Bob Cassidy - Mind Explosions

Bob Cassidy Exclusives Presents:

A Limited Edition E-Book ©2003 by Robert E Cassidy. All Rights Reserved The high resolotuion jpeg image included with this e book is also copyrighted. It may only be copied for the performers own use.

BOB CASSIDY

Introduction This e-book is about closers, the routines which will leave your audience [choose one] laughing, crying, awestruck, applauding, or sleeping. The two routines, “The Number of the Beast”, and “Checkmate” begin as traditional, albeit very impressive, demonstrations of lightning calculation and memory. Both end with an unexpected, seemingly synchronistic, twist. Over the years, my primary closing effects have been “Russian Roulette”, “The Memorization of a Pack of Cards”, “The Memory Magic Square”, and “The Knight’s Tour”. The last two routines, as those of you who have performed them well know, are based completely on mnemonics and rapid calculation, two areas of mentalism that are generally avoided by casual performers. When you are performing three or four nights a week, this type of effect is really not very difficult to do because the mental work has become second nature – as it must be if you plan on entertaining your audience with what are otherwise “show-off” routines. (A “show-off” routine is one that is based on the “everything I do can be accomplished by anyone with sufficient training and practice” type of presentation.) When, on the other hand, you perform such effects infrequently, your mental work is likely to get in the way of your presentation -that, or your presentation will cause you to screw up the mental work. Apart from these considerations, audiences generally consider “super-mind” effects to be legitimate demonstrations of mental agility and, as such, they provide a seeming validation to the mentalist’s otherwise inexplicable effects. (When I perform the card memorization, for example, the audience is convinced that the memory is legitimate, thereby giving added credibility to my other routines.) On the down-side they magnify a flaw that is often present in mentalism programs - - THERE IS NO ELEMENT OF SURPRISE. The entertainment value is completely dependent upon the personality of the performer, who will either “wow” them with his mental “mastery” or bore them with a series of egocentric demonstrations whose successful outcomes are foregone conclusions. “Checkmate” and “The Number of the Beast” can both provide “contagious credibility” to a performance. But their startling conclusions also provide the element of surprise. In “Checkmate” the ending also serves to unify the entire performance, as you will see in the pages that follow. There is an added bonus, as well. The effects are relatively easy to do. Unlike the original “Memory Magic Square” and “The Knight’s Tour”, only a minimal amount of memory and calculation is required. The ease of working and the surprise endings are made possible by something I call “The Invisible Book Test”.

2

MIND EXPLOSIONS

The Invisible Book Test

The “Invisible Book” is the gimmick you will need to accomplish the routines which follow. Included with this e-book, as a separate file, is a very large JPEG image. It is a 220 dpi ready-to-print book cover, designed for standard size (app. 6.88” X 4.13”) paperback books. The black border design is wide enough to allow for slight adjustment in size if necessary. In the photos which follow, showing how the book is covered, the book cover you see was printed on a Canon 4200 BubbleJet Printer with a photo ink cartridge on 8 ½ x 11 glossy photo paper.

The above photo shows the book cover printed on glossy photo stock.To the right is a paperback book from which the cover has been removed. In fact, it is a book from Larry Becker’s excellent booktest “Flashback.” -the second version. The books are a slightly different size from the first version, but, as I said, the black border which surrounds the cover allows for variation in book size. (While I use a “Flashback” book, it is by no means essential. “The Invisible Book Test” can be accomplished with any paperback of the appropriate size. Note that you can add a black border to the image or simply use a black magic marker to widen the border if you are using a slightly oversized book.)

3

BOB CASSIDY

Attaching the cover is relatively easy, but before you do so you may wish to treat it with acrylic spray fixative available in art stores, or cover it with laminate. These will help to protect the cover, but the inkjet photo itself is surprisingly durable and the paper is very close to the thickness and feel of a regular paper book cover. (Those of you who don’t have printers can simply copy the image file to a 3.5 floppy disk and take it to your local print shop. Copies will cost you not more than about a dollar apiece. Six or eight of them should last you a lifetime.) As you will discover when you print the cover as described, it is virtually indistinguishable from a regular paperback. (The blurb on the back is rather strange, but I’ve seen far stranger in the bookstores.) I’m rather proud of it, I might add – the version you received with this e-book was the final version of six preliminary designs, each of which I rejected for one reason or another. These photos show how to attach the cover. Do NOT cut it out with a scissor. Use a papercutter or an eXacto knife.

