Devin Knight - Mindreading for the Masses

Mindreading For The Masses Copyright © 2016 by Devin Knight Magic All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval now known or to be invented, without written permission from the author.

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INTRODUCTION Back in my earlier days, I performed nationwide as a professional psychic under the stage name of Jason Michaels. I often pretended to be the real thing with the help of my mentor, the late Al Mann. Those were the fun days and I remember them fondly. I was a firm believer in publicity and did everything I could to ensure my name was in the public’s eye. I did publicity stunts weekly for local newspaper reporters and was often frontpage news in every town I appeared. One of my best publicity stunts was when I got arrested for driving a car blindfolded. The first person in history, to the best of my knowledge to be arrested for driving a car blindfolded. The press went wild; the story was picked up by the newswires and went worldwide overnight resulting in thousands of newspaper stories. This notoriety made it easy to get on radio and television talk shows. During my run as Jason Michaels, seldom a week went by that I was not on a radio show. I designed a routine for radio appearances. I would tell the producer that I would go on the show and over the air, sight unseen; I would locate thousands of selected cards that the listeners selected in their homes from their own decks. This was such a novel idea, that almost every producer wanted me on their shows. Once I was booked for the show, I would call the host of the show at home. I will introduce myself and ask him if he had a deck of cards around the house. It didn’t have to be a complete deck. In turn, I would have him select a card from his shuffled deck and place it on the table in front of himself. He was instructed to NOT write the name of the card, but when I ended the call, he was to go to his kitchen and get a piece of aluminum fold and to wrap the card inside the foil. He was further cautioned NOT to tell anyone the name of the card sealed inside. He was asked to bring this sealed card to the studio on the day of my appearance. If aluminum foil was not available at his home, then he was instructed to seal the card in an opaque envelope. Needless to say, during the show, I would reveal the card sealed in the foil without ever touching it. This appeared to be a real psychic demonstration and not only fooled the public and reporters, but almost every magician who listened to it over the radio. It just didn’t appear possible. The complete script for pulling this off is included in this release. You are not restricted to doing this effect on the radio. This can be used at your regular magic or mentalism shows. You can call the person who hired you and have him or her select a card at home and bring it to

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the show sealed in foil. During the show you reveal the card even though you have never seen or touched the foil prior! Later, in the radio show I would have people at home select cards and by following my directions, everyone found their cards. People were invited to call the station if I was able to locate their cards. The switchboards would immediately light up with hundreds of calls from listeners. This trick is also explained in this release and updated so any mentalists or magician can do this. The original method has people spelling to a card by spelling my name. Obviously, this would not work for the rest of magicians so I have an improved method different from the one explained in my NTE principle. As a bonus, I reveal the secret, behind one of my Jason Michael brain busters only suitable for a live television show. This can be any local television talk show that most major cities have. The secret was so exclusive I did not let Al Mann discuss it in his book, The Fabulous Feats Of Jason Michaels. This effect created much talk and is revealed here for the first time. For those who can use this secret, it is worth many times the cost of this release. Included in this release are secrets that made Jason Michaels a household name in much of the country during the late 80s. Most of these secrets are forgotten and ripe for an enterprising mentalist or psychic to pick up where I left off. I look forward to hearing you on the radio. Much success to you.

Devin Knight aka Jason Michaels 2016

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Richard Himber’s No Questions Asked In my opinion, and that of Al Mann, we felt this was the best telephone card revelation ever created. It is the basis behind my revealing a card sealed in an envelope or foil. The first thing the reader needs to do is to master the original effect. Read it, study it, master it, then call your friends and do the effect for them and hang up. They will call you back asking how you did this. A few people have tried to improve the trick by having the person deal two even piles. This is not the case at all. Himber’s original handing where your participant can stop dealing on any pile is far superior. It is the method I teach within. This is a sensational trick, please learn it as taught and do not try to improve it or change words. Every word is there for a purpose, either for misdirection or for discovering the card.

