Al Mann - The Third Ecstasy - Fabulous Card Feats for the Mentalist

POST OFFICE BOX 144 •

FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY 07728

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FREEHO LD, NEW JERSEY 01728

TliB THIRD BOS'lASY

POREWORD At the end of that plea sura ble and faso inati ng journ ey throu gh the art of oard magi o and afte r mast ering all the fanoy shuf fles, outs s to and flou rishe s, the novi oe has one ot two road e wher art tollo w. One lead s to the mast ery ot his tor days the novi ce will spen d many hour s ot many coma number ot year s in prao tice to deve lope a and rt peti tive techn ique to become a card expe mani pula tor. The othe r road will take him into the be field ot the men talis t. wher e the long hour s will use will He tice. prac of ad spen t in thou ght inste tihis imag inati on to crea te subt le magi c to subs oglam the forgo will He nd. f-ha tute for sleig ht-o ive pens the of that for cian rous role ot the magi but amaz ing men talis t. It is the hope ot the auth or that this trac tate will assi st the stud ent in choo sing the nt corr ect kind of Ment al Card Effe cts. The amou t prin in ared appe have that s trick ot ment al card Many es. throu ghou t the year s can till seve ral volum rtain ing. ente ly ssari nece not are cts Ment al Card Effe The stude nt shou ld there fore choo se card ettec ts that are dire ct and with maximmn impa ct. "Gre at thou ghts redu ced to prac tice Haz1 1tt became grea t acts ."

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THE THIRD ECSTASY

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE CHAPTBR'I A TRACTATE ON FABULOUS OARD EFFECTS FOR THE MbBTALIST THE

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PROS AND CONS

Most mentalists agree that card tricks detinite17 do not belong in a mental prqsrmn. Yet the top names in magic keep on amazing aUdiences with card eftects. Orson Welles in a recent show (July 1916) did a superb 15 minute act with cards. Dwminger in his 1-hour-15-minute show "Unveiling Mysteries 01" the Telepathio Mind," did tour card effects plus his question-answering act, the 16-digit effect and his telephone book test. 0101" Jonsson continues to prove psychic phenomena with his colossal card effects. Unfortunately, a card ettect does not go well with every audience regardless 01" how it is presented. The smart mentalist does well to know when and where to present one. The author tried card effects in his mental program and was called down by members of the audienoe asking, "Why do you do card tricks?" Kreskin tailed to impress college students with card tricks disguised as ESP experiments. It the mentalist is doing an BSF show, or a question answering act, he should not have to resort to card trioks to till in his program, since there are an abundance of other tests that do not use oards. Nevertheless, card effects are useful tor the drawing room presentation, tor the casual show, a close-up show and for those spectators that request to see a card miracle. The mentalist should not hesitate to tlaunt his psi ability by doing a poker demonstration, showing that he can always get the upper hand if he so wills it. The mentalist must teel out his aUdiences. Dunninger stayed away tram card tricks in his television show, but did resort to card effects in his guest appearances. In a recent show, the author was asked by a member 01" the audience it he could do card tricks I Card tricks are very

popular with layman. The mentalist must see to it that when he does present card trioks, they must be presented as seeming miracles. A billet test appears staggering bJ it's own weight but a card trick must be dramatized to the hilt it it is to be presented as a form 01" psychic phenomena. The teats 01" OLOF JONSSON are a prtme exmnple.

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THE THIRD ECSTASY

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DOIS AND DONITS

A Mentalist, when presentang card miracles, must: 1. Never, with a few exceptions, handle, shuffle or cut the deck. Let the spectator do it and then call attention to the fact that you did not touch the deck, whether you did or not. Emphasize the fact that you were far away from the deck when the experiment was made, whether you were or not. It may be that you did touoh the deck at the beginning and that you were in the vioinity at the start of the test but you must point out that the deck was left in someone else hands and that you were absent in the crucial stages of the test. A mentalist is not fooling anyone when he performs card trioks as psychic phenomena in front of the sophisticated audiences of the big cities in the U.S.A. where he uses his own deck and shuffles and cuts the deck himself. Your audiences will give you credit for being a clever chap, very fast with your hands. TheY'll sa,. that you palmed the card or took it out of your sleeve although that may not be the case at all. A mentalist should only touch the deck or use his own deck in those very rare occassions like when doing "Out of This World" or the fan rorce, etc. 2. Never do card flourishes, fancy fans and cuts. Leave that for the oard expert.

3. Never furnish your own deck. Borrow one or pretend to.

"Out 01' This vlorld" oan be done with a borrowed and shuftled deck I

4.

Never show any preparation although the "Thole errect may depend on exactly that. The errect must appear impromptu I

5.

Never overdo card etrects. One good dramatic card trick should be surricient tor one show. Let the audience savor the erfect and talk about it later.

6. Always prefer subtlety instead of sleight of hand. There

are plenty of substitutes for sleights on the books. The Mentlaist needs but to think a bit to change a card triok into a miracle.

7. Never do an eftect that may fail without having an out.

If

the outcome of an eftect is doubtful, don't do it. The mentalist must always be sure or the outcome of an erfect and he must always have a reasonable out.

8. Spare no errort in preparation for an effect. Pains must be taken to perfect the efrect regardless of the amount 01' ttme and trouble necessary to prepare for the presentation. If

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THE THIRD ECSTASY DOtS AND DONT'S •••••

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up the garf , a day is need ed, or a week or a mont h, to set will then cles Mira then the men talis t must take the time . be forth conn ningl a ment al Amaz ingly enou gh, any card trick can be given that with ve, twis t. Same peop le belie ve, or wish to belie the fram card a the powe r ot your mind you can telep ort that say can You . midd le ot the deck to unde r an ash tray wn unkno the with the powe r of your thou ght you will cause the ot le midd ohos en card to turn comp letel y over in the arriv ed at the deok . A spel ling trick can be said to have A simp le loca tion corr ect spot by telek ines is or prev ision . athy . Aleffe ct can be used to demo nstra te oont act totelep of wine , glass a thoug h when you chang e the king of spade mal be bard to ·swa llow .' lar \'1ith Keep in mind that 'card 1 tests are most popu for the t righ just are tests the payc hic inve stiga tors. Card s ot Feat hic Psyo nThe ESP labor atcb1 7. One has only to read s. test of type this of Olof Jonss on" to real. ize the impa ct not can they that Many psyc hic inve stiga tors claim verse d in be foole d by 'card trick s' beca use they are well more ane the that mag ician 's trick s. Litt le do they real ise be knows abou t mag ician 's trick s the easi er one canled _ by baff rt foole d. It is not unus ual to see one card expe ct effe liar fami a anot her card expe rt who happ ened to pres ent in a diffe rent dress l who has Keep in mind also that there isn' t a perfo rmer way of a has not faile d occa ssion aly. And yet, the humanA mind seem rmed perfo well igno ring a failu re and enha nsing succ ess. the oves l beho ing mira cle is rememberd for many year s So it drum abou t his own his beat then and well rm perfo rmer to perfo mira cles. wall et In the follo wing • frec ts wher e a Himb er-ty pe wall -lH:ets ary ordin two that is ment ioned keep in mind by ly simp et wall er Htmb the can be subs titut ed for makin;'; a switc h of wall ets.

THE THIRD ECSTASY CllAPTER II FLIGIlT OF' THE PSYCARDS

This is the acme of the o~d-in-the-wallet effects. No doubt the reader is aoquainted with the card-inthe-wallet effect and the amount ot thought and printer's ink that has been used on this one test. The author has been on the quest of this effect tor decades and has bought and tried all the popular versions ot it that have appeared in dealer's catalogues and in books. Most ot the effects in print require the palming ot a card. Therefor the performer had to torce a card, control it, palm it and somehow get it into the pocket-book. One etfect, the card-in-the-metal-plates, required the use ot a large tunnel type chute that was pinned to the inside of the coat in a most uncomfortable and noticeable bulge. One ot the most clever methods is Annemann's version where a duplicate card is used and is already inside the pocket book. The version that follows is by far superior since the spectators have a free choice of any card and the performer does not touch the deck once the deok is given out and there is no palming. EFFECT: Arter performer takes his billtold out and places it on the table, he hands out a deck of cards and instructs the spectators to spread the deck on the table face uP. Three spectators are then given a free choice of any card and are then told to sign their names across the tace ot their ohosen cards. They are then to square the deck face down, cut it, replace the three signed oards in the middle of the deCk, complete the out and tie the deok with rubber banda. Tn, performer then commands the three signed oards to fly invisibly out of the middle of the deck and into his billfold. When the billfold is openned the three signed cards are found in it I The performer raminds the spectators that at no time did he touch the deokl 'fhe effect is unoanny. Those that have seen the oardin-the-wallet effect will be more amazed since three carda were teleported and all three cards were signed b7 the speotatorsl METHOD AND PREPARATION: A Himber-type flip-over billtold ia preferable but not necessary. If the reader does not have a ilmber-type billfold and cannot atford one he can still do the effeot with a writing pad except that the cards are teleported to some place in the roam like under an ash tray, etc.

