Underground Bottom Tear
Copyright © Dustin Dean 2015 All Rights Reserved No part of this document shall be reproduced or distributed without consent from the author.
Table of Contents: Crediting ….............................................................................2 Part I – Preparation The Materials …......................................................................6 The Pre-Writing …...................................................................7 The Fold …..............................................................................9
Part II – The Tear and Basic Handling The Tear …............................................................................13 The Why …............................................................................22
Part III – Bonus Routines and Tips “Underground Manoeda” - Ever Elizalde ….........................25 “Birthday Card” - RW Cosley (RedDevil) …..........................31 Bonus Tip and Alternate Handling …...................................50 Conclusion and Video Explanation …...................................53
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Crediting, History and a Big Thank You: First off, I'd like to thank all of you for purchasing my personal variation of the Instant Access Tear. I am deeply honored that you have decided to take a chance and invest in my ideas. I sincerely hope this tear will serve you as well as it has served me for many years to come! If you need any help with anything at all, you can always feel free to contact me at:
[email protected]. A link to a video explanation will be provided at the bottom of this book for easier learning. There will also be a Facebook Private group to discuss ideas, tips, and routines with other owners of the UBT! I'd like to also take this time to thank all of those that have helped me along the way, and that have contributed their time and ideas for this project. A huge thank you goes to all of the following: Madison Hagler, Olivier Boes, Robert “Red Devil” Cosley, Ever Elizalde, Sasha Crespi, Mark Chandue, Iain Dunford, Millard Longman, Bob Cassidy, Richard Osterlind, Ran Pink, and anyone else I may have forgotten to mention. Without you guys, this project would not have been possible! Thank you so much! Page 2
While this is not technically a center tear, I feel it is close enough to include some history and background information of the classic center tear technique. The exact origin of the original center tear is mostly, unknown. Al Mann's research shows that the original center tear most likely derived from early mediumship. The technique officially showed up in print for the first time in 1928. Sid Lorraine, who claimed to have learned the technique from an American student named J.T. Garrus, wrote three letters to his closest friends (Tom Bowyer, Josepth Ovette and Ted Annemann) describing the technique in print for the very first time. The center tear became widely popular due to its publication in Annemann's works. Both the Jinx and Practical Mental Effects contain work detailing the center tear technique. However, my UBT was derived from Osterlind's PCT (Perfected Center Tear). It was the first Instant Access Tear I have ever seen, and was a huge game changer in the way I performed mentalism. It wasn't long after learning his technique, that I came up with my own variation that felt most comfortable to me: The Underground Bottom Tear.
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It was brought to my attention after sharing my tear with some of the most knowledgable mentalists in our craft, that there are also a couple of tears that use similar methodology as mine that are worth mentioning. Al Mann's “Magi Move” contained a similar idea, as well as Bill Cushman's “Dr's Billet Tear.” Now that we have gotten all of the fun stuff out of the way... Let's get into what you've all been waiting for! Welcome to the UBT!
