Art Vanderlay
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This eBook and its contents copyright © 2013 Art Vanderlay.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this eBook may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author.
NOT FOR RESALE.
If you didn’t pay for this eBook, I will hunt you down like a dog and eat you alive.
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Contents 3 - The Prophecy Principle 12 - My Mind Or Yours 18 - Emotional Fire Bending 23 - 5th Dimensional Telepathy 32 - Phantom 44 - What’s On Tv? 50 - ESP Opener 58 - The No Skill Chair Test
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The Prophecy Principle This book test serves as a 100% impromptu or prepared opener that can be done any place, any time using any book. It should be themed around the premise of getting to know how the spectator thinks and makes their decisions. The principle allows you to give the spectator a free choice of any word on any page of any book, whilst still secretly limiting their selection to just a few words.
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Effect A spectator is asked to select a book and to turn to a page that is decided upon in a very fair manner. They are asked to look at any word on the page. However, they are to make sure that it is an interesting and challenging word, say 7, 8 or 9 letters long. This being done, the spectator closes the book and puts it away. The performer, using a mixture of NLP, body language reading or any other means, can correctly name the word thought of every single time.
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Method Two Book Version
Before I move onto the method, I need to first point out that even though this has been an independent creation; the idea is not originally mine. Andrew Gerard had previously developed this principle but has not as of yet released his workings on it. Andrew has VERY kindly allowed for this principle to remain in the eBook and I offer him my uttermost thanks and respect for his generosity and understanding. If Andrew decides to release his workings on this principle then I urge every single one of you to immediately go out and purchase it. Andrew’s ideas are always fantastic and workable in real situations. ~ This principle is a combination of a number of different methods & principles, each designed to give the impression that any word can be thought of. The reason why the principle is called The Prophecy Principle is because I first discovered this exploitation whilst reading a book called The Prophecy by Chris Kuzneski. Whilst this book is perfect for the principle in the UK, if you happen to live elsewhere then you must find a book that has the same properties as The Prophecy by Chris Kuzkeski. This will not be hard once you know how the principle works.
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If you are English and own the book The Prophecy, then you can follow along with me. If you do not have that book then I will try to explain as best as I can. In this book test, a specific page must be forced in a specific book. I recommend using the Bold Book Test ploy created by David Hoy to force the page; however any page force you use will be perfect for this. To force the book I recommend using my equivoque subtlety: “Just choose a book for me please.” Spectator picks up the force book – “Which book did you choose? “The Prophecy”. Ok Great! I prefer the other one anyway!” Spectator picks up the non-force book – “Which book have you chosen for me? The Lord Of The Rings? Ok Great! This one happens to be my favourite of the two anyway!” This is, in my opinion, the cleanest handling for forcing one of two objects when using equivoque. The Bold Book Test ploy is used to determine the page number the spectator looks at in his book. If the Bold Book Test is not favourable to you, I recommend using a riffle force to get the spectator looking at the correct page. Page 174 in the book The Prophecy is the page we will be using for our explanation. This page is a LEFT HAND page and also happens to be the very LAST page of a chapter. What is interesting about the page is that it only has 7 lines of text before the chapter ends and a new one starts on the right hand page next to it.
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What is also interesting about the page is that it only has 5 words where there are 6 or more letters in them. (6 words actually if you count a name in Italics - which I don’t as you will see later) So, the audience has no idea the spectator is looking at a page with only a limited amount of lines and long words. The spectator has no idea that you know he only has a limited amount of lines and words and assumes any page could have been used. This enables the use of a very deceptive bit of patter such as the following: “Please think of any word you can see on that page. It can be any word and as long a word as you like. Please don’t chose a boring word like “and” or “the”. Try to make this as challenging as possible for me.” This is the cleanest force I can think of to get the spectator to concentrate on a long word. So how do we know what word the spectator is thinking of? Once you have a page in a book that fits the criteria above, you then need to make a branching anagram using the five or so words. If you are unfamiliar with branching anagrams and how to create them, I recommend using a computer software such as Panagram © to build them and to watch Max Maven perform his Contimental effect from his third Videomind DVD series. If you want a professionally made branching anagram that takes into consideration the sounds of certain letters, letter frequency, the amount of syllables in words and other linguistic & visual subtleties. I offer a branching anagram creation service and will gladly build you several different anagrams for the same list so you may chose the one you like the best or just have multiple for different occasions.
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For more information on this service then please contact me using my details at the end of this eBook. Once your branching anagram is complete then you are ready to perform the effect. Often the words will not need a branching anagram and only a crib sheet is required, if each word starts with a different letter you can then fish or gain knowledge secretly or openly and then reveal the word. When looking for books that have the properties found in The Prophesy, try to look for books that have the largest font. These tend to have the pages required. Don’t go for large print books though, that will give the method away somewhat! “Popcorn” books such as “The Da Vinci Code” and “Bravo Two Zero” are usually good for this principle. Not to pooh pooh any of those authors or the people who read them, I myself am partial to a good “popcorn” book! The Prophecy is just that! You can also exclude certain words from being chosen that are 6 letters and above such as names and words written in italics, names or foreign words if it helps bring the list of words down to 5 or 6. Remember, the requirements are: LEFT HAND PAGE NO MORE THAN 10 LINES OF TEXT NO MORE THAN 5 OR 6 LONG WORDS These requirement being filled, you now have a very clean & impossible looking book test perfect for stage or impromptu situations. EVILDAN kindly informed me that you could also use the start of chapters for this principle too.
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In quite a lot of books, at the start of a chapter, the text will start half way down the book and will often have pictures or graphics on the page. Combined with a large enough font and the right amount of long words, you can have multiple pages in one book selected for the use of the Prophecy Principle.
One Book Version
Let us suppose someone has just handed you a book and requests for your talents. Whilst casually talking about the book and its contents, flip through the pages and find a suitable page that will work with the principle. It is best to find a page that has no more that 3 lines of text for this impromptu version. Quickly scan the lines of text for the biggest and most interesting words that are there. Memorise as many words that stand out to you as you can. Close the book and set it aside. Use this time to talk about the book and regarding how many words there are on each page and in the book in total for the purposes of time misdirection. Pick the book up and flip through its pages, request for someone to call out “stop”. When you hear someone call out “stop”, open the book at that page, quickly show the page to the audience whilst miscalling the page number. The number you actually call out is the same as the page you peeked earlier. Be careful not to show the page you stop on to the spectator you are performing for.
