Al Mann - The Ripper's Jack - A Ripping Tool for the Mentalist

THE AME ESTATI 16'1' RIV.ER RIDeE, W.VA.

Tel. 304-947-7730

P.O. Box 155

Great Cacapon, WV 25422

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THE loME ESTATE AT

RIVER RIDGe, W.VA.

Tel. 304-947-7730

P.O. Box 155 Great Cacapon. WV 25422

~···.~e • 10/15/94 Copyright by AME (1994) FEATURING THE ULTRA SECRET SUPER WEAPON OF PROFESSOR Z. In the 1920's, Professor Z was a very busy private reader in great demand. "Write your questions at home and seal them," he instructed, "and bring them to me and I will divine your message and advise you." When the seekers entered his inner chamber with a written and sealed question, he would ask them if the message paper was folded correctly for the test and if they had signed their name. Whatever the answer, the sitter was instructed to open the envelope and refold the message several times into a small wad and then seal it into an ungimmicked security envelope. "This refolding into a small wad," said the professor, "is to create test conditions." "NO one, but no one can see through the security envelope and read the message on the wadded paper." Professor Z would then take the sealed envelope and never looking at it would give the sitter a lecture about life after death, the spirits, etc. and eventually divine the question and answer it! All this time the envelope appeared to be intact. The envelope was then destroyed by fire or torn to small pieces and discarded. Professor Z never failed for he had a secret weapon that would rip into the sitter's mind and read the thought. A modern version of the Professor's secret weapon, which I have called "The Ripper's jack," is shown in Fig. 1. This shows a thumb tip with a piece of a razor blade attached. (The Prefessor's original gimmick was made in the form of a band writer that was clamped on the thumb.)

1

Fig. I

r Z and was This supe r gimm ick was the inve ntion of Prof esso knew abou t it for so exclu sive that he was the only one who who The secr et was kept so well that Burl ing Hull seve ral year s. and wrot e "Fift y Seale d 'seal ed mess ages' made a study of Mess age Read ing Meth ods," neve r heard of it. appe ared in any To my know ledge this supe r gimm ick has neve r Seale d In 1928 Bob Nelso n publ ished his "How to Read catal ogue . ded. od was inclu Mess ages, " but no ment ion of Prof esso r's Z meth time he was Dunn inger was also unaw are of it all the for no ment ion of the gimm ick is made in inve stiga ting mediu ms, 's. Dunn inger later his Myst ic Serie s whic h he wrot e in the 1930 the secr et to the heard of it and wrot e it up and contr~buted Phoe nix #32 for Apri l of 1943 . I do not know his iden tity So who was Prof esso r Z? it will be know n. day writi ng but hope that some

at this

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN RIPP ER'S JACK : Some of tip. For best resu lts you need a soft meta l thum b b tip can also be these are stil l aroun d. A plas tic or rubb er thummeta l tip. a adop ted but for these instr uctio ns I will use Thum b tips as show n in Fig 2, come in size s from 1-1/4 inch long Get a long to over two inch es long . one and cut a strip of the meta l the with a pair of sciss ors from dash by n (show tip the of end open This will make a lines in Fig. 2). strip of meta l abou t 1/4 inch wide and over two inche s long , Fig. 2A. Only half of the leng th of the strip of meta l will be need ed. So cut the strip in half .

Fig. 2 _____ _____ _____ _____ ___7

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Fig. 2A

~ Fig. 2B

of long nose Next bend the strip in half and with a pair "M." Fig. 2B. The plie rs, bend the mate rial to form a very smal l now moun ted on "M" is only 3/l6t h of an inch high . This piece e is with Epox y glue , the ball of the thumb tip and ceme nted in plac and get the best I alwa ys use Epox y glue or any perm anen t glue . resu l ts. Next take a razo r blad e, and with a pair of ers sciss ors cut off a tiny part of one of the corn Place 3. Fig. of the razo r blade as shown in and Epoxy glue into the M grove of the thum b tip the with blade r push in the smal l piec e of razo with , then and corn er of the blade facin g forw ard the a tooth pick , apply more glue at the base of

2

Fig. 3

blad e. ready .

