The Prodigal - Mentalism's Misunderstood Son By Atlas Brookings
Copyright © 2012 Atlas Brookings. All Rights Reserved. Reserved.
rod·i·gal noun \ˈprä-di-gəl\ Definition of PRODIGAL 1 : one who gives lavishly 2 : yielding abundantly
3: one who has returned after an absence - From the Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Foreword I'd like to thank all those who went before - especially Theodore Annemann, Tony Corinda, and Max Maven. They are truly the wise men o off Mentalism. I also want to thank Ben Harris, Dr. Todd Landman, Peter Turner, Derek Heron, Seamus Maguire, Aaron Alexander, Marc Paul, Jon Thompson, Greg Arce, and Banachek. They are some of the nicest people I've had the privilege to meet. Lastly, I'd like to dedicate Lastly, dedicate this bo book ok to my brother. brother. We laugh and we clash clash and that has shaped our understandi understanding. ng. No matter the climate, climate, whether times times were kind or cruel, he was by my side. I've never known known a better friend friend than my childhood childhood playmate playmate and he means more more to me than I ever show him. him. No one knows me as he does and I will will miss miss him terribly. terribly. Truth be told, I'm not ready to say goodbye...
- Section 1-
The Forgotten Art
Over the years, I have read opinions by a number of individuals regarding the use of branching anagrams. They hate them. They won't use them. The method is not sophisticated enough for a modern audience. According to their arguments, there are essentially two problems with this method: 1. People can figure it out. 2. People can't spell worth a damn, so so it doesn't work. I may be criticized for taking this stance, but I am going to flatly state that the above points are complete poppycock. Utter nonsense. The problem with the branching anagram lies with the performer, not the method. That's right. right. I said it. Now, before you dash d ash to your utility shed and rummage around for your rope, pitchfork, and makeshift torch, take a moment moment to read a bit more. Then judge me. Before carrying on, it would be wise to take a moment to introduce and demonstrate the branching anagram. The branching anagram is a method devised, as far as I know, by Stanley Collins in 1920 and has been tinkered with by numerous thinkers over the years. The principle at the core of the method is that a person can think of a word, and as long as there are a limited number of options to choose from, by discovering which letters are present in the word they chose, their word can be determined. The branching anagram is therefore a means by which nearly any source of informatio information n can be cleanly cleanly reveale revealed. d. There There is nothing nothing to write down down or peek, peek, there is no stooge stooge required, it is a straightforward matter - think of something and I will tell you what it is. In my opinio opinion, n, this method method is the most versatil versatilee in mentali mentalism. sm. Anyone Anyone inclined inclined to disagree will most likely reevaluate their opinions by the end of this book, especially when we get to the section that discusses the psychological approach to anagrams. For the moment, let's carry on to outline the working of the effect. How would you like to be able to ask someone to think of a superhero, and then reveal who they were thinking thinking of? I've used the branching anagram principle to create a means of doing just that. Please look over the the superhero test outlined below. You will note that you should begin by limiting your participant's choice to superheroes from the DC or Marvel universe, and will want to exclude the Punisher. Punisher. Later on in this book, you will read about a number of excellent methods for excluding.
Super Hero Test: Specify that all should be leading characters from either the DC or Marvel Universe, and should be capable of sustaining their own magazine. Exclude the Punisher. A r - Hulk
M
i - Thor
R
e - Robin h - Wolverine k - The Incredible Hulk - Ghost Rider
b - Aquaman - Batman
I o - Superman - Wonder Woman
C d - Iron Man
N d
- Green Lantern
- Flash
- Daredevil
- Spiderman - Captain America
If you are unfamiliar with the principle behind branching anagrams, you will no doubt be trying to make sense of this this mishmash of words and lletters etters above. If you understand how they work, you will be smiling in quiet approval. For the unitiated, let me explain. There are two columns here. Throughout the book, you will see branching branching anagrams anagrams displayed displayed in a similar similar layout. You will begin by moving moving down the left left column. column. You will will note that there there are a blend blend of capital capital and lowercas lowercasee letters. Let us assume that in this instance, the superhero chosen was 'Spiderman'. You will begin by calling the first capital letter on the left column. If it is acknowledged to be in the word that the participant is thinking of, you will move down the column to the next capital letter. In this case, the letter 'A' is in the word 'Spiderman', so the next letter you will call is 'N', which is also there. there. You will will now move move to the column column on on the right. right. The first first capital capital letter there is 'M'. This is also present, so you will will move to the next capital letter, which is 'R'. When this is acknowledged to be in the word, you will move down to to 'I', and when that is acknowledged, you will move down to the letter 'C'.
When called out, your participant will let you know that the letter 'C' is not in the name of the the su supe perh rher ero o they they ar aree thin thinki king ng of. of. When When this this occurs occurs,, yo you u wi will ll move to th thee fi firs rstt lowercase letter that is next on the list. In this case, you you will call out the letter letter 'd'. If the lowercase lowercase letter letter called is in the word, you will move vertically down the list. If it is not, you will move over to the right. In this situation, when you call 'd', it is acknowledged to be there, and you move down the list. There are no more lowercase letters letters to call, and so you you know the word chosen is 'Spiderman'. If the letter 'd' had not been in the word and you received a second negati negative ve reply, you would move to the right and know that your participant was thinking of 'Iron Man' instead. You will note that in some situations you will run out of capital letters to call, with each being acknowledged as being a part of the word that was chosen. In the situation above, if the letter 'C' had been in the word, you will notice that carrying on down the list would yield no further further capital letters letters.. Instead, Instead, you would see that 'Captain 'Captain America' America' was the only option remaining and must therefore be the superhero thought of. This is the basic working of a branching anagram. I do not doubt that you may be looking over this process and thinking to yourself the same two things that every detractor of this method has claimed - "People might might be able to figure this out, and I'm not sure that I want to trust a method which relies on a person's ability to spell." I again wholeheartedly repudiate these concerns as utter nonsense (especially when using the psychological approach) and if you will bear with me, now that I am confident that every reader has an understanding of what a branching anagram is and how it works, I will will be begi gin n to ex expo poun und d on the the on onee thin thing g that that op oppo pone nent ntss of th thee meth method od la lack ck - an understanding of how to perform the effect. As my assertions have their basis in my experience, I have no choice but to make my arguments in the context of anecdotes from my own performances. Like many of my generation, my first encounter with branching anagrams took the form of "Contime "Contimenta ntal" l" by Max Maven. Maven. I liked the idea, idea, and, as often happens happens with with the unitiated, I thought I had a great understanding of the effect and immediately set off to perform it. I was drawn, as are many performers today, by the idea of a clean direct mind read that required no paper, pens, peeks, sleights, etc. It looked like the real real thing. I will say that I was young and dumb and had no idea what hard work these would be. I hadn't bothered to memorize memorize the effect, or to even read its working out loud. I made no associ ass ociati ations ons betwee between n letter letters, s, so as to ration rationali alize ze a miss miss (more (more on thi thiss lat later) er),, I was comple com pletel tely y unprep unprepare ared. d. I thought thought I was clever clever,, and would would do this this over over the phone, phone, blowing someone's mind in the process. I decided to call my dad.
I picked picked up the handset handset and and dialed dialed out. I asked asked him to think think of a country country in Europe. Europe. I didn't bother to subtly imply any qualifiers, set the effect into context, or take his age and range of experience experience into into account (more (more on this later), later), I just jumped jumped in. What do you think happened? I missed the country as it had been dissolved due to the turbulent Europe that existed in my father's father's day. Furthermor Furthermore, e, like the unprepared unprepared buffoon that I sur surely ely was in those days, I made the method obvious. "Is there a C in the name of the country you are thinking of?" "No? How about an R?" I burn with shame as I relate this embarras embarrassing sing incident. incident. My performance performance of this effect effect was deliv deliver ered ed wi with th none none of the the st styl ylee an and d as assu sura ranc ncee th that at co come mess wi with th pr prac acti tice ce an and d preparation, and my father instantly guessed the method. I sat dejected dejected after I hung up. Again, like like the amateur that I undoubtedly undoubtedly was, was, I began pondering this effect with venom in my heart. My inclination was to blame b lame a sales pitch that failed to deliver rather than to examine my own efforts. I didn't put in in the work, and as a result, result, I failed. failed. I understood understood the method, method, but not the performance of the effect, which was really the crucial thing. The blame rightly and properly stood at my own doorstep. But I didn't see it that way then. I was disappoi disappointe nted, d, yes, and I gave up on the branching branching anagram anagram for a few years. years. I wandered, as did the Biblical Prodigal, looking for easier paths, not ready for hard work. Eventually, I grew and matured, no longer daunted by laborious tasks. Years passed, and I took note of this method once more. Initially, I was hesitant, but my performance skills had grown. I had a better understanding of the effort and concentrati concent ration on that went into making making an effect shine, and I decided to apply that dogged dogged determi deter minat natio ion n to this this prin princi cipl ple, e, as the the lure lure of tr true ue mi mind nd re readi ading ng had ca capt ptur ured ed my imagination. To begin to succeed with it, I had to accept the idea that the fault for its original failure lay within my my own imperfections. imperfections. I have come come to the conclusion that it is never pleasant to deconstruct one's own faults, but that way only lies improvement. I therefore took the first step on a journey which has led me through many pleasant moments and, finally, to develop the psychological presentation style. Things were were not much much better better initially initially.. I began by memori memorizing zing an effect. effect. I had come come to mistrust "Contimental", due to the constant changing of European makeup, but I did notice another another little little winner in Maven's repertoir repertoiree - "Range Rider". Rider". After studying studying it, I
realized that I liked it better, and that careful use of language would allow me to script my performance to ensure that only certain states within the US could be chosen while later allowing me to honestly claim that they had been given a free choice of any of the 50 states. And so I committed committed the thing to memory. memory. I tried it out on a few people with with limited limited succes suc cess. s. I noticed noticed that I was still still fumbli fumbling ng a bit with with my presenta presentatio tion, n, ask asking ing them whether whet her they had a letter letter in their mind, mind, rather rather than telling telling them that that they did. The problem, I reasoned, with telling them that they had a letter in their mind was that they might not be thinking of that letter. I would be wrong. I'm supposed to be a mind mind reader - I can't be wrong, it hurts my credibility. I put that problem problem to the side side for a moment moment while while I concent concentrat rated ed on another another.. I also wanted to obfuscate the method. I reasoned that while while a body may be able to remember what letters letters were in one group of words, it was highly unlikely unlikely that they could do so for ten or fifteen different groups, and that if I could repeat different iterations of the same effect apparently endlessly, anyone who was trying to spot the method wouldn't be able to keep track of all the letters among all of the possibilities themselves, let alone suppose I could do it. I'm pleased to say that this has proved true, especially with the way that I now perform these effects. My real progress with branching anagrams came when I memorized my second one, which was my own creation. creation. Rather than than just learning learning the progression progression,, I also began to examine exam ine relati relations onship hipss betwee between n the letter letterss and create created d my own rat ration ionali alizat zation ionss for missing miss ing a letter. This was a huge step forward, forward, as I knew I could be confident in every statement I made, while realigning any miss as a narrow miss, always asking them to concent conc entrat ratee a bit harder harder as we moved moved forward. forward. Now, Now, this is not the way I curren currently tly present, but it was the first step in the right direction and I have moved on from there. The principle of finding relationships between letters while while memorizing memorizing the anagram was key, as it allowed allowed me to build my patter while while learning learning the structure structure of the piece. This patter then became second nature to me during performance because it was so well memorized, and there was no hesitating or stumbling. I will give you an example of this early iteration of my performance method, one that still works very well for for those who claim to be able to demonstrate demonstrate psychic phenomenon. My newest iteration of this performance, which will be outlined later, is for those who present as "Psychological Mentalists". At any rate, the psychic approach is outlined below: "I see the letter 'A'." This was a miss.
