nd a • • ho .. n In fig. 36.

ple"e

Fig.

n g.

3J

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t''''

h~lf of th_ billet It torn off . , d.,h lin". In FLA. 36 .nd h dllc..rdtd >te.ntl'l~t bdnA' thl dus.y qUlrter pileI Into vl~" by \lashing ou t with ht, ltft thullb !nd pulllnA blck t he teulg, place Into \1.11 po~ltlon "Ith hll fln~e r • • nd out of light . [vlrythlns loo~. nor.al '0 h.r, U thl .udl~nc .. •••• pan of the 'I.nulln' • • Ignature On the du.IOY pile". The le.uge pileI Is held blck In p.l .. pOlltLon .. hlle the i'!lnulllt t.ke. the du .... y piece .t ill. dght hInd flnsertlp. and c.lll at tention to thl pl rt of the Ilgnlture .. hlth II . t l l l vilible. lIere the '\lot.llst t urn. thl pileI ove r to 1110" \l1.t of the Ilgoltur. on the othl ' I l d_, AUT the wrlt la& Is uplldl down .nd I t II only rt •• hld .0.entlrHy 10 th. IY IU of the ludltnc" Cln nOt dlotln!ullll the Iwlndl" . TIIII du ... y piece t. now lOrn .lo .. ly .nd discarded. Till [lvIOlatlon foilowl. That . Slntl".. n. \I tile SIH of The flight of tho Phoenix. It hu b ~~n l,,'I~dld hI r e for the ukl of co'"pletl!n . . . 8nd to show wh It Can be donI by "ey of a varin Lon and II chaliinge. ~ctu.l11 It Ls not good '1enUII •• to call .ttentlon to a IltnBtuI which II vl.lhle foe thl ludllnCI to lee. 1 n .ctll81lty YOII[ ,udlence Is ".tchIDg YOIl ve[y c.refllily .ad they will be ... 8zed no . . tte[ ho .. you pre lent the C-T te.t.

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---_ _ _ -_._-_ _-_ -- ___-[ffii" _._--_ -_._--_.-__ --..._..... _-.-_--...-_. _ .. _-........-- .... ...-'-"-' __ .__ ... --. ... _._ ... _ ... _._. --_ ... __ .....-.... -_._._--_ .. --_._------_. ......... ___ ...._._. .. ..--_ . ....... _---_ ... __ ._-_ ... . -----.. ---_ .. _._ .. _--_ .... _-............. _. __ _N._ . . ____ . .... ... -.-. --_. --'---'---" ---_ . ...... _ _--_.__......._.____ .-"'-'-_._._ ..... ......_-_ .. _-... _ .. _._ .... ....... _.. ........ .. _._-------

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Klnd 11 ,l.,r 1~ ~, tor ~ h. ~,cln t! ot aLl \lIOU£ht .ree.. ,. lOur tl ret and 1",,'1. n..,.. . Cow-cenlra.t. UP"" It, a ", 11M. brJ.n& h10 .... lo11Z" a.1nd'l ere _ ...el. IUI4 .n:), l.tte r ot 10ur ....,,0 . CloU 1011,t ere. _ U , 111 aak. OODO ~ t .. ,t~ 10 ~~ 1ft 11. ...

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I ..., t .. Wlat 1 ..14 btton .. , UIa\ Ue cr.,wr ~ ot tbJ • ..n.,l .~ena. o~ow- 100. It 1 0~ wort ~&1net ~ GAd 40 not oloar your ~lnd ot all t~o~ie .%oept t hat ot 10ur own tlrat IUI4 1&, '1. ~ 1 -".aU Ilan to 00211'0" t ollun . .llI4 11 1 0U 4o ",,'I. 0'" to oollt1A.... ald1D.e" .. , .... ~, . J .... &II nlll.an \be .t~e ""., ;r 101l "" go~ to 00_ opu... ta , . ah1oh 1 ........... 10n .-111 ••• eo •• ."... · 1 ...,. ~/load¥' (r .... ' " noa l oo t~ . '1. e .. h o~r . hi , ll!t o t~. t o 1u!leno. an4 your rl~t .14t 10 au41eno •• l ~'a411

so- br~ beto r o fOIlZ" ~tnd'l el' fOur nabI . ..1...... ~ lll 10un.tt 1o •••• '1\1\ lOur 010' 010a.4, .aeb and O?ry lett, .. ot 10ur ~I Connnt ....."1 (S'UC~

