Conversation As Mentalism by Mark Elsdon (PDF) Vol.1

Conversation As

Mentalism

'The first ingredient in conversation is truth, the next good sense, the third good humor, and the fourth wit." - Sir William Temple "Three out of four ain't badl"

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Mark Elsdon 1

Contents lntroduction... p3 Game On... p5 Lies... p7

Seven... p10

AllChange...p13 Thumbthing... p16 This Year's Book...

pt8

Sixty Two Pence... p22

Landline,,. p25 One ForThe Road...p28

Copyright @ 2012 hy Mark EMon. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy tt, do not scan it, do not upload it. Thankyou.

lntroduction Many thank for buying this small manuscript. Hopefully you are intrigued of being able to do something amazing whilst just having a chat a friend, colleague or potential booker. The goal of the effects with (referred to as CAMs) contained herein is to allow you the opportunity to perform when you literally "have nothing with you". That is, no peek wallet, no swami, no loops, in fact no props, gimmicks or gadgets at all. by the possibility

Most of the effects require not much more than just words and language. They are effectively imaginotion games where nothing physically takes place. A couple of them require the use some pocket change or a piece of paper and a pen, but these are always completely justified and a natural part of the conversation.

Remember, in every instance it must appear to the person you are talking to that the CAM is simply a natural progression of the conversation, not that you have mentioned the film/game/puzzle/whatever just in order to do a trick So weave these CAMs in to your everyday conversation as you see fit. Maybe sow the seed by mentioning the premise of the effect in passing and then coming back to the actual performance part later. One other thing to bear in mind: when used at the opportune time, these CAMs have the potentialto be both mystifying and amazing. However,

let's not get carried away here - no one is likely to open their network television special with any of these effects. That's OK though, since that is not what they were designed for. But if you want the ability to give people a potentially powerful example of what you do, with little more than the use of a few words, then you've come to the right place. As well as the effect and method of each CAM, I have generally provided you with a presentational hook and an outline of the approach to use, which serves at the 'conversation' part of the equation. What I have not

given you is a full script, since I have no idea how each reader of this manuscript speaks. The very essence of these CAMs is that they should be

about your conversation, so having you memorise a script provided by me would have been completely counter-productive.

Game On

which brings me to my final point: during the conversation part of these

CAMs, be genuinely interested in what the participant is saying. Remember the old adage about being a good listener * you have two ears and one mouth, so use them in that ratio. Don't be in a hurry to get past what they are talking about simply to get to the 'trick' part. sometimes I

use the opening, premise-setting part of a cAM and then the ensuing conversation is so interesting that I don't bother to perform the effect Don't worry, no harm done. The effect wiil arways save for another day, whereas a stimulating conversation can be an enlightening bonding experience which is truly unique.

so, I hope you enjoy reading this manuscripf and more than that I hope you enjoy adding this new aspect of performance to your repertoire.

Effect: The performer inquires whether or not the participant has ever been hypnotised. whatever the answer, the performer states that whilst he will NOT use any hypnosis, he has already started using 'suggestion

techniques' that render the participant 100% incapable of winning the imaginary dice game that they are about to play. Sure enough, despite allowing the participant to make all the choices, the performer wins.

F.Y.l. You'll be pleased to read that there are no actual suggestion techniques in this CAM and everything is sure-fire. This is an example of how to take a bar bet and turn it into something a lot more interesting. Essentially, you will play a short game with an ,dice, imaginary die (although I usually use the incorrect

word when performing, to ensure that the emphasis is on the effect and not the etymology). This game is a con and one that can only be won if you know the secret, which you do and the participant doesn,t. The bet is from the booklet

t'll

Bet you Con,t (1946) by Lewis Kohrs.

Method: The game takes this format: you and the participant each throw an imaginary die, calling out any number you choose between I and 6. These scores are added cumulatively and the first person to reach 50 wins. you always win.