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Close the book and then hand it to your spectator requesting for them to open it to the page number you just called out. The audience has now seen you show them a page full of text and believe the spectator will open the book to the very same page. This bit of dual reality serves as another convincer to the audience that the spectator has more words to select than they actually do. The spectator is now looking at a page with only 3 lines of text. A very similar script to the Two Book Version such as: “Please think of any word on the page, choose one that stands out to you the most. It can be as long or as short as you like but I would prefer it if you chose something as challenging as possible.” This will force the spectator to concentrate on one of the words you memorised earlier. All that needs to be done now is to fish for the correct word. Those experienced in mentalism will be able to do this without any problems, but for the sake of any newcomers, I recommend asking anyone else present to attempt to read your spectators mind. Request that the spectator telepathically transmit the first letter of their word to any onlookers. After a moment or two, ask the spectator to name the letter they were trying to transmit and then request by a show of hands who picked up the correct letter. It does not matter if anyone does or not since you simply make a general comment of the success or failure of the onlookers. You have now gained knowledge of the first letter of their word without asking for it directly. If there is more than one word that starts with the same letter then a swami gimmick can be used to divine the last letter. You could also guess the last letter of the word and if you get it wrong then you know it is the other word they are thinking of.
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Credits Andrew Gerard – For being a Gentleman and allowing his principle to remain in this eBook. Alain Nu – For his work on putting branching anagrams into regular, un-gimmicked books U. F. Grant – For creation of the long word force in book tests David Hoy – For the creation of the page force Stanley Collins – For giving the world branching anagrams Evil Dan – For showing me how the start of a chapter can also be used with the principle
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My Mind Or Yours This is an impromptu effect that uses a stack of business cards for the premise of predicting the future. The effect is an instant reset and it can be used as a mind reading effect or as a way to predict absolutely anything. This can be adapted for any situation and is a perfect way to hand out your business cards.
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Effect The performer proposes a demonstration in precognition. Displaying a stack of business cards he writes the number “1” at the bottom of the first business card. An unsuspecting spectator is asked to think of any animal he wishes. After a moment’s concentration, the performer jots something down on the business card, folds it into quarters and hands it to the spectator for safe keeping. The animal that the spectator was concentrating on is recorded on a second business card which is tabled. On the bottom of a third business card, the performer writes the number “2” and requests the spectator to remove a number of items from their person and to select one. The performer concentrates some more and then jots down his impressions on the business card which is again folded and given to the spectator for safe keeping. The object that the spectator selects is then recorded on the second business card. When the two folded cards that the spectator is holding onto are opened, the contents match the spectator’s thoughts exactly.
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Method For this effect you will need a stack of business cards that are blank on both sides OR your own business cards stacked so that both the front and back of the stack display the BACK side of your business card. This will enable you to turn the stack of business cards over in your hand and the spectators will not notice any discrepancy. You could also perform this using a pad of paper just as long as the pad of paper is exactly the same on the front as it is on the back. Alternatively, remove the front and back cover of any pad and you will have the perfect pad for this principle. You will also need a sharpie marker and good verbal skills. Once these items have been required you are ready to begin. Start off by writing the number “2” on the bottom of one of your business cards. This is the only set up you need to do and once it is done you should keep this word hidden from view by having your stack of business cards with the number “2” on the very bottom card of your stack. If you were to pick up your business cards and tilt the bottom towards you, you would see the number “2”. It is VERY important that the spectator does not suspect you have anything already written on your business cards so ensure that the initial set up is kept face down! THE TOP CARD OF YOUR STACK SHOULD BE BLANK!
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Once this set up is done you will NEVER have to do this again since the effect is an instant reset. Once done you simply place the cards back into your pocket or card holder, (Keeping the number “2” hidden from view) and you’re ready to go again. Now onto the actual effect… Holding the stack of business cards in your hand, with the number “2” hidden from view facing your palm, write the number “1” on the top business card. Show this to the spectator as your write the number. This is important! If they see you write the number “1” then the ending is impossible to backtrack. As you ask the spectator to think of an animal, you simply turn the stack of business cards over in your hand so that the number “2” is facing you. DO NOT let the spectator see this. They do not know of the initial set up you did and they assume you are still looking at the number “1”. Pretend to concentrate on reading their mind and then write the words, “KEYS” on the business card marked with the word “2”. Carefully fold this card into quarters and hand it to the spectator to hold onto. At this point in the routine you should have a stack of business cards in your hand, the top one is blank and the bottom card has the number “1” written on it. Remove the top blank card of the business card stack and write the word “Animal” on the top and request for the name of the animal the spectator was concentrating on. Once he has divulged his thought, act happy with his selection and then write his choice next to the word “Animal”. Tell him this is the record card so you can verify your results later.
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Now you say that you will attempt this one more time but they are to try to predict your thoughts instead. On the next blank card you write the number “2” whilst showing this to the spectator. Once this has been done you need to verbally force a set of Keys onto the spectator using equivoque or the P.A.T.E.O force. If using equivoque, it is best to use a similar script for the animal as you use for the object. Start off by asking them to imagine a book full of animals you would find at the zoo. They are to tear out five different animals and lay the pages out in front of them, 3 of the animals are captured and therefore eliminated, one animal is then captured and sent back to the wild leaving one loose animal. This will ensure that the equivoquation process is justified and does not feel out of line by simply asking for any animal and then having to do a long and drawn out process to force an object. Both selections should have an equal amount of time spent of them so that they both look similar and make sense to the audience. The principle can also be used in conjunction with a book test. By using the Bold Book Test principle and forcing the word onto the spectator, you can have a dual mind reading effect where you read the spectators mind and they read yours. It is important that when you hand the business cards to the spectator, ensure that they hold both folded up business cards in the same hand. Upon asking them to open their hand, allowing the business cards to fall onto the table, the cards will fall in such a manner that it will ensure that they do not keep track of which card is which.