Bt'5Il!!l!S)

t~o man , etop beok .e?orAl D&O", ... 1~ , t oo4l17 a t hl~ __ ... I t trrlne to • •• throUGb hI_ t or. _ hend, tbo .. 1 tl?o • tew no,at l? ot ~ h.", --

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fig . 39

Nex t the card 10 torn In half do " n the "Iddt .. as aho"n by the arro" In Fig. )9C , and the ri ght "snd pIece I. placed over the t e ft hand piece. The "add ed lorn billet no" lo"k. like In Fig. 390. The piece s u-" tOrn In half one .. ore tl." so that thl! quaner section "X" I. on top of th e "ad a n d f a cing the p" r f or",,,r. To the onlooker , It appear> tha t hi. question h80 been torn to bltl beyond recovery but a ctually hi. entire qu e .tlon Is ontaloed In one quarter piece of the blllel which the psychic no'" place" in pal . po.ltlon by pushIng it back into hIs rIght pal. "lth hi. right thumb . The rest of th~ pieces are lorn to tIny biU and dlsc"rded. The Psychic 1$ no", In posse •• lon o f the entIre que . tion ~nd he can rev e al It in hlo o"' n good t l _ e and .oot dra.atic f .. hI4n ! (NOTf The pal.lng of the vIta l pa r t can be done "ith either hand. I ,re r the right hand ." t ha t th e p"l .. "d .ectlon c a n he ntt a chad 1 "pIece of Icotch t a pe on a tab l et or alate tn th" Bct of han Ing .. penctl or Chalk . . . u.tng that th" opeutor Is right h~ndcJ.)

~Ith this ... t"od thl op"utor lIte~all1 read • • Ind. Uke .. (Thl. dleet first II'Plarad In The Teser"ct und .. r the tltl .. bool1;>1 •.

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• •

,\/\V\ , fig:. 41

to write Spec ta t or" I, I.ked In hi. quelt lon In the .paca .t -"" cf Thil allo" l I IPICI P'g. 4l. The ng. l "rlt the fcr J tnch@ ) aalt a the aplce of three cpera tor p laci n g plre nthe ll. by lnch el (Part ,,) Irolln d the three Inch plrt l the Itrl p. The " r t l r II of cautI oned nOt to lat anyo na Ie. "hit \I wr! tten and then tc fo ld the one pl.a t by pinch ing It wi th the On. flnge rl. P.,do r • .,r theo plac." d folde the cf lid. the Itap la on In Ihe"n II This It. pleat to .e.1 NOTE that the nrH riB. Hr. sup I. Boea throu gh only the flut three f old" of p.per t o . . . 1 the cne pint . The n."t per.o n I, a,lted to "rite hi. qu enlo n In spu:e "S" as ,h.o wn In Fill. 41S and 4~J\. "fter all ((VI plrio ns hav"their quel licn. and folda d en ",rltt the pllat ed ltdI' , ~nd thl perfo r.er the ha. place d Itlpl e. all aroun d, 3. • . riB In IIlte Itrlp .. Ill look PLEASE NOTE THAT TH[RE I S NO STAPLE AT "e" IN FI,. ~3 and that thero are THREE STAPLES Oll THE BOTTON or THE \/AO. THAT IS /lOST IIIPORTA'lT rOR THE WORKING or T~! METHOO!

• Fig.

,

t.::... -

t '

43

t

Tea . . . . . y lupl ed .Id .. FIB ·

d . . lgnat lnB the botto e o f the fig . • )\) tho"l a dotte d line Pl.". e NOTE that thl! botto . Itlpl .. cnly Inlld e fold. of rapar . and not tha botto a 114 Inch of lha endt of the l Ull' 30 throu Bh throu gh the pllat ll r Iince .ll An \0 nc .. r e.dy for the .. velat lon. An e •• y utte thIrd . and to In ad .. ed .upl the oper ator does I, to air up the nuou . to contl he vhlle rt pa r hold blc1r. In p.la pCllt lon the cente t hro .. n then .re hlch . . . tear up the othe. t .. o part. t o tiny pllee t. balke "lite Into the fl.1 bo ",l cr ~n ash tray o. Into the the n attac hed t o , II U Fig. In d lente Th" pelee d " ad repre the t ape h t .pe tlble t Or slate by the aid of doub le aided .eotc hal\d . the reed frolO say be Ittac had to the hand and the que. tlonl (ncte thl tiny " .d of p.pe ,- openl Out like a book, the SInce It 1. onl1 • "Ite r or tuft nl thrnu Bh ,lnBl e 'Up tl In Fl •• U) Thll setho d "'I' pre. lad IntO e e It to ~l\Ov the que.t lons! frien d .. ho tora out. piece a ,arvl ce due t o ape' tad "Qu e.tI by ! . "Here l ... d that of addln l-,.. chln .. p.pe. at t he tl" offic e ,.yln lIka • chara o r~ . .. It I t " ludle nce te.u d and BU,'I slnd l" "Ith lIttl~ fUll or fUllb lln! .