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Part I Preparation
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The Materials: To begin this tear, you will need.. Paper! Okay that may seem obvious.. But more specifically, you will need thicker paper. Business cards are the ideal paper stock to use for this tear. They aren't too thick, but they aren't too thin either. Some people may feel that tearing their own business cards psychologically sends out a bad message to your participants. You may think that tearing your name symbolizes that you don't truly care about your business. If you feel this way, no worries! I've got you covered. You have a few options. You can either use other random business cards that you may find from other businesses, buy blank business card stock, or use index cards that you cut to a business card size. Index cards aren't the best option, but they will work. Of course you will also need a pen as well. I prefer to use a sharpie as its easier for me to read. This is what makes a tear so great for mentalism.. You only need a piece of paper and a pen to make miracles happen. No fancy props or gimmicks, just simple and straightforward mind-reading! Page 6
The Pre-Writing: This is an optional step you may take that I highly recommend. With the UBT, (like the name implies) their writing will end up being on the bottom of the billet, right in between the center fold. This area isn't too strange for someone to write in, but I always like to include some writing on the top half of the billet. Not only will this justify the placement of the participant's writing in a very natural way, but will also give you an opportunity to take advantage of a very nice dual reality ploy (if you so choose) that I will explain in just a moment. If you don't want to use the ploy, you'd simply prepare the billet by writing something like, “Please write a name here,” with an “x” and a line being in the area of which they are writing. As seen here:
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If you'd like to use the dual reality ploy.. Please read on. Although I've seen this technique used in many other works, I credit my use to Peter Turner as he was the first person to get me to realize its true potential! The ploy is as described: You prepare the billet by writing a specific command on top (ie. Please write your best friend's name, Please write your favorite animal, Please write the name of your pet etc). You then hand your participant the card keeping the writing unseen from the rest of the audience. You then tell the participant that they will be writing down a piece of personal information and to not let anyone see what that information is. Now you can perform the tear and seemingly be able to reveal his thoughts more specifically. Peter Turner likes to use the line, “Just so we are all aware, you are thinking of your best friend (or favorite animal etc) now correct?” He then goes on to reveal the specific information. This establishes to the audience that you are truly getting inside your participant's head and further disguises the actual method.
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The Fold: I'd like to take a moment to thank Millard Longman for allowing me to use a variation of his Acidus Novus fold. Although I will be describing how to use a variation of the fold, I highly suggest purchasing the original AN fold from Millard himself. He will provide you with many great subtleties on how to use the peek and will go into further detail on the fold itself. You can purchase his Acidus Novus here: http://www.mevproshop.com/acidus-novus.html. Originally, I was using Millard's AN fold to achieve my tear. It wasn't until Robert Cosley came up with a small variation that hides a small discrepancy that I hadn't noticed before. The variation derives from a fold Ran Pink uses in his T-Rex effect. So again, thank you Robert and Ran! My variation of the fold is very simple. You will take the card and fold it from left to right at a downward angle. The top right corner of the half closest to you should be slightly below the top right corner of the back half. If you look at it from the front, there should be a small lip created at the bottom of the card.
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As shown here:
Now you will fold the card upwards, bottom to top, making sure the back half is slightly below the front half as seen in figure. This will hide the move that you will be performing during the actual tear. You can now unfold the billet as it is ready for performance.
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Shown below:
If you'd like to perform this completely impromptu, you can absolutely execute this fold right in front of your onlookers without any suspicion. I personally like to prepare many of these cards with the pre-writing and fold, and keep them in my wallet so I am always ready to go.
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Part II The Tear and Basic Handling
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The Tear: Now let's get into the best part, the actual mechanics of the tear. I think you'll find this to be incredibly simple and easy to do compared to most other tears out on the market. I tried to create something even my clumsy hands could do without looking. Now that you have the card folded and ready to go, you can hand this to your participant to write their secret thought on. Turn away as they do so and let them know to tell you when they are finished writing. After they have finished, instruct them to fold the card in half, and half again. If you are worried they wont fold the card as it was, you could use the classic ploy of having them initial or sign the corner that will be facing them when you perform the tear. This way you can tell them to fold the paper so that the initials are still seen. Therefore, no switches could be made and the card will be folded just how you want it! Now that it is back to being folded in the correct position, you take the card back and display both sides. Explain that the card is completely opaque and there is no way to see through the paper. Page 13
Position the card as such:
All of the folded edges should be to the left and the open edges with the flap to the right. This will give you easy access to perform the tear with your right thumb later on. This next step is extremely important.. Right before getting into the dirty work, you must turn your head away towards the right and look up at the ceiling. Remain in this position until you are ready to peek at the writing at the end of the tear. This will require some practice, but you will find that it will become much easier and will feel natural to you over time. Now that you have your head turned away and you are holding the billet in the correct position, you are ready to perform the tear. Page 14
Hold the billet with both hands, using only your first fingers, middle fingers, and thumbs as seen in the image above.
Now pop open the flap with your right thumb, and place it on or around the “x” before the line written earlier on. Place your left thumb inside of the crevice made by the flap, in the left-most corner. Now pull back with your left thumb making sure to use moderate force, while firmly holding onto the billet with your right hand.