Other than the straight edge, cutting surface and black magic marker (optional – see above) you will also need some good quality rubber cement. There are many other glues that will work as well, but they may create problems when and if it becomes necessary to recover the book.

“What,” you may ask, “ is so special about the book cover?” You’ll see a detailed view in just a moment, and all will be revealed. But first, finish preparing the book. You really won’t appreciate just how good this thing is until you are holding it in your hands.

4

MIND EXPLOSIONS

In this photo the book has been carefully trimmed to match the size of the paperback.;

Here I am lining up the spine of the cover with the spine of the book. Attaching the cover is by no means difficult but you will want to do as neat a job as possible. So take your time and proceed carefully.

Here I am marking the exact area of the spine with a pencil. This is to insure a neat glueing job. When you crease along these lines, use a cloth or another piece of paper to protect the ink from your pressing and rubbing. (If the photo is not completely dry, it WILL take permanent finger prints. Let the cover dry for several hours prior to attaching it to the book.)

5

BOB CASSIDY

The photo to the left shows my final size check before gluing the cover into place.

The two photos below show the finished product from two different angles. If you have done the job neatly, the book should look like it just came of the shelf in the bookstore.

Dear Doctor Bob, I spent almost a weeks pay on a set of “Flashback” books. Why would I want to wreck them by tearing off their covers? Wouldn’t that ruin their value as collectibles? Magic Jimmy

6

MIND EXPLOSIONS

Dear Magic Jimmy, You are an idiot, please don’t write to me anymore. Dr. Bob

I think, perhaps, that Dr. Bob was a bit too severe with Magic Jimmy, but you should be aware that Jimmy is the kind of guy who buys a trick in the magic store – or over the Internet- goes to a magic chatroom (where you can find him when he is not doing shows – in other words he is there all of the time) and tells everyone that this trick is the greatest and he can’t wait to show it to the guys at work tomorrow. (Doctor Bob tried to explain to him that no performer in his right mind would attempt to perform any routine in public without working on it for weeks, or even months. But, as they say in the legal profession, the doctor was assuming a fact not in evidence.)

The truth is that I would never even consider performing a commercially available effect in public without first disguising it beyond recognition and reroutining it to suit my on-stage persona. In the case of book tests, that means changing the covers and, in some cases, such as the wonderful “Mother of All Booktests”, removing and replacing the title page as well. “But,” you may ask, “If that is your position, why do you suggest that we replace the cover of one commercially available booktest with another, namely “The Number of the Beast?” Because “The Number of the Beast” is INVISIBLE, remember? It’s one of several books lying on the mentalist’s table. The mentalist draws no particular attention to it, and if anyone ever does notice it or pick it up, it won’t be associated with any particular routine

IT’S A CRIB SHEET. AN INVISIBLE CRIB SHEET THAT WILL MAKE NO SENSE TO ANYONE EXCEPT THOSE WHO PURCHASED THIS E-BOOK.

7

BOB CASSIDY

Let’s take a closer look at the front cover –

The Number of the Beast

Within the cover design there are two cue sheets. One is the complete formula for the classic “Memory Magic Square,” complete with mathematical aids that virually eliminate the possiblility of making a mistake, even under the most trying performing conditions. This formula is contained in the white and black numbers. The red numbers are a crib for those times when you want to blow the audience away with a “telepathic” version of the routine. (It is also useful if you are either too tired or hung over to do any math at all.) Before I go any further, though, a brief discussion of the original “Memory Magic Square” is necessary. The idea of combining a Magic Square Routine with a Memory Demonstraion is almost a century old.

8

MIND EXPLOSIONS

Most modern mentalists and magicians are familiar with the effect from the writings of Harry Lorayne, and/or Jerry Lucas, the former New York Knicks basketball star who briefly attempted , after his retirement from the game, to establish himself as a memory expert and card magician. (In collaboration with Mr Lorayne he co-authored “The Memory Book” back in the 1970’s) The “Memory Magic Square” was one of the routines he frequently performed on television to establish his credibility as a memory expert.

