Bob Cassidy - Dreams and Devices

Dreams and Devices An e-book by Bob Cassidy

Copyright ©2003 by Sacred Chao Productions All Rights Reserved

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Contents The Dream Opening Script The Checkbook Judah meets Big Red The Modified Swami Envelope A Cigar for Otis

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And if he left off dreaming of you . . . -Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

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The Dream "The Dream" is a routine that is best performed before smaller audiences or in an impromptu setting. The key principles, though, have great utilitarian value and should find use in many of your presentations. The basic idea evolved from an old card routine by Stewart Judah. [Don't go away yet- the finished routine can hardly be considered a "card trick".] It was the type of effect that has fallen out of fashion lately due to the amount of dealing and counting involved. It struck me, though, that the dealing was acceptable if the effect was presented as a type of card game. But while the card game presentation was natural and deceptive, it was hardly earth shaking and still seemed a little too much like a card trick to be useful in a mental presentation. I put the idea on the back burner and it remained there for about twenty years. Recently, though, I was working on a "dream" presentation. It was a prediction routine in which I wanted to overcome the weak spot in "Confabulation” and "Swami" type effects - effects in which the performer secretly fills in the blanks on a pre-written prediction which is later removed from a sealed envelope. The weakness lies in the fact that the envelope does not leave the performer's hand or pocket until AFTER the last selection is made by the audience. I realized, as have many others over the years, that this problem could be eliminated by simply forcing the last item, thus enabling the performer to drop the envelope onto a table before the final selection (s) is made. The problem then, of course, is finding a suitable force. That's what I was working on when I remembered the Judah idea. As the routine developed, I came up with what I believe to be an original handling of the secret writing phase, as well as an extremely clean way of loading an envelope, which has been on plain view throughout the presentation. I am very pleased at the reactions I have received from the finished routine and I think you will be, too.

Here is the lead in I use to present the effect:

Opening Script “It's been said that our dreams sometimes contain clues about the future. Normally, I don't remember my dreams. But when I have the same dream several nights in a row, I know that my subconscious mind is trying to tell me something. For the past few nights, I've had just such a dream. I wrote down some of the details, but I had no idea what they could mean.

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“Until tonight. “In the dream I am sitting at a card table in a casino. Other than the dealer, there is only one other player in the game. She is a blond woman with eyeglasses and is wearing a green sweater. She has a gold chain around her neck and on it is a pendant inscribed with a sign of the Zodiac. She asks me to write out a check so she can bet on one last round of a game called "Big Red." I'm surprised that a stranger would ask me to write her a check. " ‘Who are you?’ I ask. “She says, ‘I can't tell you yet, but you can call me by whatever name you like.’ “I ask her what name she would like and she tells me. For some reason unknown to me, I write out a check to a complete stranger who has given me a phony name and give it to the dealer. That's when I know I am in a dream - there's no casino anywhere in the world that would accept a check from me. “There were a lot of other details in the dream and, as I said, I wrote them down and sealed them in an envelope which I have right here in my checkbook. (The performer removes his checkbook from his inside jacket pocket. From it, he extracts a small manila envelope. It is sealed with a round white sticker across the flap. He places the envelope in his outside breast pocket and leaves it protruding. It remains there, in full view, throughout the routine.) “ I'm glad I did, because just a little while ago I recognized two of you as the woman and the dealer. At this point, the performer looks at a woman spectator who just happens to be a blonde in a green sweater wearing eyeglasses. [You will, of course, change the presentation as necessary to describe someone who is actually present in the group.] “You look just like the woman, but in my dream she was wearing a necklace with her Zodiac sign. I see you are not wearing one, but if you were what would the sign be?” She says it is Pisces, for example, and the mentalist asks for her name. (If he does not know it already.) “But in my dream, you will recall that she didn’t give me her real name. Why don’t we act this out? Pretend that we are sitting next to me at a card table in a Casino. Better yet, why don’t you come over here and really at the table?” When the participant has seated herself, the performer says, ”Now imagine you are the woman in my dream and I’ve just asked you your name. What false name do you want to give me?” She answers, say, “Alicia.”