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Credits Richard Osterlind – For the principle involved. Originally used in Richards effect “Change Of Mind” which can be found on his Easy To Master Mental Miracles DVD Set
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Emotional Fire Bending This small premise can be used as a convincer of your abilities to control the elements or as a prelude into something much bigger. A standard Zippo lighter is used to show that sometimes even the most heart breaking situations can lead to true happiness.
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Effect A female spectator is selected asked to write down the name of their true love on a slip of paper. The performer displays a standard Zippo lighter. The performer then turns to the lady who has been brought up for this experiment. “Have you had your heart broken before?” starts the performer. “Life can be full of surprises, some nice, some not so.” The performer lights the Zippo lighter and stares into the flame. “When someone breaks out heart, it can almost seem like the flame has been stolen from our lives.” The performer “pulls” the flame off the lighter and holds it in a closed fist. “But then out of nowhere, life can throw things at us that rekindle that spark again and make us remember the beauty in life, to create that burning flame once more.” The performer releases his closed fist, throwing an imaginary flame towards the lighter. As he performs this action, a flame shoots up and remains burning. The slip of paper bearing the name is held above the flame and allowed to slowly burns until there is nothing left. “Please close your eyes for me. The name of your true love has been burnt and the ashes are filtering into the unknown. Even though the paper is destroyed, the meaning of what was inside still lives on. Imagine seeing this person right now in front of you. Open your eyes
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and stare at the flame. Feel the passion this person makes you feel. Imagine that flame begin to grow bigger and bigger. “ The flame on the lighter becomes taller and more intense. “As you stare into the flame I want you to visualise this person, imagine telling them that you love them, that they are the only person in the world who can make you truly happy.” The lid of the lighter is snapped down, breaking the participant’s fixation. The performer grasps the female spectators’ hands tenderly. He looks into her eyes and with honest compassion he says: “I think it is safe to say that Richard loves you too”
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Method On a standard Zippo Lighter, hold it so the lid at the top opens to the left. Once the lid is open, pull the wick that is inside the wind guard and pull it to the right, towards the flint that the thumb uses to light the flame. Now light the lighter and once done, with your right hand, “pull” the flame to the right using your first finger & thumb. This causes the flame to almost extinguish to the point that it is no longer viable but is still burning. With a gesture of the right hand opening suddenly whilst moving towards the lighter, this will create a gust of air that causes the flame to rise to its original intensity and gives the illusion of being able to almost remove the fire and “throw” it back onto the lighter. The flame is made to increase its size buy holding the lighter at a slight angle when the flame is make to suddenly appear. By tilting the lighter to a more upright position, the flame will start to increase its size. Care should be taken not to tilt the lighter too much otherwise it will become obvious to the spectator. To gain knowledge of the spectators’ true love, use your favourite centre tear, business card peek or peek wallet. I prefer to use a centre tear since the burning of the paper is a very strong image in the mind of the spectator.
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Credits Richard Osterlind – For the tilting method Sid Lorraine – For the first publication of the centre tear
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5th Dimensional Telepathy A classic effect that has been streamlined so that no gimmicks are used and no peeks are required. Can be done 100% impromptu and all of the items can be borrowed.
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Effect The performer attempts a display of direct mind reading. 3 spectators are asked to concentrate on a random number, a random word and a random picture. These thoughts are sealed into envelopes by the spectators themselves. Without any fishing whatsoever, the performer can name all 3 thoughts.
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Method As with the majority of 4th Dimensional Telepathy routines, this one relies on the One Ahead Principle. My addition to this classic routine is my way of getting one ahead without having to peek the first thought or resorting to gimmicked envelopes. With this method, pages can be torn out of newspapers, thoughts written down on the, folded up and placed into a glass and the method will still work. The method relies of gaining knowledge of the contents of the first envelope, miss-numbering the envelopes and then proceeding as you would in any One Ahead effect. To get One Ahead, we will be forcing a number onto the first spectator. This is done is a very fair manner and does not seem like a force. The force can be used in other routines if you so wish. The first spectator will be asked to pull out a bank note from their wallet and to look at the year their note was printed. Like all coins, most notes around the world have dates on them. Unlike coins however, this is NOT the date the note was printed. It is the date the notes design was copyrighted. These dates NEVER change unless the design changes. Memorise the dates your countries notes were printed.
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As soon as the spectator removes a bank note, you will instantly know the year they will be soon thinking of. The second person is asked to remove their mobile phone, look through their text messages and to select a word that stands out to them. The third person is asked to look around the room and to mentally select something they can easily draw. (This is just filler so that the selection of the number make sense, it would be confusing to have only one spectator think of something via using an item on their person yet have the remaining two people think of anything they wanted without using anything on their person) 3 envelopes, pens & slips of paper are handed out to each spectator for them to record their thoughts and seal into the envelopes. Once this is done the 3 envelopes are collected by the performer and the top envelope (containing the first spectators “random” number) is controlled to the bottom. The way I achieve this is very bold but flies by everyone. When collecting the envelopes I take the 3rd spectators envelope first, then the 2nd spectators envelope is placed on top and finally I take the 1st persons envelope and as I turn around to walk back to the stage, it gets placed onto the bottom of the stack. The envelopes are now numbered 1 – 3. In reality, the order of the envelopes is 2nd spectator’s envelope, 3rd spectator’s envelope & 1st spectator’s envelope from top to bottom. The standard One Ahead principle is now used to reveal all three pieces of information. I recommend asking the last person to duplicate their drawing again onstage on a large writing pad, this means you can replicate the drawing as they start to draw and finish with a very visual climax.
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The dates for UK bank notes are:
£5 – 2002 £10 – 2000 £20 – 2006 (some can be 2010 but very rare)
The dates for Euros are:
5 Euro – 2002 10 Euro – 2002 20 Euro – 2002 Another way to get One Ahead is to ask the first person to write down their star sign. Using any one of the various branching anagrams or other method for revealing a thought of star sign you are able to reveal all 3 thoughts using no gimmicks or special envelopes. The branching anagram for star signs I use is outlined on the next page. It is designed to be easy to memorise as the letters stay the same as much as possible. The anagram is perfect for using more than one spectator at a time. For a good presentation and demonstration of a multiple spectator star sign reveal, I recommend watching Richard Osterlinds performance on his No Camera Tricks DVD set.