There are many who still remember the appearances of the brilliant Franz Polgar, who, along with Kuda Bux, the Pakistani “Man With the X-Ray Eyes”, were among the first mentalists to have their own television programs in the early years of the medium. I mention Polgar because I believe that his presentation of the “Memory Magic Square” was one of the best and his idea of asking s spectator to think of a number between fifty and a hundred, rather than between forty and a hundred, as suggested by Lorayne and others, not only makes things easier for the mentalist, but is more presentationally and psychologically sound. For those of you not familiar with the effect, it goes like this: (The scripting, which appears after this basic description of the routine and method is my own creation and appears in bold type, a convention which will continue through the remainder of the book.)

A Chalkboard stands upstage left. A volunteer from the audience comes forward and is requested to call out any number between 50 and 100. He is asked to write the number in the circle on the right side of the board. The mentalist, standing downstage right with his back to the board, points out that there are 16 numbered squares on the board, each containing a number and a blue line. He requests that members of the audience call out numbers from 1 to 16, also calling out the name of some physical object which the onstage volunteer is asked to write in the respectively called out squares. “You might, for example, call out square ‘fourteen’ and the word ‘grasshopper’, in which case the gentleman at the chalkboard will write the word ‘grasshopper’ on the blue line in square ‘fourteen.’ “We will continue in this manner until all of the squares are filled.”

9

BOB CASSIDY

Addressing the onstage volunteer the mentalist continues, “Please print the words in the approprirate squares as they are called out. Print them on the blue lines with the white chalk and do not write in the area below the blue line, as I will be having you write something else there later on.” The audience calls out numbers and objects and the volunteer dutifully records them in the selected squares until all sixteen are filled. The mentalist now calls out the numbers in order from 1 to 16 and correctly names the objects contained in each square. “That was simply a demonstration of memory. Now I would like to take it a step further. Sir, would you please pick up the yellow piece of chalk? I ask the members of the audience to now call out either individual squares by number, or simply the name of an object that appears in one of the squares. I, in turn, will call out a new number and will ask our volunteer to write that new number in the square whose number or object has been called out by a member of the audience.” After this is done, the performer turns around and goes to the chalkboard. This is the first time he has looked at the board since the routine began. He adds up the new numbers that he assigned to each square. He adds the vertical rows, the horizontal rows, the diagnonals, the four corners, the four center squares, the opposite or “pan diagonals,” and all square (2X2) groups of four. In every case the totals are the same. The totals are the same number called out by the volunteer before the routine began. At the conclusion of the routine, the board looks something like this:

Performed briskly and authoritatively the routine is extremely effective, more so if the performer asks for various details about each of the objects as they are called out. The demonstration seems to require incredible mental agility combining mathmatical ability with a seemingly photographic memory..

10

MIND EXPLOSIONS

Many performers still perform the Giant Memory routine – usually using a 25 square grid – without the magic square feature. This, I submit, isn’t nearly effective as the Magic Square variant. The basic memory routine has been taught to Dale Carnegie students for over fifty years and there are probably many in an intelligent audience who could do it as well as the performer. This is not the case with the Magic Square variant. – not because the method hasn’t been revealed publicly – but because the method itself seems far more complicated that the simple application of mnemonics. I will presume that anyone who is reading this e-book is familiar with the mnemonic technique used to associate a list of words with the numbers from one to sixteen. (If not, you probably thought I was kidding when I advertised my writings as performance pieces for the professional mentalist and psychic entertainer.Well, like they say in the old children’s game “No more ladders for you. Take the chute back to square one.”) Here is a quick summary of the usual method for performing the effect –

DON’T LET THE MATH AND MEMORY BOTHER YOU –THE INVISIBLE BOOK TEST TAKES CARE OF MOST OF THAT FOR YOU ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS UNDERSTAND HOW IT WORKS, SO READ CAREFULLY IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE METHOD. The performer has already committed to memory a magic square we will refer to as the “34 Square”. This is a magic square which adds up to the number 34 in all the ways described above (and more if you keep looking) He must know which number appears in which of the sixteen squares. A typical 34 square (and the one used in this routine) looks like this –

8 11 14 1 13 2 7 12 3 16 9 6 10 5 4 15 To perform the routine smoothly and effectively the mentalist, must know instantly that square 13, for example, contains the number 10 in the basic 34 square. Since the “34 Square” is composed of the first sixteeen numbers, thirty-four is the lowest possible total that can be obtained in a consecutively numbered magic square without using fractions or imaginary numbers. This is why the spectator is asked to select a number between either 34 and 100, 40 and 100, or 50 and 100.