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“Before I go any further,” continues the mentalist, “I’d better explain to you how to play “Big Red.” It’s really very simple. The dealer shuffles the deck and you cut it. He then deals two cards to you; face up – just like in Blackjack. But in “Big Red”, all you want to get are two red cards. If you get two red cards, you win. If you get two blacks the dealer wins and you lose. If you get one red and one black, it is a draw and nobody wins. “If you have any questions, just ask the dealer. You haven’t met him yet, have you? It’s this gentleman over here.” The performer tells a gentleman in the group that he looks exactly like the dealer who was in the dream. He asks him if he understood the rules to the game, and if not, quickly explains them again. He asks the “dealer” to stand at the table, across from the “woman of my dreams.” On the table is a pack of playing cards, and the performer tells the dealer to remove the cards from the box, spread them out face up across the table, and finally to scoop them up and shuffle them. “Just like the dealers you’ve seen in casinos do.” (If the volunteer is clumsy with the cards, you can exploit the situation and ask him how long he’s been working here or where he went to dealers’ school. It doesn’t really matter how he shuffles or handles the cards because there is no trickery involved at this point in the procedure and the deck of cards is ordinary in every respect. (Well, almost ordinary.) While the dealer is showing and mixing the cards, he performer reminds the woman that in the dream the woman asked him to write a check so she could made a bet. He takes out his checkbook as he asks her how much she wants to bet. “Just keep it under a thousand dollars and remember that you must bet an even dollar amount. By that, I mean that you can bet two hundred dollars or you can bet six hundred and fifty dollars. Or you can bet any dollar amount you like. But you can’t bet three hundred dollars and fifteen cents. Now how much do you want - try to make it unusual. Let’s say that she decides on $750.00. The performer makes out a check for that amount, removes it from the checkbook and places it on the table in front of the dealer. “As I told you before, the dealer shuffled the cards and then put them in front of you for a cut. Go ahead and cut the cards. (The performer prompts the dealer as necessary throughout the routine) “Remember, if you get two red cards you win and if you get two black cards you lose. Now in a game of ‘Big Red’ the dealer will keep dealing you two card hands until all of the cards have been dealt. That’s why you are allowed to bet any amount you like, the more the better. If you win, just keep the cards and put them in a pile to your right. If you lose, the dealer will put the cards in a pile to his right. If it is a draw – one red card and one black, the dealer will put the cards in a separate pile way off to the side.

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“Any questions? Okay then, dealer, start dealing! And remember, you are a casino employee so make the game go as quickly as you can. “ The game proceeds as described. At no time does the performer touch the cards, but during the course of the game – which, played briskly, takes about a minute – he gives a running commentary about the respective wins and losses of the player and dealer. When all of the cards have been dealt out there will be one pile of red cards (the winners), one pile of blacks (the losers) and one pile of red/black pairs (the draws). The dealer is asked to count his black cards and the player is asked to count her reds. The dealer may have, for example, twenty black cards, and the player twenty-four red cards. Thus, the player has won by four. “You won by four cards. That means you get paid four times the amount of your bet. Since you bet seven hundred and fifty dollars that would work out to - let’s see – three thousand dollars. “And I get my check back. (He retrieves his check from the table and tears it up or puts it in his pocket. I get some laughs at this point by looking at the dealer and saying, “I know you wanted to keep it, but the only place that happens is in my dreams. That’s the only place I can afford it!”) “That’s where my dream ended and the both of you played it out very realistically. A lot more realistically than you might imagine. As I said, I wrote down all of the details and sealed them in this envelope. But before I show you what I wrote, let’s briefly recap what happened here. “You looked just like the people in my dream. Acting out the part of the player, you said your name was Alycia and that you were an Aries. You decided to bet seven hundred and fifty dollars on a game of “Big Red” and won the game by exactly four cards. That is all accurate, is it not? “Let me show you all what I wrote down.” The mentalist removes the envelope from his breast pocket. Without any false moves, he opens the seal, turns the envelope over, and a folded card falls to the table. “I don’t want to touch it,” he says to the woman. Pick it up, unfold it, and read it to yourself. She does so and an amazed expression usually comes over her face. “Now let me read it aloud to everyone else. I wanted you to read it for yourself first so everyone will know that I’m not making up what it says.” He reads the card to the audience, “She said her name was Alycia. She was born under Aries and bet seven hundred and fifty dollars. She won by four cards at Big Red.” All four predicted items are correct.