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Star Sign Branching Anagram R – I – LEO | | | S – GEMINI | | | # – PISCES | I – S – CANCER | | | # – TAURUS | S – A – VIRGO | | | C – LIBRA | | | # – CAPRICORN | A – SCORPIO | E – G – AQUARIUS | | | H – SAGGITTARIUS | # – ARIES
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Credits Annemann – For creating 4th Dimensional Telepathy Bob Cassidy – For his inspiration on 4th Dimensional Telepathy The Bank Of England – For printing dates that never change Stanley Collins – For giving the world Branching Anagrams
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Bonus Idea – Peter Turner This is an opener for a stage show. I showed Peter Turner the bank note idea and here is his rendition of the idea.
The performer walks out onto the stage and after the introduction he addresses his audience, Performer: “Let’s play a little game, for this game I need six people, to participate in this game you need a bank note of any denomination. If you have a bank note and wish to help me out please stand and remove a bank note. The first seven people who stand will be the participants”. (Six people stand) Performer: ”I want each of you to look at the note and see the date the note was printed. While they are finding the date, I want to point a few things out; every single bank note has a different serial number upon it. The higher the number the more recent the note was printed. I find this a really interesting concept as each note has its own identity and year of print. Which in a way is very much the same as us; we have a date of birth and a year of birth. Some of these notes may have been printed five years ago, some ten some just last week. I can see each of you has done that. The thing about these notes is, they have no personal relevance, so while thinking of the year the bank note was printed I would like you to think of something that is only relevant to you. For example, you’re star-sign, date of birth or a place you went last on holiday. It could even be a drawing you’re child made for you if you so much wished. Has each one of you with a nice clear yes got something in mind?”
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(There is a chorus of yes’) Performer: “I am not promising to get every single thought you will be thinking of, that would be ridiculously time consuming. To keep this fairly sharp and straight forward I am just going to get one thought from each of you. I might reveal the date on the note, a star-sign; you’re date of birth, a place you last visited or a drawing. What is essential is that you keep a poker-face; you do not give anything away. Close your eyes for me and concentrate, remember keep a Poker-face and listen very carefully. The performer point’s to the first person, “2006” then the second “A drawing of a house with a tree next to it” the third “I think the bank note is 13 years old” the fourth person, “26th of October which would be a Scorpio” fifth person he pauses for a few seconds and looks confused goes past the fifth person and proceeds to point to the sixth, “A holiday in Murcia” he then goes back to the fifth person “I am not sure why but I am seeing the year 2002”. I would like you all to open your eyes. If you are thinking of, A thirteen year old bank note, a house and a tree, the 26th of October, Murcia, 2006 or the year 2002 please take a seat”. They all take a seat!
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Method This is a really, really simple (but beautiful) variation of Hoy’s principle with several added subtleties. Firstly each person takes out a bank note and looks at the date on the note. While they are looking at the notes, I give the bank notes a relevance that they didn’t have before. I almost give them a living feel by giving them a personal number and a printed year, which is likened to a person’s date of birth. The reason for doing this is so that when I reveal the print date it is psychologically as impressive as guessing someone’s age or the year they were born (which is a fairly impressive feat). [While each person is looking looked for the date, which can be a little bit difficult I kill the dead time with the script about the bank note and its identity and printed year. This should give each person ample time to find the date.] I now know that each person of the six will either be thinking of “2006 “2002” or “2000”, which means we have a solid foundation to take advantage of this beautiful principle. I now ask each person to close their eyes, the reason for doing this is so that I can point to each person in turn and say out loud a thought. This is a little dual reality where the audience believes that I am stating that person’s particular thought. There are two potential thoughts here that are going to cause a problem the date of birth/ star sign and the last holiday. The reason these can be a problem (it is not something that worries me) is that the people that are with the participant’s will know you did not get it right. They will be corrected by the person later and will just assume you still got the thought just not in the right order. This is the opening effect, so for me it really doesn’t matter as you still got the thought. I know other
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people out there like to play it a little safer. So when it comes to these pieces of information point directly in-between two people. That way the audience will decide whose thought is what. The people that are with the participant will think is for the other person therefore killing what was potentially a problem. Now back to the mechanics of the routine with this is mind. You are going to state you will only get one thought from each participant. This is a very important line. The routine works because you are going to point out the three dates on the bank notes so you are guaranteed to get one of each participant’s thoughts. Meaning they are guaranteed to sit down later. The other thoughts you are going to just throw out are not real or relevant BUT (notice I did this in capitals) they are set up in such a way that they might also hit by accident meaning that when they person talks to their friends later they might say, he got two of my thoughts. When I choose to throw out a holiday, I quickly Google (before the show) the most visited place for that country to go on holiday. So for England it would be Spain, therefore meaning that I can also with good probability get a hit on that. The drawing of a house with a tree next to it is a frequent drawing a child draws therefore meaning that might hit by accident. All of that doesn’t really matter because they are all definitely going to take a seat because they are all thinking of the same thing anyway these are just constructed for bonus probability based hits. Notice one little touch I also put into the scripting, the date of one of the notes is “2000” instead of saying “2000” I say “the bank note is 13 years old” the reason I do this is to nurture the suggestion I made earlier about the note being almost human. Not only that, it also helps solidify the extra little touch I placed on the end where I say, “I don’t know why but I am seeing the date 2002”
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Which is suggesting I am seeing a year that is special, not the date on the note! This is another little subtlety which makes the entire effect psychologically more impressive. I close with these lines. “I would like you all to open your eyes. If you are thinking of, a thirteen year old bank note, a house and a tree, the 26th of October, Murcia, 2006 or the year 2002 please take a seat”. Look at how I framed it; I placed the thirteen year old banknote first. This gives them time to work out (which shouldn’t be hard) that their note was 2000 (because it is 2013 now). Depending on what year it is currently you would change the age of the bill. For example, if it was 2015 you would say 15 year old bill. Then I name of the list fairly quickly and I apply another subtlety on the end of the list. “Or the year 2002” this just nurtures the language in the above subtlety. It also makes it really easy for the person with a 2002 note to know it means them. As you can see this routine is very simple in working, it is very remnant of a tossed out deck without a deck, which is why I think it makes it more appealing. **Note** There might be one problem if someone is left standing (Which should never happen) but as Art mentioned very rarely there might be someone looking at a 2010 note. If this should occur don’t worry! We are going to invite this participant up onto the stage with their banknote under the guise of them being the most difficult to read. We know the year is going to be 2010 which gives us perfect place to have a strong one a head routine, meaning we can reveal any private piece of information as a bonus!