II,

"

The gift of the Cods , no lell - ao us

ptOph~sy

according to

the

proportion of

falth.-

Holy IIrit . ou place tn front of you two folde.:! Fe billet •. You :nde th ~ Fe biller. before the .how by fir$[ folding t"O slip. of 3 by ~ 10. PilPCf twl~e and then tearing the .. twice and keepIng the folded center plec@ • .and di.cardlng the tut. Fig. 37. The.@ t .. o FC blll.n are blank. you h8"e "r1tUn ,o'"ething on the .. , that is soon.

fig. ~ut

and

37

you tell the 5itters that that you will sho,", what

You 8re u8ted u th~ ~" 8nce Ubl~ "lth two or .ore litterS 8CrOS" fro .. you. You at" toying with the FC billets and then yo" place one FC billet over the other uddl~ fashton, but 10 not say anything about it u If Il .. eant nothIng and you leav" the wO FC blll~U .ount"d .0 thst they look 11k" one olngl e billet. Sl tt ",r ~A" i~ On your left end of t he t.bt" snd sitter "S" is on the right end . You give "A" t~o twice-folded .Up3 of 3 by 5 In. ~ap"'r and th" u:> .. to "S" so that both hav" two billets uch . "~" 18 a.~ " d to secretly ,",rite down the na .. e of a girl, or hl~ pet tu,tle Ot ",hat- have - yo" on one of hi. b!lleu. "A" 10 then told to sho ,", "8" " hat he has written. "8" 18 ... ked to ples.e copy the ID .. e thing secretly on one of hi. allp. of paper Rnd bOth arC asked to fold the pnpeu t"lce. Prophet alloys "A" to hold on to hi. f01de-. -1" tor IlaTH • • D-J.-!I tor ~lel . Ito . (n.... 70U ' !'"" thl ~ 10U ~ to.~a .~.totoro:) J. .... theu IUU of l'OU lao!tu ""d centl . ..... 111 t.b.e .u41e"u 11110 art

a.~~t04 11th thl. c-r.tl.~t You , 11r, (to ~ of thl 'pOototors) do not teU ... lhh t"""!I=n'. n=.e but kl,IIe.lJ' ":.-111 1t 1t t ... rlela C.., ... ilotun buau.-.. ) I «et \.1:. t=p ... aa l .... th&t U1h £lnUU.lO.. ' . """. 111 ;J:aY11l _ h u..t corr •• U It ~.,c ... h c" ....1'1.1 ..... ..,. o..u hi .. b7 "".,e. thMk youl

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S o deer up,.ted expo. urn of tha C- T •• thod b)' ."Iela .. -. In o,,:w'paper and •• g.zlna antell. It n.aed like lha whola world kn~w about th e Itolen center piece tha t contained dl tlla writing. So,"., short-ll,hled "glclln-, p •••• d Out the t .. cret •• throw .... y I lf u to their ludlence. and 'vln Ichoo1 children ... re Url n , vlth It ! !lentall'ta Ulponded. by • n"lber of brllll.nt vlrlatlon, of the C-T , .. thad. On_ of thl.e r ......... tn

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6~ and thl l I. folded b"~k onto the bl1Ht forlling .. wcdge sha~ e ao sho"n I n Fig. 86 .

The only ~urp05e ror the "adge sh,,~e fold 10 to d \0\1 the o~erator to In. ert his thu~b Into the top told of the billet for the ~"cecutlon of the umbr"ll" cove later •. The piece. "5 .ho w" In Fig. 86 8re next torn In half 88 .howa by the arro" and ,'18.1'0. 1 Ine •• The rl~ht hand piece. are plac e d be~lnd the let. hand pIece s a nd the pieces will t hen look 11k .. In Fig. 87.

,"

the han~ltn 8 th ~ operator ne~t In.erts t~e tIp of his right thunb under the top layer of the pieces by the help of the folded-b a ck wedge Fig. 88.