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This will cause the billet to open up halfway, tearing open a secret flap as seen here:
If this doesn't happen and the card rips in the wrong spot.. No worries! Simply continue on to the bonus section for a tip to solve this issue due to varying card thickness. If it does tear, congratulations! The “hardest” part is over. Do not fear that your participants will notice this initial “secret” tear, as it isn't meant to be completely hidden. This hidden tear is psychologically invisible and is lost amongst the overall tearing process. I have never had anyone tell me that they noticed an out of Page 16
place tear and I'm willing to bet that neither will you! Immediately after successfully executing your first tear, you will re-grip the card and rotate it counterclockwise. At this point, it will seem as if you have only opened the billet halfway. The justification for unfolding the billet after having it folded into fours, is that it is much easier to tear when it is unfolded once. You should now be in this position:
Next, tear down the middle of the card towards yourself separating the bottom half of the card (where they have written) from the top half. You will find that this is very easy to do because of the Page 17
way the card has already been torn. It is important to hold the flap on the right half of the card with your right thumb as you tear. You will be using this to get your peek in just a moment. Re-grip both packets together, removing your right thumb from the flap. This will cause the flap to pop open, exposing their secret writing! Use your left thumb to open the flap all the way to the left while rotating the the entire package clockwise. Re-grip the package with both hands, naturally hiding the secret flap with your left hand. It should now look like this:
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Their writing is now in full view and the bottom half of the billet has been fully kept intact. IMPORTANT: DO NOT PEEK YET! REPEAT.. DO NOT PEEK! At this point you could easily peek at the writing if you wanted to.. However, it is important to keep your head turned away as you are not finished with the tear! Technically this tear isn't necessary to get your peek.. However, it adds to the deception by making it seem impossible for you to peek after fully destroying the card. Simply tear down the middle of the torn halves, keeping the writing still intact. Keep these halves separate in each hand as such:
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You are now ready to get your peek. All of this time you have had your head turned completely away and all seems very fair. So how will we get our peek in a logical and justifiable manner? Simple.. We give our participant a natural instruction! With your head still turned away, ask, “Could you help me out?” Now turn your head back to them as you make eye contact. “Could you cup your hands together just like this?” Now place the pieces in your right hand behind the pieces in your left. Cup your hands together, and look down at your hands. This gives you a logical reason to get a nice peek at the writing. It should look like this:
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Simply peek, then immediately look away after you have done so. “Excellent, thank you.” As soon as you turn your head away again, you will tear the piece with their writing in half twice. Once downwards with your right hand moving forwards and once backwards with your right hand moving backwards. This removes any evidence that may suggest you were retaining the information. From here on, the tears are up to you! You can tear as much as you want, or as little as you want. I personally don't like to tear too much as I think it creates too much dead time.. Just remember, stay confident and casual. Always practice and make sure to keep that head turned away! Great job, you have finished learning the tear and you are one step closer to blowing peoples' minds with one of the most versatile techniques in all of mentalism! Continue on to the next chapter for some incredible bonus routines to help get the creative juices flowing.
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The Why: As important as the actual mechanics of the tear are, I am a firm believer that the “why” is just as important. Why have them write anything down if you are just going to tear it anyways? Did you plan to tear it to begin with? These are valid questions and need valid answers. I will share with you my reasoning, but be aware that this may not be the most logical reasoning for your character or performance style. For example, Richard Osterlind uses the justification that he must touch the paper for the thoughts to come to him, almost like a psychometry justification. This justification just doesn't work with my style, therefore I came up with my own that works for me. Before I perform my tear, I always start by asking them to write down a piece of personal information. This will be the specific target information you will be attempting to receive. I state that by writing this down, they are committing to this thought and therefore cannot change their mind. This acts as a sort of contract if you will.. When I am ready to perform the tear, I begin to show that the paper is opaque. Then, almost as if I've suddenly changed my mind I Page 22
tear the paper. I always say, “Actually.. I don't normally do this, but I'm going to get rid of this because I trust you. I don't think you would change your mind on me.” Now I destroy the evidence. This works for me because I have a very casual style of performance. I find that I gain repertoire with my participant by complimenting them and putting my trust in them. Again, this may not be your style.. But the most important thing to take away from this section is that the “why” is just as important as the “how.” Find whatever works for you and run with it.