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THE THIRD ECSTASY PLIGHT OF THE PSYCARDS

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METHOD AND PREPARATION: The billfold. Prepare a Htmber-type billfol. or any other billfold, by cementing a strip of magnetic tape to the back on the outside, The magnetic tape meaaures 1/16 inch thick by 1 inch wide by ~ inches long and has pointed ends like is shown in Fig, 1, This kind of tape is sold in hardware stores, In their latest catalogue (winter 76) the Edmund Scientific company of 660 Edscorp Building, Barrington, New Jersey, 08007 USA list a roll of magnetic tape 1/16 by 1 by 30 inches long for $2.15. The tape becomes part of the billfold and looks like a decorative piece, However, the back of the Blmber billfold is never seen, If the reader does not care to gimmick a wallet he can then gimmick the back of a writing pad in the same way, .

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The cards, Make a 'magnetic card' by cementi~ two cards together with razor blades in between. Let the magnetic card show the 7 of hearts, Besides the magnetic card you will need a duplicate card of the 7 of hearts, Fig, 1 Sign your name across the face of both seven of hearts so that the signatures look exactly alike. Place the magnetic 7 of h3arts on top of the deck. Place the ungimmicked 7 of hearts in the left compartment of the Himber billfold. If the paper pad is to be used then the duplicate 7 of hearts is not needed, 'l'he lett compartment of the Himber-type billfold is the side that is exposed when the billfold is openned tram left to right. \'1hen preparing a writing pad, it is better to use bar aagnets embedded into the paper and cemented to the back board. A prime requisite when performing this type of magic is that the deck must be brand new, Your billfold must pick up the double magnetic 1 of hearts plus three other cards, This is eaay when the deck is new as the cards are quite flat. However if the deck has been used and shutfled and cut several times, the billfold will not pick up that many oards readily even though the deck may look like-new, PRESENTATION: Take your billfold out and place it on the table. Have someone spread tbe deck face up and have two or three persons choose cards and sign their names on the faces of the cards, Have sameone reassemble the deck, square it and place it on the table face down and cut the deck in balf. Have each person return his card face down on top of the original top halt of the deck. The chosen signed cards will now be on top of the 7-othearts, the magnetic cardl

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THE THIRD BCS1'ASY I'LIGHT OF' THE PSYCABDS

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telli ng Pick up 70ur billf old and gestu re with it, botto m inal someone to comp lete the cut. Poin t to the origby ling half and then tap the orig inal top half , there-heastea rts sigh t the three signe d card s plus the magn etic 7-of unse en with your billt old. Tell the spec tator s to rubb er band the deck .artme nt Then open up your billf old to the left oomp , and show the spec tator s that you also have a signe dAcard the 7-ot -hea rts. Say that the 7-of hear ts is your magi c card . As you -:iii;~:2~=-~ ts, your left show the seven of hear ~~ 2!> • fing ers are busy push ing the tour 13 card s just stole n into the righ t old. billf comp artme nt ot the flip- over c Fig. 2 Fig. 2 shows the perfo r.me r's old. eadg e-vie w ot the flip- over billf A shows the left comp artme nt with the ungim mlck ed 7-ot hear ts ence B shows the righ t comp artme nt, unse en to your aUdi the plus rts -hea 7-ot etic C Shows the four card s, the magn . strip etic magn the to hed three signe d card s, attac

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righ t Once the four card s have been push ed into the -hea rts ing the 7-ot camp artma nt ot your billf old, close it, leavaroun the that so d old billt the in the lett comp artme nt. Turn the spec tator s botto m edge now poin ts to the spec tator s. Into~ d oard s to fly that you are now goiIg to cause the three signe your magi c join and sibly out ot the midd le of the deck invi old three billf the of er 7-of -hea rts. Tap the deck with the corn occu red. now has cle mira the time s and infor .m the spec tator s that will they deck the in s It they are to look for the signe d card hand t righ the to ned not find them . When the billf old is open comp artme nt the four card s will be foun d. oppo The effe ct can be dram atize d by walk ing to the the tram away tar are site side of the roam and sayin g that you be caus ed to happ enl deok . Then the telep orta tion ot matt er can s can It an ordin ary billf old is used , then the card ing writ the it Same be drop ped behin d a pictu re or vase , etc. pad is used . mati c. The efte ct is unca nny. ~e meth od is almo st e auto aoper whol the and The movement ot the fing ers is neve r seen tion is rela tive ly easy . The etfe ct shou ld be done only tor very spec ial ooca sion s.

THE THIRD ECSTASY

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DOMINATION OP THOUGHf The amuing effect which expounds a synchronicity ot ooincidenoe, where a card chosen by the perfor.mer is matched by a card chosen by a spectator by pure chgnce has now become a classic of magic with cards. This etfect referred to as 'The Sy.mpathetic Cards 1 or the 'U do as I d0 1 etfect is found in most books of card magic. It's inventor is unknown. The effect goes back to before the time of Robert Boudin. S. H. Sharp is oredited with the best presentation ot the ettect which he called "Domination of '!'hought. 11 The ettect 1s amazingly done with any two decks of cards and without any preparation. THE BPFECT: A blue and a red deck are shuftled and cut. Both the spectator and the performer ohoose a oard from their decks and both cards prove to be the same I !he effect is an incredible mystery to the lay mind. It can be presented as same for.m of mental control or hypnotic influence. Here is Mr. Sharpe's patter: liDo you think it is possible for me to influence 'Jour mind 80 that 'Jou will think just as I wish you to think, without you being oonscious of the taot? Well, though everyone thinks he is free to guide his own thoughts, there are times when one mind can secretly control another. I shall try to prove the truth of this statement by compelling your thoughts to run in the same channel as mine -which can be done under favorable conditions. You doubt my words? You think I exaggerate? To convice you I shall .furnish three witnesses. Here are two packs of cards. Now in order to get our minds perfectlYlttuned, will you please go through exactly the same motions as I do. II The three witnesses mentioned above were the two chosen cards which were identical plus a written predictionl In the origianl effeot ( which is still.a004), the performer has to shutfle one deck while the spectator shuffles the other. Then the decks are exchanged and the shutfling is repeated. The performer notes either the top card or the bottom card of one deak. Then each chooses a card and places it on top of the deck and the decks are cut. The performer ignores the card he chooses. The decks are exchanged again and then the chosen cards are removed. Naturally the peformer knows the card chosen by the spectator due to the key card, the top or bottom card that the performer had originally glimpse. The performer actually removes the duplicate of the specta~or's chosen card. So that both cards matchl

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THE THIRD ECSTASY

DOMINATION OF THOUGHT •• • • oont • In the version that follows, the performer need not shutfle the cards or touCh the deok other than to pick one oard and place it on top of the deck. In this fashion the Mentalist beaats that he does not· shutfle or tolich t.t. deck I The spectator is told to first shuffle one deok and then the other. The performer watches the shutfling to get a glimpse or the bottom card of either deok. The author has ~et to see a la7 person, other than a habitual card pla~er, shuffle a deok of oards without flashins a card. All the perfor.mer has to do is to watch oarefully. If the performer fails to glimpse a card then he orders that the deoks must be cut. He then outs his own deok and glimpses the bottom oard whioh is relatively simple sinoe the speotator is busy cutting his own deok. For a more sophisticated out-glimpse, when the spectator is keeping his eyes on the performer too closely, out the deok from the narrow ends and buckle the out-off half upwards to get the glimpse. The right thumb is placed on the middle of the narrow edges olosest to the performer and the tips of the fingers on the opposite narrow edges. The cards are then cut and buckled upwards just far enough to glimpse the index of the bottom card of the paok. The cut is then completed. The above out-glimpse is not deteoted from the speotators view and the cutting looks most natural. Fig. 3 shows the sleight with the tip of the first finger assisting to buckle the cut-off paok. The sleight is done quickly. Once the card is glimpse the presentation proceeds by maneuvering the spectator to place his chosen card on top of the deck whose bottom card is known. ~~e decks are then cut and the spectator is told to spread £oth decks face up after exchanging decks •. he performer picks out the card next to' the glimpse card while the spectator picks out his chosen card from the other deck. Pig. 3 Both cards match I CASTER AND POLLUX

by John Smetana

John ~etana, Banker-Magician from Morganville, New Jersey, is a lover of subtle mental card effects which he ~resents expertl7~ In the following effect that uses the SympathetiC" theme, John has taken an old card principle credited to Annemann and Al Baker called, "The Magio Thrust" and ha3 oreated an effeot that uses two decks and two spectators.