Fig. 89

The next .ooe i . the urlbrella "eve - but the .. Ove can not be done "hlle the pieces sre held as shown in fig. 88 becau.e the folded c e nt e r piece ha. ao rOO1O to $n"p out of Ito fold. ~o you _ ust reOlove th~ torn pieces fro ll behInd the FC piece . A. sno"n In Fi8' 89, the left flnge~. have taken ,,11 the looae pIece s leavIng only the Fe pi e ce In the rLghl h8nd . a. i t ~otate. ~ount~rcloc"­ ,,15e .hlLe the right Iland rotat~. "lockw!.e. The phc,," In the l~ft hand au ne"t place~ over the Fe pIece and at th e sa!'le ll ~ ~ the right thu ~ b pushes In ag8ln.t th~ left finger . (as sho wn In FIg. '1'0) lind the FC piece ,nBp' open like an umbrelh. NOTL: The hand. nevee 'ep&e&te whIle dlng the ",OV" , oho"n In FIg. )\9 . Tne finger , are kept .. clos e as pos s ible 10 tna t all the op e nt"r appeau to be doing I s tearlnll the paper.

Fig. 90 .1'0.0'" t"e fInal the FC p i ece to . nap open. clarIty.

?u.h of the right thu .. b "hlcn cause " The \eft thu .. b has been r e ,,"oved fo"

In sctual practice th e left thumb hold . the \o,, " e pIece. 8"d .. ay aho a .. ist the right thumb If th~ billet does "ot open .s It .houl~. You can not loae as you au actually doIng til. .. u~bre ll" OIOve "'Ith twO hsnds. I(eep the {lng~u of

Fig. 91

I

Fig. 91 Iho ... the left hind II It l ook. JUlt leeonds before the 1lllIpoe . The left nlnd !. holdlnB all th .. plee . . IIlth the cenUr pllce opened Rnd .ho ~lnl.l the IInuse ... hlch .hould al\llYo eooe up rlght-.lde up Bnd I, aho holding the loole piece. behind

".

THt CLl'!PS[, .·hlle the ",udllnce hI' 100& Iinci ~l"en up on th e .e,,"go paper I •• ulllni thlt It II deltroyed blyond ."co"e\ll is now ready for the presentation. fold thls

Fig.

This ls the type of effect that you lIIay do in a relaxed fash i on , tongue in __ cheek , and you llIay even place your feet on the table and slouch down In YOlJ r chair with your hands on your la~ sod out of sight . That 1s ooly a suggestion , blJt

after

your

short

lecture

~nd

after

the

sitter tells you the nartle , you write the name with 3 s wa mi gimmlcl{ secretly on the so.all sllsre you hold in Jour left palm . Now you are ready to cut into the pyramids and devulge the secret wrlttngs , So you take scissors in hand and cut the bllie t along the creases illS in Fig, 123. The first cut separates the billet into two parts . Next mount one part ove r the other as shown in Fig. 124 and aligned both pieces so that the billet again resembles Fig, 121. 'lake the second cut along the c rease and you will nO\l have four ?ieces BUT since the sitter has no idea how the billet was orlg lnally folded, you will now .irop the four pIeces on the table plus t he ,a imed 2-inch sqlJare to make fIve [lieces! and the sitter sholJldn't be the wiser. A.f te t th, pieces are arranged witll the pencil do ts on the outer corners the He of the p),ralltJ co~es l'lto ~lJ'lt '\o ,j -: 10"'t •

• , . . . .r

. . . .. . " ..... "

to • •

tI, ....... ..... ,............ .. .. .. ... " .... ... " ........... " ... ""'-'J,.." " ,.. , ........ "" ......... . ,.... ,.. . ,.", ... " . . . .. ' " ' ' '' . " • ••••• , ..

.. ... to . ..

tn Septemb e r o f 1(1 79 , '1 e nt !! Il'Jt and free tan c e \lriter , Malt Co rtine of Seattle , Vashingt o n. sent t o the AHE office a manuscr1pt detallln g some amaz ing mo ves wi th a billet folded pyramid fashion! Hls no tes were publlshed in "The Dono von Papers" (AME) in May of 1982. His first effect detailed a method of foldIng and th e n tearing the pyramld billet and d01ng the umbrella move \lith the pyraml d " s tip, which c ontained the ",rlt e n thought, and readln g 1t 1n the a c t of tearin g It . His effe c t t he ref o r fell under the Tea r .1n d Read cl a ss .