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Now read the routine over once again and note how fair everything looks. In performance, it looks even fairer because the handling of the three key elements makes the actual method seem impossible. We’ll look at each element in detail, but, basically, the method is thisThe prediction is not in the envelope until the very end of the routine. It is inside the checkbook. Most of it is pre-written and the check is also prewritten except for the amount. Since the outcome of the card game is a force, .the performer need only fill in three blank spaces – the name the woman gives, her Zodiac sign, and the amount of her bet. This is done under the guise of writing out the check. The prediction is secretly loaded into the envelope as the performer opens it.

The Checkbook The handling of the checkbook makes the method I just outlined seem impossible. You will recall that the performer, before the volunteers are selected, removes the checkbook from his inside jacket pocket. He opens the checkbook and takes out the prediction envelope, which he then places in his outside jacket pocket, where it remains in full view at all times. When he opens the checkbook, however, the audience plainly sees that there is nothing else inside it other than checks. Furthermore, it is obvious that nothing is written on the checks. (This is not overtly pointed out by the performer. It’s just made plain through open handling.) It would seem impossible, therefore, for the checkbook to have anything to do with the method. Now, as I explained before, the prediction card really is in the checkbook and the check is partially filled out. The reason that the audience sees nothing but the envelope and blank checks is because the performer is using either two identical checkbooks, or a Himber wallet prepared to look like a checkbook. (Which is what a Himber wallet really looks like anyway.) I’ve done it both ways. The following photos show a Himber wallet. If you decide to use two checkbooks, leave one unprepared and prepare the other one the same way as the secret side of the Himber. Here is what the audience sees after you have removed the envelope from the now empty pocket on the side of the wallet opposite the checks:

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Note that since this is a Himber wallet, I have put only one or two checks on each side. If you were to put a full pad of checks on each side, the wallet would be unduly thick and awkward to handle. If, however, you are using to checkbooks, this won’t present a problem. Just make sure that both checkbooks have about the same number of checks. (Also, note that I have blocked out my account number on the checks. This is not the case in performance, but I didn’t think it would be too bright to publish it in an e-book!) Here is the “secret” side of the Himber:

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Note the paperclip and the fact that the check is almost completely filled out. All that is missing are the parts of the written and numerical dollar amounts. A prefolded business card or card stock billet is placed under the paperclip as in the next photo:

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Look where the clip is placed and you will see that all of the blanks that need to be filled in are easily accessible. The partially filled out check is NOT attached to the checkbook. It is loose and is held in place by the paperclip. This allows for fumble free removal of the check while you are secretly refolding the billet with your left thumb. It also saves you the trouble of having to constantly add checks if you are using a Himber with only two checks on each side. In performance, I fill in the blanks from the top down just as I would do if I were really writing out a check. First, I fill in the name she gave me when I asked her what she wanted to be called. I could, of course, had just asked her to give her real name. The reason I have set up the routine so that she gives me an alias is to preclude any suspicion that I could have found out her name beforehand. It is equally apparent that I couldn’t

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know how much money she would want and it would appear that I didn’t have prior knowledge of either her Zodiac sign or the outcome of the card game. Neither conclusion is completely accurate. (If I do have foreknowledge of a spectator’s sign, I fill that in before the performance as well. If I don’t know her, sign I just leave it blank, as above.) Because at least two of the selections are actually fair, the fact that the outcome of the card game is forced is well disguised and, hence, not likely to be considered. Next, I fill in her sign and the amount of her bet. Note that it is simple to fold the card to the right with your left thumb when you are completing the written check amount. Finish folding the billet into quarters with your left thumb as you are pulling out the check with your right hand. Finger palm the billet in either hand and keep it concealed from every angle by simply holding the closed checkbook in the same hand!

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The major part of the performer’s work is now done, but from the audience’s point of view, the reenactment of the dream has just begun. Next comes the card game which, as I said, is a variant presentation of an old Stuart Judah effect which originally appeared about fifty years ago in “The New Phoenix.”

Judah meets Big Red The game, while rather odd, fits the dream scenario perfectly. Furthermore, it seems too aboveboard and random that trickery or cheating of any kind seems impossible. If you are not familiar with the Judah effect, get out a complete deck of cards, shuffle them thoroughly, and play the game exactly as described in the presentation above. Deal yourself two cards. If they are both red, keep them. If they are both black put them in a separate pile. If there is one of each put them in a separate pile off to the side. I have already predicted the outcome of your game. My prediction appears after the following authentic reproduction of a poster from “The Golden Age of Mentalism.” (Which is judiciously placed here to prevent you – if you don’t already know the effect - from accidentally seeing my prediction before you have completed the game. If you already know the effect, you should know what my prediction is, so you can skip down to the rest of the method whenever you wish.)