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THE THIRD ECSTASY CASTOR AND POLLUX ~

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s. EFFECTI Two spec tator s are given two stack ed deck both on same the is h whic hey eaoh take the botto m card trus t it into the midd le 01' the deck reve rsei. The

deck s and deck on the spec tator s then cut the deck and then sprea d the that both seen is it s card tabl e. Upon tindi ng the reve rsed same the een betw card succe eded in trus ting the reve rsed two card s I The erre ct sound s stagg ering , yet it will fail to impr ess the audie nce unle ss the patt er is deliv ered expe rtly and the effe ct is pres ente d as sugg ested . The two spec tator s used shou ld be a husb and and wife , two 10ve rsL fath er and son or twin s if poss ible. The them e of the effe ct is that a sJMp athy exis ts betw een symp athet io mind s, eto. PREPARATION: The two deck s are staok ed

exac tly alike . One is red baok ed and the othe r blue for cont rast. The top tour cards or each deck shou ld be: 8-of- diam onds face down, Aoe- of-he arts faoe down, 5-01'olub s tace up and the Ace- of-di amon ds face do'Wn. See fig. 4 The rest of the deok is face down exce pt for the seoon d card from the botto m whic h is face up and the botto m oard is the Jack -of-s pade s, as in Fig. 5. PATT&1i AND PR:.SENTATION: "The se two deck s of

Pig.

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oard s are arran ged in the same exac t orde r. (here the perfo rmer pick s up one deck in each hand face card to audie nce) As you can see the botto m card of each deck is the Jaok -of-s pade s and the top card of eaoh is the 8-of- diwn onds . (The perfo rmer shows the top card of each deck by slipp ing it ott the deck a bit with the thumb face to audi ence .) Fig. 5 I know the orde r of the oard s, so if you were to Choo se! say the 10th card fromit woul d know what card the top or botto m impo rtant for the succ ess of the test that very is it was. But deck s must rema in the orde r of the cards is not distu rbed . Bothcann ot be shuf fled s in the same orde r. l"or that reaso n the deck or mUd d." so that the speo Th~ test is best perfo rmed at the table eedin g the tator s cwn put the deck s unde r the table . Befo re proc trate s illus then and performe~ plac es both deck s on the table

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THB THIRD ECST.SY CASTOR AND POLLUX

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what he vants the apeotators to 40. The performer then pioks up one deok to d. .onstrate and sa~s, "I want each ot ~ou to take the bottGDl oard in this fashion, (performer takes the bottom oard ot the deck but is careful not to tlash the seoond oard t r . the bottom whioh is fa.e-up) and thrust it into an,. part ot the deok. I 40 not want ODe ot ~ou to s.e Where the other placed his oard so you must do the test with ~our hands under the table. ABd I don't want you to see where your own card goes in either. You must do it b~ tee1 alone." After demenstrating the move with the Jack of spades, performer replaces the Jack of spades on the bottom of the deck so that both decks will again be alike. The spectators are then given the two decks and are told to ~lace their hands under the table. 'Please take the bottom card and place it on top of the deck. Now please take the next bottom card, the tive-ofglubs and turn it over so that it will be upside down and place it next to the edges ot the cards in the deck. Run tho fiye-ot-clubs up and down slowly until you get an impulse to trust it into the deok." (the unknown reversed card will now be right side up and lost after it 1s inserted in the deck) Please note here that the performer is calling the oard the five-ot-clubs although it is not the five-of-clubs but an unlci'iown card. After the spectators have trust their card into the deck tell them to cut the deck, as much as they want to. "Now will you please spread the deck face down on the table and look for the five-of-clubs which will be faoe uP." "Let's see how well you did. This test will tell it your thoughts are in sympathy." Of course the five-of-clubs will be round to be between the same two cards in both decks. The whole action can be predicted in writing. It a prediction is used it should read something like: "Due to the law of probability and the synohronioity of sympathy between two minds in h~ony, I predict that both ot you will place the five-of-clubs between the s~e two cards. n Here again the mentalist can say that everything happened while the decle of cards was in the hands of the spectators. Both decks can now be exrunined and everything is ,found in ordor. The unknown card will be the only one out of plaoe.

THE THIRD ECSTASY

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THB DBVASTATORS It WRS ineyitable that the intriguing plot used in ,Domination ot ·!hought' would eventually evolve into an even more amazing effect. Instead of just mat_bing two cards why not have the speotator matoh three cards ohosen by the performer ahead ot time for a climax with three matching pairs 1mtead ot ODe' The following effect, "The Devastators" by the author appeared in Vol. 1, no. 1 ot Magic Info, the magazine published by International-Unique Hagic Studios at London for May 1972. This effect becmRe a dealer itsm shortly after it's apperance. It is reprinted here with a slight modification. Note that again the pertormer does not touoh the deck once the deok is set on tlB table.

THE DEVASTATORS

by Al Mann

A mental card effect that has intrigued me throughout the years and which causes profound bewilderment on the layman, is the etfect where three (or two) cards chosen by the pertormer are matched or paired by the spectator, by apparently coincidental ohoioe. The ettect has appeared in practically eyery book on card magic under difterent nmRes and infinite variations. I do not belieye a more direct and thought-provoking effect exists in the whole realm ot card magic, considerUg the fact that no sleight ot hand is evident (since the performer never touches the deck). No tancy shuffles or cuts or counting of cards, no cards behind the back, etc. Byerything happens right in front of the spectator. ~e layman is at a loss to reason out the tremendous odds against such a coincidence unless there be some strange power at work. Unfortunately there is a weakness in the (usual) presentation. Every once in a while same observant spectator suspects that the one-ahead systam plays a part in it. THE ONE AHEAD SYSTF>1 WITH CARDS IS TOO WB:LL KNOWN AMONGST LAYMEN. I have repeatedly seen layman that can do a most batfling presentation of this effect (using the one-ahead system), although their technique stops there and they always use only one deck of cards instead ot the more advanced test that employs two decks. Many year~ ago I set out to correct this weakness. It the Magician can divine three cards that will be chosen, then he ~·.'rlould be able to place the three cards down betore anything else is c~ne. That is exactly what must be done and which will oomplE.tely baffle anyone. In the search for pertection, many clever g~icks were tried, suoh aa using a two-ahead system t double back carda, etc. But all were discarded in faver ot the rollowing:

THE THIRD ECSTASY THE DEVASTATORS

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••••• oont •

BFFBOT: The performer take. hi. billtold (wallet) out and removes a sealed envelope which he places on the table. The spectator then shutfles a paok of cards and is told to remove any three cards and place them on the table. When the envelqpe is openned it is tound to contain the duplicate of the three chosen oardsl Method:

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gimmioks used are the 'magnetic billfold

and magnetic oard t used in "!he Flight of the Psycards."

The Set Up: On top of the deck are three force cards. Over the three force cards is the 'magnetic oardJ I In the billfold is a sealed envelope with the duplicates of the three force cards. THE PRESENTATION: Take out the billfold and place the sealed envelope an the table. Have the spectator out the deck in halt. Tell him to shutfle the bottom half (this will convince him that he did shuftle the cards) and then to deal any three cards an top ot the original top half. Ask him if he knows what the three cards are. HI, of course does not. Tell him that the sealed envelope contains three cards. With the billfold tap tm top at the original top-half ot the deok, thereby stealing the three chosen cards and the magnetic card and exposing the three torce cards, as you tell him to please deal the top three cards face up an the table. The envelope is then openned to show the smazing olimaxl Emphasize the fact that you never touched the deck I THE INVADERS It the reader goes in tor intriguing and oomplicated plots and it a Himber-tyr.e billfold that has been magnetized as per ins tructions in the 'Flight of the Psycards" is at hand plus two 'magnetic cards' one red and one blue then you may want to try the following.

The plot is the same as "The Devastators" but two decks are used, a red backed deck and a blue baok. Each deck has three force oards on top but different fram the other deck •• ach deck is also tOPRed by a magnetic card. ~be Himber type wallet has one envelope in each compartment. The left compartment has the three red backed duplicates of the red force cards and the right compartment has the blue duplicates of the blue toroe cards. Get the picture? All you have to do next is to go through the same procedure with each deck and then give the spectator a choioe of the red or blue deck. t~hen he chooses a deck, you steal the chosen cards trom the top exposing the force cards. Then you

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THE THIRD ECSTASY

THE INVADERS

•••• oont •

show that you have predioted the ohoice and it he had ohosen the other deck the results would have been oatastrophall A written prediotion inside the envelope together with the oards would be also apropos.