"No, this is is not an 'A', but at first first glan glance, ce, it is shaped shaped like one. I see how I made that mistake. mist ake. Yes, this this is like an 'A' but rounded rounded at the top, and the downstanding downstanding leg kicks kicks out a bit. (I use my hands to to form an 'A' to an 'R' 'R' for them - done from from their perspective, rather than mine) mine) This is an 'R'! Yes, I am correct. correct. Please Please focus a little little harder harder as as we move forward." A miss is now shown to be a NEAR miss. "Now this next letter is straight up and down. This isn't an 'I', 'I', is it?" This was a miss, but the question was ambiguously asked, allowing me to back down and turn it into a hit. You always want to avoid two m misses isses in a row, so thi thiss form of question is perfect for after your first miss, as if there is an immediate second miss, it allows the moment to slide by undetected. "No, I didn't think it was, but again, we have a letter shaped very much like an 'I', yes, branching a bit more at the top, and without the lines at the bottom running perpendicular to the body of the letter. (Here, I gesture gesture with my hands to form a 'T'). This is a 'T'." The second I missed with the second letter, letter, I knew the word. From that point on, I would then proceed to milk the remaining letters, pausing to ask for better eye contact, or asking them to take my hand, and then proceeding to correctly name each subsequent letter, and making a statement like "Good, our connection is getting stronger every moment, these letters lette rs are a lot clearer clearer now." These little little convincers convincers help the subject to believe believe that a baseline was being established earlier, and the earlier misses are forgiven forgiven and forgotten. Your presentation is important. important. You cannot bumble, bumble, mutter, or appear unsure. You must be bold, concise, conc ise, direct, and appear immune to little setbacks. In fact, you should act as though they intrigue you, you, and that you burrow deeper out of sheer interest. I have noticed that the audience will take your cue, and if you don't feel confident, they will not believe what you are presenting. I won't bore you you any further with stories stories of my personal personal development. Rather, I will cut to the chase and outline the process that I have learned to employ in order to make this a convincing effect, real in the minds of all onlookers, with none of them even pausing to consider the method. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Do the work Pu Putt the the effec effectt into into cont contex extt Choo Choose se yo your ur sub subje ject ct wel welll So Sour urce ce goo good d mate materi rial al Excl Exclud udee pro prope perl rly y Read Read bo body dy la lang ngua uage ge Stay Stay co cons nsis iste tent nt Always Always examine examine and improv improvee upon upon your your presenta presentation tion
DO THE WORK I firmly believe that when you are performing this sort of thing face-to-face, it cannot be beaten - so long as you have put in the work. What do I mean by this? A number of things really. First, you must have the process memorized completely, and when I say memorized, I don't mean that you know where where all the letters letters go and where they they lead to. It isn't enough to simply know the the recipe. You must have studied studied the interrelationships interrelationships between all the the letters, and have prepared your your patter as part of this process of memorization. I suggest that as you memorize, you role play every single scenario with an imaginary volunteer. Go through not only every possible answer, but the introduction to the effect, along with your responses to misses. For this to be effective, you must have decided which performance route suits your persona (psychic, psychological mentalist, etc.) and you must prepare your patter as you study the anagram. This patter, correctly developed as part of the memorization memorization process, is what allows this effect to become become real in the minds minds of your spectators. spectators. It enables you to perform without hesitation or stumbling, and takes the focus off of you and instead places it upon your spectator. For instance, if you perform as a psychic, you will know (after some study) that a capital "A" and a capital "R" look similar, and you can alter your patter to make a miss into something somet hing very close close to a hit. hit. Or if you you present as a psychologi psychological cal mentalist mentalist,, you will know that at the end of the Superhero anagram, to mention that when you had them say the letters, they went so quickly at C and D, that you couldn't tell which it was, and "was that a C or a D?" is a question that fits naturally in the progression. Additionally, it is not enough to simply memorize your anagram and patter, but you must review it in your mind daily, attempt to perform it daily, and move it along from your shortsho rt-ter term m memory memory to your your long-t long-term erm.. When When you perform perform it, critical critically ly review review the performance in your mind, searching for ways to improve the organic feel of the piece. As you become comfortable with your level of memorization, you will notice that you are more confident in your performance of the material, and will therefore take a few risks, slowly feeling your way to alternative performance options as you optimize the effect. As I did, you will begin a journey which has at its heart a simple anagram, but whose destination is an incredibly believable performance. PUT THE EFFECT INTO CONTEXT It always bothers me when people start into an effect that uses a prop without first explain expl aining ing why the prop is there there and why it should should not appear appear suspic suspiciou ious. s.
When When
performed by amateurs, this lack of the most simple effort always has the effect of render ren dering ing the prop the center center of attent attention ion.. The same same prop prop can be used by a master master,, however, and never come under the the slightest scrutiny scrutiny at all. This is because the master is is careful to introduce the prop into the effect in a way that feels natural and doesn't attract any attention. Despite the fact that anagrams are invisible, they must be handled in a fundamentally similar manner to any prop. How do you do this? Put the effect into context. When you perform as a mentalist, you will inevitably have someone ask you to read their minds out of the blue. This can be difficult, difficult, but is easily handled if you are prepared. As is noted in my work "The Real Thing", despite the fact that each individual tends to view themselves as unique, in reality, we are in fact largely homogenous creatures, raised in cultures that were developed over thousands of years with the sole aim being the continued peaceful existence of the group as a whole. Consider the implications Consider implications of this statement statement.. In the context of Western Western culture, I don't have to be a mind reader to understand understand that if someone makes an obscene gestu gesture re at me, they are angry. I do not need to be a mind reader reader to know that a person with long hair is more likely likely to be a woman than a man. I do not need to be a mind reader to kno know w that I will be considered uncouth if I go to a restaurant and eat a steak using only my hands. By contra contrast, st, I can confident confidently ly say that gestur gestures es that that are acceptabl acceptablee in our culture culture (consider the thumbs up sign, or the OK sign) are wildly offensive in others. It is no difficult thing, then, to explain this fact to someone who asks you out of the blue to read their mind. mind. You absolutely absolutely can read their their mind, so long as you can find som somee basis of shared experience with them. This is what I mean This mean by puttin putting g the effect effect into context context.. As long as there there is a share shared d background of experience, you should be able to extract meaningful information from their heads. heads. Another Another simple example example is to mention that if you were a mind reader reader,, and someone who spoke only Russian wanted you to demonstrate your skills, you would be powerless to do so, as you have no shared culture. Your languages even differ so dramatically as to effectively block any intuition you may have. Once you have explained the idea of context to them, you may then run across a number of option optional al categor categories ies,, express expressed ed as though though you are volunt volunteer eering ing potent potential ial shared shared experiences for them to choose from - colors, flowers, breakfast cereals, magazines, comic book characters, etc. (all are provided for in this text). Once they choose, then you have them think of something that fits into that category.
You then further set the scene by letting them know that a bond between the both of you is required. It does not need to be strong, but they must be willing to al allow low you into their minds, and be routing for you to succeed. You are then ready to proceed into the body of the effect. CHOOSE YOUR SUBJECT WELL As one of the criticisms employed in regards to anagrams has been the inability of people to spell ruining the effect, it would be irresponsible to not take a moment to address that issue. As I asserted earlier, where this does occur, it is (more often than not) a flaw in the mentalist's audience management skills. Consider this: Before performing this effect, effect, it is usual usually ly possible to chat a little little bit with y your our subject. If you the time to notice, it is what easy they to getdoa for feelemployment for what level they are likelytake to have. Simply knowing willofbeeducation a strong indicator indicat or of their level of education. In addition, the words they choose when speaking to you, you, the length of pause before they answer a question, the way they dress, their level of hygiene, these and myriad other qualities will tell you something about that person and from that, you can extrapolate how educated they are likely to be. When performing an anagram, you should also encourage them to spell the word in their mind two or three times, from start to finish, finish, partly to look for any hesitancy, hesitancy, and partly so that they can take a moment (sometimes under pressure from being in front of a crowd) to calm down and spell the word correctly. If you get the sense that they are having difficulty, don't get flustered - instead, you can suggest they consult a friend, or swap to a written piece that you keep in your pocket for just such an occasion saying something like "Excellent! Believe it or not, but watching you just now has allowed me to learn a great deal about you and I think we can now try..."(A number of effects that work well in situations when you are confronted with poor spellers are listed in Section 2 - Branching Out), or abort the project altogether. I recognize recognize that it is not always always possibl possiblee to choose your subject. subject. But it is always always your choice what you decide to perform with with them. If you get the sense that your participant is incapable incapa ble of spelling spelling accurately, accurately, don't attempt attempt a branching branching anagram effect with them, or perform one where the answers used are well known words (like months of the year). Another simple option is to JUST INCLUDE THE MOST COMMON MISSPELLINGS IN YOUR ANAGRAM! Just look at the spelling options for 'Dandelion' in 'Bracing Blooms' (see below).
In these situations, it again comes down to your capacity to know the routines that are available to you and choose the effect appropriate to the member of the audience that you are working working with. In fact, Peter Peter Turner argues argues - and quite cogently cogently - that tailori tailoring ng the effect to the person you are working with is the key to creating successful performances. SOURCE GOOD MATERIAL The key to sourcing good material is to find something that your participant will enjoy or has an affinity to already. In fact, the majority majority of the time, time, the approach you take with a participant should be based entirely upon what the circumstances dictate. If you see that they are wearing a superhero T-shirt, T-shirt, the superhero anagram is is a great option. If you are dealing with a woman, you can ask them if they like flowers and if they do (which is likely) likel y) move into the flower flower anagram. anagram. By making making what they think about about relevant relevant to them, the context is established, established, apparently not around your interests, interests, but around theirs. This is important to making the effects work for you. I also suggest that if you have time before a performance, and you know who will be attending, you should take a moment and spend some time researching your attendees online. Often, you can find find out things about people's interests which can be easily turned turned into into anagram anagrams. s. For instan ins tance, ce, few minute minto utes s on of a awebsit web sitee like Facebook Facebo reveal a participant's birthday. You canaask them think month, anagram it, ok andcan then if they think of their birth month (which most people do), you can add their birthday as an extra reveal.. I once asked a participant reveal participant to think of the nam namee of someone in their immediat immediatee family, and used the same approach to reveal it, with all the information gleaned from the internet. The whole point of this section is to emphasize that what you perform should be what the situation dictates is is most effective effective and impressive. You won't always decide decide this, it could be decided by something like someone's corsage or t-shirt. The ability to transition between anagrams is powerful and will rely solely on the work you put in beforehand and your memorization. One more point - In reference to the concern raised in the previous section about spelling errors err ors.. It is wise wise to keep keep one of the writt written en effect effectss on you at all times times.. When When the situation dictates, transition to that and use it when a situation involving a hesitant speller arises arises.. This This is part of sour sourcin cing g good materi material. al. Be prepar prepared ed to be dynami dynamicc in your presentation. If you deem it best to make a switch to a written approach, let your participant know that you've learned something from their behavior just now, and would like to try something a little more difficult. difficult. Explain that you will turn your back and then have tthem hem run through the written written option. The whole thing thing will apparently apparently be made more difficult difficult by the fact that you can't read their face and will will have to do the whole thing by sound alone. Assert that you expect to make a few mistakes, mistakes, but should should get there in the end. As a result of this change in approach, they will be able to look at the paper the whole time and see the
letters that they are working with. Any spelling letters spelling concerns will have been appropriatel appropriately y dealt with. If you learn to manage your audience, you will always have greater success. EXCLUDE PROPERLY The beauty of the anagram is that you are able to present the effect in such a way that it appears that the spectator has a choice of anything in the world, when in all actuality, only a few limited options are available to them, and that is IF they can think of every single option in the time that you give them to do so. So how do you prevent a person from becoming too creative? One of the very subtle keys to presenting anagrams is to ask the subject you are working with to think of something, and then very quickly ask them if they have something. something. Push them along and make the process process go quickly, quickly, and they will not have time to become too creative with the thing they choose. Af Afte terr the the fact fa ct,, choice yo you u wi will ll anything be ab able le in tothe corre corwor rect ctly ly In point poiall nt actuality, out that, they yourhad pa part rtic ipan ant t ha had d of a completely free of world. ld. actuality a icip free choice anything anythi ng they could THINK of. of. When put under ti time me pressure, pressure, the reality reality is that their their options are very limited. In fact, the entire "Psychological Subtleties" series is replete with examples examples of times that that demonstrate that when a person is asked to think of something, a good deal of the time, you will find that they arrive arrive at a predicta predictable ble response. response. The "Naked Mentalism Mentalism"" series further shows you how to use free association principles and cue words to direct their thoughts toward certain things by using suggestive patter. For instance, If I were to ask you to think of an animal, I would wager that a good deal of you thought of an Elephant. However, if I were to change my patter and ask you to think of an animal that you would keep as a pet, the majority will likely think of a dog, with the rest thinking thinking of a cat. Knowing Knowing the most likely likely choices in any given situation situation is the key to creating successful anagrams. As long as you know the top ten or fifteen fifteen choices, you will rarely fail to discover the participant's pick. You can quickly see that when you create your own anagrams, your material is not as limited in scope as you may have believed. Additionally, as you begin to create your own anagrams, you will discover that while you can create an anagram tree for nearly any block of text, you really don’t want to have the spectator respond in the negative more than twice. Sometimes, this will leave you frustrat Sometimes, frustrated, ed, as you will want to present present a subjec subject, t, but will have two or three items that just don’t fit into the anagram, but which are perfect for it.
Such is the case for the Looney Tunes anagram. anagram. When I created it, it, I didn’t want to have more than two “No” answers, yet I could not ignore the characters that led me to those situations. The question became: "What should I do in those situations?" situations?" The answer was simple exclude the characters when you mention the subject. “I want you to think of a character from the Looney Tunes Cartoons, like the Tasmanian Devil, or Tweetie.” Because you've Because you've mentio mentioned ned them, them, those those choices choices are effect effective ively ly taken taken off the table. table. however, in the Looney Tunes example, I was still left with one more answer I wanted to exclude. How could I exclude another, but in a different manner? manner? Easily. By spelling Easily. spelling the answer you wish to exclude, exclude, but only AFTER AFTER the spectator spectator has thought of it. “Right, now that you are thinking of a character, I want you to spell their name out in your mind, again and again, something like B…U…G…S…B…U…N…N…Y.” This is not just This just an exclusi exclusion, on, but a means means of creati creating ng an unforg unforgett ettabl ablee hit hit.. You will will watch the spectator closely closely here and look for for any reaction. If you just spelled what they were thinking of, you you will see it in their face and have an undeniable triumph. If there is no reaction, then this is simply regarded as a moment of instruction, essential to the successful completion of the process. If you create your own anagrams (instructions on how to do so are included at the end of the book), you will quickly discover that sometimes exclusions are required to ensure the smooth smoot h running of the anagram. anagram. Tweetie Tweetie or Tweety? Tweety? Marvin Marvin the Martian, Martian, or just just plain plain Marvin? Marvi n? If you were consideri considering ng a Star Wars anagram, anagram, what on earth earth do you do with C3P0? Is that an “O” or a zero? Sometimes you will want to exclude to make sure that the rest of the anagram is not ruined by the inclusion of a character or word that often causes more trouble than they are worth. Have a look at the Looney Tunes anagram in this book, and see if you can tell why the exclusions by mentioning and the exclusion by spelling were required. READ BODY LANGUAGE I bri briefl efly y mentio mentioned ned above above that that you will will watch watch someon someone’s e’s body language language when when you exclude by spelling, to ascertain whether or not you have guessed their word.