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PART III Bonus Routines and Tips
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“Underground Manoeda” - Ever Elizalde: I am extremely excited to share this gem of a routine with you. I am very grateful to Ever for allowing me to explain my variation of what I think is one of the greatest propless pieces of mentalism out there today. When Ever shared his wonderful Manoeda routine with me, I was immediately bursting with ideas. It's one of the few propless routines I actually perform on a regular basis. In the effect, you simply have your participant imagine placing a coin in either one of their hands or in their pockets.. You then proceed to tell them exactly where the coin is! If you don't have Manoeda, get it! You will absolutely not regret it! With Ever's generous permission I will be teaching you the basic workings of Manoeda, but his subtleties and bonus routines are a thing of pure genius and warrants a purchase from the man himself! My variation of Manoeda turns the effect into something that does technically use a “prop,” yet is remembered to be completely propless.. Confusing? Let me explain.
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You will begin by preparing a business card as such:
Notice how the phrase “imaginary coin” and the drawing of the coin is placed in a perfect position for the UBT. You tell your participant that you will be playing a little game with an imaginary coin. Hand them the card and tell them to focus on what the coin looks like in their mind. Turn away and have them write the date of the imaginary coin inside of the drawing.
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Have them fold up the card and make sure it is completely opaque. Take the card back, and as if you were having an afterthought, rip up the card (executing the UBT) explaining that you'd like for this game to take place only in the mind.
You now have a piece of information that will be an extremely useful kicker at the end of the Manoeda routine. Not only that, but they will completely forget that you had the billet and the writing in play. They will only remember that this coin existed only in their mind. Next, you will ask the participant to place their imaginary coin in either their left hand, right hand, or in their pocket. You then ask them to put both hands in closed fists out in front of them as you turn
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away. After they have done so, you may turn around. The method lies within two questions you will be asking the participant. This works one hundred percent of the time! You will begin explaining that the game has to do with bluffing and your ability to spot different “tells” much like in a game of poker. First, you will ask them, “Is the coin in your left hand?” You will explain that they can either lie, or tell the truth. It is completely up to them. They will reply with either a yes or no.. Whatever the answer may be, you will pretend to study them.. Pointing out different “tells” after their reply. Explain that they are either a very good liar, or just simply being honest. You will now ask another question to be certain with your decision. This time, you will explain that if they told the truth, they will tell the truth again. If they told a lie, they will lie again. Its that simple! You ask, “Is the coin in either one of your hands?” They will again reply with either a yes or a no. So how will you know where the coin is? Its very simple.. If they answered one question with a yes, and one with a no, then you will immediately know that the coin is in their right hand! If they answer both with a yes, or both with a no, then it is
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either in their left hand or in their pocket.. So now what? Again, very simple! You will force your participant to end up with the coin in their left hand. You accomplish this by seemingly struggling to decipher their thoughts. Explain that you are having a difficult time and instruct your participant to change things up. “If the coin is in your right hand, move it to your pocket. If it is in your pocket, move it to your left hand. If it is in your left hand, you can just leave it there.” As you can see, this forces the coin to be in their left hand! I now tell them that I will ask one more question, but this time, I don't want them to speak the answer out loud. I want them to say the answer only in their mind. You will attempt to read their thoughts without them saying a word! I simply ask, “Is the coin in your left hand?” You look them into the eyes, concentrating on receiving their thoughts. You then smile and nod as you touch their left hand stating, “You did excellent.. The answer was definitely a yes, the coin is in your left hand!” The participant agrees in excitement, but you immediately stop them by placing your hand up as if to say, “Wait, stop..” You look up and away as if you are receiving another thought.