THE D-BSP-ERADOS Wi th the advent of ESP oards the plots tor oard effeots changed. Matching one pair or two or three with a deok of ESP oards doesn't seem to hit the mark. Ruaores had it that same students under Dr. Rhine had called out 25 oards in order from the ESP deck. So magioian' s had to ohange their approach to this new type of magio. Hen Fetoh introduced his olever "Sptbologic" erfeot where 5 pairs of ESP oards are matohed. This test is recommended to the reader and should suffice to prove the technique of the mentalist. 0101' Jonsson is noted for being able to matoh all 25 cards from the ESP deokl THE THIRD Bl'fASIB Here is a very mysterious test that is done with an unprepared deok of cards. The operator never touches the deok. The deok is shuttled and cut by anyone. BFPBCT: Performer opens hi. billfold and takes out an envelope. The billtold is otherwise empty. He shows the envelope all around and may even pass it out tor inspection. The envelope is sealed and signed with the psrformer's signature on both sidesl The performer states that the c,:lvelope contains a prediotion. Performer places the sealed envelope back into his billtold and leaves the billfold in full sight on the table. A speotator is then given a deok of oards to shutfle and out as muoh as desired. Next he is to out the deok into 5 or six piles. He 1s then told to ohoose anyone of the piles. ~e prediotion in the envelope is then read. The pred10tiqn reads: "The, third oard trom the top 01' the pile that ,you

ohose is the 3 of hearts"

MErllt".O: Although any billfold can be used to produce the effect, the a.tthor reoommends the use of a Himber-type flip-over billfold E'S the advantages add muoh to the mystery. The left compartment of the flip-over billfold oontains a sealed and signed envelope. This is the envelope that is passed around tor examination. The right side or oompartment 01'

THE THIRD ECSTASY

14

THE THIRD 8'lAa IB ••••• cont . d enve lope with the . the billf old cont ains a dupl ioate sealeby the perfo rmer and pred iotio n. This enve lope is also signe d look s id~tical to the enve lope that was exam ined. Behin d this enve lope are three cards faoe down. The third oard down is the 3 of hear ts I bill The enve lope will hide the three card s and the with t sigh ot told will keep the three oard s align ed andonout or lopes enve the out need ot usin g magi oian 's wax or tape ne of the oard s. Plea se refe r to Pig. 6. 7.his shows an outli sente d by repre et Htmber billf old. with an enve lope in the pockline s. the strai ght lines and the oard s by the dash Firs t the pred ictio n enve lope is place d into astheshow n. insid e pock et of the righ t oomp artme nt of the billf old The enve lope is push ed all the way down as far as it will go. The three card s are then plao ed fa,ce down behin d the enve lope BUT they are not push ed all the way down but only tar enoug h so that they will be out of sigh t, abou t 1/8 inch below the top edge ot the enve lope. PRESENTATION: Pass the deck out tor shuf fling (with the three oard s miss ing) as you take out your billf old and open it to the left comp artme nt and take Fig. 6 out the seale d envelop~~d show it ,all lope enve aroun d on both side s. ~lU·OW the on the table and allow anyon e to hand le ite back into the billt old if they want to. Then piok it up and plao and leav e the billt old in full sigh t. into 5 or 6 pile s of Have the spec tator cut the deok righ t hand oard s. Pick up your billf old 81:.d open it to the pile of oard s any se ohoo oomp artme nt and ask the speo tator to Afte r the pile red. desi and tell him he may chang e his mind it the tips ot with is ohos en take out the pred iotio n enve lope enve lope over the e plao your thumb and firs t fing er, slow ly and s to the oard en hidd the ohos en pile there by addin g the three and read lope enve pile i Tell the speo tator to plea se open the not touch ed the deck the pred iotio n. Next tell him that you have him to very slow and that you do not wish to touch it so tell to the third oard . ly tu~n over one card at atim e unti l he gets '.rh~ clima x tollo ws. oann ot The illus ion is comp lete sino e the audie noe saw the they use beoa ct effe as~cc~ate the seor et move with the that seen ing noth was envel'Jp€- and even hand le it and there woul d cast susp ioion on the enve lope. a borro wed Need less to say, the effe ot can be donethewith ictio n. pred ing deok simp ly by stea ling three oard s and writ

1$

THE THIRD EX:STASY ASTRAL SIGHT

Here is ~other mnazing effect that depends an the one-ahead system yet it's presentation ~d effect are entire17 different and the one-ahead system is well disguised. BFFECT: A spectator shutfles and cuts any deck into as many piles as desired (usually four piles). The magician without touching the cards tells the identity of all the bottom cards of all the piles. The effect is strong as the magician appears to be able to see through solid matterl METHOD: lbe magician must secretly glimpse the bottom card of ane of the piles and keep an eye on which pile it is. This gl~pse must be done while the s~ectator is shuttling the cards as done in "Domination of Thought. THE PRBSENTATleNs Any deck of cards may be used. The deck is given to a spectator for shuffling and cutting into several piles, say four. Let us assume that the fourth pile on the performers right is the pile with the known bottom card. The performer passes his hands over the piles without touching them and then deoides to name the card on the bottom of the second-from-left pile. Without touohing the pile the performer tells the spectator to write down the oards oalled. The perfor.mer calls out the name of the known oard, say the 8 of clubs. Performer than picks up that pile and deals out the bottom card face down to the side, but in the process be has glimpse the identity of the card, say the 3 of spades as in Fig. 7~. Fig. 7 shows one ot the varius sleights used to glimpse the bottom card. A shiner would do even better if the reader is adapt at using one. A deck of marJ:-:ed cards would also do the trick, but the use of a borrowed deck is more imp':"")saive. The presentation is continued one-ahead until all cards are called. 'J:hen ~ .ie cards are turned face up to campare with the notes taken.

Pig. 7

The last card that was dealt on the table was actually the "first card that was called. A good move is to scoop up

THE THIRD BCSTASY ASTRAL SIGHT

••••

16 cont •

all the cards called with the last card so that they will then be in order. In any event, it is better to ~ up the cards unintentionally and then have the spectator read off the cards that he wrote down as the performer picks each card and places it tace up on the table. The pertormer never touches the piles until after he has named the bottom cardl '!hat part will be remembered by the spectators. A niae bit ot business is to name a card and have the spectator write it down and then say, "Sorry, I made a mistake in that one, please erase it." And then callout the correct card. The pile with the original glimpse card is of course left, til the end. It by chance the performer has glimpse more than one bottom card while the spectator was cutting the piles, then he can use one of the piles for a special test like having that pile covered with a book or having the spectator plaoe the pile in his pocketl The magician oan then state that he does not have to even touch the cards I

THE BOTTOM CARD GLIMPSE: This sleight is very easy. The deck is taken from above by the right hand. The right thumb is placed in the middle of the back narrow edges of the cards where it will act as a I stop' for the sleight, see Fig. 7 • lhe tingers ot the right hand are on the opposite narrow edges. The deck is then rested on the side ot the left first finger. Then the right hand slides the deck forward with a slight pressure on the lett first finger. 'l'b:I lett hand does not move at all. The bottom card is buokled downward enough to glimpse the index. Another Bottom-Oard Pe6k that is useful is shown in Fig.8 • Here again the deck is buckled downward over the lett tirst finger while the deok is pointing at an angle towards the tloor. The sleight should be done while the spectator's sight is misdirected elsewhere, although in taot it oan be done without the misdirection. Nothing is seen from the spectator's side other than the buckling of the cards.

Fig. 8

17

THB THIRD ECSTASY ~ MOUNDS

... ...lf.l'=-o;AR IS Q! .....

detie s Gent lema n, the ette ct abou t to be desc ribed cred it ator oper all ratio nal anal ysis, unle ss you give the athy telep of rs powe for bein g a true psyc hic disp layin g his and clair voya nce all at onoe . The etfe ct expoUnds the selda m used two- ahea d prin cipl e. room , spec iPFECTI While the perto rmer is out ot the s and tato rs shut fle a deck of card s and then sele ct tour card seal them in opaqu e enve lope s. The perto~r retur ns talks abou t telep athy lopes or the and clair voya nce and with out touc hing the envetions divin es the ques any g askin rest of the deek , or with out four card s t touc h The ette ct is stron g. In tact the perfo rmer does ins the enve lopes but only atte r he has iden tifie d the card . tact that to side and he calls atten tion , the spec For the parp ose ot demo nstra ting telep athy card s. To detato rs are told to look and remember two of the tator s to mon strat e olair voya nce, the perfo r.mer tells theandspec to seal them sele ct two more card s but not to look at them sigh t unse en. MEtHOD: Pleas e rete r to Fig. 9 , Thre e enve lopes are shown.

A

B

o

Pig. 9 o~e C 1s a ?nve lopes A and B are tota lly unpr epare d. Envel lope Cn , the tlap doub le comp artme nt enve lope. To prep are enveand inse rted into and addr ess side of one enve lope is cut offrted into the back a whol e enve lope. Two known card s are inse the 5and rts comt~artment of "e" enve lope, say the 1 O-ot -hea d then seale to.se o~-spades, as per the Fig. Tre two flaps are ceme nting abou t ~ there Ehve lope "e" 1s furth er prep ared by the righ t side as inch ot the fron t comp artme nt toge ther at shown by the dash line s.

THE THIRD BOSTASY THE HoUNDS OF ISHTAR

18 #' ••

cont.

HOTE: Fig. 9 sho~1 the ten-of-hearts and the fiveof-spades caning out of the secret back compartment of envelope "0" face-up for illustration purposes onl,.. Actuall,. the cards are sealed into the back compartment face-down.