When you move into the body of the effect, you should also do this as you call each letter, as you will often be able to tell if a letter is correct before they even verbalize their feedback. This really is is not as difficult as it sounds. In fact, when you present as a “Psychological Mentalist”, if you have your participant call a letter for you during the presentation, you can very often tell if it has a place in their word or not – this is especially the case when they have bought into the idea that their body language is your means of revealing their chosen word. Making a judgment call on body language really is nowhere near as difficult or unreliable as it sounds, a fact that you will attest to once you have practiced performing anagrams for any degree to time. time. The real key is to trust your instinct as you watch your subject. If you are presenting with a psychic feel, after you call a letter, if you get the feeling they are about to say that it isn’t there, change your mind and let them know that the vision is clearing - that it isn’t that letter letter at all, but a different one. This turns a miss miss into a hit, and you get credit for pre-empting pre-empting the miss without without resorting resorting to hearing it from them. This actually helps cement your credibility in the minds of the audience. STAY CONSISTENT When presenting an effect to the audience, it is far less likely that your method will be discovered when it appears to be the means by which numerous, rather than simply one, effect is accomplish accomplished. ed. For instance, instance, if I present a drawing duplication duplication,, and then a card effect, people are very likely to come to the conclusion that a different approach was used each time to achieve the the desired outcome. They are then m more ore easily able to deconstruct what they have witnessed and some will be capable of working out how the effect was performed. Since one of the complaints regarding this method was that it was too obvious for today’s modern audience, I would be remiss not to take a moment and explain how to obscure it within withi n a presentati presentation, on, and I’ve partially partially touched on this in the paragraph paragraph above. When there is a lack of homogenous flow to a set, an observer can come to conclusions about your performance that differ vastly from what you would wou ld like them to believe. However, you can easily avoid this situation by being careful to present your anagrams properly. What do I mean? Let me illus illustrate trate.. In my teenage teenage years, years, I played played a popular game called called SNAPS. SNAPS. You would code a word to a confederate by starting a sentence with a consonant, and snapping the vowels in between. After playing this for a while with my friends, the persistent ones could eventually figure out how things were done. To obscure the method, I created variations upon the word code theme.
Because there were so many iterations of the code, a person who did not know how we played could never figure it out. As soon as they had a theory, the next performance (which looked exactly the same but operated on a different principle) would prove it wrong, and they would be left back at square one, trying to figure it out all over again. So, how does this relate at all to anagrams? I touched on it earlier. earlier. If someone sees distinctly different different methods employed to achieve different results, the performance is not homogenous, and therefore something different must be happening each time. There is potential to rreverse everse engineer what happened. However, if what they see throughout looks and feels the same, but achieves different effects, effect s, then it is no different different than it was with our chil childhood dhood game. Their theories theories fail fail them and they begin to suspend disbelief. Let me give you an example of a flawed perform performance. ance. I could do a book test, followed followed by an anagram. an agram. The two lend themselves beautifully to each other. But if I reveal their word straight away from the book test, without naming letters first, then I am psychic one moment, but then have to apparently receive individual letters when I move to the anagram. anagram Orearth if I take theI psychologi psyable chological cal approach approac h for the anagram, anagr and then do a letter book test, why. on would be to reveal a word thought of asam, a whole but only by letter earlier. This lack of consistency will signal an alarm in the minds of the spectators. I believe believe that this this is part of why people people have failed failed with anagra anagrams. ms. They They are not consistent consis tent in their approach and do things that are out of character character with the persona that they create. What needs to happen instead is that the effects that they choose to perform must fit together as a block or cluster or set. set. I will often begin by using using the three cup effect using the hummer principle, and variations upon it that I devised and another by Greg Arce. This is an ideal fit to move into an anagram with a psy psychological chological approach. As I look at the person I work with, I tell them that I am establishing establishing a baseline. baseline. I'll mi miss ss purposely purposely on the first one or two guesses, and then begin to consistently correctly identify which cup an item is under as I evidently home in on their their tells. As I do this, I keep strong eye contact cont act with with the parti particip cipant ant while while I put my hand hand over each cup. I make it genuinely genuinely appear as though I am watching them for physical cues that inform my con conclusions. clusions. I then move to a card effect I picked up from Corinda's "Thirteen Steps to Mentalism". and do the exact same thing - look into their eyes, ask them questions, and then reveal their card. After that, I transition transition to anagrams. I apparently listen for for changes in the pitch and timbre timbre of their voice and watch for tells.
From here, I can move to a book test, confident that if a skeptic has realized that only a few words were optional out of the category I offered, when a whole book is used, there is no hope of guessing the the word. I reveal in the same same manner as before. My set is homogenous and strong. A spectator will have seen me go from telling where an object is under a cup, to revealing a chosen card, to revealing a word only thought of from a book or a category. Each time, the effect effect is differe different, nt, but the method method I employ employ appears appears to be the same. same. When When they cannot apply their theory successfully to each effect that is demonstrated, they give up their theory and begin to believe I must be doing what I claim to be. Looch's AREA book test is great for this anagram approach, as you instantly hit three lett letter erss in a row, row, an and d if you mi miss ss the the four fourth th,, as aski king ng openl openly y what what it was was is not an embarrassment at all. Additionally, there are a number of effects from Boudreau or Maven in which words are formed using lexicography cards. Any of these are are great ways to to apparently reveal words using what the audience will will take to be the the same methodology. Silent Running is a great effect to use, asgreat you can perfo rm it in such way as to make someone believe believe that body language is the key perform to discovering theira card. I could list many more options, but the point of this section is not to offer a list of suitable effect eff ectss to perfor perform m with with anagra anagrams, ms, rather rather to demons demonstra trate te the im import portance ance of cre creati ating ng something somet hing within an act that feels consistent consistent.. It prevents prevents anyone from figuring figuring out how something is really done, and as a result, they will truly begin to believe. ALWAYS EXAMINE AND IMPROVE As you begin to perform your anagrams, it is important that you always critique your performance. Determine what you did well, and where you still need improvement. While you are starting starting out, you should look over each of the steps I've just itemized itemized and en ensu sure re that that yo you u un unde ders rsta tand nd ea each ch an and d ar aree incl includ udin ing g ea each ch st step ep as a pa part rt of yo your ur performance checklist. Once you are comfortable with the content you are performing, tinker with your patter and change it where necessary. While you must recognize that your your presentation ought to reflect your own distinct personality, please don't deviate from the process I've laid out until you have a functional functional knowle knowledge dge of how these should should be performed. performed. Changes to too o early on in the process may result in terrible failure and the dejection that leads to prematurely discarding this splendid method. Remember, no matter how well you are doing something, there is always room for improvement. If you take the time to put in the work (and that includes taking taking the time to conduct a post-mortem on every aspect of each performance), you will end up with something that is everything you want it to be.
Again, the eight steps are: 1. Do the work work - memorize memorize the outline outline AND AND create relati relationshi onships ps between between letters letters to use for your outs. Practice these daily in a sort sort of mental role-play. role-play. 2. Put the the effect effect into into context context - why are they being being asked asked to name a film rather rather than than the name of a childhood friend? 3. Choo Choose se your your subje subject ct well. well. Sp Spec ecta tato torr se sele lect ctio ion n is YOUR pr prob oble lem, m, not the the audience's and you alone are to blame for mishandling them. 4. Source Source good info info - if you doubt doubt your partici participan pant's t's capaci capacity ty for spellin spelling, g, don't choose an anagram with words that are hard to spell - possibly instead use a paper effe effect ct like like the the fa fan n le lett tter er.. Find Find so some meth thin ing g th that at wi will ll appea appeall to yo your ur su subj bject ect personally. 5. Exclud Excludee properly properly to create create the illus illusion ion of a fr free ee choice choice within within a larger group group of selections or to to create an early hit in dramatic dramatic fashion. Hurry your spectator when deciding on a word. 6. Read Read bo body dy la lang ngua uage ge cl clue uess that that iden identi tify fy a mi miss ss be befo fore re the pa part rtic icip ipan antt has an opportunity to announce it as such. 7. Stay Stay homogenou homogenouss - use the metho method d in conjunc conjunctio tion n with other other effects effects to enhance enhance misdirection and in pepper your other reveals same mindreading This sows doubt the minds of those who with thinkthe they have worked outapproach. how you did it, but cannot apply those same patterns to what they have just witnessed. 8. Always Always examine examine and improve improve upon upon your present presentation ation - have have patter patter that that works works for you, created whilst memorizing and tested in live performance. ____________________________________________________ ________________________ ________________________________________________ ____________________ TAKING THE CORRECT APPROACH I've referenced before that there are two basic presentations of this type of effect - that taken by the psychic, and a nd that utilized by the psychological mentalist. In this section, I will demonstrate and break down the differences between the two approaches. Each presentation will will be based on the standard superhero anagram included earlier in this book. Psychic Approach
The basic psychic approach has been presented above, but is reworked below once more. In addition to this, I've included another approach that fits well with this performance style. It is a bit bit more limited in some some respects, but is incredibly powerful. "Hi there there Kevin! I appreciate appreciate you you taking a moment moment to try try this this with me. me. Now, as I have explained before, I am a mind reader, but it doesn't mean that I have access to every singlee thought that you singl you have. In fact, I can only see what what you are willing willing to share with with me. On top of this, this, for me to be able to make sense sense of something something that you you are trying trying to send me, I have to be able to identify with it on some level of my own personal
experience. So what I'm saying saying is that if I'm not familiar familiar with the thing thing at least on some some level, my responses are not going to be very clear or strong. strong. So, the first thing I'm going to do is list a few things that interest interest me. If you share the interest, we can move forward forward from there." "Sports, Horticulture, Art, Superheroes..." "Ah! Superheroes it is then! Now, I confess that I don't know every single single superhero, in fact, I've only read DC and Marvel comics. So don't get too far out in left field here, but I want you to choose a super super hero that you think I will know. Someone like Professor X or Mr. Fantastic - though I don't really know anyone else on any of those teams, so please stick to someone someone who is a pretty big name. Anyway, Anyway, don't mention them out loud, loud, but please just think of them." "Now, I want you to spell their name out in your your mind, letter by letter. letter. And when you are finished spelling their name, name, go right back to the start and start spelling them them again. Once you've done that a few times and you feel that you've settled your brainwaves into a pattern, I want you to visualize each letter in your mind and start pushing them out of your head and toward me." "Good. I'm getting getting some letters letters now. I'm not sure about order just yet, but I am picking picking up some distinct letters." "You are thinking of an "A" in there." "Yes, and an "N" as well." "And there is an "M" also." "This one isn't very clear, it looks like an "R" - does that sound right?" "Great!! Please focus "Great focus a little little harder. harder. This next next letter letter very clearly clearly has a vertic vertical al line - it looks like an "I" to me." "No, not an "I", it is rounding out - It looks like an "O" now." "No, not an "I" and not an an "O", but I see thos thosee parts very clearl clearly. y. If I keep the portion portion that looks like an "I" and attach the part that looks like an "O" right here (Gesturing with the hands to make a capital capital "P" from the spectator's spectator's perspect perspective) ive) this looks much better. You were thinking of the letter "P", weren't you." "Yes, I thought so. Our link needs to be stronger. Please give me your hand." "This is so much "This much more more clear now. It is like it went from from picking picking up signals signals with with an antenna to being beamed straight to satellite."
"I see the the letter letter "U", and an "E" "E" as well. well. This is very curvy. curvy. An "S", and the the placement placement of the letters letters is becoming becoming much more clear. clear. I can see it all now - you were think thinking ing of 'Superman'." The Wordless Psychic Approach
One of the things that I wanted to do when using a 'Psychic' approach was create a means by which nothing at all could be spoken by the participant, yet the word chosen could be correctly announced. It took me a lot of thinking, but, drawing inspiration from Derren Brown and Peter Turner, I finally arrived at means to make this happen. I will say that this is very impressive to an audience when performed correctly and is a strong piece of theater on the stage. The mentalist mentalist begins by having having a seat across across from their their participant. participant. Their subject subject is asked to place both hands on the table, sit straight up, and place both feet firm on the floor.. The introducti floor introduction on of the subject to be anagrammed anagrammed is performed, performed, as well as any relevant exclusions, and or (once their mind for a moment two.decided upon) the spectator is asked to spell the word in The performer then places his hand on the table and takes the participant's hand and rests it atop their own. The participant is asked asked to close their eyes and focus only on the sound of the performer's voice. Any patter will do up to this point, I typically talk about how the act of human contact stimulates the brain brain and enhances its sensitivity. sensitivity. Any young lover knows this this (or at least least one aspect of the phenomenon), and it is a similar sense of heightened awareness that allowss this to work. I do emphasize allow emphasize that from here forward, forward, the participant participant must must not speak at all, as it can interrupt the natural flow flow of the process. No words must be spoken, spoken, and no gestures of any kind are to be allowed. The wording of what follows is what is important, and should be memorized. Once the participant's hand has been placed atop your own, pause for a moment and then say: "We are now more intimately intimately connected. Do you feel feel that? Of course you do!" "In just a moment, moment, in your mind only, only, I want you to spell your word. As we proceed, I am going to begin announcing the letters that I intuitively receive. As I call these letters, letters, if I am incorrect, I want you to channel that feeling through your hand and into mine. Again, it is important that nothing is spoken, as this requires tremendous concentration."