107

I played wlt; the pyrs':1id f , Here you caTI le1e:- over the carbon, all "e needed "as a faint trace of the design! :he second person urote a word on the bottom half of the circle area of the second sheet and tore off his sheet, and the third person wrote a name on the upper half of the circle of the third sheet and also tore off his sheet. These places were designated by a circle and a line to do the writing on. The performer would then remove the fourth sheet which showed blank being careful not to flash the carbon paper on the fifth sheet or the impression made on the underside of the fourth sheet, and showed the persons how to fold the paper and then to tear it to bits and discard them. The performer stole the Fe piece of the fourth sheet in the process. The carbon impression showed up written backwards but that is of little concern to the adept. BUT there was always the danger of someone flipping through the pages and discovering the carbon paper. So the following idea came to r:Iind: Fig. 181 shows a 3 by 5 inch tablet. The top three sheets are glued together at the top to the fourth sheet. The four th shee t is glued to the table t bu t only at the bottor:l. The fifth sheet has a small square of carbon paper glued to it just large enough to cover the center area where the uriting uill be done. The top three sheets are prepared uith a circle and some lines for the sitters to do the uriting. These lines are indicative of the places where the writing will he done on sheet fl2 and #3 .

Fig.

181

THE PRESENTATION: As each person writes he is instructed to remove the sheet and to fold it twice. The sheets may be partially detached if desired to make the rer:loval easier. "fter all three persons have written and rer:loved their sheets, the performer takes the pad and rer.l.oves the fourth sheet. This he does by tearing off the fourth sheet wit" his right hand so that all the audience sees is the front unmarked side and at the same time the paper pad is turned carbon-s ide to the performer and thrown on the table. The paper is folded by the performer and then says, "Please remember what you have written and lets destroy the papers. The pe rformer steals the center piece and then picks up the pad again and works behind it making marks and divin'ing the thoughts as best as possible. The design can be duplicated with a slate. The performer lastly tears off the fifth sheet off the tablet and tears it to pieces stealing the carbon paper. NOTE: tn Fig. 181, the top four sheets can be attached at the top to the tablet by small dabs of rubber cement at the center top leaving the top corners unglued and easy to peal off.

14 I

The following sketch is from notes dated

Fig.

182 above,

1955 ;

sho\IS a paper pad prepared as follows:

The baclt cardboard of the pad is covered wi th a black thin paper. A similar sheet of black thin paper is attached to the back cardboard but only to the bottom edge . This dummy black sheet has carbon paper behind it carbon - side down . A l oose white sheet of paper is placed behind the dunmy black sheet and carbon paper , for tak i ng impressions . The black sheet and the white sheet behind it are cu t shor t a t the top for abou t 3/4 inch. Then two or three uhite sheets are glued to the top of t he back board so that the paper pad looks normal. There is a moon shape finger slot cut off the top of the black sheet so that the uhite sheet belou it can be taken readily with the tip of the thumb. The loose white sheet has a moonshape blacked out to disguize it. To work the effect, the operator has a second paper pad of the same size or larger . After the sitters write their thoughts , the performer removes the loose white sheet behind the second paper pad which he holds in his hands . These ideas are included here for the sake of cOr.lpleteness . It is up to the performer to decide i f these are practical. Many 11entalists had similar ideas in mind and ma ny of these appeared in print but only the practical ideas survive the test before audiences. Another idea that tJas around in the 1950 .... s that appeared to be practical was a small cardboard clipboard slightly larger than a bridge size playing card . Inside of the clipboard was a sheet of carbon paper and a loose blank - face playing card that took the impressions. The card was held in place by the bulldog clip of the board. After a person wrote on the board , the operator took it and removed the bulldog clip and the loose playing card dropped on top of a deck of cards held in the hand by the performer. This was a dealer iten that is not around today.

142

2

.'lh~ '#~j; e"t ~u.a.d

"71-9 to ()4. t a.,4 iJ,

Here is an impression method that is practical detected as the carbon is well hidden . fig. 183 shows the top three pages of the same tablet . All the sheets have a square drawn on them. In actual practice the tlentalist can just dra"" the squares 101'1 th a pen or pencll and the lines can be pencil thin. In Fig. t83, the top sheet at "C" i s unprepared except for the squa re drawn on It.

~nd

not easily

o

D A

c

B

Fig.