,HE PRESENTATION: Two decks of cards are used, ane red-back and the other blue-back. Performer hands out the blue deck and leaves the room. The three envelopes are in plain sight on the table and should be marked A, B and C. From the other roam, performer instructs spectators to thoroughly shutfle the deok and then to spread it down on the ~able face down. One spectator is then to choose any card look at it and remember it and seal it face-down into enve i ope "A". A second spectator is to do the s~e with a second card and seal it face-down into envelope "B". A third spectator is to choose any two cards but must not look at them and seal them ~ace-down. of course, into envelope "0". As per the Fig. We will assume that the two known oards chosen were the 3-of diamonds and the Ace-of-clubs. Upon returning the performer waves his hands over the envelopes, without touching them and tells the first, spectator to concentrate on his chosen card. The performer then removes the 10-of-hearts tram his red deck and places the card sight unseen face-down on the table. He then does the same with the second envelope "B" and then takes out the $-of-spades from his deck and places it over the first card face down. and sight unso m. Performer now cuts open the first two envelopes ..... flAil and "B" and places the two cards on the table face-up. "'he envelopes are openned with a pair of scissors by cutting off the right side of the envelope for about 1/4 inch. All envelopes must be openned in this fashion for consistency. Performer than comments that no one knows the next two cards since they were chosen sight unseen so that he must use his ~owers of clairvoyance to divine the oards. fter making a few passes over the "e" envelope withou~ touohing it, Performer takes out fram his red deck the two cards showing face-up on the table. The 3-of-di~onds and the Ace-of-clubs and places these cards sight unseen over the two other red oards on the table. Now the performer resorts to a bit of showmanship. He picks up his four red-back cards from the table and talks some more ot his powers. He remarks that no one knows what the two other oards in envelope "e" are but that he has al-

THE THIRD ECSTASY THE

MOUNDS OF

ISHTAR

19 ••••• oont.

ready received an impression. During his talk the performer has managed to place the tWO top oards under the other two. So now he deals tace-down the two top cards in front of the sealed "a" envelope and then he also deals the other two cards face-down in front of the two face up cards on the table. Peri"ormer then takes envelope "e" and opens it with his scissors by cutting 1/4 inoh from the right side. This maneuver opens up the rear compartment but due to the 1/2 inch of cement inside the i"ront compartment, the front compartment remains sealed, so that the two force cards oome out onto the table faoe-down. ~erything is now in order. All the oards match. No doubt that the reader is thinking about the possible examination of the materials used. (see bottom of page 21) "~ impaot and the presentation of. 't.he effect should in all probability silence the audience. After all they did handle and see inside all the envelopes. Nevertheless, envelopes are always suspect. Many persons know of 'magic I envelopes with double compartments. So the perfor.mtr may wish to pass out all materials as souveneers. ~o do so you must proceed as followsl Four envelopes are used instead of three. The performer introduces a fourth envelope where he plaoes his red cards! The envelopes used must be self-sealing. They must be marked with designation letters or marks on the insides of the flaps so that when the envelopes are sealed they all look alike. The three envelopes that are used first have their flaps openned out. It may be neoessary to break the crease of the flaps backwards so that the envelopes remain with the flap extended. This will make it oasy for the speotators to insert the cards into. The fourth envelope is also socretly marked with the letter "e". At the end while the spectators are looking at the oards, the performer picks up the three envelopes and tears them up so that they can be examined, BUT the prepared "a" envelope 1s held back and pocketedl The fourth envelope also has a sliver cut i"rom the right sjde like the other envelopes, but this openning is never seen as the envelope is only handled by the performer I This effeet can be done with a borrowed deck provided the ·'perator has time to steal two cards and prepare tre "e" envelope I

20

THE THIRD ECSTASY

!!!! PSYCHIC

POKER PLAYER

ard The plot of this effe ct was discu ssed withHeRich d agree in 1959 . Hiab er at the Essex House in New Lork back tion. enta that it had meri t and was indee d a prac tical pres tly A somewhat stmi lar pres enta tion but with a sligh unt acco The y. diffe rent work ing was pres ente d by Dr. Hacob Dale . 1I Deck The See 's of it is found in Edwa ... rd Marl o's book let "Let d EFFECT: A spec tator is invi ted on stage and is seate t talis The men oppo site the men talis t on a smal l card table . has the spec tator and es sleev his up rolls remo ves his coat and truce a hand cuff hta. Men talis t then requ ests the spec tator to deck of card s, exam ine it, shuf fle and cut as desi red. He is then d'" A told to deal two hand s of poke r " ~ in the usua l way. r neve The men talis t touch es the deck exce pt for the five card s deal t to him. Each play er may draw as many as three cards to bett er his hand but in spite of ever ythin g the men talis t gets the winn ing hand . The deal Fig. 10 may be repe ated seve ral time s but with the same resu lt. men talis t's side ~HOD: A spec ial table is used . The 10 shows an of the table cont aim a hidd en slan ted well .enFig. table . The slot enlar ge view of the secr et slot in the wood5 play ing card s. An odate accom to gh is only large or wide enou to the slot . A enve lope to hold the card s in plac e is ceme ntedcard "A" in the strin g ,.zith a knot ed end is loop "d aroun d the sibles, slit over figu re. A table cloth (not sho,\-n) "v~ith an invi knot The nt. ceme of spots the well is in place and fixed with and rests on the strin g stick s out throu gh the slit in the cloth next to the perfo rmer 's hand s. For the pres enta tion, let's assum e that the 4 aces and one of the king s is hidin g in the secr et well . THE PRESENTATION: When the men talis t rece ivesat his the s and five deal t card s, he pick s them up with both hand s. card en hidd 5 the same time pull s on the threa d and takes out act of pick ing up 1010 actio n is oi'co urse cove red in the Th~ rd as the r:'~rds deal t. Next both play ers are allow ed to disca talis t men The n. many as tru"e e card s and are deal t cards ing retur good a build tryin to i~ actu ally work ing one- ahea d. He is of the five cards deal t out So nd. arou hand for the next time make s a secon d to h~ plus the one king card in the well he draw . Afte r the draw hand. and then tries to impro ve on it on the same time he plac es his cards on the table face down and at the

21

THE THIRD ECSTASY THE PSYCHIC POKER PIAYER

••••• cont .

inse rts the extr a 5 oard s back into the well . t roun d with the The men talis t 01' oour se wins the tirs anot her 5 tour aoes . On the seoon d deal the men talis t gets y 1'ail to hartU can he card s and as it beoomes quite obvio us whil e hand his ve impro win since he has had 1'our chan ces to the speo tator only has two ohan ces. talis t Let' s assum e that in the 1'irs t roun d the mendeuo es. 01' pair a and was able to salt away a pair 01' king s king her anot ived rece And that on the secon d roun d he eith er 01' a kind or or a pair 01' some thing else . Now he has three ever he has he what two high pairs or even a 1'ull hous e. But disca rdl the on stil l has anot her ohan ce to impro ve farth er The table oloth shou ld be made of smal l cheo. kers so sible that the slit in the cloth will be almo st invi well can be the If' a thiok table oloth is used then as smoo th as with dispe noed with but the work ing will not be e-lik e easy an rd the well . The impo rtant thing is to affo back into chut well thA rted gimmick so that the cards can be inse with the grea test ease . than that Only two hand s of poke r shou ld be play ed. Hore woul d be dimi nishi ng the (',fre ot. This pres enta tion may, prov e fata l if used for othe r than ente rtain ing purposeslll~!-+:P$$??? , other wise the NOTE: The deok is eXRmined curs orily onlyare miss ing. Aces the spec tator may notic e that the Aces , for ed titut subs Anot her high hand may be ing. miss if ed notic like 4 sixes whic h are less nce to "Per sona lly, I neve r belie ve in askin g an audieaudie nce the exam ine anyt hing . If' the oonj urer desi res that er plan is to shou ld hand le any piece 01' appa ratus , the bett to hand le arran ge the trick in suoh a way that they have ld not be the appa ratus durin g the perfo rman ce. They shou ed to have allow aske d to look at it; the 1'act that they are is no there it in thei r f,oss essio n will conv ince them that trii.,;l to it t Will Gold ston, writ ing in "Exc lusiv e Magi cal Secr eta" p. 55, one of the "lock ed" book s 01' magi c, publ ished Oct. 31, 1912 'I

•

Pee a dr• •tio .ono lusio n,

... esoa p. tr_

t;h.

haD4 outt. 1 II I

~e

,-,oh io relte r

n.,..r

THE THIRD BOSTASY

22 OHAPTER III FOROES

THE REVERSE FAN FORCE: Joseph Dunninger is credited with using this torce as a brain buster. Orson Welles uses it to demonstrate a coincident effect where three or tour persons all choose the same card. The reverse tan torce is used on ane person. A one-way deck on a second person and a "please pick the 2-of-clubs II card is given to a third person together with a deck ot cards, etc. In working the reverse fan torce, the cards are tanned in reverse fashion fram right to lett so that none ot the indexes of the cards show. The only card that shows is the card on the tace ot the deck. 'lbe fan is shown to the spectator while he stands behind the magician as the magician winks at the spectator and instructs the spectator to just think ot any card he sees. Naturally he must think ot the one card visible.