You then run through the anagram process, not a word is spoken by the participant, and you end by asking them to open their eyes, take both of their hands into your own and tell them their chosen thought. This truly kills the audience, and the participant is impressed as well. So what happens? Obviously something is missing from the explanation above. The answer is that this is a dual reality presentation. Once your participant's hand is atop your own, you then rest your foot atop theirs. When you say the following, you employ a secret touch: "We are now more intimately intimately con connected nected.. Do you feel that? (Push (Push down with foot on thei theirr foot foot)) Of co cour urse se yo you u do! (answe (answeri ring ng for for th them em an and d ensur ensurin ing g th they ey do no nott sa say y anything)" You then follow up and reinforce the secret touch that has taken place, giving them further instructions: "In just a moment, moment, in your mind only, only, I want you to spell your word. As we proceed, I am going to begin announcing the letters that I intuitively receive. As I call these letters, letters, if I am incorrect, incorrect, I want you to channel that feeling feeling (push down on their foot again with yours) through your hand and into into mine. Again, it is important important that nothing is is spoken, as this requires tremendous concentration." The participant has, at this point, been asked to push down on your hand when you are incorrect. The pressure is undetectable by the audience and the participant believes that silence is essential essential to the process and that is why the hand push is required. The audience sees absolutely nothing going on, and is amazed as letters are called out, no missed letters are announced, there is no sign of dissent at all from the participant, and then the correct word is announced. And that is how this works! By requiring the push only on incorrect incorrect letters, you wil willl have no more than two pushes for most occasions. I like this approach, especially when conditions are right, but in many circumstances it is not as effective effective in impromptu impromptu situations situations as the psychologica psychologicall approach. In addition, addition, angles are important. You must be careful careful to ensure that where there is no tablecloth and your footwork may be visible, that the foot and leg closest to the audience obscures their view of what goes on beneath the table.
Psychological Approach
I honestly believe that the presentational style I disclose here has the capacity to revitalize anagrams in mentalism. Please read through what follows follows a few times. This is the approach I use, and I believe that it is the best. I have found that by following a visible process, the onlooker will begin to believe that something about the process they can see is the key to determining determining what you are doing. It provides provides misdirection misdirection without without actually saying anything. When I perfo When perform rm this this,, I wi will ll look look into into the the pa part rtic icip ipant ant's 's ey eyes es very very in inte tens nsel ely, y, of ofte ten n interrupting them and asking them to go back to something they just said, and then running runnin g through it again. This provides provides a clue for the audience that I missed somet something hing important, impor tant, or thought thought I saw something something that I needed to double double check. This simple simple act provides very strong misdirection. "Alright now Greg, we are going to try something here in a moment that can be very impres imp ressiv sive. e. I see that that you are wearin wearing g a Fantast Fantastic ic Four shirt shirt.. I take it that that you like like superheroes? Excellent. To begin with, with, I'd like you you to choose any superhero - don't tell me who theyyou are,know but please that that from, they are someone someoneonly that know I oughtMarvel to to know. just so that wheremake I am sure coming I basically and And DC characters and only the bigger names from them." "Now that you are thinking of a character, I want you to spell that character's name out in your mind several times." "Greg, it is important that during this process, you keep strong eye contact with me and that you speak clearly and at a normal normal pace. Can you do that for me?" me?" "Great. Now, please say the vowels of the alphabet for me. A...E....I...O...U." "Excellent. Greg, have you you ever watched a show called 'Wheel of Fortune'? It is a game show, and in the final round at the end, they always give the contestant the letters R...S...T...L and N. Can you please just say those letters for me?" "Hmmm. This is "Hmmm. is difficult difficult.. You are much harder harder to read read than I initially initially thought thought you you would be, but we can take a moment here and I can try to establish a baseline from which to work." "Now, I may not be right, but I believe that you have an "A" in your chosen character's name." "No? Intere "No? Interest sting ing.. Please Please do me a favor and say "A" "A" for me again... again....ri .right ght,, I learne learned d something there. Thank you." "Please say 'R' for me."
"Okay, I feel that there is is an 'R' - Yes? Yes? Excellent." "And I felt confident confident about the 'I' also. Correct again! again! Good." "And can you say 'E' for me? me? Interesting. I could be wrong, wrong, but I am not seeing the same same signals for 'E' as I was for the other letters. letters. I don't think there is an 'E' - am I correct?" "I thought so! Now, to be honest, I didn't get anything that was overwhelmingly posi positive tive from any of the other letters. letters. Would you mind please please just quickly quickly saying the alphabet alphabet from A to Z for me?" "Wait, I'm going to have to stop you there - I very clearly got the letter 'B', it was obvious. Please carry on again from from 'C'." "Hang on again! I need you to repeat K throug through h P for me, I saw a flicker flicker of something something there." "Stop! You went so so fast, that that I can't be sure sure if this this was an 'N' 'N' that I saw, saw, or an 'O'. Can you please go through it a little slower?" "You cunnin cunning g devil! devil! I wasn't wasn't clear clear because because you have both an 'N' and an 'O' in your character's charac ter's name - undeniable, undeniable, it was obvious! obvious! Now, please please carry on from 'P' through through 'Z'." "Right, I didn't get anything anything else there. So I have a 'B', 'I', 'N', 'O', and 'R'." "Were you thinking of 'Robin'? Oh, excellent! That's just fantastic! It was a rocky start, but once I figured out your idiosyncratic tells, it got a lot easier." You will note that rather than associate relationships between letters as in the Psychic approach (whether it be letter shapes or how close they are to each other in the alphabet), I appear to watch body language here, and I merely play off any miss as a part of the learning learni ng process. process. In fact, it is a good idea to ask them to re repeat peat the lett letter er for the second miss, sometimes two or three times before you finally smile, implying that you now know what it is that that you missed missed before. Once you have the second second miss, miss, you know the word and can ask them to start again at the top of the alphabet, working their way toward the end. You can interrupt interrupt them and triumphantl triumphantly y declare that they tried tried to slip such and such a letter past you. Doing this for ever every y remaining remaining previously previously uncalled letter letter builds the credibility of this approach, and by the time you name the word, any missed letters that you called called at the start start have been long forgotten. forgotten. This is part partly ly because of the time gap created when you ask the participant to run through the entire alphabet for you. When I choose to perform this again with the same participant, I will often say that I now have a solid baseline from which to work.
In all reality, however, we both know that in the second round, we will need to fish for letters. So, how do we cover that that fishing? Easy. Simply Simply ask the participant participant to try to deceive you this time time - throw out false false tells, tells, whether it be blinking, blinking, smiling, or scratching their fface. ace. They should try to to deceive you. You then appear to see through their deception, but again, one or two misses does not do any harm to yo your ur cr cred edib ibil ilit ity. y. Sh Shoul ould d this this be re repe peat ated ed a th thir ird d ti time me wi with th the sa same me spectator, tell them that to make it more difficult, you will do it solely by listening to changes in in their voice. voice. Then turn turn your back and begin begin the process process anew. anew. Again, Again, one or two misses does no damage to your credibility, as it seems to the audience that you are purposely raising the stakes each time and making the effect harder to perform. Please Plea se no note te that that I am no nott co cond ndoni oning ng re repe peat atin ing g th thee sa same me an anag agram ram wi with th th thee sa same me participant, just performing different anagrams with the the same participant. In summary, the steps to be followed when using the psychological approach aare: re: 1. Have Have the part partici icipant pant name name all all the the vo vowel welss 2. Have the the partici participant pant name name the consonan consonants ts “R, “R, S, T, L, and N” 3. Perfo anagram process proces underiative the gui se of(more reading reading their body body language langu age 4. Perform Checkrmfor forthe theanagram potent potential ial of an ansassociati assoc veguise reveal (mor e ontheir this this below) below ) 5. Once the word word is known, known, have have the participa participant nt call the the whole alphabet, alphabet, confide confidently ntly “spotting” the tells for the letters in their word that have not yet been called 6. Change up up the perform performance ance if it is to be be repeated repeated – ask to be deceived, deceived, or anagram anagram by sound alone, etc. In addition to this, it is essential that you remember that the psychological approach only works wor ks be beca caus usee yo you u ap appea pearr to be re rece ceiv ivin ing g so some me so sort rt of physi physica call si sign gnal al fr from om th thee participant. Do not underestimate the value of this point - I have used this approach a pproach to baffle two trained psychologists who genuinely believed that pupil dilation was the source of my information. You may also consider books on understanding body language as a useful source for charact char acter er work. The followi following ng answer serves serves to ill illust ustrat ratee why, why, and ties back to the importance of creating effects that look and feel the same: One day after one of my shows, I was approached by a group of people, each eager to ask me questions. One of those in the group was a young lady, and inevitably the question she posed was along the lines of "How did you do" such and such. I explained to her that a lot of what I did during that particular experiment experiment relied on my ability to pay careful attention attention to eye access cues and body language. If she was skeptical of my answer initially, the disbelief evaporated a moment later, as I had a wonderful opportunity to provide her with an impromptu demonstration of the ability to read body language to discern thoughts.
As the young lady came into the room, I noticed that she had been accompanied by a frie friend nd,, who remai remaine ned d in the the sa same me sp spot ot at the the ba back ck despi despite te th thee fa fact ct th that at her more more inquisitive friend pushed closer to me. I also paid close attention to the torso of each person. Both were fully facing me, but an examination of the feet told a story all their own. The young lady who was quizzing me had both her feet pointing directly at me, while her friend, positioned a yard or so to the rear, had one foot pointed at me, and the other at the door. The proximity and foot cues of each party allowed me to infer details of what was going on in the mind of each person. When pressed for an example, therefore, of my assertions that I could read body language, I smiled and spoke to the young lady in front of me. "Well, for instance, I can tell by your strong eye contact, the full exposure of your torso, and the placement of your feet that you are genuinely intrigued with your interaction with me, and could continue chatting with me for some time. By contrast, your friend, in the green shirt... (at this point, I gestured toward the young lady in the back) your friend is interested in what we are saying, but has more pressing matters to attend to and is anxious to leave. She is, however, too polite to hurry you along. As she has been kind enough to offer you a lift, I believe you ought to get going." There were about a dozen people circled around me at this point, yet no face was more astounded than that of the young lady in the green shirt, as she confirmed that she was indeed offering her friend a ride and was in a hurry to get somewhere. Remember, watch carefully, listen closely, and you can discern more about those around you than you would have ever believed possible! The above example was pulled from my blog – http://www.AtlasMentalism.blogspot.com http://www.AtlasMentalism.blogspot.com and often lists resources that may be of use to mentalists. Theree is on Ther onee more more incr incred edib ibly ly va valu luab able le su subt btle lety ty th that at I' I've ve de deve velo lope ped d as pa part rt of th thee psychological approach that needs to be addressed: The Associative Reveal. The Associative Reveal
While this While this works works very very well well for either either approach approach,, it is especi especiall ally y powerf powerful ul with with the psychological approach and ought to be included in your presentation whenever possible. The spectator cannot help but admit the association that was demonstrated here and the result is impressive. This does not work in every situation, but when it does occur, the result is astonishing and unforgettabl unforgettable. e. Imagine Imagine that you are using the Muppet Muppet anagram and followed followed the suggested routine, excluding Pepe, Rizzo, Rowlf and Miss Piggy. You call out the letters letters 'E' and 'A', with an instant instant two misses. As a result, you you now know that your spectator is thinking of Gonzo.
Rather than reveal the remaining letters one by one, you go back to the letter 'E' and insist that the spectat spectator or is mistaken. mistaken. The letter letter 'E' is in the word word they are are thinking. thinking. You then run through through the alphabet and call out the letters letters 'D', 'I', 'I', 'O', 'R' and 'W'. They admit the 'O', but insist that you are wrong on the others. You then grab a whiteboard whiteboard and write write 'D, E, I, O, R, W'. Mumble Mumble to yourself yourself before exclaiming in triumph triumph and rearranging the the letters on the board to spell "Weirdo". Gonzo aficionados cannot help but marvel at the association. By revealing an associated word rather than the character thought of, you apparently delve further into your participant's mind and end up demonstrating, in the face of their consistent denial, the idea that you were being told something by their subconscious that their conscious mind was blind to - the revelation at the end is all the more powerful as a result. Another example of this principle that I have employed has its basis in the Disney Films anagram.. A spectator anagram spectator was thinking thinking of 101 Dalmatian Dalmatians, s, and as I called out "S, I, L, C" and was led led to the the right film. When they denied the letter 'C' was there, I was insistent. insistent. I then ran through the alphabet again, insisting that her signals were altered and the consis consistency changed. receiving such strong signals signals for letters letters that earliertency I had had felt were hits. I was no longer receiving I stated that I was clearly clearly getti getting ng an 'A', 'C', 'E', 'L', 'R', and 'U'. She denied mos mostt of the letters, but when I wrote them on the whiteboard, puzzled over them for a moment, and then mused aloud that if the letter 'L' were repeated... I then rearranged the letters to spell "Cruella", and an d pandemonium ensued. When thing When thingss had calmed calmed down, down, I ex expl plai ained ned.. "Thi "Thiss somet sometim imes es happe happens ns.. Wher Wheree associations are strong enough, I get responses outside the realm of the purely conscious mind, and I get the thing that people associated with their thought." As you begin to create them, you'll find that most anagrams can reveal alternative but linked thoughts, with the power coming from the fact that the original word is ignored, but the signals you've received are too strong to ignore. Because you ignore their original word, It further obscures the method. It can also erase your earlier missed letters as you take a more dominant role and insist that the signals you are receiving are indisputable. The tric The trick k be behi hind nd an as asso soci ciat ativ ivee re reve veal al is to fi find nd a word word whic which h is st stro rong ngly ly an and d recognizably bound to a target on the anagram chart. In most cases, this this is really not too difficult. diffi cult. As you begin to familiariz familiarizee yourself with the anagrams anagrams included in this book, or as you create your own, take a moment to find associations and make note of them. From Fro m there, there, it is merely merely a matter matter of alteri altering ng your perform performanc ance. e. Ple Please ase try it as it is undeniably worth the effort.