SCRIPT Call a friend who has a cell phone and ask him to put the phone in speaker mode. Ask him or her to get a deck of cards. Tell your friend it does not have to be a complete deck. When your friend returns with a deck of cards, then continue. Shuffle the cards thoroughly and place one card face down in front of you. Place another card face-down to the right of the first card. Place another card face-down on the first card to your left. Continue alternating cards like this until you have a bunch of cards on the table. You may stop anytime you want stopping on either pile. Put the rest of the deck aside somewhere for now and out of the way. Lift off a bunch of cards from the left pile, look at the bottom card of the packet you cut off and remember it. This will be your selected card. Next, place this packet of cards face down on top of the right-hand pile. Please let me know what the cards in the left pile are, starting at the top one at a time. The person reads off the cards one at a time. As he names the cards aloud, write the name of the card in abbreviated form on a sheet of paper. Example the Queen of Diamonds would be written as QD. When he has reached the end of the pile, you say, “Your card is the four of______. Hey, wait a minute your card isn’t in that pile, it’s in the other.” Please put the left-hand pile aside with the rest of the deck. Read aloud the cards in the other pile that does contain your selected card starting from the top.

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IMPORTANT: Start listing the cards in the second pile under the list of cards from the first pile on the paper in front of you. If the person listed 5 cards in the first pile (which was the left pile originally) and 15 cards in the other pile (the right pile originally), then you add the numbers, in this case 5 +15, giving you a total of 20 cards. Divide this in half (20/2) which gives you 10. Counting down from the top of the list, the 10th card will be his selected card. If the total is an odd number, such as 19, all you do is add 1 to get an even number, which in this case is 20 and his card will still be 10th from the top. If the total is 21 cards, add 1 and you get 22. His card will be 11th from the top. You never tell you participant the position of his card. Just say, “Remember, I don’t know a thing, and I haven’t asked you any questions. Yet, I am going to try to tell you your card!” You name it and hang up the phone. The trick is finished. For example, the left pile had four cards: 5D, KC, 2H, 4S, and you list them from 1-4. The right-hand pile had 15 cards, such as: 3S, QD, 10H, AS, 5D, 7H, 8C, KS, 3D, 2S, 7H, 9H, 4C, AD, 6H, and you list them from 5-19. Total of the two piles is 19. Add 1 and divide by two and you get 10. The 10th card, 7H, is the selected card. This is the basic trick; make sure you fully understand how it works. Once you do, you can proceed to my refinements.

Jason Michael’s Refinements Himber’s, No Questions Asked, was the basic secret behind my foiled effect. I started the effect on the telephone and finished it in the studio. However, all time I changed the handling. In the original Al Mann book I described the effect, but told the host over the phone that I had failed to get an impression and to bring his card to the studio. This worked, and I did it in my early days as a psychic. Later, I determined that this was very bad idea. I was supposed to be a nationally known psychic and with my first conversation with the host, I had failed. What kind of first impression was that going to leave the host with? I decided to change my phone tactic to a correct close-hit, which would be impressive and leave the host believing I must be the real thing. The foiled effect would then be completed in the radio studio. 6