THE ISOMERIC CARD:

••• 2

3

An improvement on the reverse-tantorce utilizes 'isomeric' cards. One ot these cards is seen in Fig. 11. It is made simply by placing indexes in the upper right hand co!'ner and in the lower lett hand corner also if desired. G .Please refer to Fig. 12, 'I'his shows a reverse tan showing the tace card, Ace Fig. 11 of spades and also the indeX of the 3ot diamonds which is an isomeric card. It the joker is placed on the face of the deck and the spectator is toJd ~~~~~~ not to settle on the joker, then he must settle on the 3-ofdiamonds! This would be an excellent force tor a single card force. The advantage of using the isomeric card is that the deck can actually be examined and nothing will b!. i'oillld out of place and the spectator who chooses the ~ard aotually believes he did have a free choice. Iso:HJric cards are not a.. :i.lable through dealers so the reader will have to make up his own. Fig. 12

•

•

THE THIRD BCSTASY

23

THE REVERSE FAN FORCR SUPREME Going ane step furth er, we can utili ze a number 01' isom eric card s to crea te a smal l mira cle with card s. Fig. 13 shows a reve rse fan show ing foUl' isom eric card s plus the face card to give the spec tator s a choic e ot five card s. If a secon d set 01' these s are made and card tive the fan, then into d place ar that a large appe will it es are visi index of er numb ble. With this set up the perfo rmer can show the fan to four perso ns and ask them to choo se ment ally any card they see. They will have a choic e 01' tive card s. It may happ en that two or more spec tator s will choo se the same card or they may all choo se the same card but of cour se they or divin e the do not know this . So the Men talis t can pred ict '.Phen the spec s. card the ~ card s ohos en by oalli ng out four d. calle been tato rs are asked if thei r card has It one spec tator is miss ed then the perfo rmer calls the othe r unoa lled isom eric card . d If two spec tator say tnat thei r card was not oallecard eric isom ining rema then the perfo rmer calls out the one plus any othe r card! etc. five The abov e rout ine can of cour se be done with aer's Five in Hlmb bank deck of card s s~ilar to the deck used by eas wher ined star prin ciple . But the card s can not be exmn deck the s, the use of the reve rse fan and the isom ericingcard will be Been can be ribbo n sprea d on the table and noth wron g with it. The perfo rmer may wish to turn the face card over e so that it's back shows sayin g that he does n't want anyon to choo se the face card . The effe ct is of cour se pres ente d at a fast pace that so that the spec tator s do not have a chan ce to notic e the index es are not wher e they usua lly are.

THE THIRD ECSTASY

PORCES

•••• cont • ~

FORCES WITHIH

s b1 AL BAKER'S CARD CASE: Forc ing one or more card h box or card box the use of a box such as a dra~er-t1Pe matc s. is a stand ard trick that bas. been used throu ghnstthetheyear r unde The card s to be force d are stuck agai drathe by side of the top of the box and are held in placeout and gitaken is deck The ned. open wer when the box is d place is deck ven for shur fling and cutti ng and then the natu adds rally in the box and the box is close d. The move the force card s to the top of the deck . fhe force is good and can be used to crea te amamzing card feat s. Al Bake r in his exce llent book Itpet Secr ets, t1 ina 'forc ing card case .' trodu ced If the read er take s the troub le ot build ing one of a valu eble these gimm icked boxe s, he will disco ver what place d insid e piece ot appa rarus it is. The torce card s when unpr epare d s the box are comp letel y invi sible . The box look and oan even be given out to the speo tator s. with this card The mira cles that can be perfo r.med case are only ltmi ted to the imag inati on of the owne r. an exThe read ers who own 'Pet Seor ets' know whatgimm icked celle nt effe ct Al Bake r offe rs with the use of the box. Follo wing is.OI18 of the auth or's many effe cts possible with the box. For the bene fit of those who do not own 'Pet Secr ets' here 1s an exag gerat ed plan for build ing the box. Two card case s are need ed for maki ng one box. 1. cut off the botto m ~ pane l "A" fram. one ------~--~ box, Fig.1 4 A ~I ~ ---~~-2. Cut the othe r bo~ in --J-. ___ ___ "' top the in reta half and half with flap , both side s and the fron t pane l-par t only Fig. 1L~B 3. Inse rt seoti on "B" into box throu gh "An and ceme nt at sides only , agai nst the top- insid e of the box. ing Box is now oom4. The Al Bake r Foro 0 has a hidd en spao e and 14 plet e, Fig. as per arrow . parts boxbetw een the large enou gh be will space 5. The secr et s. oard 3 to hide Fig.

THE THIRD ECSTASY

2S

t. THE FORCES WITHIN ••••• •••• con when The Al Bake r torC: ing card case is uniqu e inof that case the the botto m flap is close d it resem bles the ~ottam of the flap beca use there is no moon -cut- out tor the inse rtion like there is on the top of the box. We are now read 7 to do the effe ct whic h we have already calle d "The Forc es With in." cards to shuBFFECT: Spec tator s are given a deok of remem ber them . ffle and out and then to choo se three card s and into the case . The deck is then shuf fled same more and put back begin ning The perfo rmer , who has not touch ed the deck fromthethethree top now divin es the three card s free ly ohos en plus card s of the deck . Part of this effe ct can be work ed as a preh he clatm s dic'i on. The perfo~er prod uces an enve lope whic three cont ains three card s as a form of a pred ictio n of the card s that the spec tator s will late r choo se. used . The perAND PRESENTATION: A three -ahe ad syste m is are in the sethat form er alrea dy knows the three force card s The three card s, cret comp artme nt of the forci ng card case . lubs have been sa7 the 2-Qf -spad es, 5-of -hea rts and king -of-c down when the face be will the7 place d into the case so that nd. top-e inal orig case in open ned .fram the the perThe oard case with the deok insid e is kept in ned. open dy alrea flap m botto the form er's coat pock et with the s dump and case card the uces prod Tts perfo rmer table card s on the table and plac es the card case also on the to one side with the open flE:p show ing. atten Perfo rmer also produce~ an enve lope and calls full in rema ins tion to it and then plac es it aside wher e itshuf deok the sigh t. He then instr ucts the spec tator s to and fle mber them reme s card three out piok and cut it and then to and plac e them on the table face down. shuf rle He then instr ucts one of the spec tator s to two the deck same more , to cut it in half and to plac eto the it's oase . deck halv es toge ther face -to-t ace and retu rn the band aroun d the The perfo rmer then plao es a rubb er to place tator spec the tells afte r closi ng it and car~ case the ~arQ case in his pock et. been dane . Perfo rmer then reca lls eVer ,thin g that hasthree cards the up s At '~.j~") same time he reaoh es over and pick had the7 if them asks that ~,',;T'e e'lose n by the spec tator s and he if lett his a tree u~oice and then ask3 the spec tator on

~HOD

26

THE THIRD BCSTASY THE FORCES WITHIN

• • • •• cont .

it. When the reme mber s what his card was and to plea se name on the table it s throw spec tator nsmes his card , perfo rmer name thei r to s tator spec tace- up. He then asks the othe r two on the taup faces card r oard s and as they do he throw s thei rememcould you it know to ble. He then says , "I just want ed et." ber your chos en card s. SOlI1e peop le torg r ~ried He then remin ds the spec tator s that he neve not touch did he that and to influ ence them as to thei r choio e cutand fling shuf the the deck at all but that they did all cards of deck the ting . He then instr ucts the spec tator with the card s out in his pock et to plea se brin g it out and take table BUT~ "Bethe very care fully and to deal three card s on s what those three fore you do that I am going to try to gues card s may be. n his The perfo rmer now take s out anot her deck fram three the icate dupl pock et and pick s out the three card s that three these es card s that are tace up on the tabl e. He plac to deal the three card s face down and then tells the spec tator the card s fram the top of the deck one at a time face up on table next to the othe r three face- up card a. lope whic h Perfo~er then open s his pred ictio n enve were in that s card cont ains the dupl icate of the three force his onto down face s card the card case , and dumps the three bunc h a as up s card his s othe r three face- down card s. He pick clel mira of End and then deal s them out in orde r! draw n The desc ripti on ot the abov e effe ct is a bit dane be can what ot idea out but it will give the read er an with the comb inati on of prin ciple s used . The reaso n why the d3ck was cut in half and then e from noti place d toge ther face -to-f ace WBS to prev ent anyon down. face out cing that the deck went in face up and came be must he , spec tator take s out the deck or cour se, when the deck is not turne d over . watc hed so that the nt, NOTE: When the force card s are insid e the secr et comp artme ed open m flap is they are tota lly invi sible when the bottoopen ned. but come into view when the top flap is

THE THIRD ECSTASY

27

FORCES ••••• cont. ~

OUT FORCE

In most cases in a mental progrmn, all that is needed is to force a single card and then the deck of cards is put away and not used again. The force of a single card is used in working the "Mental Epic" slate effect; in do1z:g the three pellet trick where a card, a word and a number are used; in doing private readings as in liThe Threshold of Miracle,1I etc. For these occasions the mentalist must resort to the simplest and most direct method or forcing. Usually the cutforce is used. The spectator is told to cut the deck and to criss-cross the two halves, one over the other. After same patter the spectator is told to look at the bottom card of the top half which 1.-Ias the original bottom card of the deck. This is a force of the bottom card and we are told that the force is very deceptic. Perhaps it is deceptive in most of the cases. It would be more deceptive if the performer memorizes the top and bottom cards of his deck and then have the spectator cut the deck into three piles and criss-cross the three piles, one on top of the other, then maneuver the three piles so that no matter which pile is chosen it would force either the top card or the origianl bottom card.