It bothers me that today, critics of branching anagrams will sing the praises of another method met hod that looks looks clean, clean, direct, direct, and like the real thing. thing. It is as though though they are still still seeking what they originally found but discarded or didn't want to polish or perfect. As you will see in the pages that follow, this method is incredibly versatile and can be used to cover nearly anything, anything, from songs on a favorite album to a word in a horos horoscope. cope. A number of different performance ideas follow. Each represents an opportunity to blow somebody's socks off. Whether they do is entirely Whether entirely up to you. I have never seen seen a method that can be used so subtly and convincingly by a serious mentalist, but so obviously and clumsily in the hands of someone someone that hasn't put in the work. As someone someone who loves this method, method, it is agony to hear it torn apart publicly by another mentalist who will probably tell you in private that they the y didn't really try all that hard to do the effect justice. What you get from this method depends entirely on how you prepare and the work you put into it. Now, what do I recommend that you do if you still disagree with me? Follow the steps I've outlined and go and prove me right.
- Section 2-
Branching Out
As Advertised As promised, in this section, you'll find all sorts of anagrams and ideas for presentation. But before you move on to read anything anything else, I want you to really understand understand the depth of possibility that this method offers, so I've included a very strong idea first. Imagine out newspapers to tenone different people them turn the classifiedhanding advertisement section, circle section, ad, then rrip ip outand theasking page and fold folto d it up.toYou then the n take ten envelo envelopes pes,, and seal their their folded folded ad into into each each one. The envelop envelopes es are subsequently subseq uently freely freely mixed mixed by the audience while while your back is turned. turned. One audience audience member then selects an envelope, opens it, and selects any word in the advertisement circled. You then proceed to reveal the exact word word that they are thinking of. The effect was inspired by Ed Wolf Wo lff' f'ss "The "The Astra Astrall Ad". Ad". I didn't like the effect as written and and I want wanted ed to to crea create te a performance where once the ads went into the envelope, I was not not involved involved any any more. more. I wanted it to be "Hands off", and all the action and mixing and selection too ook k place entirely in the audienc ncee. Addi Ad diti tion onal ally ly,, I want wanted ed th thee spectator to have a free choice of ANY ANY wor word d in the the ad. ad. I didn't like that another person se sele lect cted ed it fo forr th them em.. It was was while I was performing using branching anagrams, that I figured out a way to meet all the requirements I 'd establ est ablish ished ed for the the effect effect.. It occurred to me that if I could perform an envelope switch, I could stack ten envelopes with the exact same circled advertisement. I could then use a branching anagram to reveal the word my participant was thinking. It would look amazing to an audience. So, I picked up 20 copies of the Little Nickel, which is a free local publication full of advertisements. It didn't take take long to find find a suitable advert. I circled it using a sharpie, and similarly prepared the same page from ten different copies of the same circular.
After a few minutes work, I produced the anagram that follows:
A r - With
n - Same - Appointment
- Records E i - Day
c - Marijuana
I - Referrals V - Medical N - Available
- Physician L
- Evaluation
I made sure that on the evening of the performance, I handed out my ten remaining copies of the Little Nickel, along with sharpies identical to the one I had used in my preparations. I know that you will be wondering about the envelope switch that I used. I don't want to endorse one particular method over another - there are a number of terrific methods available from many of the great thinkers in our industry, and which you end up using will depend on your situation. At any rate, as the envelope was opened and the advertisement examined, I subtly directed my participant to ignore any numbers, and to ensure that they were looking at the circled ad and not any portion of the opposite side of the page where the ink may have bled through. They were to then concentrate on any word in the ad. I took a moment to point out that thousands of ads were available, but only one was circled. In addition, they had a free choice of any word in the ad. They could literally be thinking thinking of anything. I then began the anagram anagram process process.. Within Within moments moments,, I knew the word, word, and used an associative reveal to finish. Due to the nature of the effect, you could repeat the performance the next day, and anyone attending the show again would be able to see the effect demonstrated with a different advert shown to be chosen.
It would be great if this example became part of your repertoire, but it is MORE important to me that it helps you to recognize the potential that branching anagrams offer the field of mentalism. mentalism. They serve to add a subtle layer layer of deception to almost any effect. And it is simple to create and memorize an anagram like this one very quickly. Please understand me when I assert that anagrams offer myriad possibilities, and can help your mentalism transcend to a level you never thought possible. I off offer er a number number of routi routines nes in the pages that follow follow,, but more importan importantly tly,, when presenting these effects I offer tips and ideas whose aim is to stimulate your capacity for creativity.
Get a Clue Is there there anyone out there there that hasn't hasn't heard heard of the game 'Clue'? 'Clue'? It is such a fi fixtu xture re in popular culture that I highly doubt it. What follows are three anagrams, each easy to memorize, and each blend together to reveal a murder scenario created only in the spectator's specta tor's mind. mind. Just ask your participa participant nt to think of a murderer, murderer, weapon, and location location from the classic game (not the newer versions), and reveal it in the manner you see fit. With some clever handwork, you can not only divine the spectator's thoughts, but if you have the actual game cards in your back pockets in a memorized order, they can be accessed and slipped slipped into the envelope that that comes with the game. Just keep your hands behind your back as you work, and then produce the envelope (apparently from your back pocket) allowing you both to read their mind, and then produce the envelope as a prediction or as proof of mind control.
Possible Murderers: S - Mr. Green
V - Rope - Revolver
O l - Mrs. White - Ms. Scarlett
L - Mrs. Peacock
Possible Rooms: L n - Study o - Kitchen
P - Colonel Mustard
i - Conservatory
- Professor Plum - Dining room
Possible Weapons: R d - Knife c - Lead Pipe - Candlestick
O r - Hall - Library
R - Lounge
I - Ballroom
O - Wrench
- Billiard Room
Cereal Killer When perform performing ing this effect, effect, be sure to exclude Cocoa Puffs Puffs and Life. You should should also spec specify ify that you you require brand name cereals, cereals, and not their generic generic or knock-off titles. titles. You'll note that that there are a few triple misses here. Where these have to be included to m make ake your anagram work, make sure sure you confidently call call out all the remaining letters that the words have in common before probing for the last letter.
E
S
a u - Fruit Loops (First say, I definitely see o,p,s, and r. Is this a U or a C?)
n - Cheerios t
- Corn Pops
k - Fiber One ( I definitely see an f and b, is this a K?)
h - Raisin Bran
c - Alpha Bits
- Peanut Butter Crunch
- Franken Berry
A n - Lucky Charms o - Captain Crunch l - Cinnamon Toast Crunch - Count Chocula
i - Reese's Puffs c - Fruity Pebbles o - Rice Krispies n
R
- Cookie Crisp
- Golden Crisp o
i - Apple Jacks (First say, I am definitely getting an S & A, is this I or J?) - Wheaties
D
k - Grape Nuts - Corn Flakes
H
b - Golden Puffs
- Frosted Flakes
n - Cocoa Pebbles
T
s - Honey Comb
I
- Honey Bunches of Oats
- Frosted Mini Wheats
- Golden Grahams
- Shredded Wheat
Berry Good This is a great addition to 'Cereal Killer', as you can ask your participant to imagine their chosen cereal, cereal, and then imagine imagine a type of berry berry sprinkled sprinkled on top. Alternativ Alternatively, ely, you could use the 'Bearing 'Bearing Fruit' anagram included included below if you so so choose. The point is that you can combine anagrams to create presentations similar to the one used in the 'Get a Clue' Clu e' anagram anagra m above above to produce produce multip multiple le revela revelati tions ons.. performing this.
Exc Exclud ludee Boysenb Boysenberr erry y when when
- Huckleberry
R - Acai
N B c - Grape - Currant
E - Blackcurrant
O - Cranberry
A l
s - Blackberry p - Strawberry - Raspberry
- Gooseberry
L - Marionberry
u c
- Lingonberry
G
- Blueberry
- Salmonberry - Loganberry
Periodical Puzzler This is a great magazin magazinee test. You can ask ask your partici participant pant to imagin imaginee that they they are reading readin g a magazine, magazine, and see an ad for a box of cereal. cereal. From here, here, you can move into into 'Cereal Killer', add some fruit topping via 'Berry Good', and reveal the magazine, and the details of the ad pictured pictured in their mind. mind. Again, it is very easy to combine these anagrams anagrams for bigger and stronger revelations. Be sure to exclude any popular magazine that goes by an acronym (FHM, GQ, ESPN) as well as any dirty magazine. Then exclude Elle magazine, Vogue, and US Weekly by mentioning. Exclude Redbook by spelling. spelling.
A o
g - Sports Illustrated
- Time
i
- Reader's Digest
- People
s - Prevention
- AAA Living
g - The Economist
M c
g - Popular Science
h - Rolling Stone
d
- National Geographic
- Southern Living - Good Housekeeping
O e
- Family Fun I o
- Entertainment
- Parents
m - Oprah
E c
- Smithsonian
d - Taste of Home
r
- Cosmopolitan
- Woman's Day
b - Woman's World
- Better Homes and Gardens
N e
H - Game Informer L - The Oprah Magazine
- Maxim
C - Ladies Home Journal
- Family Circle
- Popular Mechanics
d
Silent Running When Ben Harris released 'Silent Running', there were a number of different options offered offer ed to determine determine which card a spectator spectator had chosen. For those who purchased purchased the effect,, I offer here another effect another option, in each of the differen differentt keys. In addition addition to this, I include an anagram I created for for when I present the effect. Silent Running excludes face cards, this results in aa missed performing effect two people. When but I perform this for couple,opportunity I ask one towhen take an imaginarythis deck andfor split them into face cards and number number cards. I then have them hand the face cards cards to their friend friend who mentally selects one face card. Silent Running is performed as it traditionally is and I use the following anagram to determine the selected face card. E c - King of Diamonds
a - King of Clubs d - Jack of Clubs - Jack of Diamonds A - Queen of Clubs N d - Jack of Hearts
- Jack of Spades D q - King of Hearts
- Queen of Hearts P - Queen of Diamonds I - Queen of Spades
- King of Spades
Silent Running - Key of 'C'
E t - Six of Clubs
- Two of Clubs D n - Three of Hearts
- Seven of Hearts I
- Four of Spades N - Eight of Spades V - Nine of Diamonds
- Five of Diamonds
Silent Running - Key of 'D'
E t
- Six of Diamonds
- Two of Diamonds A r - Seven of Clubs
- Three of Clubs H n - Five of Spades
- Nine of Spades G - Four of Hearts
- Eight of Hearts
Silent Running - Key of 'H'
E - Four of Diamonds A n - Five of Clubs
- Nine of Clubs T - Seven of Spades R - Eight of Diamonds I p - Two of Hearts
- Three of Spades - Six of Hearts
Silent Running - Key of 'S'
E - Four of Clubs I - Two of Spades N h - Six of Spades
a - Eight of Clubs - Five of Hearts D - Nine of Hearts R - Seven of Diamonds
- Three of Diamonds
Superb Superheroes This superhero test is the one listed at the beginning of the book. On the following page, I offer another version for anyone who feels that they would like more options to choose from.. However, from However, in my experience, experience, it hasn't been necessary necessary,, as these are the characters characters thatt are most tha most likely likely to be named. named. Remembe Rememberr to exclude exclude the Punisher Punisher and limit limit the superheroes to big name Marvel and DC comic offerings. A r - Hulk
i - Thor e - Robin h - Wolverine
M - Green Lantern R b - Aquaman
- Batman I o - Superman
k - Wonder Woman
- Ghost Rider - The Incredible Hulk
N d - Flash
C d - Iron Man
- Spiderman - Captain America
- Daredevil
Superb Superheroes II Here is a slightly slightly larger list of options. As I stated earlier, earlier, where a triple miss miss is involved (as in Silver Surfer), stating the letters the final two options have in common first breaks up the misses and plays better overall. Also, exclude Namor and the word "the" from any superhero's title.
R
a - Hulk
- Wolverine
m - Flash n - Gambit b - Aquaman o - Batman
- Robin
E o - Mr Fantastic h - Iron Man (may also be Namor) - Human Torch
T m - Green Arrow
i - Batwoman
s - Wonder Woman
- Invisible Woman
i - Superman
N e - Thor
p - Submariner
o
- Spiderman
d ( first say I,L,V I,L,V )
C
- Silver Surfer - Daredevil
m - Green Lantern
d - Professor X g - Red Hood
- Martian Manhunter
P h
- Doctor Strange
- Ghost Rider
- Nightcrawler Nightcrawler
A
I
o - Nick Fury
e
- Black Panther
- Captain America
Mentalism with Muppets Anything Anythi ng with a link link to popular popular culture culture makes makes a great anagram anagram as it has broad broad appeal. appeal. When When performing this, emphasize that the character must be someone that you will have heard of, and that the name that they spell out should be the name by which the Muppet is most commonly known. Exclude Rowlf and Rizzo by mentioning and Miss Piggy by spelling.
E a - Gonzo
l
- Crazy Harry
A o - Kermit
t - Floyd Pepper c
i - Waldorf
- Scooter
c
- Kermit the Frog
- Animal
- Camilla
T
R s - Fozzie
f - Beaker - Fozzie Bear
h - Bunsen
N
d - Sam the Eagle
s - Rizzo the Rat
f - Bunsen Honeydew
- Statler
- The Swedish Chef
P - Gonzo the Great S - Pepe the King Prawn
- Julius Strangepork
Tooned In This is another popular culture classic, based around characters from the Warner Brothers Looney Tunes cartoons. For this to work cleanly, you must exclude the Tasmanian Tasmanian Devil and Tweety, as they can be spelled or abbreviated in so many different ways.