The following information is my updated handling and was NOT explained this way in the Fabulous Feats Of Jason Michaels. The following test is of top caliber and was one of my favorites. The test may take days, weeks or months to climax it. To the lay mind and to well-versed card men, the test has no explanation. You start by proposing a psychic test over the telephone the day before your appearance on a radio or television show. You then do the No Questions Asked, but you have problems getting a clear impression. Tell your participant; because I am not in close proximity to you it is hard to focus in on your card. “The other cards are confusing me, do me a favor, place your selected card in front of you and put the other cards back into the card case, this way you only have your selected card to focus on, and the other conflicting cards will be out of the way,” you say. Give him time to do. Tell him to focus intently on his card and you will attempt to get impressions. What you have done here, is to get the other cards out of play. Only one card is on the table in front of him. This subtle bit helps ensure your participant will not change cards on you and bring a different card to the studio. The rest of the routine will ensure that does not happen. Remember, you already know the name of his selected card. “That’s much better, I am starting to get an impression now, but it is still a little hazy because of the distances between us. (Assume his card is the Ten of Diamonds.) I am seeing a red spot card in front you, but I can’t make out all the details. Don’t tell me the name of the card, but is there a red spot card in front of you?” Your participant should say, “Yes.” Whatever card he selected, just tell him the color and whether it is a face or spot card. For example, you may say, “I see a black picture card, don’t tell me the name, but is that correct?” You have not really done any fishing, but have made a direct close-hit, which will impress your participant big time. By doing this bit of business, you have ensured that he did everything correct and that you know the card to be revealed later. Also, since he has confirmed that, for example, this was a red spot card, it makes it difficult for him to want to switch cards later. If he is at home, ask him if he has any aluminum foil in his home? If not, he can use an opaque envelope.

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You say, “After I hang up, please take your selected card and seal it in an opaque envelope. Better yet, seal it in aluminum foil, if you have some readily available. Do not show your sealed card to anyone. Do not tell anyone the card you selected and don’t write the name down.” “Please bring the sealed card to the show tomorrow (or next week), as I am sure when I am in close proximity to you, I will be able to get a stronger impression. Again, please remember your card and do not write its name down anywhere nor tell anyone,” you say. During the radio or television show you detail the test, but make no mention that you only had a partial hit. Just tell the audience that the host has chosen a card secretly in the privacy of his home, while you were talking with him on the phone. Tell them he has sealed his card in an envelope or piece of foil. Ask the host if anyone else knows the card. Did he write the name down at any time or let anyone else tamper with the envelope or foil? His answers to all these questions should be, “NO.” You then proceed to divine the name of his card. Do not underrate this effect; it made me a reputation as a psychic. Remember, the Himber trick sounds impossible as it is. The host does not expect you to know his card and is not surprised when you say you are having trouble getting a clear impression. The sealing of the card in his own home and you divining it without touching the envelope or foil makes it appear to be real psychic miracle.

Can Be Done During Your Regular Shows I also discovered that this effect is perfect for any magic or mentalism show. Call the person who booked you and have that person do the Himber effect as described and bring the sealed card to your show. During the show, you divine the card. This makes for a killer effect.

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Mass Radio Card Find I would announce ahead of time that I would locate hundreds of selected cards of the radio listeners at the same time. At the start of the show, the host would tell his listeners to get a deck of playing cards and a pencil and paper. I tell them since I am far away; the listeners must listen closely so I can follow mentally follow the moves of hundreds of listeners. Here are the instructions I give the listeners. 1-Shuffle the cards and make sure they are well-shuffled so no one knows the order. 2-Next cut off about half the cards. Keep the cut off half in your hands for now. Think of a card and look through the cards in your hands. If the card is in that section of the deck in your hands, then remove it and place it face down on top of the cards remaining on the table. Otherwise, remove a different card and place it face-down on top of the cards on the table. 3- Please deal the cards in your hands onto the table face down. Be careful and do not make any mistakes. Remember the number of cards, then place the cards you just counted on top of the other half on the table. Please write down the number of the cards you counted. 4- I am now going to find your card using numerology. If the total of your counted cards was 25, for example, add the 2 and 5 to arrive at 7. If the total of cards you counted was 28, then add the 2 to the 8 to get 10. 5- Discard that smaller number from the cards on top of the deck. Assume your total counted cards was 24. You added 2 plus 4 to get 6, so you discard 6 cards from the top of the deck. 6- We are broadcasting from station, WORJ (or whatever) so please discard 4 more cards from the top for station WORJ. Unknown to the audience, everyone’s card will now be 15th from the top. This works automatically, provided the person cut off at least 20 cards and not more than 29 cards. Cutting off half the deck will ensure the number of cards will be within the range. 7- We are now going to spell: Find The Card Now, dealing one card face down on the table from the top of the deck, as I spell the words one at time. Let’s spell FIND: F-I-N-D, THE: T-H-E, CARD: C-A-R-D, NOW: N-O-W. 8- Turn over the next card. That is the card you chose. “I see many cards, the QD, the AS, 3C, 7H, there are just too many. Please call the station right away if I found your card. The above 4 cards are named because they are 4 most thought of cards. When you ask the lay public to think of a card and remove it, a great many will remove one of those four cards. So when they deal to their card and you say I see many cards and name those cards, you will