11

BOB CASSIDY

Most everyone would agree that requesting any number between 34 and 100 would seem a bit odd, it would only suggest that a mathematical formula must be involved. It is important to remember that the impression you should create with this routine is that you are performing complex calculations and combining them with your prodigious memory to produce an amazing result. You don’t want people to think that a simple memorized formula is involved. If the preceding sentence is not clear to you, please read it again. (I’ve met too many perfomers who do not understand or recognize this point.) This is why Lorayne suggests asking for a number from between 40 and 100. But this still seems like a rather unusual spread. “Why not between 30 and a hundred?” a spectator might think. Asking for a selection from between 50 and 100 is the most logical sounding of the three choices. I’m not sure why, maybe because those numbers represent the finite “high half” of the group, or perhaps just because it sounds right. Either way, Polgar had the right idea. Not only does it “sound right” but it serves to simplify the mental work a bit. (Of course, “The Invisible Book” virtually eliminates the mental work, but we’ll get back to that in a minute.) Okay, the spectator selects a number between 50 and 100. Here is what happens in the mentalist’s head – He subtracts 34 from the chosen number. Let us assume that the spectator has called out 67. 67 less 34 is 33. This is basic and simple subtraction. But nothing is basic and simple in the heat of performance when you might well be delivering a funny line or responding to an unexpected event in the audience at the same time that you are doing the calculations. In such circumstances, it is much easier and reliable (at least for me and many others) to first subtract 30 and then subtract 4. We now divide the result by four. In this case 33 divided by 4 is 8 with a remainder of 1. 8 is our first key number. Add the remainder to 8 to get the second key. 8 + 1= 9. Our key numbers are 8 and 9. To make the basic 34 square into a magic square whose total equals the spectator’s selected number we must add the lower key number – 8 to the numbers 1 through 12 in the basic square. We add the second key number – 9 to the numbers13, 14, 15, and 16. (If there is no remainder, then there is no second key number, and the first key is added to all of the squares in the basic square.) Here is the result of adding the keys, 8 and 9 – keeping with the same example – to the top row of the basic square, giving us a row that totals 67 – the selected number.

12

MIND EXPLOSIONS

8 11 14

1

+8 + 8 +9 +8 16 19 23 9 16 + 19 + 23 +9= 67

The same procedure is followed with all of the squares and the result is a perfect 67 square.

Here is where “The Invisible Book Test” comes in. In this first example, it allows us to do the original effect without most of the effort. You will recall that the performer was standing downstage right with his back to the board at upstage center. I forgot to mention that directly in front of the performer at stage right is a small table or stool containg a few items used earlier in his performance. These include several paperback books, the uppermost of which is “The Number of the Beast.” It is positioned in such a way that the performer can look right at it at any time without arousing any suspician. If he chooses to wear a blindfold, the cover of the book is well within “down the nose” vision range. Let’s look at the front cover again:

13

BOB CASSIDY

Note that the white numbers constitute the basic 34 square. Starting at the left we see, in black type, “-34” and”/4”. This simply reminds us that the first step in our calculation is to subtract 34 and divide the result by four to obtain the first key and the remainder, if any. (All we need to remember is that if there IS a remainder, that we must add it to the first key to obtain our second. If there are two keys, you will remember that the second, or higher, key number is added to 13, 14, 15, and 16. If you forget this or get confused (for some reason I always want to add the second key to number 12) there is no problem. If you look at 13, 14, 15 and 16 in the white numbers of the basic square, you will see that they are marked with little demon claws. (They are much clearer in the high resolution jpeg image that you will use for printing that they are in this heavily compressed graphic.. If you have trouble doing the division in the heat of performance, the book cover helps you there, too. Look at the numbers separated by slashes that appear below the basic square.. These are all of the numbers within the range of the spectator’s selection that are divisible evenly by four. The number to the right of the slash is the result of the division. If the number you arrive at after subtracting 34 from the spectator’s selection does not appear among the numbers to the left of the slashes, simply find the the number that is closest to, BUT LOWER, than the number you seek. Your first key number is to the right, and your remainder is the difference between your number and the number to the left of the slash. (Wow! That last sentence looks complicated in print, but if you look at the book cover for just a few moments and challenge yourself with a few randomly selected magic squares, I know you will see just how simple the whole procedure is when Dr. Crow’s latest novel is lying on your table.

If you’d like to perform the psychic version of the routine - the one that surprises the audience and serves to unify the entire performance, look at the alternate magic square that appears in red type just behind the basic square. It is the square drawn on the blackboard in the performance sequence graphics which follow.

14

MIND EXPLOSIONS

The “surprise” endings to both the “Memory Magic Square” routine and “Checkmate” are based on a book test sequence that took place much earlier in the mentalist’s performance. Actually, you can use any book, number or word effect that you like, but is best if you do a routine that uses three volunteers. The first might think of a word, the second a number, and the third, another word or perhaps a picture. (Say, there’s a pretty good three-envelope routine that would work well here ☺) Personally I like to use Larry Becker’s “Flashback” during that sequence. Not only is the effect extremely powerful, but on of the books allows you to force the number 93. (You can just hand the book to someone who is obviously right handed and ask him or her to open the book “anywhere at all.” Then ask, “Are you right or left handed? Right? Okay, then, concentrate intently on the page number of the right hand page. Close your book but keep the number burned into your mind. You must concentrate even more strongly than the others because numbers, unlike words or pictures are not tangible objects, they are actually more like theoretical constructs… they can really screw you up if you’re not careful.” Now continue with the other volunteers and then go on with the rest of your act. FORGET ALL ABOUT THE POOR VOLUNTEER WHO IS INTENTLY CONCENTRATING ON SOMETHING THAT COULD “REALLY SCREW YOU UP IF YOU’RE NOT CAREFUL” Here is how you lead into your closing routine: :”I want to thank you all for being such a wonderful audience tonight. In fact, you’ve been so good that I’d like to do something for you that I rarely do in public…not as long as I’m on work release, anyway. . . only kidding . . Performer looks at the spectator who has been concentrating intently on the number, the one who was apparently forgotten. He smiles at her and says, “I’ll bet you think that I forgot all about you. Do you think I’d leave you there with a dangerous theoretical construct burned into your mind? . . . A number that no one in this room could possibly know. I wouldn’t think of doing that to you. Come on up here and join me on the stage. When the volunteer arrives on the stage, the performer escorts her to the blackboard and points out the sixteen square grid and the chalk circle drawn next to it. In a moment I’m going to turn my back on you. I’d like you take a piece of yellow chalk and print your number inside the circle. Nice and big so everyone can see it later. But don’t let anyone see it now. Stand right in front of the board when you write, and when you are finished, take the red cardboard disk you see on the tray, and hang it on the little hook at the top of the circle. That will hide your number from prying eyes for the time being.. . . Now if you would just stand to the side of the board and trade your yellow piece of chalk for a white piece, I am going to attempt a very difficult experiment. What is the big deal with the yellow chalk, the white chalk and the blue line inside the white squares??

15

BOB CASSIDY

If you have ever seen the effect performed on a medium sized board with just a piece of white chalk, you will know exactly what the big deal is – By the time you are finished with the routine, all of the white writing on the board will likely look like a confusing mess and detract from both the visual and mystery elements of the routine. Note that you don’t mention magic squares at any time until the end of the routine when you start adding up the new numbers you have provided for each square. Also note that since you forced the number 93 on the volunteer, that this will be an extremely easy routine for you to perform. All you have to deal with is the memorization of the sixteen objects. You don’t even have to memorize the 93 square because it is printed on the cover of “The Invisible Book.” In short, there is nothing holding you back from putting everything you have presentationally into the demonstration As a review, the graphics on the following pagies provide a pictorial representation of the various stages in the routine.