T1B following force is a8 clireot as i. possiblo. The deck used can be switched for another deck if ane 15 needed. otherwise we take into accolUlt that the deck will be used tor that one torce and nothing else. In at1'ect 1 The spectator is shown a deck at cards which the pertormeD ma,. overhand shutfle it needed but is not recommended. It is obvious that the deck is a straight one as the performe::, shows the cards front and back. The spectator is told to cut about one-third of the deck and to hold the cards over the deck and then turn the cut section over and look at the bottom card. The card is forcedl METHOD: Take 18 cards and punch. two holes in each with a punching instrument as shown in Fig. 15. Next take a piece of thread and form e. loop ". "ough the 18 cards and tie them together with R knot. Make the loop a bit loose. Then Fig. 15 rub1)'1:T'··c·~~nt a whole card to the front card and m:o'::;.Ler to the back card to hide the thread. ~~s makes a paok of 20 cards. If the deck is now cut as abovq stated it will force the face card of the pack. 'I'm whole deck can be shown front and back and nothing will look mnisB since the pack of 18 cards can be fanned a bitl

28

THE THIRD ECSTASY OHAPTER IV THE HAST ER .-

OF THE OARDS ------

A DISOUSSION ON THE PSYCHIC FEATS OF OLOP JONSSON in 1971, the news media carried world-wide headlines about wn electritying ESP test done in outer-space between Apollo's Bdgar Mitchell and the SwediSh superpsychic Olaf Jonsson I Olof Jonsson stands out as the one persOD who has gone far perfo~ing card effects. He has proven practically every facet at psychic phenomena with a deck of cards and has received signed affidavits fram prominent scientists and psy$bic investigators the world over. In 1953 he was invited to visit the USA and was tested by Dr. Rhine. What Olaf Jonsson does with a deck of cards is not to be found in magic books. The effects that he creates in the minds of his audience sound like utter impossibilities. If this man is not a true psychic, he most certainly is a wizard of the magic arts I His feats are documented in the book, "The Psychic Feats of Olaf Jonsson" by Brad Steiger, published by Prentice-Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J. The book is 'must' reading for anyone interested in doing psychic feats with cards. The book is a revelation of the psychic art. Olaf Jonsson has done it all. Seances, levitations, hypnotism, teleportation, telekinesis, flying saucers and you-name-it. Olaf Jonsson is in the same class with Uri Geller and Henr'1 Slade. These people make things happen. Tre y prove their claims. They give the world what it wants and the world loves it. 'falking about psychic phenol,lsna is one thing. But proving it is a thing of another world! ~

JONSSON'S

~

FEATS

The following card effects credited to Olaf Jonsson are "thell effect as seen by the eyes and minds of the aUdience. Tm author do.s not pretend to know the methods used by Jansson, however, after each effect, a method will be given by which the reader can duplicate the effects by legerdemain. In his presentation, Olaf Jonsson emphasizes that he never touches the deck. He insists that he never is, in most cases, in the room while the experiment is taking place. He lllsists that the deck ot cards used has never been seen by him before rund that the deck usually belongs to someone elsel

THE THIRD ECSTASY OLOF JONSSON'S OARD FEATS

29 •••• cont.

As will be seen, the approaoh to each test and the delivery, are totally different than the approach given to card effects by magioian's. Jonsson does not always succeed in his experiments. He fails sometimes but his failures are soon forgotten. However when he does sucoeed which is most of the time the effect is a miracle. ESP: Olof is on his way to a TV fi~ing ot psychic phenomena. Riding with him by car are two other persons. A deck ot ESP cards are produced by Olof. The cards are thoroughly shuffled and sealed in an envelope and pocketed by one of the passengers. This same deck of ESP oards is later used in the TV seance and Olof calls out the first 13 cards in order and also the last three I Olof called out 16 correct cards and made a mistake in the other 9 cards. Modus: The gypsy switch of envelopes while the car ride, the conversation and the oity sights afford the misdirection. Olof calls out five cards in a row that were seleoted from a shuffled deck while his back was turned. Method: Here the reader must read between the lines. This is one of those effects in print that sound ~ possible. The description of the effect was given by the spectator and is exactly as the description given after the one-ahead system is used. The perfor.mer writes down or places cards down ahead of time befoi'e each card is chosen. The ~erformer's back's turned only part of the time. his test took place at a Christmas party. OVER THE TELEPHONE: Olof intends to do a test over a period of time. He gives out a deck of ESP oards for thorough shuffling. The deck is placed back tnto it's case and then sealed in an envelope and the envelope is marked for later identification. The sealed and marked envelope is given to one peI'son to hold. Hours later or days later Olof is to callout the cards. Olof oalls out 18 oards tn order, misses the 19th card and correotly names the 20th. Misses on the next four cards and nwnes the last one correctly. The whole thing is done with much dramatics ~ ~ telephone I Method: This is anotmr envelope switch. A deok of ESP cards is composed of only 2$ cards and in it's case makes a small package. Please note that the

THB THIRD ECSTASY OLOF JONSSON'S CARD

30 F~TS

•••• oont.

envelope is 'marked' tor later identifioation. In order to mark the envelope it must be turned over. The Al Baker window-envelope switoh and Al Hann's Gritfin switoh fit the desoription. See Al Baker's Mental Magio Rnd Pallbearer's Review, Vol. 9, #8. Missing a tew oards gives the test a touch ot authentioity. SPECTATOR BECOMES THE MINDREADER: Jansson selects ten oards whioh same one shuffles. Jonsson then asks one speotator to name the top oard. He then asks other spectators to name the other cards. Tl'8 Y Buooa,d without a miss. Method: This is another test that sounds impossible. Yet it can be duplicated with an efteot oalled, "Phenomenal ESP Perception." '!'he speotators know the identity of the chosen cards. If a deck of ESP cards is used, the test beoomes simpler. The perfor.mer knows the initials of all the persons present. A oard is picked up and a person is asked to name it. Say he names the 'croBs' but, the card is aotually a 'star.' The performer pretends to write the initials of the spectator on the baok of the card but actually writes the initials of the last person that will be called. Performer next picks up the 'star' and asks a second person to name it. 'J.his time the perforwrites the initials of the first person. The rest of the cards are all initialed one-behind etc. The oards are nl)t shown until the test is finished at which time all the cards are marked with the correct initials! The test is sold by Micky Hades. MIND CONTROL: A person is asked to spread out a shuffled deok. He is then commanded to pick out the 4 fives. Person pioks out four oards at random and they are the four fivesl Fantastiol ..i~HO.u: This if.. the four ace trick in a beauti1'1l1 new dress. The four ohosen cards are placed face down unoeen over a Reader's Digest. Inside the book are the four fives ready for the switch. Tarbell #5. Many other switohes are also possible.

THE THIRD ECSTASY

31

OLOF JONSSON'S CARD FEATS

•••• cont . is a not OLAIRVOYANCE: On page 39 or o~or Jons son's booktest with too clea r desc ripti on of a most elab orate d card s and anve lopes for whic h he rece ived a signe : affid avit . The crux of the test is some thinga like shuf fled A spec tator piok s four oard s at random from s are deok whil e Olof is in anot her room The oard card s then are seale d in enve lopes sigh t unse en. ~irst the lopes enve two Then s. lope enve seale d sing ly into sepa rate third a into r, othe eaoh are plac ed flaps agai nst d in like enve lope. Tb; rema ining two enve lopes are sealeenve lopes the ed rustl on Jonss mann er. In full ligh t Mr. ns. perso two to them aroun d a mane nt and then gave The ligh ts were extin guish ed and then Jonss on th names three of the oard s and comes close on the four oard! lude the METHOD: Ther e must be a doze n meth ods to conc not were s oard the all, of' t abov e test . Firs a for ds affor h whic s tator known to 'the spec nt abse be oan r.mer perfo The s. switc h of enve lope en chos are s card four the fram the room whil e and place d into the sing le enve lope s. Nextarethe sing le enve lopes can be switc hed as they .inse l'ted into the next larg er enve lope.ba'Seepage Prac tioal Ment al ~ffects IWhfm of Titu

69.