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impress many people who selected those cards. It is as if you saw what they were doing over the radio. The switchboards will light up with people calling. Remember, you said call the station if I found your card. So normally, if a person did not find his card because he did not follow the directions he will not call. The operators have been told to screen the calls and ask did you find your card, if the person says, “Yes,” his call is put through. If the person says, “No,” the operator thanks him and disconnects the caller. I always told the operators to put through one person, if he said he didn’t find his card. On the air, he would say I did not find his card. I would answer; “I can’t always get them all. If I did it would be a trick, the fact I missed you, shows this is not a trick. I get the impression now that you have a credit card in your pocket you have not signed, sign it now before you go out. Thank you for calling.” END CALL WITH THAT PERSON Almost everyone carries a credit card in his wallet that is not signed. Check your wallet now and you will probably have several. I am sure the reader already knows that the above method is self-working. After you subtract the numerology number from the number of cut cards, the card will be 19th from the top of the deck. The next thing you do is remove 4 cards for the station’s call letters. That will leave the card at 15th from the top. All you do is spell any sentence or name that has 14 letters and the next card is of course the selected card. You do not know the cards of course but your audience assumes you do. This type of presentation was a favorite of Dunninger and it creates much talk. I had an alternative method for finding cards over the radio; this is explained in my book THE NTE Principle and is called the SMART DECK.

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THE TELEVISION BRAIN BUSTER This effect is only suitable for when you are making a LIVE television appearance. This is usually during a morning talk show. Hundreds of cities have them. The secret is simple but the effect is devastating to the watching audience. The host of the show selects a card and does not show it to the audience but keeps it a secret. The performer says he will attempt to read the host’s mind, get an impression of the card, then mentally project the card to his wife or girlfriend who is at a hotel. The host calls her cell phone and the woman correctly names the card. The host then shows the card to the audience and it is seen that the girl was correct. NO forces or before show work. This can be done live, with no chance of failure. This was one of my favorite psychic effects and I used it every chance I could. The secret is child’s play but looks like a real psychic demonstration. All you need is to know a stacked deck. I normally use Eight Kings setup. Your girlfriend or wife has to know the stack too. Your wife or girlfriend has to be watching the LIVE show too. On the show, you remove the stacked deck and give it a false shuffle or just a bunch of rapid cuts. Quickly spread the cards face up to show them well mixed. Turn the cards face down and show the host how to give the deck a complete. Always demonstrate this so there are no mistakes during the presentation. Turn your head away and ask the host to remove the top card and look at it, but don’t let the camera or audience at home to see the card. He is to put it face down on the table. Have him turn over the rest of the deck so the cards are face up and to push his selected card face down into the middle of the deck. Tell the cameraman to zoom in on the deck so the audience at home can see him returning the card to middle of the deck. When the camera zooms in on the deck, your wife will see the face card of the deck, since the deck is face up. She will immediately know the chosen card since it will be the next card in the stack due to giving the deck a complete cut. You pretend to get an impression of a card and project it to her. The host calls her on her cell phone and she says she is getting the impression of, and names the card! The host spreads the cards and removes the one face down to the camera and it is seen she is correct. This effect will blow both the host and the home audience away. It seems totally impossible.

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