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“The date on this coin you were imagining.. Was it.. 19..72?” The participant again agrees with even more excitement. They cannot believe you were able to pick up on their thoughts so accurately!
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“Birthday Card” - RW Cosley (RedDevil): When Dustin asked if I had a routine to submit using the UBT, I had already offered summary of a routine using a center tear to my colleague Olivier Boes, who recently published the “10 Second Star Sign Reveal.” In playing with Boes’s star sign tool, I discovered his nice little subtlety could be used also as a force. At the very same time, I was obsessed with destroying business cards with Dustin’s UBT, which I connected with immediately. It didn’t take long to stumble on a drawing duplication presentation that I loved very much that combines both tools together. Those of you who have already purchased Boes’s “10 Second” may be worried here because you know it is not 100% surefire. But that’s where the UBT comes in to play. I constructed the routine so that it cannot fail either way. Thanks to Olivier’s generous permission to share the methodology of his star sign reveal, I present to you “Birthday Card.”
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WHAT THE SPECTATOR WILL REMEMBER “I want to do a little experiment with you,” you say. “But before we start, I need to scribble a little something that just occurred to me or I will forget it.” You take out a couple of business cards from your wallet and take a few seconds to jot something down unseen to the spectator. You place the card face down on the table and forget about it. “Sorry about that. Sometimes, if I don’t get it down on paper, I will lose it completely. Writing things down sometimes makes things easier to grasp, if you know what I mean. Don’t tell me when you were born, but you weren’t one of those born in the last week or so of the month were you?” The spectator answers yes or no. “Okay interesting. Folks born in that last week or so of the month are often very difficult to read sometimes, so I have to be on my toes. Or maybe it’s just an old wives’ tale. We will see in just a minute.” The spectator nods expectantly as you take out a small piece of paper from your wallet or pocket.
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“I want to do an experiment with you to see if we can use the act of writing to link our thoughts together. Is that okay? I promise not to do anything to embarrass you. You see, I am convinced that the act of focusing on a thought, which is merely an electrical impulse in the brain, by using our physical hands to write or draw them can actually make the thought more powerful and thus easier for another person to…well…read.” “Okay.” “I will make it as easy as possible for you. We will do something simple by using a thought that you have lived with all your life. Please don’t tell me what it is, but I want you to think of your birthday: both the month and the day. The problem with a birthday though is that it is hard to picture a timeframe, so I am going to give you a tool to help you make the thought easier for me to connect with mentally. I have a list of all 12 months with a simple, everyday object written beside each month. I want you to find the object or thing written beside the month of your birth and then picture this object in your mind instead of the month itself.” Hand the spectator any piece of paper with a list of months and
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common objects that an average person can draw. I keep my list on a folded index card in my wallet (see picture below). As you can see, these are objects that are easy for anyone to draw.
“I want you to look through the list of months, find your birth month, and think of the object in your mind instead. Focus on it intensely. Many times, this will make it easier for me to grasp your thought. Do you think you can draw a crude picture of this object for me?” Hand her a blank business card set up as in the picture below, Page 34
pre-folded in the manner for UBT. As you turn your back so you can clearly not see, ask her to draw a picture of her object in the box and to write her full birthday on the line drawn for her. Then ask her to refold the card so that you cannot see what was drawn or written.
“I mentioned earlier that the act of writing or drawing something makes a thought easier to grasp because we are using both our mind and body to manifest the thought we created. It should now be quite strong in your mind right now. Please look at your card to make sure I cannot see through it and then hand it to me so I can just touch the card to see what I can pick up.” Take hold of the card making sure to emphasize that you are not trying to peek inside or through the folds (maybe looking at the Page 35
ceiling or into the spectator’s eyes). Take a few seconds of silence as if you are trying to sense something. Smile warmly and say, “I’ve got it.” You tear up the card and cast the pieces aside as you say, “I was worried at first, but I then was surprised how strong the thought was that you sent me. You may not realize that you have a very powerful presence of mind. Has anyone ever told you that? At any rate, I want you to follow my fingers in the air, and I will try to draw the image in the air that I am pretty sure you are sending me.” Using your fingers in the air in front of her eyes, draw the figure in large scale in the air and verbally explain the lines you are drawing without naming the figure/object (I saw Atlas Brookings use this type of presentation in the demo video on Penguinmagic.com for the “Take Note” download; he gave me permission to share this presentation here). Over time, you will start to see a reaction of the spectator, and you will then name the object she drew.