When dry,

pain t with

flesh colo r pain t

and the

jack is

PROFESSOR Z'S PRESENTATION e Prof esso r Z One- on-on e for the priv ate read er. This is wher r abou t test sitte the ng exce lled. He woul d lay it on thick telli cond ition s, etc. the Prof esso r If the ques tion was writ ten and seale d at home , rded as it disca and open simp ly insis ted that the enve lope be torn s, " said ition cond test "For these is the wron g kind of enve lope. ue." opaq are h whic lopes "one must use secu rity enve Prof esso r Z, refo ld the Or the sitto r is asked to open the enve lope and The good s." ition cond "For test mess age pape r into a tiny wad. stand ard a was which prof esso r furni shed the secu rity enve lope lette r size enve lope, 4 by 7-1/2 inch es. s on to the Afte r the ques tion is seale d, the prof esso r hold d of story perio a He goes into enve lope but NEVER LOOKS AT IT. t his most exci ting psyc hic abou r sitte the tells telli ng. He d the Durin g this time , as the prof esso r walk s aroun adve nture s. he ming (assu b thum t room and aroun d the sitte r, he stick s his righ is jack er's Ripp the e into his vest pock et wher is righ t hand ed) back the on jack the and gets it ready by plac ing his thum b with He feels the enve lope to see wher e the wadd ed of the enve lope. a long slit acro ss ques tion is insid e the enve lope. He then cuts unde r the wad. and the botto m of the enve lope near the botto m edge movi ng his out with He does this with out look ing at his hand s and It move s. hand left righ t hand whic h cont ains the jack . Only the lope enve the into ng pulls the enve lope to the left whil e cutti pape r insid e does with the jack . Care is taken that the wadd ed not fall to the floo r. psyc hic story The prof esso r next star ts his most exci ting beau tiful pluck could abou t the time when he was a child and his hand s in ified marb les from the cent er of flow ers that solid a thri ll big as get insta ntly . or what ever . The sitte r shou ld The tion. ques her out of the stor ies told as the divin ing of sitte r must be ente rtain ed most prop erly. the prof esso r has Durin g this last story telli ng time , ed ques tion out of mana ged to pock et the 'jack ,' and get the wadd but with out look ing the enve lope and open it behin d the enve lope at the envelope~ eyes bug out All of a sudd en the prof esso r trem bles and his the enve lope wher e as he look s for the firs t time at the back of loud voice word s He then shou ts in a he reads the mess age! give s the answ er also in a loud voic e, and desc ribin g the ques tion The enve lope and mess age word by word slow ly and dram atica lly! 3

pape r are torn to bits and disca rded or burn ed. fee. The above dram atic read ing shou ld sell for a good ng The secu rity enve lope can be re-en force d by cuttithe TIPS : to it nting out the seam back of anoth er enve lope and ceme You will now have insid e seam ed back of the evelo pre to be used . addr ess side of the three thick ness es of pape r as you cut into just how much know Afte r some prac tice you will the enve lope. gh the back throu ng cutti pres sure to apply to the cutti ng to avoid side of the enve lope. the perso n THE MESSAGE PAPER: In your ads, you state that But in tion. ques their may take a smal l piec e of pape r to write to large too is r pape your pres enta ion if it is noted that the then and r pape age palm out the mess hide behin d the enve lope, read the ques tion that way. Actu ally and slate or pick up a book on smal l piec es of most of your sitte rs will write their ques tion pape r in your offic e. THE KNIF E: Alwa ys touch up the blade of with a sharp ening stone just befo re the show .

the RIPP ER'S JACK

move . Have your stor ies ready and prac tice the cutti ng et weap on and Prof esso r Z had year s of prac tice with his secr be made •. can as his meth od and pres enta tion are abou t as perf ect THE MENTAL MYSTERY SUPREME ably neve r DUNNINGER'S STAGE PRESENTATION: Dunn inger prob do with it. to what used the THE RIPP ER'S JACK , but he sure knew calli ng it the Dunn inger was very impr essed by this gimm ick was the firs t time "Men tal Myst ery Supre me" and state d that this t. (1943 ) this mast er gimm ick was ment ioned in prin aring in prin t The above state ment is corr ect as far as appe ver, have a howe The AME files , for the firs t time (194 3). ick, gimm Z's r esso type -wri tten manu scrip t with the story of Prof circa 1920 . doing seale d Dunn inger recom mend ed using the gimm ick for lopes are used mess age read ing. Card s and coin end-o penin g enveseale d enve lopes The inste ad of bille ts and lette r enve lopes . cut to form a flap are slits three and time are hand led one at a side ). Afte r the windo w, on the back of the enve lope (the addr ess off and the card mess age is given , the end of the enve lope is torn enve lopes are torn extra cted and retur ned to the writ er whil e the If the one-a head syste m is being used then only up and disca rded . one enve lope need to be open ned with the jack . HAVE FUN 4

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