_________________________________________

Note that the top of the board is only about five feet from the ground. This is so the volunteer will have no difficutly in shielding the number she writes in the circle from the eyes of the audience. Also note the red cardboard disk with the hole near one edge. The volunteer hangs this over her number after she has written it in the circle. (On the board I use in my performances, the grid, the numbers 1 to 16, the blue lines and the circle are painted on permanently. This provides a much cleaner and professional appearance. On the opposite side of the board is the layout for the alternate closing routine, ‘Checkmate.” Being prepared to do either of the routines allows me to tailor my show to the specific audience.)

16

MIND EXPLOSIONS

The spectator secretly writes her number in the circle and covers it with the disk. Note the nice contrast provided by the various colors. This is a very important point as it gives a strong sense of clarity to the routine. The second graphic shows where the assistant writes the words called out by the audience.

The first picture shows the board after the performer has assigned new numbers to each square as part of the “memory” portion of the routine. The second graphic shows where the performer writes his total as he dramatically adds up all of the various combinations in the magic square. Some performers draw arrows all over the board to accent the many different ways the square adds up to the same number. I prefer to create the illusion of an ordered mind. (In my case that is often a very difficult illusion to maintain!)

17

BOB CASSIDY

While the performer adds up the numbers he does not ask the spectator anything about the number she wrote on the board and concealed with the disk. A volunteer often gives great physical and facial reactions when she realizes that your numbers are adding up to hers from every which way but Sunday. At the end the performer simply smiles at her and says, “Remove the disk!”

Checkmate “The Knights Tour” is a classic of Mentalism and its popularity can be traced well back into the 19th Century. It was a great favorite of Charles Dodgson, the amateur magician who, as Lewis Carroll, wrote the immortal Alice in Wonderland.. I’ve always associated the game of chess with Alice’s adventures. Whether or not that has effected by ability as a player is hard ot say, but it is most certainly responsible for the fondness I have always held for “The Knight’s Tour”.

18

MIND EXPLOSIONS

The effect was also featured by the great Karl Germain and in modern times has been a mainstay in many mental and magic acts. Like the “Memory Magic Square” the effect can be performed before just about any audience. The only variable is the board – The bigger the audience, the bigger the board must be. Peter Raveen, who once featured the effect in his illusion show, had a very visual board and his routine rivalled his best illusions. But – and I always have a ‘but’, don’t I? – the effect has some very real presentional problems which must be understood thoroughly, mainly so they can be avoided; for in “Checkmate” the “Knight’s Tour, if properly presented, is taken into a new dimension. Not only does the mentalist achieve a perfect tour of every square on a chess board, but the movements of the knight fulfill a prediction made earlier regarding a spectator’s secret thought. The ending comes right out of left field and creates a strong feeling that a truly unusual synchronistic event has taken place. I assume that most of you are familiar with the basic effect, but a brief review might be helpful. We’ll also look at the effect’s tempting, yet dangerous pitfalls. Mentalists and magicians who have never seen the effect performed often have the impression that it can be appreciated only be an audience of chess-club nerds or computer geeks. The truth is that a knowledge of chess is not a prerequisite to understanding the effect (except, of course, for the move of the Knight, which is clearly explained at the outset). And rather than being of interest only to those who really need to get a life, the effect is actually quite exciting if it is properly performed. Like the Knigh’ts galloping horse, the presentation should accelerate as the routine proceeds. But as the Knight’s pace quickens his possible moves become limited and it soon appears to be impossible for the Knight to complete his quest. His task is to land on each of the 64 squares on a chessboard once and only once, a difficult and complicated task considering the unusual manner in which the Rules of Chess require a Knight to move.. In all presentations of the routine the Knight’s legal mode of movement must be explained to the audience at the outset. Members of the audience who are chess players are asked to verify that the mentalist’s explanation of the move is correct, and during the routine they are asked to serve as judges to verify that all of the performers moves are legally (and regally in Camelot) correct. I explain the move by displaying a large graphic which hangs on the front of the 64 square chess board which is painted on the opposite side of the blackboard I described in the previous effect. Here is the graphic and an explanation of the move. (Again, elements of script appear in bold type.)