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But here’s the kicker… “Remember before we ever started this experiment that I scribbled something down on this card on the table here (this is the card you alluded at the very beginning before discussing the birthday and then placed faced down on the table)? This card has been here since the beginning, even before you picked and object to draw for your birthday, hasn’t it? Please turn it over and take a look.” The spectator turns over the card that has fairly and truly been there before the discussion ever began, and it has the drawing matching her month of birth! (a huge logical disconnect that will destroy any suspicion of a peek!). Read this again. You are actually able to pre-draw the spectator’s chosen object (most of the time) before he even sees the list of objects to choose from. And you will be able to do so without stooges or scoping of his/her Facebook page.
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And here’s the 2nd kicker… You then proceed to tell her the exact day of the month she was born in whatever presentation that fits your style. How? Because you used the UBT to peek the specific birthday.
WHAT THE SPECTATOR WILL FORGET I want to repeat that what was described above happens exactly as written…except I did not include one thing the spectator has forgotten. Using Olivier Boes’s “10 Second Star Sign Reveal” minutes earlier, you already knew with 80% certainty what month the spectator was born. They just don’t realize that they have already divulged their birth month to you due to Boes’s dreadfully simple and invisible method. And because you were reasonably certain of the month of birth, you were able to pre-draw the picture and accomplish the reveal written above. And on the 20% of the time that Boes’s steal does not work and you are wrong about the birth month, you will still be ahead because you will find out your error before you attempt to duplicate the drawing thanks to the center tear! By using the UBT, you will know
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the exact date of birth and will immediately know that your predrawing was wrong. And thus, you can then change course and present an alternate ending in which you simply never refer to the business card on the table (because it was not presented as important in the first place!).
So let’s get to the method for this miracle.
10 SECOND STAR SIGN METHOD AND PRESENTATION
Olivier’s method is dead simple. Under the guise of asking a stranger to name the first 3-4 star signs that come to her mind, most people will default to the one they know the best, their own, and then say that specific star sign first. You will be as shocked as I was at how often this works. And the method hits even more when the spectator is under pressure to name them fast. I have developed a way to create this pressure below.
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By itself, the method is simply this: Performer: “When I snap my fingers, name five star signs as quickly as you can.” (Snap!) Spectator: “Uh…Libra, Aries, uh, Capricorn, and…Cancer.” Unscientifically, I would say you have about an 80% chance that the spectator’s star sign is Libra. Since most people don’t have an intimate knowledge of the star signs, they will go first to what they know (their own star sign) when under pressure to name them quickly. It works very well, and I am envious that I didn’t think of this myself. Of course, this method by itself is naked and bare, in my opinion, so it has to be presented logically and contextually in a larger framework that makes sense. So this is how I do it in the context of not just one routine, but in a “performance set” of routines. Let’s say I am in a close-up situation, and I have a spectator willing to spend 10-15 minutes with me to experience some mindreading. So I start the conversation like this: “Okay generally how I do this is I ask my helper to do an easy little exercise to clear her mind. It’s kind of like we when we are
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sampling different colognes and perfumes in a shop at the mall. Before I smell another cologne sample, the salesman asks me to smell a little bit of coffee grounds in order to clear the senses. It works the same way with the mind. Our brains are always dealing with the aftertaste of the previous day or the previous moment, and we have to neutralize those memories briefly so that we can totally focus on the present moment. Does that make sense? I promise not embarrass you, and the exercise is dead easy. It’s just designed to briefly clear your mind for a few minutes before you go back to your daily routine. Are you ready?”
“Sure, okay.”