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Credits David Hoy – Hoy’s principle Kenton Knepper – language inspiration
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Phantom A spectator thinks of a random word from a book. A friend is thought of. Suddenly, that very same friend calls the spectators mobile phone and under a hypnotic trance, proceeds to name the exact word they are thinking of. Perfect for TV work or to impress a V.I.P.
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Conception Phantom came about through discussions I had with Jeff Travilla via MSN Messenger. I mentioned one day that I was thinking of somehow using a mobile phone as a prediction device but I didn’t have any method or routine, just a very vague idea of what type of effect I wanted to do. Jeff mentioned a service called Spoof Card which when explained to me, opened up a world of possibilities. www.spoofcard.com This service allows you to call someone’s phone disguised as someone else’s number… I instantly started thinking about what this service could do for me. How could I adapt it to a routine? The idea hit me in the face, it was so simple and devious! What started off as a prediction routine became an amazing demonstration of psychic ability, PK, mind over matter, whatever you want to call it.
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Birth Whilst at the dinner table, a member of your party expresses interest in witnessing some feats of psychic ability. You oblige the ladies request and ask her to place her mobile phone onto the table face down. She is then asked to write down the name and mobile number of one of her friends that is in her contacts list on a slip of paper. She places this on top of the mobile phone. It is the same one she wrote on and you do not touch it at all. The psychic claims he will use the powers of telekinesis to cause the unknown friends mobile phone to call the spectators mobile phone. The psychic now concentrates on the ladies mobile phone. After a few seconds it starts to ring. The spectator looks at who is calling and confirms it is the mobile phone of their friend. As a bonus the psychic can reveal the name of the friend.
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Life That is the bare bones way of performing the effect. Now I no longer perform it that way as you will soon see why. There are two methods to this effect. One method so far is set in stone. Unless anyone comes up with a better solution, then the method of getting the unknown friends mobile phone to call the spectators is always going to be the same. However, getting the information you need for the phone to ring will be different depending on how you prefer to obtain secret information. I prefer to use an impression pad which I will outline the handling here. First of all lets start at the beginning. You need to secretly obtain the friends name and mobile number from the spectator.
(If you do not know the person you will also need to get their mobile number - I do this by asking them to call my phone “just to check its working“ but in reality I give them my secret assistants number and act like I have forgotten my mobile phone - this brilliant ruse was given to me by Jeff Travilla and its beautiful!) The justification for getting them to write down the name and number of their friend is so that “I have something physical to concentrate on“. The slip of paper that the spectator has is then placed on top of their mobile phone to “channel the energy”. Feel free to use your own justification that you feel comfortable with. I use the Son Of Mindscan pads from Outlaw Effects to get the
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impression. These allow you to hand the pad the spectator, they write down the name & number, hand you back the pad and you get your peek. Its as easy as that. However in this effect you don’t actually peek the impression of the paper. You will see why soon. Other good impression devices for clean peeks are:
The Tommy Pad First Impressions Pad Beautiful Butterfly The Baby Hornet Now for the second part. You need a secret assistant. Now stop groaning, if you don’t take advantage of everything that you can then you don’t deserve to be performing mentalism and you are really missing out on some fantastic effects. This isn’t a stooge, it’s a secret assistant. It could be your wife, a friend at the party, whoever you want. We will come to a one man method later on however. Once they have given you the pad back, you immediately throw it to one side away from where you are sitting / standing. This is a lovely thing to do as it flies by any spectator. Try it out. You will love it! Just throw the pad away. They will naturally hand it back to you so when you take it, say something about not wanting it and throw it away. If you want you can put it out of sight somewhere but don’t put it away. Just out of sight.
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You need to talk a little bit here to cause a bit of misdirection since this is when your secret assistant casually walks over and picks up the pad. They get all the information they need and go off into a quiet corner or the bathroom. I love it when this part happens, not once has anyone spotted it and even if they did a random guy is just picking up a pad of paper!!! The secret assistant then texts you the name of the friend and then dials the number into his phone using the Spoof Card service and then calls the spectators phone.
As soon as you get the text you start to concentrate. After about 20 30 seconds the specators phone will start to ring. When the spectator looks at the phone it will display the name and number of the friend they wrote down. You can now ask them to concentrate on their friends name and reveal it however you wish. (when using the Spoof Card feature it will at some point ask you if you want to disguise your voice as a male or a female. This will overcome the problem of your secret assistant being of the opposite sex to your spectators friend)
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Death My father, Peter Vanderlay, gave a suggestion when using this effect within a group of close friends or when you happen to know two peoples phones numbers anyway such as business clients or relatives. Say you have Mr A’s number on your phone and you also have Mr B’s number too, you place Mr A’s phone on the table face up. You then state you will cause Mr B’s phone to call Mr A’s phone. However, before the show you have secretly called Spoof Card already and entered in both numbers. As soon as the service asks if you want to disguise your voice you do nothing. You put your phone in your pocket and leave it there. When the time comes, it is a simple matter of reaching into your pocket and pressing the butting to select “No” to disguising your voice on your phone.
Mr B’s number and name will appear on Mr A’s phone and you take your bow! This is really great to fry your friends with at parties and just randomly being around friends. You could do this in Starbucks or even if you used pre show you could use this method in a stage act! (You could use pre show all the time and use this method if you really wanted to, I prefer it to be totally hands off)
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Afterlife After another discussion with Jeff Travilla, Jeff came up with the idea of using a theme where you cause the persons phone not only to ring the spectators, but that person (their friend) is actually calling them under a hypnotic trance. It is the same effect as the original but instead the spectator answers and they hear their friend (really your secret assistant) breathing slowly down the phone like they are in a trance. I then suggested to Jeff you could use playing cards. If you forced one, the friend on the other end of the phone could whisper the card to the spectator. Since the friend is in a so called hypnotic trance, it is natural that they would speak softly and even whisper. Words from books or pretty much anything could be revealed using this method! Imagine having a spectator think of any word from any book. Their best friend who is hundreds of miles away rings them up in a hypnotic trance caused by yourself and proceeds to tell letter by letter the word the spectator is thinking of! That’s the way I perform it now. Part as a book test style routine. It kills. Seriously kills.