19

BOB CASSIDY

“The Knight is the only piece in the game of chess who can jump over other pieces who stand between him and his goal. The reason should be obvious – he’s the only one who rides a horse. (The Bishop tries to jump the Queen occasionally, but that’s a different story entirely . . . it’s a pretty good one, though.) “From his position on the diagram, the Knight may move to any one of the eight marked squares.

“He moves two squares in a horizontal or vertical direction and then one more square to the left or right. Some chess players argue that he really moves only one square forward and then two to the left or right. Since that method of moving brings him to the same eight squares, it is somewhat difficult to determine who is correct. The last line is a joke. Don’t use it if you’re afraid you might confuse your audience. “Note that the Knight will always land on a square of the opposite color from the squ.are he just left. Does anyone have any questions?” After making sure that the bulk of the audience understand the Knight’s move, the display card is removed and a volunteer stands next to the board with a piece of chalk. The performer has his back to the board and may be blindfolded if he so desires. “And now, if someone in the audience will call out any number from one to sixty four – the number of squares on a chess board, I will ask our volunteer to mark an ‘x’ through that square to mark the starting position of our imaginary Knight. From that square I will attempt to move the Knight around the board – using legal moves only- in such a manner as to land on every square on the board once and only once. Those of you who are familiar with the game already realize that this is almost an impossible task even when you are looking at the board.

20

MIND EXPLOSIONS

“I will not have that luxury. I must rely totally on visualization and recall to call out the proper moves the Knight must make to complete the tour successfully.” The mentalist now proceeds to do just what he said he was going to do. If he is a good actor and paces the effect properly, as discussed earlier, the demonstration will likely have a strong impact on the audience. But even when the performer has strong presentational skills, the effect is easily ruined if one of several common mistakes are made. If you ever see a photo of an old-time magician – Karl Germain,. for example - you will ofen see that the squares are not marked off by ‘x’s but are connected by lines which go fron the center of the Knights square of origin to the center of this target square. Marking the moves in this manner creates a fascinating geometric pattern on the board. Different versions of the tour leave different patterns, some ornate, some merely regular. Here is an example of the lovely pattern left by the Knight in the version of the Tour which will be examined here. –

Note that the design features five pointed star-like patterns in the right corners and six pointed figures on the left. You may think it is somewhat pretty and that this method of marking off the tour will provide the spectators with a visual surprise. It probably will, but it will also provide them with something else – incontrovertible evidence that the tour follows a cyclic prearranged path and that it doesn’t matter where the Knight begins his tour, the circular pattern will simply be picked up from the starting point.

There is another variation of this mistake. It is a little harder for an audience to notice, but not by much. That is the oft used presentational ploy which attempts to build up the “difficulty” of the feat by requiring the Knight to make one more move after his tour is completed – a legal move that will take him back to the square from whence he started. Think about that for a minute and you will see that it is just another way of demonstrating that the sequence of moves is cyclical. To avoid these pitfalls and create the illusion that you are actually working out each move as you go along, purely by visualizing the movements in your mind’s eye, simply mark the Knights position by having the volunteer cross out the squares as you go. And forget about finishing at the same place you started. (That happens far too often in show business anyway.)

21

BOB CASSIDY

There are three methods of performing “The Knight’s Tour.” One is by pure skill alone. This is the method you should claim to use if pressed on the point. (Who can prove otherwise?) The second is by pure memory – simply memorize a Knight’s Tour sequence and pick it up from whatever square the spectator initially selects. The last way, and the one I recommend if you are not performing every night, is to use a crib sheet. Some writers suggest that you palm it in your hand or write it on your cuff. A far easuer wat is to simply have the back cover of “The Number of the Beast” lying face up on your table. Here is the back cover. The circular sequence of numbers surrounding the blurb box is the Knight’s Tour!. You can follow it in either a clockwise or counter closckwise posiition (just don’t change your mind half way through the trip.) If the spectator calls out square number 27 as the starting square and you have decided to go clockwise, your next move is to square 44, and then to 61, 55 and 40 etc. The tour will end on square 33. ( This is something you can effectively predict partway into the tour – “I have a feeling that I am going to end this thing on square 33.”