E u - Porky Pig b - Daffy Duck - Bugs Bunny
O r - Pepe Le Pew v - Elmer Fudd m - Sylvester - Marvin the Martian
L m - Roadrunner - Yosemite Sam
N - Wile E. Coyote
H - Speedy Gonzalez - Foghorn Leghorn
Disney Dynamite Because there are so many options to choose from, this effect is unbelievable and worth the effort effort to memorize. memorize. It kills kills the skeptics. skeptics. Take care to to exclude all shorts shorts,, digitally digitally animated films and any sequels, and just focus on the original hand-animated films. Exclude All Dogs Go To Heaven. e
A o
l ( first first say H,E,C,U,R,S H,E,C,U ,R,S ) - The Rescuers - Hercules
n - Dumbo
-T The he Fox Fox and the Hound o - Cinderella p - Alice in Wonderland - Oliver and Company
E
e
p ( first first say I,H I,H ) - Robin Hood
- Pinnochio
s - Tarzan
i
g - The Sword in the Stone k - The Emperors New Groove i - The Jungle Book - The Lion King
T
- Pocahontas
l - Fantasia c - 101 Dalmatians - Lilo and Stitch
H r - Sleeping Beauty
n - Bambi
s - Peter Pan
d - Mulan
- Treasure Planet
- Beauty and the Beast
- Aladdin
R o
S d - Brother Bear l - The Hunchback of Notre Dame m - The Black Cauldron i - The Lady and The Tramp - The Little Mermaid
L d - The Aristocats n - The Great Mouse Detective - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
U - The Three Caballeros - Ducktales - The Treasure of the Lost Lamp
Presidentiall Prognosticat Presidentia Prognostication ion Here is another effect that requires quite a bit of memorization, but is definitely worth the effort. Before you can perform perform this, however, you must determi determine ne whether the president thatt your subje tha subject ct is thinking thinking of was presid president ent before before or after after 1900. In "Cold", "Cold", Dee Christopher Chris topher outlined outlined a great way to probe between two optio options. ns. Simply Simply ask something something like "He wasn't president president before 1900 was he?" and then follow with with "Yes, I thought so" so" or "No, I didn't think so". You must also instruct instruct the spectator spectator to ignore ignore middle names and initials and shortened first names (i.e. Teddy instead of Theodore). A - John Tyler E l - John Adams
O i - Ulysses Grant
c - Martin Van Buren
E n - Barack Obama
i - Lyndon Johnson
i - Zachary Taylor
- Franklin Pierce
l - Richard Nixon
n - William Taft
S - Grover Cleveland
d - William Clinton
c - William Harrison
J - George Washington
- Woodrow Wilson
- Abraham Lincoln
M k - Andrew Johnson
R n - James Polk
R i - John Kennedy
- Calvin Coolidge - Andrew Jackson
i - James Buchanan
F - James Monroe
l - James Madison
- Thomas Jefferson
H n - Gerald Ford
k - Ronald Reagan
1900 - Present
- Franklin Roosevelt
- William McKinley N f - Chester Arthur
l - Rutherford Hayes j - Millard Fillmore - James Garfield
O r - William McKinley
m - Warren Harding
T - George Bush I d - Herbert Hoover
j - Harry Truman
- Theodore Roosevelt
- Jimmy Carter
- Dwight Eisenhower
Doctor Who Divination I'm a fan of the television series 'Doctor Who', and I've used this effect a number of times at different different conventions. conventions. Just ask your spectator spectator to think of the actor that portra portrayed yed the Doctor that they like like best. This is probably probably an anagram that will have better succe success ss in the United Kingdom than in the United States...
T g
- Colin Baker
- Paul McGann
E m - Patrick Troughton - Matt Smith
N c - Tom Baker - Sylvester McCoy
I - Jon Pertwee
L r
- David Tennant
- Peter Davison
C - William Hartnell
- Christopher Eccleston
Country Conundrum This is my answer to Max Maven's 'Contimental'. You will ask your spectator to name name a mainland country in the Western Hemisphere. Hemisphere. Emphasize that this should be a mainland country rather than an island. Be sure to exclude El Salvador and Costa Rica through mentioning. menti oning. Be sure to exclude exclude Colombia Colombia by spelling, spelling, as it is a country whose whose name is often spelled incorrectly. A i - Peru
g - Honduras
c - Belize
y - Nicaragua
h - Mexico
p - Uruguay
- Chile
- Paraguay
U i
T n - Ecuador
p
(hit on N first, P could be rotated to be a lower case d)
r - Venezuela
- Canada - Panama
- French Guiana
b
h - Suriname
- Argentina
o - Brazil - Bolivia E r - Guyana
S - Guatemala O - United States
- United States of America
With A Paddle When you guide the topic to fishing or geography, it is easy to introduce the subject of mighty rivers. For this anagram, anagram, you should exclude the the Rhine and the Danube.
N m - Colorado i - Thames s - Columbia p - Missouri
A i - Mekong l - Seine - Nile
G l - Snake
- Mississippi - Lena
E o - Indus a - Orinoco - Amazon
S t - Rio Grande - Yangtze - Ganges
Bracing Blooms As menti mentioned oned earlie earlierr in the text, text, someti sometimes mes specta spectator tor missp misspell elling ingss are unavoi unavoidabl dable. e. Rather than be put off by it, embrace that fact and as you create your anagrams, make room room for the the most most common common mi miss sspe pell llin ings gs of a word word.. You You wi will ll note that the word 'Dandelion' 'Dandel ion' is represented represented twice twice below. Once for the correct spelling spelling,, and once for the most common misspelling. misspelling. When you are performing performing this, be sure to exclude Pansy and Snap Snapdr drag agon on by ment mentio ioni ning ng one one an and d spel spelli ling ng th thee ot othe her. r. If you ar aree go goin ing g fo forr a psychological force of a flower, this anagram provides a great out for those times that you you miss.
I
- Carnation
e - Poppy
D
r - Peony t - Rose h - Buttercup
t - Lily e - Tulip a - Violet - Clematis
- Chrysanthemum
N L
- Daffodil
a - Iris
E
r - Daisy n - Aubrietia
- Dandylion
H - Dandelion - Delphinium
Fantasy Football With this anagram, you must first determine which division the chosen team is in - AFC or NFC. You should be careful to limit limit the word thought of to the team nam namee only rather than the city and the team. team. Exclude the 49ers and the Jets. NFC TEAMS
- Buccaneers
A i - Cowboys
AFC TEAMS
k - Lions e - Vikings
N r
l - Chiefs i - Colts - Bills
- Redskins a E n - Rams
i - Falcons
i
t - Cardinals
t
g - Saints - Giants R h - Eagles
- Steelers h - Jaguars - Chargers
- Raiders - Patriots
A r - Dolphins
c - Browns - Broncos
- Seahawks C n - Bears
- Panthers N - Packers
E - Titans L r - Texans
- Ravens - Bengals
Birthstone Bonanza I love this anagram and I recommend that you learn it and perform it whenever you have the opportunity. I've worked out a number of presentations for this, and have included included a quick description of my favorite. favorite. You must first memorize what every stone below looks like. Then, set yourself yourself to the task of noticing them when you you are out in public. You will note that they are almost always worn by women, and when they are, every time I have performed this, the birthstone they have worn (with the exception of diamonds) is the stone of their birth birth month. If I find a person wearing a birthstone, birthstone, they are a great choice to perform perform this this with. Begin by asking asking them them to think think of a loved loved one. Then talk talk about friendships and things that are precious to us, and talk about the value of the people we love. lov e. Having Having laid laid the groundw groundwork ork,, ask them to thi think nk back to the "...Bir "...Birth th of that friend friendshi ship, p, its 'Birthd 'Birthday' ay' if you will, will, and recall recall that that 'Birth 'Birthday day'' clearl clearly". y". Now that birthdays are suggested to their mind, ask them to imagine a treasure chest, full of precious stones, and to imagine they were to choose one stone as a gift for their friend. They are asked to reach reach into that chest chest and withdraw withdraw the stone stone and just focus focus on it. The anagram process will then reveal reveal the stone. Once you know the stone, allow a time time delay (so they don't consciously link the month to the birthstone) and then name the month associated with the stone. "How does November have meaning for y you ou and this person?" person?" You can then finish by naming the participant's month of birth, as you have seen their birthstone already. I have included the month the stone represents in parentheses after the stone. A i - Ruby (July)
n - Amethyst (February) - Tanzanite (December)
o - Citrine (November) e - Zircon (December) u - Peridot (August)
L n - Sapphire (September)
m - Garnet (January) - Aquamarine (March)
- Turquoise (December) E p - Diamond (April)
l - Topaz (November)
D m - Pearl (June)
- Tourmaline (October) M - Alexandrite (June)
- Opal (October) R
- Emerald (May
Veg Out Anyone who Anyone who ha hass re read ad Bana Banache chek' k'ss "Psy "Psycho cholo logi gical cal Su Subt btle leti ties es"" se seri ries es knows knows ab abou outt psychological forces. And, pretty much everyone I've ever spoken to has had the same question "What if it doesn't work?" Well, one way of dealing dealing with this problem is a very straight forward anagram. Begin by pattering about vegetables, and mention that y you ou are especially fond of them, from the mundane like beans and peas, to the spicy like onions and peppers. Anyone who has "Psychological Subtleties" knows the vegetable likely to be named. Simply begin by spelling that one. It is either a hit or viewed as instructional for the anagram process that follows.
C a - Pumpkin s - Tomato
- Cabbage O u - Celery - Cucumber
r - Squash h - Asparagus - Radish R a
L a - Corn k - Carrot - Artichoke
- Lettuce
b - Spinach
B - Cauliflower - Broccoli
Fruitastic This is anot This anothe herr on onee that that operat operates es simil similar arly ly to "Veg "Veg Out". Out". Use Use it as an ou outt fo forr psychological forces if you like. Note that several spellings of "Tomato" are used.
A e - Kiwi l - Cherry
- Mandarin N p - Tomatoe r
i - Lemon
c - Apple
c - Lime
- Peach
- Clementine E m
f - Pear - Grapefruit
c - Guava
G c - Pineapple
d - Apricot
- Nectarine
- Avocado
O - Tangerine
n k - Tomato
R - Tangelo
- Kumquat
M - Orange
d - Mango
- Pomegranate
Instru-Mental This is another great anagram for the presentation of psychological forces, though you will note that I break with format a little here and suggest asking a direct question when you reach either either "Bass" "Bass" or "Bassoon" "Bassoon" at the end of an anagram. anagram. You should should exclude Viola and Harp.
E a - Violin
t - Snare Drum
b o (first say P,I,N)
l - Trumpet
- Timpani
g - Clarinet
- Piano - Triangle s - Tuba m Ask "Have I named all your letters?" If yes - Bass If no -Bassoon d
- Cello H - Trombone R
- Cymbals
- Bass Drum O r - Flute
N l - Oboe
- Xylophone I - French Horn - English Horn
A Major Pain This is an anagram that I have only performed once and only over the phone. I wouldn't suggest trying to memorize it as it is so long. long. I only came up with it for a friend while he was in Afghanistan, but I include it here h ere as it may be of interest to some of my readers. A
l
c - Rear Admiral
c
- Command Master Chief Petty Officer
- Ensign - Vice Admiral f - Colonel
- Admiral Chief of Naval Operations
T M
- Senior Chief Petty Officer
l - Commander
f - Sergeant
R g - Lance Corporal
t
i - Staff Sergeant
- Seaman b - General
c
c - First Sergeant
- Lieutenant - Brigadier General h
e - Captain
- Sergeant First Class
S
- General Air F Force orce Chief of Staff
i
n
- General of the Army
- Specialist
O o
d
- Lieutenant General
- Lieutenant Colonel
c - Master Sergeant
- Second Lieutenant
c - Lieutenant Junior Grade
- Chief Master Sergeant
E C
f - Lieutenant Commander
m
j
- Corporal
- Senior Master Sergeant
h - Warrant Officer
i
f
- Major
- Sergeant Major
g - Chief Warrant Officer
c - Airman
- General of the Air Force
- Sergeant Major of the Army F
b - Airman First Class
- Command Sergeant Major
G - Airman Basic
D
c - First Lieutenant
j
N p - Seaman Recruit
l
- Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force
- Private f - Seaman Apprentice
m
- Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps
- Private First Class - Command Chief Master Sergeant
d d - Fleet Master Chief Petty Officer
- Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
My Very Educated Mother... In section one, I recommended being careful in the material that you choose when you are workin working g with someone someone who is unlike unlikely ly to spell spell well. well. I suggeste suggested d that that you use material mate rial that is likely likely to be familiar to them. them. This anagram anagram utilizes utilizes the planets of the solar system, and, while not as impressive as other anagrams offered here, will be a safe option for the performer in all but the most extreme cases.
U h - Mars - Earth
N r - Pluto j - Mercury - Jupiter
S - Neptune
A - Venus
T - Uranus - Saturn
Calendar Capers The anagram that follows is in a similar vein to 'My Very Educated Mother' and is an excellent out for those occasions when the performer finds themselves in a position wheree they wher they lack lack confide confidence nce in their their subject' subject'ss capaci capacity ty for spelli spelling. ng. The months months are obviously limited in number, and so this isn't as impressive, but it is a good option to fall back on when you need to.
R u
- May
j
- August
l
- June
- July
M a
- October
u
- April
j
- February
- January
E - March
D o
- September
- November - December
- Section 3-
Some Assembly Required
Crayon Caper This is an effect that that was the result of a lot of thought, and has finally borne fruit. fruit. It will be of use both to someone wishing to determine a color, and to someone who does not trust the ability of their participant to spell correctly. I had wanted to create an anagram for colors for a long time, but as anyone who has looked at a color wheel can tell tell you - there are really too many to choose fro from. m. I tried for years to find ways to make this idea bear fruit, all to no avail. It was when I began writing this book that the idea came to me, and I am pleased to announce that it works very well. All you need is a prop - a box of crayons. Begin by purchasing one box of 24 or 36 crayons, and then by purchasing a larger 96 pack of crayons. You'll note that these crayon colors have names that are interesting and descriptive. Once yo Once you'v u'vee opene opened d al alll yo your ur cr cray ayon ons, s, be begi gin n to si sift ft thro throug ugh h th thee co colo lors rs to fi find nd a combination of 24 or 36 that work to build an anagram. While I have included a section at the end of this book detailing how to create branching anagrams by hand, I won't lie - this part of the process (especially for this effect with crayons) cray ons) can be a lot of effort. effort. You may want to use a soft software ware program program to create create this and other anagrams as you begin to further explore this method and try out your own ideas.. In an attempt to facilitat ideas facilitatee in this process, process, I have created the "Atlas Bro Brookings okings Branching Anagram Generator" software that can be purchased separately and as a supplement to this text. It is available for purchase at http://www.atlasmentalism.com/AtlasProductsCatalog.html Once you find a combination of crayons that works for you, use them to fill the smaller box of crayons and then memorize the anagram. Carry them around with you, and you will have an easy, mobile effect that plays well in situations where the participant's ability to spell cannot be relied upon. upon .