THE MASTER MIND READER PREDICTS: YOU HAVE NEITHER WON NOR LOST, FOR BOTH YOU AND THE HOUSE HAVE THE SAME NUMBER OF CARDS!!

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If my prediction is incorrect, you either don’t understand the game, or you are not playing with a full deck. If the latter is the case, join the club. If the former is true, I suggest you reread the game description. The game will always come out even if you use a full deck. (Without jokers, please) If four cards of the same color are missing from the deck, the other color will win by four. If two cards are missing, the other color will win by two. If you think about it for a while, the reason should suddenly become obvious to you. At least it should become obvious. The truth is, though, that they effect is a real fooler when done for laymen and it has become almost completely unknown to new generations of performers and audiences. Admittedly, it is not the most commercial card trick in the world. But presented as part the larger dream routine, it serves perfectly as a plausible and honest looking card game.

The Modified Swami Envelope As I’ve already indicated, another strong point in the routine is that the prediction envelope remains in full view throughout, protruding from the performers breast pocket. There are any number of other places it can be displayed, of course, but the breast pocket position allows for a very smooth and indetectable load of the folded billet, which as you will recall, is palmed in either your left or right hand under cover of the checkbook. After the card game, results are announced, and while the performer is recapping the details of the dream, he casually returns the checkbook to his inside jacket pocket, retaining the folded billet in finger palm position. Before describing the secret loading of the prediction, I’ll explain exactly how the envelope is gimmicked. It is a two-part variation of the ancient slit envelope principle. Here is what the envelope looks like from the flap side. The flap is not glued down, it is held in place by the round sticker only. The sticker is an Avery removable sticker. It is sticky enough to hold the envelope shut, but the envelope can easily be opened without fumbling or tearing. It serves to visually “prove” that the envelope is actually sealed and provides the necessary logic for opening the envelope while it is held vertically with its flap side towards the audience. (A position that allow for invisible insertion of the billet, as you will soon see.) It appears that you are simply showing them that the envelope was securely sealed. An added touch is to have a date written on the sticker – the date you allegedly wrote the prediction.

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As you are showing the sticker side of the envelope to the audience, you are in the ideal position for the secret load. It is accomplished via a specially placed slit on the face side of the envelope, as shown in the next photograph: The flap is opposite the upper end of the envelope in the picture. Half way down is a horizontal slit which spans the entire width. The rectangle you see below the slit is a piece of invisible scotch tape (highlighted for the purpose of the photo) which sticks the lower outside surface of the face side to the upper inside surface of the flap side. I have been using tape on slit envelopes (and slit wallets as well) for over twenty years. This guarantees that an object inserted into the envelope comes out the back through the slit like it is supposed to, and not down into the bottom of the envelope as it too often does. In this case, the taped slit allows for easy insertion of the billet from the face side of the envelope, as shown in the next picture.

After the envelope is removed from the pocket, held on one of the long side by the hand that is palming the billet. The billet, however, is not longer exactly in fingerpalm. Actually, it is pressed against the middle joints of the second and third finger by the thumb. From this position, it is an easy matter to allow the envelope to slide between the billet and the fingers, thus positioning the billet just beneath the slit. A slight buckling of the envelope – which is greatly facilitated by the scotch tape – opens up the slit and the billet is easily slid into the envelope. If you try this with envelope and billet in hand you will see just how easy and natural this is. You will also appreciate the purpose served by the sticker on the flap side. Because the envelope is sealed, this way makes it very easy to pop open while secretly inserting the billet at the same time. The move can also be accomplished with the envelope held on the palm up hand, flap side facing the ceiling, Watch your

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angles, though, if you try it this way. Held vertically as described, the move is virtually angel proof provided that the envelope is held about level with the solar plexus and no more than eight inches away from the body. As soon as the envelope is opened, the performer approaches the woman volunteer, turns the envelope over, and allows the billet to fall into her outstretched hand or onto the table in front of her. Again, the tape facilitates a slight buckle, which allows the billet to fall freely out of the envelope. NOTES: You may wonder why I don’t use a slit wallet or other container to receive the billet. The use of the envelope is dictated by the nature of the routine. Early in the presentation, I remove the envelope from my checkbook. There are two reasons for this. The first is simple – I have to keep the envelope somewhere. The second is more important from a misdirectional point of view. It gives me, as you’ve seen, an opportunity to casually allow the audience to see that the checkbook contains nothing but blank checks. This rationale may appear, to some, to be a small and possibly unnecessary point if the presentation is handled strongly enough. But it is small points like these that register on at least a subconscious level with audiences and serve to prevent them from thinking about things we don’t want them thinking about at all.