22

MIND EXPLOSIONS

This is what the board looks like at the beginning of the routine. As in “The Memory Magic Square, the numbers and squares are painted on the board. Some performers used a board on which all of the squares are the same color. You might prefer this, but I personally feel that this takes the feeling of the game of chess completely out of the routine.

Oh, you might also have noticed that my board has letters as well as numbers in each square. Look them over carefully. Can you discern any patter, or any reason why the letters are assigned to specific squares? Note that these are NOT painted on the board. I draw them in with a different color chalk than the color used in performance. This allows me to easily change the letters around for future programs. After you learn my “predictive” variation to the basic routine, you may change the letters around any way you like. There is only one is only one ten-letter pattern that I am aware of in this sequence. It is the one I put there. If you find any others they are the product of your own imagination. As in the alternate version to the magic square routine, the seeds for the “Knight’s Tour” variant are sewn earlier in the program. This time, however, you force a word on a spectator rather than a number. Again, I do this in a book test sequence because it works logically into my show. Three people select words from books. Again, I use Larry Becker’s “Flashback” to “peek” the first and third spectator’s selections. I use of of Flashback’s built in forces to force the word (in this example) “lumberjack” on the second spectator. I succeed in revealing the first and third spectator’s words, but fail completely on the second. Ias the show progresses I keep asking the volunteer to concentrate on her word, but finally I apparently give up and basically ignore her until the end of the show. (You may, of course, force a workd using any method you please. I have on occasion, done the effect impromptue simply by riffle forcing a page in a borrowed book. A short page in one of your own books would work just as well.

23

BOB CASSIDY

Just prior to performing the “Knight’s Tour”, I hand a sealed envelope to one of the spectator’s who have come onstage to act as judges of the legality of the moves I will make with the Knight. I ask another one of the volunteers to act as “recording secretary” and to write down on a piece of paper the sequence of moves that I call during the demonstration. At the conclusion of the demonstration I thank the volunteers and the rest of the group for being a great audience. Looking toward the woman whose thought I failed to receive earlier in the program, I say, “I’m sorry I missed your thought, but I had a strange feeling last night that I would run into some difficulty in today’s demonstration. It’s not your fault, it’s just some kind of mental block I sometimes run into. Earlier I tried three times to get your thought and failed each time. I don’t think you know it, but while I was demonstrating the Knight’s Tour, I tried to get your thought one more time. And you know what? I don’t know if I did it or not! “Just before we began I handed this gentleman a sealed envelope. It contains a fragment of a strange dream I had last night. Sir would you please open the envelope and bring it over to me? Thank you. I’m going to read what it says to the audience and I would like you, sir, to read silently along with me to verify that I am not just making this up as I go along. . . here’s the important part, ‘and I dreamed that when I reached square twenty-three, I would follow a different path then usual for the next nine moves.’ “That is what I wrote, isn’t it sir?” The volunteer verifies that I have read the letter accurately. I ask the person who recorded the moves to walk over to the board and call out the letter marked in square 23. She states that it is an “L” I ask the woman in the audience to tell us if that was the first letter of the work she was thinking of. (Of course, it is.) The volunteer by the board calls out the letters in the next nine squares I landed on. Each time the woman in the audience verifies that the letters called are the letters of her word. My Knight has spelled the word “Lumberjack”, the very word I had failed to discern earlier. Believe me, this is powerful stuff. The climax is almost eerie because it seems so impossible. The method should be obvious to you by know. Look at the last photograph and see how “Lumberjack” – the word I forced on the second spectator in the book test, is spelled out by the moves 23, 8, 14, 24, 7, 22, 5, 15, 32, 47. If the spectator who calls your starting move calls a number that would split the prediction sequence, simply say something like, “That’s the third time this week I’ve started from that part of the board.. How about giving me a challenge.?” I never showed The Number of the Beast in the program. I could have if I’d wanted to, for it, too, is a “Flashback” book.

24

MIND EXPLOSIONS

It’s a book that serves its purpose simply by being there. May it serve you as well. -23- (again?)

25