Fan Mail Mentalism
This is a great effect for a number of reasons. reasons. First, it is an effect that can be used when the mentalist mistrusts mistrusts a participant's ability to spell. Second, it shows perceived value, which is helpful helpful in obtaining obtaining future bookings. bookings. And finally, finally, it packs small small and can be kept on your person at all times. Essentially, what you you have here is a letter, letter, purportedly written by a fan. You should take take steps to make it look look like it is authentic. It should be legibly handwritten (preferably by a female), and you should take the time to mail it to yourself. When you perform this, you should produce the article (envelope and all) in its entirety, and mention that sometimes you receive letters from fans and well-wishers. Then invite them to take the letter out of the envelope, and choose a word on the page while you turn your your back. You should should suggest that that a longer word is more dramatic dramatic and entert ent ertain aining ing for the audien audience, ce, and perfor perform m the anagram anagram from there. there. I'v I'vee includ included ed a samplee letter below, sampl below, but you may decide decide to compose compose your own. Fan mail is only only one aspect of this. this. You could also also create a thank you letter letter from a satisfied satisfied customer, customer, or better yet, take a real testimonial letter that you have received and use that instead. The text of the letter is as follows:
To Whom it May Concern: I'd like to take a moment and compose a missive to let you know that I derive a lot of enjoyment from everything you do. Your act fills fills me with anticipati anticipation. on. It is rare that that I do not leave both thoughtful thoughtful and irked by the feats feats you have displayed. displayed. How do you do it??? But I do want to say that part of me also says "BRAVO! It was beautiful!" The show is a good mixture of the fanciful and the hilarious, and I wanted to tell you. Statistically, I know what I see is a ball impossibilities impossibilities - Your act is typically troublesome to me and my cognitive abilities and of I LOVE IT! All the Best, Elizabeth
The workings of the anagram are on the following page.
E a - Thoughtful
i - Bravo l - Anticipation c - Hilarious
j - Moment - Enjoyment T d - Missive
r - Displayed k - Derive
t - Fanciful
- Irked
s
L
- Typically
n - Mixture
- Statistically I o - Leave
m - Concern
o - Everything - Cognitive S u - Elizabeth
t - Compose
- Beautiful
n - Troublesome
M - Abilities
- Impossibilities
Creative Writing After reading through the above effect, you'll no doubt have realized that you can write pretty much anything (so long as it fits) and you can produce a piece of text that allows you to reveal any chosen word. I am getting to the the point of this book where I am hopeful that rather than outlining routines, I have sufficien sufficiently tly demonstrat demonstrated ed the possibili possibilities ties inherent to branching anagrams and can now give you skeleton ideas and frameworks that you can flesh out for yourself. Having said that, I include here a number of anagrams linked to word groups with a common first first letter. letter. There are two groupings groupings and what what you decide to do with them is entirely up to you. The only trick will be iin n obtaining the first letter letter of the word that the spectator specta tor has chosen. chosen. I have my approach for this, this, but I will leave leave you to discover your your own method.
Word Group I A N - About R - Accidentally D - Angrily E - Around - Arranged
A - Doubled N - Dastardly I - Dangerous R - Daunting - Daring
E R - Empty
E - Bring
V - Either
N - Because
N - every
I - Broken
O - Everything
H - Being
- Everyone
F E
C O - Called U - Choose I - Could N - Cautious
- Firsthand I - Farther L - Fainted G - Friendly - Feeling
G
- Continue
D
O - General
E - Ghastly
- Jeering F - Jingled - Justified
R - Goodness - Generous
B
- Behind
N - Grateful
H T - Heavily S - Heartfelt I - Hardest L - Hoisted - Hesitantly
I N - Irritated E - Indignantly R - Ingenious L - Insurance - Irreverently
J
K E - Killing I - Keeper L - Kitchen A - Kilometer - Kleptomania
L E - Longingly A - Listless M - Leather N - Lambasted - Lamented
M T - Manage
I - Jackpot
I - Mental
E - Jubilation
O - Multiply
D
N
- Motivate
- Particularly Particularly
- Speculated
- Vendetta
- Monitor
C - Passing
A - Spied
O - Virulent
- Pacifist
E - Natural
L - Satisfied
S - Victory
Q
- Specifically
I - Nonetheless
E - Quickly
L - Vicarious
T
S - Nevermind
I - Queerly
E - Thoughtfully
G - Niceties
T - Quipped
R - Tasted
- Nothingness
S - Quiet
L - Terrified
R - Whose
O
- Question
M
H
N - Obscured
R
- Troubled
- Worried
E - Opposition
E - Rigorously
U
P - Obscene
L - Ranked
E - Usually
Y
G - Opulent
N - Respectfully
A - United
E - Young
- Opening
C - Relevant
L - Underneath
N - Yesterday
P
- Reluctantly
I - Petulant
T - Universal
S
I - Yanked
- Unilateral
A - Positive
E - Spartan
L - Yammering
N
S
- Trembled
- Viciously
W E - Would
V - Where - Wherever
V
- Yelling I
I
Word Group II A
- During
T - Always
I - Dangerous
N - About
C - Despite
I - Another C - Against
R - Decided - Direct
E
E
N - Effect L - Entertaining
- Brought I - Before N - Believe T - Being
A - Eventful
- Energetically
F
- Benefitting
C
R - Family E - Forward
I - Change
U - Friend
G - Certain
H - Future
E
E - Having S - However
E - Known L - Keeping O - Killed - Kaleidoscope
I - House P - Hesitantly
I N - Itself D - Issuing
L I - Looked N - Little O - Listening K - Longingly - Looking
- Indignantly
M
L - Indeed
E - Might
- Include
- Further
G
- Coming
D
H
K
E
N - Could
M - Continuing
R - Getting
- Happiness G - Eventually
F - Jingled - Justified
- Greeting
- Accidentally
B
N - Great
E - Group T - General
J E - Joint D - Jokes
N - Makes O - Minutes S - Money - Momentous
I - Judged
N
- People E - Nothing R - Novelty
- Problem
Q
E - Still C - Seemingly
B - Numerous - Number
O N - Other I - Obscene P - Occasion E - Opposition - Opening
P L - Person E
- Quickly
- Specifically
- Viciously
I - Queerly
T
E - Virtually
E - Things
- Virulent
T - Quipped S - Quite - Question
B
H - Tender S - Their
W H - Would E - Without
R
O - These
E - Right
- Those
R - Whose
U
I - Where
S - Under
- Withering
L - Reached T - Really A - Resulting
L - Using
- Reluctantly
N - Usually
S
R - Unless
- Particular Particularly ly O - Place
I - Valuable T
E U - Never
L - Various
I - Should L - Satisfying
Y E - Young L - Yesterday
- Universally
D - Yelling
V
- Yielding
E-Mentalism This is an effect This effect tha thatt works pretty pretty well well in a number number of sit situat uation ions. s. I am obviou obviously sly suggesting the use of anagrams here, but you can use it to reveal a number of other things, including a picture that someone is looking at, a mental image they've created (this works very nicely as a dual reality effect, if you word things right), etc. At any rate, I've put together a very easy, over the phone effect that allows you to determine an image, number, etc. that is in your participant's mind. This is a great effect effect for performances on radio shows, or in situations where you want to impress people who have contacted you expressing ex pressing interest in contracting your services. The basic effect is as follows: You send ten emails to someone, each with the subject line: DO NOT OPEN THIS UNTIL I CALL YOU! When you do contact them, the recipient of the emails is asked to choose one email, open it, and reads its contents, concentrating on whatever item they were asked to think of. You then move through the anagram process, and patter for a moment about reading subtle changes in the tonality of their voice, and are able to reveal what they were thinking think ing of. Your participan participantt can then open up all the other emails and find find that each contained different information. This really is a simple feat to perform. The secret is to use the website http://www.spypig.com http://www.spypig.com.. This website asks for an email address and your message title, and then generates an invisible image that should be copied and pasted into the body of the emails you send. When your recipient opens your email, a line of code associated with that invisible image automatically generates an email informing you that your email has been read. Because the image is 1 pixel x 1 pixel and invisible, it will not be noticed by the recipient. As you generate generate and send your emails, emails, you should should make sure that the the subject line line for each email is the same each time. time. This creates a uniform look for the recipient, and they they do not become suspicious suspicious.. However, However, when you are asked to enter your subject subject line at SpyPig, the subject line should contain enough information to allow you to determine which of your emails emails was read read.. Please Please note that it is your message message title title on SpyPig and not the subject line of your email that will be sent to you. For example, if my message title on SpyPig is "Chicken on a Rooftop", but my email subject is "DO NOT OPEN THIS UNTIL I CALL YOU!", when I receive an email from SpyPig, it will read something like "Your Email 'Chicken on a Rooftop' has been read!"
At this point, I know what email was chosen, and I can proceed to reveal information from there. When dealing with SpyPig's interface, please also note that the email address that you enter should be yours (not your recipient's), that it should be the same one for each different tracker generated, and should be on an email server that you have tested to ensure updates quickly. Hotmail and Gmail both work admirably for this effect. Now, some readers may be thinking that this would wou ld be simple to figure out. It may be that it is easy for some, and that is why I suggest using anagrams with this effect. Imagine that you are sent ten emails, asked to open one, and once it is opened, you are asked to choose any word in the email. email. You then concentrate on this this word and are are told, letter lett er by letter, letter, what word you are thinking thinking of. Once you are told what what your word is, your immediate inclination is to look for that same word amongst all the other emails. When you don't find it, you are at a loss to explain what happened. The combination of two methods adds misdirection and confuses skeptics. I've put together some text that works for this effect, and I will include a few articles in the pages that follow as examples to help he lp you get started. Before we examine those, let's take a moment to point that this is a temperamental method. met hod. You will will note, as you begin begin to play with with SpyPig SpyPig,, that that some emails emails never generate responses, even when you know for a fact that they have been opened. Let's examine examine why this happens and look at steps you can take to ensure that this effect works for you. The reason some emails never generate responses is because different email servers have different default settings that result in images being blocked from automatic downloads. As the whole process relies on an invisible image being loaded before any response email is generated, you can run into trouble based on each individual recipient's settings. Thankfully,, there is a way around this. Befor Thankfully Beforee we address it, however, let's let's talk about the easiest possible way to ensure the workability workability of this effect - test emails! Just send a few, casual emails to your potential recipients, each embedded with a SpyPig image, and see if you get any response response when they they are opened. Take note of those email email addresses addresses that are likely to work work with this approach, and those who do not. This is the easiest easiest way to avoid disappointment. For a more sure-fire sure-fire way around this, this, we will look to the SpyPig sit sitee itself. itself. You will note that the website offers you an option that lets you upload and send your own coded image. You must register in order to do this, this, but at the time of writ writing ing this book, there is no cost associated with this membership.
You can therefore generate your own images, include them in the emails you send, and as a part of the performance, ask your recipient to download the image and concentrate on it, but never say what it is. By downloading the picture, they generate the email response that informs you which email was was chosen. When I have to take this approach, approach, I like like to generate the text for for the anagram as a caption for the image, and so it seems very natural to your participant to view vie w the image, image, as the caption caption appears appears to be an afterth afterthough ought. t. They They can then then see the image and you can anagram the text that serves as a caption. When you perform this, leave your email screen open before you, and the tracker email will come in while you are looking at the screen, making it so that you can tell at a glance from the subject line what email was chosen, and there are no obvious or loud mouse clicks in the background while you perform the effect over the phone. You can also elect to send a final email, with a subject line like "OPEN THIS RIGHT NOW!" This email can give instructions to the recipient, in case you are performing on a radio show, asking them to open one email, each of which will give them a broad subject like (superher (superheroes oes or Muppets, Muppets, etc.) that you have already already created an anagram for. for. It furt further her inst instru ruct ctss them them no nott to open open the the othe otherr emai emails ls ye yet, t, bu butt ju just st sp spen end d th thee ho hour ur concentrating every few minutes or so on their choice, then when you speak on the phone, you can say something like "Am I right in thinking that you've had a very v ery specific thought on your mind for the last hour?" They confirm this, and you follow up by asking them if it is something that they can spell out in their mind (you know it is, but the listeners at home infer that it is a specific thing rather than an abstract group of thoughts). You then go through the anagram process and name it. You never mention the email that you sent the presenter. presenter. This creates creates a dual reality reality for the audience to the show, as they think the presenter could have been thinking of anything and that you quickly and easily divined it. In the meanwhile, the the presenter has no iidea dea that you knew the subject he was instructed to pick from in the email, and is equally impressed when you know both the subject and the word he was thinking. At any rate, how you perform this is up to you. As promised, I've included a few bodies of text with accompanying anagrams in the pages that follow.