A Cigar for Otis This is an item that I had originally intended to market separately. It was inspired by Otis Manning’s Classic “OM” billet switching box that originally appeared in Annemann’s Jinx, and later in the compilation Practical Mental Effects. [Which, as you probably know, has recently been republished by Dover publications in a paperback edition entitled, much to my annoyance, Annemann’s Practical Mental Magic.] While Manning’s original concept was excellent, I always had a problem using the box. Because of the way it was gimmicked, it was not practical to use the box to carry pencils, envelopes, markers, etc. And yet that feature would have made the box a much more innocuous prop. Also, he used a Whitman’s type candy box. It was required because the long sides of a candy box lid serve to conceal the gimmick when the lid is removed from the box. I think you’ll find my cigar box version to be a distinct improvement. It is innocent in appearance and a logical thing in which to store writing implements. Furthermore, it is only gimmicked when you want it to be and its construction allows for variations in effect not possible with the Manning box.

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The box has infinite possibilities. Since I must assume that those of you who read my works are sufficiently versed in the art of mentalism to understand the many practical applications of which it is capable, I will give you just a detailed description of the box and its operation. Here are some photographs of the box I am currently using. I got it free at the local smoke shop. Many cigar boxes will serve the purpose, but they must be the types that have a sliding and removable lid as opposed to the hinged variety.

The full-length pencils in the box will give you an idea of its size. (Which is about the length of a cigar, come to think of it.) Notice the slot that I cut into the lid. In practice, the box is shut and a large rubber band wrapped around it. It is passed around the room and audience members drop their billets into the box via the slot. Here is a photo with the lid removed. Note that the lid only slides off in one direction. The lid itself can be placed on the box in two ways, however. The first way is shown in the second picture above. The second way is illustrated in the picture on the right, below.

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You will notice that the lid is placed on in the opposite direction. The lid is slid onto the box slotside first. In the previous picture, the slot-side of the box faces the front of the box.

Look carefully at the previous photographs and the one on the left and you will see how the box is prepared. The vertical ribs on the sides were cut from Popsicle sticks and are glued in place at intervals wide enough to hold a stack of four pencils. When you make your own box, be sure that the sticks are not so tall as to interfere with the smooth operation of the lid. The pencils, too, are gimmicked. They are glued together so they can quickly be put into place when required. (When the box is not being used as a switching device, it stores these pencils, along with a few dozen others and some markers, envelopes, etc.)

The picture on the left shows how the box works. The billets you see in the bottom portion of the box are dummies. When the lid is slid shut, the slot will be over the opposite side of the box, which is where the spectators’ billets will go. Since the box is banded shut, it is safe to let the audience pass it around amongst themselves during the collection process. When the performer retrieves the box, he removes the rubber band and slides the box halfway open, exposing the dummies, which he either dumps out onto a table or into a bowl. The spectators’ billets are held back by the “pencil wall.” The next picture shows how far the box is opened to dump out the “dummies.”

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If you are working a classic two-person act, you can now hand the “empty” box to your assistant for her to take offstage and retrieve the stolen information. Solo performers will find that the box works nicely for pre-show collection of billets, which are collected and dumped in a clear bowl near the front of the room. I The construction of the cigar box, as I said earlier, also allows for some interesting “multiple switches.” After you dump out the dummies, you can remove the lid completely (keeping it tilted away from the audience so the stolen billets are not visible, of course), casually turn the lid around and replace it so that the slot is covering the now empty side of the box. This is very useful in routines where you need to switch the stolen billets back in during the course of a second selection. (As in the question answering routine originated by UF Grant which I discussed at length in “The Hanussen Proof.”) The cigar box device only takes about a half an hour to prepare. All you need is the box, a bag of Popsicle sticks – sold in crafts stores – and some rubber cement. When you are finished you will have a natural looking switching device that is more practical than most of those available commercially. ______________________________________________________________________________