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Reincarnation What about the other persons phone? It won’t show that it called your spectators! It all depends on which version you decide to use. In the first version where you are using your powers of PK, you can claim that for some reason it won’t show up on the other persons phone. Maybe its because you actually caused the phone itself to believe the spectators friend was calling it. It all depends on your presentation. With the hypnosis theme you can simply suggest to the friend (your secret assistant) that they will not be able to remember making the call or be able to see that they made a call to the spectator that day. I do this after they have revealed the word. The after effect on the spectator is my favourite part of the whole effect.
Finally with the one man method, you can use the above example of you are causing the phone itself to believe the spectators friend was calling it or you can claim that somehow through the powers of PK it erases any trace of the call on the other persons phone. However you want to play it is the best method. Do what works for you. I personally don’t mention it. Unless I am doing the hypnosis one which I pretty much always do now. It really sells the effect after the show when the spectator calls their friend and they have a conversation that really freaks them both out!
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Spirit There are only a handful of effects out there that use this service. Don’t reveal its secret. It hurts magic. Whilst researching this I have received information that Psychic Samurai, Don Theo III & Steve Haynes all have effects that use the Spoof Card principle or similar principles in current or upcoming works. For more information contact any of them and I am sure they would be happy to assist you. If you think this effect is too much hard work then I suggest you try it once. You will not be disappointed! Its easier than you think and the lasting effect on the spectator is incredible. I believe we have only scratched the surface on what Spoofcard can do and i hope this work inspires you to work out new effects and maybe fool me one day using Spoofcard!
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Bonus Effect A spectator is invited to freely turn to any page in a phone book and freely select any person on that page. They write down this persons name and phone number. They also write down details about this person such as what they think their hair colour might be and what kind of job they might do etc. This piece of paper is placed on top of the performers mobile phone. At no point does he touch it at all. After a moment of concentration the phone starts to ring. It is the same number as the one in the phonebook! The spectators answers the phone and asks why they have called to which the person replies that they “Just suddenly have a feeling to call this number.” They confirm their name to being the same as the one in the phonebook but for a final kicker, they then describe themselves to your spectator and they match what the spectator wrote down only moments ago with 100% accuracy!!! The method is pretty much exactly the same as before. Your secret assistant simply describes the exact same things that the spectators wrote down on the impression pad. However in this effect you have your secret assistant call your phone instead of theirs. I suppose you could get them to ring the spectators phone but that’s not what this effect is about. Have Fun!
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Credits Jeff Travilla – For introducing me to Spoofcard Pete Vanderlay – For his constant help and advice Dave Keonig – For his valuable information on Spoofcard
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What’s On Tv? Using nothing but a borrowed watch and TV Guide, you are able to correctly tell someone what TV Show they are thinking of. Can be done 100% impromptu using any TV Guide.
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Effect The performer and the spectator are stood at a newsagent stand The spectator is asked to select any TV Guide they like and to open it to that days page spread. “When I was a child, I could never decide what to watch on TV due to the amount of show that was on, so I developed a way to randomly select a show. I would place my watch behind my back, twist the stem until I was satisfied it was at a random time and then see what time I stopped on. Whatever TV show that was on at that time or closest to it I would watch. If it wasn’t for my system, there would have been certain shows such as “Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy & Transformers” that I would never have watched.” “In a moment I want you to imagine you are me as a child, you will select a random time and therefore a random TV show.” A spectator is asked to place his watch behind his back and to continuously twist the stem so that an unknown time is eventually stopped on. Once the spectator is satisfied that the time is truly random, he has a peek at the watch and notes the time he sees. He is the instructed to twist the stem once more to destroy all evidence of his thought of time but not to forget it. He is asked to look for a TV Show that falls at the same time as the time he is thinking of in the TV Guide he freely chose.
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If there is not exact match then the closest one to his thought of time shall be used. Once the spectator has confirmed he has a TV show in mind, the spectator places the TV Guide away and the performer is able to describe the exact show they are thinking about with no fishing or pumping questions.
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Method Again you will be using a force. However this force has so far not been used for a book test to the best of my knowledge. First you need to look in your local TV Guide for a TV Show that is the only one starting at that particular time. For instance, at the time of writing I can see in my TV Guide that at 7:45pm on Channel 4, the TV Show “Derren Brown – Trick or Treat” is being shown and there are no other TV Shows on at that time on any other channel. This is exactly what we are looking for. As you are probably already aware, you will be using the classic watch force created by Bev Bergeron to force the specific time required. When it comes time to perform, you ask the spectator how his watch works. When he hands you his watch and informs you, pull out the stem and set it to the force time under the pretence of spinning the hands of the watch and feigning ignorance on watch mechanics. This seems ridiculous since ALL watches work the same but it flies by every single spectator. If the spectators watch allows for the ability for the stem to alter the date on the watch too, then even better. Set the stem to the date position when you have finished setting the time and this will allow the spectator to push in the stem once he is finished spinning it behind his back and will not alter your force time. If the watch does not have this feature, either use your own watch or simply push the stem back in once you have set your force time and
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neglect to mention to your spectator to push the stem back in once he is finished “setting a time” behind his back. Now that you have forced the correct time on the spectator, ask him to pick up the local TV Guide and to turn to the current days page. You instruct him to look at any TV Show that falls on the time he is thinking of and then you can reveal the show however you like. It is unwise to just blurt out the name of the TV Show without first describing the characters, plot elements and so forth in a dramatic manner, but you should know that anyway! Once you have revealed the TV Show you could go on to reveal the time they thought of too. With some time misdirection and some linguistic deception in your ending patter you can convince the spectator and the audience that a watch was never used and they just thought of the time! If you wanted to memorise 7 different programs on at that time for each day, you could give the spectator a free choice of day and with a little bit of fishing. You could easily figure out which TV Show they were thinking about.
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Credits Bev Bergeron – For the watch force Seinfeld – For making me watch too much TV
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ESP Opener A small scale demonstration of precognition.