Garbage Disposal Article Example Sinc Sincee the the mom momen ento tous us da day y of its its inve invent ntio ion, n, the the ga garb rbag agee di disp spos osal al ha hass be beco come me a commonplace appliance, used by millions of people to rid the kitchen of nasty, stinky, and disgusting disgusting things. things. Exciting, Exciting, right? right? Yes, but despite despite what you you may been told, not everything sticky and slimy can go into a garbage disposal. Take note of this list of commonplace items not to put into a disposal unit: I e - Nasty o - Garbage m - People
s - Right e - Sticky p - Items - Despite
c - Momentous l - Become - Commonplace T l - Since
E s - Unit g - Stinky d - Things - Disgusting
s - Appliance o - Slimy
C o - Everything - Invention
m - Disposal
K - Exciting
- Millions - Kitchen N
Employee Policy Book Extract Example The following policies are intended to regulate the maintenance program implemented at any property owned by the company and must be adhered to rigidly and updated frequently frequ ently.. Its scope scope incorporates incorporates the reimbursem reimbursement ent program, program, proper reception reception of inventory, safety precautions, and acquisition of property.
E o - Rigidly n - Program
u - Safety d - Regulate - Updated
i - Company g - Acquisition f - Logging
R m - Intended a - Implemented - Maintenance
- Following T o - Adhered
O m - Frequently - Reimbursement
p
- Owned
c - Proper
C s - Inventory - Resolution
i - Scope
S - Reception
- Policies N a - Property
U - Incorporates - Precautions
Pick Pocket I will give you a glimpse glimpse here of a powerful effect. As this is something that I'd like like to at least partially keep to myself myself still, I don't intend intend to reveal all at this point. Instead, I will serve as a guide and give hints along the way. I intend to give you you a glimpse of what can occurr with occu with this method. method. The glimpse glimpse is below, below, followe followed d by an easier easier but foolpro foolproof of method for performance. Here is the glimpse: glimpse: What if you asked a perfect perfect stranger stranger to reach into their pocket pocket and takee somet tak somethin hing g out. You then then ask them to find a word on whatever whatever it was that they they removed, and to spell it in in their minds. You then named the word. This works - not always, but A LOT. Again, it is something something that I don't intend to reveal in its entirety here, but I will start you on the road to being able to do it yourself. To start start with, with, reach reach into your your pockets pockets.. What What do you have? Gum, Gum, Chapstic Chapstick, k, paper paper money and coins, your wallet (full of credit cards), cigarette lighter, keys, a phone, a receipt from the store? There are a number of variables here, and with some investigation, you can build this information into a solid solid list. You can also manipulate what is chosen, suggesting tthat hat the item fit snugly in their palm, or that longer words are chosen, etc. This is an effect effect that will require require research and effort, but it is well worth it. it. Done right, this is a reputation maker. While this may sound daunting, if you think about it, you'll note that there are likely to be quite a few consistently available words here. Consider - most house keys in the US will be stamped either "Schlage" or "Kwikset", phones typically list manufacturer brand names and these are limited, and the wording on coins and paper money iiss restricted due to space. Using US currency as an example, most money money will have one of the the following words printed or stamped on it: America United States Dollar Liberty Pluribus Unum Cents Monticello Trust Quarter Washington Tender
Federal Reserve California Department Treasury These words are easily anagrammed: R n - States
t - Unum
A t - Reserve
e - Washington c - United l - Cents
- Pluribus
- California
i - Tender - Liberty T c - Federal
- Monticello - America E l - Trust
U - Department
i - Dollar
Q - Treasury
a
- Quarter
Again, I am not giving you my method, just showing you how this could be moved forward. forwar d. I encourage encourage you to experiment experiment with this idea idea and to examine and keep track track of your results results as you build your list of words words that your participa participants nts choose. This is one case in which I would argue that an anagram with more than two missed letters is acceptable and does not hurt the credibility of the performer.
A few more thoughts. thoughts. If you know what your your participant participant has chosen, chosen, you can make a much muc h more concise concise anagram. anagram. If you know they they chose Chap Chapsti stick, ck, you can have an anagram solely for that product. Additionally,, if you don't see what they chose, yet you tell them they were thinking Additionally thinking of a word like "Monticello", you can further reveal that they are holding a US Nickel in their hand. If you follow that that by pretending to write something something down, ask the year of tthe he coin, and then show the participant the correct date (nail written of course), you have a very fine and apparently impossible effect. Now that you have hav e a glimpse of what is possible, I'll outline a simpler, foolproof way to perform this: Get a box and put a number of things things into into it. A sharpie, sharpie, a battery, battery, the box of crayons from "Crayon Caper" - anything that has a limited number of words on it that you can create an anagram for. Then ask your participa participant nt to reach in and take an item out of the the box. You can either either blatantly watch this or casually note it as you turn to speak to them. Once you know what your participant chose, ask them to pick a word on the packaging or the item itself, itself, and you can reveal it using a branching anagram. As your participant participant can look at the word the whole time, misspelling is not an issue. I would also recommend visiting http://www.mysharpie.com as this website offers you a means of customizing a Sharpie brand pen to include words of your choice on the barrel. As a result, you can produce a series of words that can be written on the pen, creating a walk-around walk-a round anagram. anagram. This is a great fail-safe fail-safe prop for those who worry about iss issues ues with spelling.
Your Mind is an Open Book I am sort of obligated, at this point, to note that (with a little effort) anagrams can be used to create an ungaffed book test. This can happen in a number of way ways. s. The first is pretty simple - so long as you have memorized one of the paragraphs offered as part of the 'E-Mentalism' 'E-Mentalism' effect (or generated generated your own to use). If you have done this, all you need to do is ask someone someone to hand you you a book. Take it and open it to any page, page, asking ask ing "Fro "Front, nt, midd middle, le, or end of of the book book?? Are you you sure? sure? Fine." Fine." Then Then open to the the selected spot and say "I'll start reading, and you just think of one of the words that you hear. Is that that underst understood? ood? Just choose any word word you you hear and and simply simply think think of it. Don't try to stop me, I'll just keep reading until I am convinced you've chosen a word." Then all you do is pretend to read the book, instead reciting the paragraph that you've memorized and have an anagram for. You can reveal their word with little effort, and nobody can find the paragraph you've "read", as nobody knows for sure what page you've turned to. If you can arrange it, it is especially convincing if you can have a confederate take the book and recite the memorized passage. There is another way to perform this this effect using an ungaffed book. It does require some searching, but I will note that my efforts have been best rewarded when using books of poetry, as there are naturally fewer words on a page, allowing greater success when creating branching anagrams. All you must do is find a book that, when opened, offers few words to choose from - as I said before, a poetry book (especially when it features Haiku) is an excellent source for this. Then create branching for all found on theand page. at least three pages afor the bookanagram (preferably onethe atwords the start, middle, endDo of this the for book) and memorize the page numbers. When you are performing this, you force the book from a number of options, and then force the first page, which I suggest should be near the middle of the book. Remember, because you began at the middle of the book, at this point, you will have an anagram near the start of the book and one toward the end. Forcing the second page number Forcing number is fun and easy. Introduce Introduce an envelope, envelope, and tell the audiencee that a number is already written audienc written inside. inside. Then point to audience audience members members and ask them to call out one or two digit numbers. Once you have a pair of numbers, numbers, point to another anot her member member of the audience audience and then let them decide decide if you add, subtra subtract, ct, or multiply, those numbers. Get a total. total. Then let your your first participant determine if you you add,
or subtract subtract the number that that is in the envelop envelope. e. Once they deci decide, de, then do some quick math and determine what the number should be and use carbon paper inserted into the envelope with double-sided tape to enter the number on the card inside the envelope with your thumbnail. Again, make sure that you have two places to go to in the book past the original force page, one early on in the book for subtraction, and one later on in the book for addition. Or you could just do the math and use a negative number, as a negative less a negative is a positive. Either way, ask the first participant to hand the book to another member of the audience, who can choose the word from the page that was apparently randomly chosen. You then use the branching anagram method to reveal the words that both audience members were thinking of. For any readers readers concerned about misspellings, misspellings, as long as you are confident that the first participant spells well, the second can look at the open book the whole time.
How to Create Your Own Anagrams I will show you here how to create your own anagrams, but trust me when I assert that this process takes a lot more time than it it should in our modern modern world. I offer a program on my website that not only does this for you in seconds, but it helps you to identify and prune words that result in too many miscalled letters. It isn't costly and it was created to help you as you explore the opportunities branching anagrams make possible. You can visit the site at http://www.atlasmentalism.com/AtlasProductsCatalog.html And now, if you are determined to do the work by hand, here is a basic primer on how to create a branching anagram. Let's assume you wanted to determine the word chosen from the following words: baseball football basketball hockey olympics nascar redistribution Begin by eliminating eliminating every every letter in every word word that appears more more than once. You are essentially stripping the the word down to its basi basicc letters. You end up with something something like this: basel fotbal basketl hockey olympics nascr redistbun From here, it is easier if you alphabetize the letters that remain. For this group of words, you will have something like this: abels abflot abeklst acnrs bdeinrstu cehkoy cilmopsy
What you will then do is examine the remaining word blobs to determine the letters that occur most frequent frequently ly in a word group. You can see from the grouping grouping above that you you have the choice choice of either either the letter letter 'A' 'A' or the letter letter 'B'. 'B'. Each occurs occurs four times. times. Take a moment to think about how you present, and then then make your choice. Since I present as a psychological mentalist, and my performance never initially asks the participant to call the letter letter "B", I would make the first first letter letter an A. I can be confident confident that over half the time, I will be told that I am correct. When I do miss, this leaves me with the following letter groups: bdeinrstu cehkoy cilmopsy From here, it is obvious that two times out of three, the letter "C" will be in the chosen word. It is important important to recognize recognize that that you want to play the numbers numbers to ensure ensure that you get hits more often than misses. misses. I therefore therefore ensure that after a miss at "A", the letter "C" is called. Odds are good at this stage that I won't get two missed letters letters in a row. At this stage, my anagram looks like this: A c - Redistribution Now, because only two words remain, all I need do is find a letter that is missing from one word to another. In this case, I chose the letter "S". It is present in "Olympics", but not in "Hockey". My anagram now looks looks like this: this: A c - Redistribution
s - Hockey Olympics Behind the letter letter "A", the second most most common lett letter er in every word was "B". Again Again,, I am playing the odds, and my second main main letter is "B". If it is a miss, the only word word I can have is "Nascar". My anagram now looks like this: this:
A c - Redistribution
s - Hockey Olympics B - Nascar I now have three words left: Football, Baseball, and Basketball. The letter L appears in each, and is useless useless for me when trying to different differentiate iate between between them. I could use the letter "T", but I prefer "E". Both occur twice. When I get a miss on the letter letter "E", the only word lef leftt as an option is "Football". "Football". My anagram now looks like this: A c - Redistribution
s - Hockey Olympics B - Nascar E - Football My final two words can be distinguished by calling the letter "T", and the anagram is now complete: A c - Redistribution
s - Hockey
Olympics B - Nascar E - Football T - Baseball - Basketball
As you can see, see, this is is a simple simple process. process. It just just takes time. time. What can can be frustrati frustrating ng is when you arrive at triple or quadruple misses and have to remove words and begin fresh. Again, that is why I currently favor using the “Atlas Brookings Branching Anagram Generator”. When you do create your own anagrams by hand, one of the benefits is that you can createe more memorable creat memorable patterns. patterns. You will have noticed noticed that I had several choices choices of differenti diffe rentiating ating letters letters when I created the anagram anagram above. I selected selected letters such such that I would easily be able to recall recall what the main letter letter branches were. You will note that the the letters lette rs along the main path spel spelll out "A Bet", which is easily rem remembere embered. d. The missed missed lett letter erss in the the se seco cond nd bran branch ch sp spel elll out "CS" "CS",, whic which h is a co comm mmon on abbre abbrevi viat atio ion n fo forr "Computer Science". Making associations in this way when creating your anagrams aids in memorization, and as long as the associations make sense to you, they will be easier for you to recall.
Afterword So here we are on the last page. And while it is the end of the book, I truly truly hope that you are at the beginning beginning of somethi something ng new in the way that you perform mentali mentalism. sm. I know that branching anagrams require effort. They can be tough to memorize. But our craft is called "Mentalism" for a reason - you perform with your mind on a stage located in the mind min d of another. another. To me, this this is the the purest purest form of ment mentali alism sm possib possible. le. I'l I'lll always always reme rememb mber er thos thosee mome moment ntss when when I trul truly y make make anoth another er perso person n be beli liev evee th that at th thei eirr subconscious is informing on them, that their tells are obvious if you know what to look for, and that their mind is incapable of keeping anything from me. I hope that throughout throughout this text, you've begun to reconsider reconsider what is possible through the medium of branching branching anagram anagrams. s. You've seen their their versatility versatility in the pages you've just just read. You've witnesse witnessed d anagrams employed employed both as an impromptu impromptu thriller thriller and a well prepared stage piece. Now that you are at the end of this book, it is my firm hope that you will better understand my perspective regarding branching anagrams. I stated it earlier, and I will state it again: It bothers me that today, critics of branching anagrams will sing the praises of another method met hod that looks looks clean, clean, direct, direct, and like the real thing. thing. It is as though though they are still still seeking what they originally found but discarded or didn't want to polish or perfect. As you have seen in the pages the preceded this, branching anagrams are incredibly versatile and can be used to cover nearly anything - from culture to film and beyond. Each of the ideas in this book are capable of creating devastating results that can increase your stock dramatically with your audience. Whether or not they they do is entirely entirely up to you. you. I have never seen a method that can be used so subtly and convincingly by a serious mentalist, but so obviously and clumsily in the hands of someone someone that hasn't put in the work. As someone someone who loves this method, method, it is agony to hear it torn apart publicly by another mentalist who will probably tell you in private that they the y didn't really try all that hard to do the effect justice. What you get from this method depends entirely on how you prepare and the work you put into it. When you perform these properly, the result will be an product that is unparalleled. Ju Just st as the the pa para rabl blee brou brought ght the so son n home home to a jo joyf yful ul re reuni union on,, fu full ll of fe feas asti ting ng and happiness, I hope you will welcome this method with open arms and similarly feel as the father of the Prodigal did - that one of the things missing missing from your household has been returned. I wish you every success.
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