183

Fig . 183 - 8 shous the second sheet of the pad. The inside of th e square has been slitted on three sides as shown by the dash lines. This forms a square tongue of white paper. Fig . 183-A shows the third sheet of the paper pad . It has a slit cut along the in side of the bottor.l of the square as shoun by th e dash lines . Behind this third sheet is a piece of carhon paper the size of the square cemented to the underside of it and the carbon is facing down . The third sheet has a thin strip of rubber cement at the very bottor:l to cement it to the fourth sheet on the pad so that if the pages a re flipped the carbon can not sho\.J. The method should no\.J be obvious . The 'tongue of paper' of the second sheet is inserted into the slit of the third sheet going under the carbon piece to take the carhon ir.lpression of anything \.Jritten inside the square of the first sheet! In the presentat ion when the VIP writes and removes his sheet , he only sees another similar blank sheet left on top of the tablet. But when the performer r emoves that second sheet . he \.Jill have a carbon copy of the written thoughts . And the third sheet left behind shows blank . The performer than shows the VIP how to fold and destroy his she et and steals the cente r portion of the square . NOTE : Here again the thoughts of three different persons can be copped . The performe r can draw lines in s ide the squares to designate the writing a rea s .

143

1iJUtLt

r;~ •

by Ray

Hyman

Linking Ring for Way back in the Hocus Pocus Parade in the concept titled May of 1954, Ray Hyman wrote an amazing "Heraclitus Helps," for use with the cen ter tear whereby the sitter wrote and tore up his own billet . After reading othe r and much later versions of the same concept , I consider Ray's approach the very bes t. Ray used some educated patter about the Greek Philosopher Heraclitus and his theories of change and fire . Heraclitus believed that the only reality was change of which fire was a good example . A person is asked to write something on a square piece of paper secretly. The writ er is instructed to fold the paper exactly in half and then into quarters. ~s can be seen the shape of the paper has not changed. It is still a square. Now says the iHse One tear the pape r exactly in half and then in half again, and again what you have left is a square shaped wad of papers. In order to change that we r.lUst burn it. So the ~1ise One tells the lady to please hold the pape rs in her hand, while the pe rformer strikes a match to burn them, 13UT "I don't want to burn you." Says the WO , "Here . let ;ne hold the pieces and you str ike the match. " Wise One takes the pieces into his left palm and gives the lady the ma tche s . \Jhen the lady strikes a match , WO says, "I better place the pieces in this ash tray . " So saying he drops all the p ieces (except the FC piece that WO holds back with the tip of his thumb) into the ash tray and asks the lady to fire them. The modern ilonde r Worker will no doubt pl~ce a glue dot in the palm of his hand or a piece of double sided scotch tape to hold back the FC piece . There you have it Gentlemen, simple and sweet. The whole line of patter makes sense and gives the audience a good reason for tearine up the billet and for burning it, g ivin g the perfoDer the opportunity to steal the center p ie ce . The effect is most practical. The sitter will remember that she tore up the paper and tha t she burned them .

144

*

*

*

A LETTER FROM RAY HYMAN Following 8r;e exer;ps from a letter received on Nov. frOQ Ray Hyman of Eugene, Oregon :

27 .

1988

Dear AI, Thank you for the "Nag - Eye :love. " I have not tded it yet, but I have no doubt that it is a winner . Like my Eccentric Tear, 1 think it would be most effective yhen it is incorporated in a routine that provides plausabllity for both the writing and the

tearing o f the billet . You asked me some questions about the history of the Center Tear and the history of my own versions of It . Unfortunately, 1 do not have anything new to cont ri hute to the general history of the method . I had always assumed that the method had been

originally devised by spiritualist mediums or private readers. I recall having read an article in the Reader-s Digest on " The Spirit Ember" technique. This appeared, as best I can remembe r, between 1946 and 1950 . The article described the Center Tear and explained how the nove was done . The author talked about how mediums and p rivate readers used it . The reason the art i cle is so vivid in oy r:lemo r y is that it appeared just a month o r so before an interesting incident involving Hyrus , the Mentalist, and the Psychology Department at Boston Un iver sity . Myrus was appearin g at the Coconut Grove in Boston and had challenged Harvard Unive rsity to test his psychic powers. Harvard had refused. So !tyrus asked Boston University to test him. The cha ir man of the Psychology Department , Adrian Pinard, was a "character" who believed in all sorts of wild ideas. He accepted the challenge. r was an undergraduate at Roston Unive rsity at the time \ . Wyman , Leland C.

PHOTOGR.A.PHS

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