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Effect The performer introduces the idea of predicting the future and offers to show a small scale demonstration using 3 of his/her Business cards. The performer displays the 3 business cards so that the Spectators can see that each card bears a different symbol. On the cards there is a circle, a square and a triangle. The spectator is asked to look at the different symbols and name one of them out loud. The performer now shows how that even though they had a 100% free choice, they have correctly predicted the spectators Selection beforehand!
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Method This effect uses “Multiple Outs” to bring the demonstration to a successful finish. You need to purchase a special item from any stationary store that will cost no more than £2.00 Items Needed 1 x Frisian Pen 1 x Normal Pen 3 x Business cards Lay the 3 Business cards in front of you from left to right. On the first card (The one on the far left) write a load of jumbled up letters in the shape of a large Circle using a Frixion Pen. Make sure you make the Circle quite big so that it fills up most of the business card. On the last card (The one to your far right) write a load of jumbled up letters in the shape of a Triangle using a normal pen. Again try to make the Triangle as big as possible so that it fills up most of the business card. On the second card (the one in the middle) write the words “youwillselectthesquare” over and over again in the shape of a Square using a normal pen Again make the Square as big as possible so it fills up most of the business card. Now turn each card completely over but still keeping them in their numerical positions.
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On the back of the first card, (The one with the Circle on it) write the words, “You Will…” using a Frixion Pen. On the back of the second card, (The one with the Square on it) write the words, “Choose The…” using a Frixion Pen. On the back of the last card, (The one with a Triangle on it) write the word, “TRIANGLE!” using a Frixion Pen. You are now finished! All that needs to be done now is to reveal the correct symbol that the spectator names.
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FOR THE CIRCLE Pick up each card and take a lighter to the underside of each card for a few seconds starting with the Triangle and moving to your left. Comment about how each symbol is still there after you have put a lighter under the Triangle and the Square. Due to the heat coming from the lighter and the special ink in the Frixion Pen, when you reach the Circle it will disappear. And so will the writing underneath! You end 100% clean with this out.
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FOR THE SQUARE Beforehand you have mentioned that each symbol is made up of jumbled up letters. Apparently there to subliminally suggest a certain symbol to the spectator. Ask the spectator to see if they can see any words on the Circle and Triangle shapes. They will confirm they are just made up of jumbled up letters.
Then ask them to look at the Square and read what it says, being careful not to expose the writing on the backs of the cards. This is the weakest out since you can’t show the cards fully clean at the end but the kicker of the tiny writing on the square card always gets a great reaction.
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FOR THE TRIANGLE Ask the spectator to turn over the Circle card, then to turn over the Square card and then finally to turn over the Triangle card to reveal the written prediction on the backs of the cards. Again you end totally clean on this one too!
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Credits Frixion Pens – Obviously
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The No Skill Chair Test A chair test that is easy to do and easy to understand. Perfect for stage or parlour & can be adapted to suit corporations and businesses.
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Introduction To me a chair prediction is a wonderful example of being able to predict what someone will do before they do it in an entertaining and mystifying way. There have been many chair prediction effects released on the market. Quite a lot have been over complicated with so many things going on that the audience either loose interest or have forgotten what happened at the start of the effect. What I set out to do was to create a chair prediction effect that was simple in method and easy for the audience to understand. I believe I have done just that. By combining the methods of two fantastic chair routines I feel I have created the most straight forward chair prediction effect where you can predict what chair would be left empty and what coloured card the spectator will have at the end. All the selections are of the free will of the spectators and this can be a totally hands off effect if the performer wishes to perform it so. I have been using this method for over two years now and it has served me very well and never fails to get great reactions.
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Effect On stage there are four chairs. Three random spectators are invited to come forward and to sit in any chair that they wish. One chair is left empty. The chairs are shown to have been numbered from one to four. They are then handed a numbered envelope which matches the number of the chair that they freely chose to sit on. These are mixed around as much as they like and once this has been done, they open their own envelopes to see a coloured piece of paper inside. The performer draws everyone’s attention to an envelope that has been displayed on the stage throughout the entire effect. It is opened and read aloud. The performer has correctly predicted which chair the spectators would avoid and what colour they would end up with! There are no stooges, no swami writing, no forces and no sleight of hand.
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Method The effect is broken up into two parts. The first part determines the number for each chair and the second part provides the method to predict the freely chosen colours.
PART ONE Begin the effect with four chairs in the centre of the stage. A large envelope with the words “PREDICTION!” written on it is attached to a stand. Three people are invited to come forward and are asked to sit in any chair they like. These are not stooges and can be chosen at random. Using Banachek’s method in his book Pre Thoughts, the numbers of the chairs are determined. Below is the basic method for numbering the chairs depending on where each spectator sits.
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Banacheks Method The boxes below represent the chairs & the numbers represent the number inside the envelopes. The chair marked with an X is the one that is left empty. Chair number two will always be the one that is left empty as shown below. 1 - Envelopes are taped under the chairs with numbered paper inside: 2 4 1 3 [X][ ][ ][ ] 2- Envelopes are taped behind the chairs with numbered paper inside: 3
1 4 2 [ ][ ][ ][X] 3 - No envelopes used, chairs verbally numbered: 1
2 3 4 [ ][X][ ][ ]
4 - No envelopes used, chairs verbally numbered: 4
3 2 1 [ ][ ][X][ ]
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Depending on which chair is left empty determines which of the above you will use for the effect. So, if the far left chair is empty, you request for the spectators to look under their chairs and to remove the envelope they find there. However, if the far right chair is left empty then you request for the spectators to look behind their chairs and to remove the envelope they find there. On the next page you will see how I handle the situations when one of the two middle chairs are left empty.
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Verbally Numbering The Chairs If you have to verbally number the chairs instead of using the envelopes, use four pieces of sticky backed paper numbered from one to four as follows: The piece of paper that is numbered 2 is not used but is there to suggest that any chair could have been left empty. You can stick this on chair 2 if you wish. Stick the paper numbered 1 on the person who sat in chair number 1, the paper numbered 3 is stuck on the person who sat in chair number 3 and the paper numbered 4 on the person sat in chair number 4. As you stick the paper to them say, “You sat in the first chair so you will be number one, you sat in the third chair so you will be number three………” and so on. Now each person has a number that corresponds to the chair that they have sat on. Keep referring back to this throughout the routine which emphasises that each person chose their chair at their own free will which also ensures the audience keeps up with the effect. From years of performing this effect, if the second chair from the right is left empty, I have often asked the spectators to “mix yourselves up one more time, just in case anyone thinks I could have manipulated you select a certain chair.” This will ensure that the verbally counting of the chairs does not look unusual. I have never seen anyone count objects from right to left.