However, we will foreg o an enve lope- switc h due to the rest of outs tand ing olue s given in the in desc ripti on of the effe ct. The prec ise waylap, -to-f flap d, seale whic h the enve lopes were makes for a more dram atic and darin g pres enta tion. If a card is inse rted sigh t unse en into an that the enve lope it must be place d face- down so side of ess addr face of the oard is towa rds the d seale are the enve lope. And if two enve lopes s tlap -to-f lap into a third enve lope, both card to has rmer perfo will be facin g outw ards! Al+ the bthum a get to is do whil e he is in the othe r room l amal a g ainin cont tip with hole s on the tips and oan piece of spong e and aloo holl Then the perfo r.mer ncy pare trans read the index es of the card s by the meth od whil e he is 'rust ling ' the enve lope s. Aorate I littl e more rust ling and the alcoh ol will evap The extin~uishing of the ligh ts was no doub t to add to the atmo spher e of the sean ce. atAn amaz ing test. The enve lopes were defin the Yet 1,. c' ',aque and ever ythin g can be exam ined. plac ing perfo rmer can see throy .gh two envelO'pe s by . a smal l d9b of alcoh ol on the righ t spot

!HE THIBD ECSTASY OLOP JONSSON'S CARD FEATS

32 •••• cont.

LBVITATIOB: A selected card is shuttled back into the deok by a speotator. The deck is set on the table and the selected card is tound to have risen to the top-card position. The spectator again shutfles the deck thoroughly and the deck is again placed an the table and again the chosen card is tound to be the top card. METHOD: this is the ambitious card routine with a clever twist. In this version, the spectator does the shutfling of the cards which makes the effect look like a miracle. The effect can only be dane by the performer touching the deck as it is p~ced on the table. The performer adcta the chosen card which has been palmed. As the deck is given back to the spectator the top card is paLmed again. Performer claims that he wills the card to the topl TELEPORTATIOH: Olof Jonsson requests someone to think ot a card and will that card to turn up when the deck is out. ~~en the deok is cut the ten-ot-hearts shows up BUT the speotator cla~s that the card he was thinking ot was the ten-ot-diamonds. Jonsson says that he has caused the tenof-diamonds to disappear fran the deck. The deck is searohed and the ten-of-diamonds is found to be missing. Jonsson then says that he has the impression that the spectator is si tting on the card. TlB card is found beneath a loose cushion on the chair. Olof has not touched the deck or gone near the person's seatl HErROD: The ettect sounds impossible the way it is described, as it is claimed that the operator did not touch the deok. otherwise the effect sounds exactly like Annemann's "A Da'1-Time Nightmare" in his booklet 'Card Miracles.' See also Jinx #7. The fact is that the deck is touched but it is done secretly long before the presentation. An'1 deck oan be converted into the 'nightmare' deck almost inatantly simply by adding the g~ick or by gimmioking one of the cards. The performer needs a duplicate of the ten-of-dirunonds which he places under the ohair cushion before the show. The other ten-ot-diamonds is cemented to a short black card at one end onl'1 for a 1/2 inch strip. We now have a blaok card with the ten-of-diamonds hiding behind it. This double care is then placed in the middle of the deck. ~~e spectator is asked to 'think' ot a card by "t'irrling the deok ot oards in front ot his eyes

33

THE THIRD ECSTASY OLOF JONSSON'S CARD FEATS

•••• Teleportation

•• cont.

so that he can get a 'subliminal' tmage of only one card. He is told that in order to do that he must riffle the cards at a fast pace. The only image that the spectator can get is of the ten-of diamonds as that is the only card that shows due to the 'click-stop' it makes as the short black card slips by the thumb and exposes the ten-ofdiamonds for a split second but longer than any other cardl Now, when the spectator cuts the deck, it doesn I t matter if the ten-of-hearts shm-ls up or the two-of-clubs. The spectator will say his card is the ten-or-diamonds. Now if the deck is examined, his ten-of-diamonds which he just saw a moment ago is found missing fram the deck. At the first oportunity the performer must remove the gimmick cards fram the deok. SE~ING

THROUGH A BRICK WALL: A spectator goes into another roam and picks a card from any deck and holds it against the wall faoe out. Jonsson draws a picture of the card on a sheet of paper in the other room. METHOD: I will Jet the reader figure out his own method for this effect. The plot is good and shows a creative imaginative mind. There are a number of methods to accomplish the effect. Impulse receivers; codes; back readers; peep holes; the swami gimmiok, etc. A magic i an walks thr ough a bri ck \Olall but a mentalist thinks through one. Dunninger did a book-test thru a brick wall by seeing what a certain word on certain line was in a book beyond a brick walll

SENSATIVE FINGER TIPS AND X-RAY EYES: Jonsson asks that he be given a 'thoroughly shuffled' deck. When one is provided he spreads it on the table face down. A card i~ named and Jonsson passes his fingertips over the cards, picks one out and it is the card called. This is re;>eateJ several times. For a finale he tells what the 5th card picked will be out of several pioked! METHOD: The deck has got to be a stacked deCk or baok reade~. The deck was not shuffled. The operator just asks for a 'thououghly shuffled deck'. A stacked or memorized deck looks like a shuttled deck I

THE THIRD ECSTASY OLOF JONSSON'S CARD PEATS

•••• oont.

There is no limit to the mnazing plots used by Olot Jonsson to present his miracles. He causes transposition ot cards in a most uncanny fashion. He oauses cards to move and jwnp and to vanish and materialize with a technique all his own which makes the effects unique. Witness the following force: Olof Jansson picks out a card fram the deck and asks someone to identify the card. "What do you wish this card to be? A number card or a picture oard?" Spectator chooses a picture card. "What picture oard?11 Speotator chooses the Queen. The speotator in this case was a male. "Which oolor?11 Spectator chose redl l1you are correct, it is the Queen of Hearts." Most persons usually choose the since blaok is not The whole thing is

will choose a pioture card. A man will Queen. The color usually ohosen is red a color. No mention is made of the suit. a beautiful swindle.

DEVELOPING ESP: This is one of the most amazing effects done by Jonsson. He instructs a person on how best to develope his ESP. He tells them to first try it by guessing the cards. They are given a deck of ISP cards which they shuffle and then cut several t~es. They are told to try to cut to a 'star'. The spectator tries and fails several ttmes but eventually he developes a knaok tor it, then cuts to a star card everytime. Jonsson and the spectator alternate and eventually manage to 'guess out' all the star cards. SUggested method: All the star cards are short cards. The spectator is told to cut the cards until he feels like stopping and 'will' the star card to turn up. The spectator fails at first but soon developes a 'knack' for stopping at the star cards. He of course does not know why he has developed the knack other than that his ESP is getting betterl This 'developing' is aocompanied by a lot of patter about the subconscious mind, etc. Somettmes when the spectator tails to get a star the performer says, "I'm sorry, please try it again. That was my fault. I was thinklng of the cross (or whatever the card was)."

THE THIRD ECSTASY OTHER BOOKS AND EFPBCTS BY THE AUTHOR THE LEXICON PHENOMENA: The greatest book test ever. 'lhe spectators look up the meaning of freely chosen words in a dictionary. They write nothing, say nothing or count. The mentalist divines the words without going near the spectator O~ the dictionaryl $30.00 SUPER CLIP LINE PLUS: A superior way of presenting the newspaper column test. A. spectators read a news column performer snips off lines and stops anywhere the spectators wish. The line stopped at is predicted. Can be done with any column chosen by the spectators. $ 8.00 DEATH WATCH: Mental effeots with watches. 18 brain busting miraoles vlith watohes. $12.50 THE THINKING MACHINES: The towering intellect of the mentalist pitted against man-made thinking machinesl $12.50 PIECES-OF-EIGIrr: Predioting the headlines with envelopes. There is no exchange of envelope or prediction paper! $10.50 I{ASTER SLATE SECRErS PART I: Effects with unprepared slates. The Spirit of the Faberlands and the Telepathic Artist are worth the prise of the book. $ 7.50 Jv1ASrr~R SLATE SECREl'S PART II: On pocket slates. Over 22 master effects with pocket slates. Includes the Omar slates, and The Phanthom Slate where spectator cleans a slate on both sides and writing appears on both sides while he is holding it. $1 0.50

JvIAS1 E!H SLATE SJ~CHE'rS PART III: Effects with trick slates. 21 different trick slates discussed plus many new ideas never before published. $10.50 1

:'IC;WTAL-.E:I'rrES: A collection of provocative but practical effects. 16 items of prtme interest to the mentalist an;l private reader with much new material. $10.50

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