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PART TWO The people sat onstage are shown four large envelopes which have been on display the entire time. They are each numbered from one to four. They are instructed to take the numbered envelope that matches the chair number they are sat in. They are then instructed to mix around the envelopes as much as they like. Shortly after, you ask them to stop mixing their envelopes around. However, you state to the spectators that you want them to end up so that no one has the same numbered envelope as the chair number they are sat on. There are now only two possible outcomes for the order of the envelopes: 341 And 413
This is due to the fact that person sitting on chair number 1 can only end up with envelopes 3 or 4. The person sitting on chair number 3 can only end up with envelopes 1 or 4. And finally the person sat in chair number 4 can only end up with envelopes 1 or 3.
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Inside the numbered envelopes are the coloured cards. In envelope number 1 there is the colour Green. In envelope number 3 there is the colour Red. In envelope number 4 there is the colour Blue. (In envelope number 2 there is nothing) When they have settled on an envelope, ask them to open them up and see what colour they have inside. Once this has been done, re-cap what has just happened and talk about how fair it was, create a false statistic to make it seem like they had a lot more fair choices than they actually did. This is an example of a false statistic you could use:
“The first person had a one in four choice of which chair to sit in, then the second person had a one in three and the last person had a one in two choice. This is a total of four times three times two which gives us a one in twenty four chance of me being able to predict the chair that was left empty. However, this added to the fact that they had four different colours is again another one in twenty four chance. So a twenty four times twenty four chance gives me a one in five hundred and seventy six chance of being able to predict what chair would be left empty and what colours each of you would select.” You may want to use this or you can create your own statistic or false statement to suit your own style of performing. The next step is the reveal the prediction.
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Revealing The Prediction So far we have the chair that is numbered 2 empty. (As it will always be) The spectators also have a colour that they randomly selected. Because of the distribution of the envelopes and only having 2 possible outcomes it is extremely easy for you to show your prediction as correct. All you do now is spot what number spectator number 1 has on his envelope as you go to get the prediction envelope. The prediction envelope should be a two way envelope. There are many on the market. The ones I use are simply two normal envelopes glued back to back. On stage this is very easy to get away with as the envelope is not scrutinised. If you are performing this close up I suggest using a more deceptive one such as the pre made double ended envelopes that are currently on the market. On the upper left hand corner of the two way envelope you have written the number 3 very small. This is the side you open if the person
sat in chair number 1 has the envelope number 3. On the reverse side of the two way envelope , in the top left hand corner there is the number 4.
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You open this side if the person sat in chair 1 is holding envelope number 4. (When I have performed this effect I have been known to on occasion use a “stooge” to open the envelope so that I never go near it or have to touch it at all) If you decide to not use the stooge method then it is still clean since all you are doing is opening an envelope. Plus there are a few things you can do to make it seem like the spectator opened it as you will read soon enough. You open the envelope whilst asking someone to come forward and onto the stage. They are instructed to extend their arm and to open their hand. Tip out the folded sheet of paper into their hand from the correct side of the two way envelope and ask them to read it aloud. The prediction for the side numbered 3 reads:
WHY DOESN’T ANYBODY EVER SIT IN CHAIR NUMBER 2??? THE PERSON SAT IN CHAIR NUMBER 1 WILL HAVE THE COLOUR RED THE PERSON SAT IN CHAIR NUMBER 3 WILL HAVE THE COLOUR BLUE THE PERSON SAT IN CHAIR NUMBER 4 WILL HAVE THE COLOUR GREEN Ask the spectator to read this out aloud and show the audience that you are correct as they read each line out.
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The prediction for the side numbered 4 reads: WHY DOESN’T ANYBODY EVER SIT IN CHAIR NUMBER 2??? THE PERSON SAT IN CHAIR NUMBER 1 WILL HAVE THE COLOUR BLUE THE PERSON SAT IN CHAIR NUMBER 3 WILL HAVE THE COLOUR GREEN THE PERSON SAT IN CHAIR NUMBER 4 WILL HAVE THE COLOUR RED And that’s it! It’s simple but plays very strong.
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Hints & Tips Sometimes I will then say “So what if someone did sit in chair number 2?” Open up the other envelope with the number 2 on it and see what colour is inside.” and as they do they see that it is empty or has a £50 note inside. Using the £50 method can lead into a Bank Night routine or can just be used as a extra ending. If you are feeling bold enough, you can start to open the envelope (just to make sure the spectator doesn’t mess anything up!) and then hand them the envelope to open themselves as an afterthought. You can then claim that you never touched the envelope! Again as I have mentioned before, I have used a “stooge” in the past to open the envelope. Nobody suspects the person who is holding onto the envelope, even if they did burn him constantly they wouldn’t see anything since all he is doing is opening an envelope!
If you had 5 chairs, you could have an out for if chair number 3 was left empty by having another set of envelopes hidden underneath a cushion that rsts on the seat of the chair for the spectator to sit on. This will enable a wider range of possibilities for the final prediction so that you are not just limited to colours but also pictures, names of businesses and corporations, logos or anything else that was desired.
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Credits This effect was inspired by Banachek’s chair prediction in his book Pre Thoughts. The effect is called “Be Seated” and before I came up with this effect it was the chair prediction I always used due to its simplicity and the fact that it has no complicated instructions for the spectators or audience to follow along with. Also I want to credit Mark Roberts for his chair prediction effect he sent me that was simply called “Chair Routine”. This inspired me to use the coloured cards in my act and gave me a fantastic method as to how to implement them into this effect. Finally I need to credit Patrick Redford since the method that Mark Roberts introduced me to was first seen in a Patrick Redford chair prediction.
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Thanks Harisson Richards, Pete Turner, Pablo Amira, Dick Christian & everyone at www.mysteryperformers.com & PSYCRETS.
Contact:
[email protected]
Art Vanderlay Mysteries © 2013