“Great, this will be so easy and painless. All I am going to do is ask you a series of random questions, and your job is to list 3-4 answers as quickly as you can without thinking. For instance, I might ask you to name the colors of the rainbow, and your job is to say as many colors as you can think of without hesitating. As fast as you can…Got it? Ready? Okay, here goes; we will start easy and then get
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a little more difficult.”
“When I snap my fingers, list as many shapes as you can, like a circle.”
Snap your fingers and let the spectator name her shapes. After 3-4 shapes have been named, you can stop her and praise her to make her feel comfortable. “Great job! Try not to hesitate or think. Say them as quickly as you can. Ready for the next one?” “List 4 types of trees!” Snap…
“List as many TV shows as fast as you can!” Snap…
“Name as many star signs as you can in 5 seconds. Go!” Snap… (in my region of the USA, we don’t say “Star Signs.” Instead, I would say “horoscope” or “zodiac” signs…)
“Okay 1 or 2 more. Name as many zoo animals as you can in five
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seconds!” Snap…
“And finally…types of beer. Go!” Snap…
“You did amazing! Unbelievable. You are going to be perfect to work with today.” I hope you understand what you have now accomplished. Unless the spectator is an astrologer, he/she is probably not very familiar with all the star signs. But most everyone knows his/her own sign, and when she is under pressure, her mind will go straight to what she knows best: her own sign. Usually, the first sign named in the list is the one belonging to the spectator! That is the basic rule of Olivier’s method. You will be surprised how well this works, and I again am thankful to him for allowing me to share it. But you have also done something else. You have logically hidden this ruse inside a larger context, which will eliminate all suspicion. They don’t have a clue that you will be using this information; their logical brains aren’t really focusing on all your questions. In their minds, it’s just a mind-clearing test!
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Now, you can either go straight into the birthday card routine, or you can do what I would do instead. To further distance ourselves from Boes’s star sign steal method, I recommend performing another brief mentalism routine directly after the mind-clearing exercise. By doing this, you are emphasizing even more that the questions truly had nothing to do with any effect you are performing other than preparing their minds for success. The more time between the star sign steal and the use of the knowledge you gain from it, the more you will be able to hide it.
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PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER So here are the basic steps: 1. Initiate the mind-clearing test and steal the star sign that is likely to be the spectator’s by utilizing Olivier Boes’s “10 Second Star Sign Reveal.” 2. Perform another brief mentalism routine, preferably contrasting from the billet routine to follow. Perhaps a prediction effect with equivoque or a which-hand routine. 3. Transition to the “Birthday Card” routine script. 4. It is now time to pre-draw the spectator’s birth month. But how do you do that? So far, you only have the star sign, which could be one of two different months, depending on when they were born. For instance: You can be a Libra and be born from Sept 23-30 or from October 1-22. This presents a slight problem, but most of it is overcome, if you remember from the earlier script, by the fact that you nonchalantly asked her if she was born in the last week of the month. It sounds like
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an off-hand question in the script, but the knowledge is crucial for success. If you have the star sign dates memorized, you will be able to, with little error, determine which month of birth is correct.
To use the earlier example, if the spectator responds with a “Yes” when asked if she was born in the last week of the month, then you know she was born in September if she is a Libra.
But remember, sometimes you will be off a month, and it still won’t matter. You will still be able to use the alternate ending that is almost as powerful. This routine is designed so that there is no failure because Dustin’s UBT allows you to certify the actual information you need. So again, pre-draw your best guess of the birth month based on what you learned in Boes’s “10 Second Star Sign Reveal” and her answer to the part of the month she was born. Lay this drawing face down on the table and pretend it is not important, relevant, or existent.
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*If you don’t have the star signs or star sign dates memorized, see the conclusion for an alternate way to present this effect.
5. Show her the list of months and pictures (see picture previously mentioned). Ask her to find the object matching her birth month and focus on it in her mind. 6. Pre-fold a business card per UBT and label it with a place to draw the picture and write the full date of birth. 7. Ask the spectator to fill out the card unseen to you and then refold it so it is set up for the tear and peek. 8. Rip the card up as if it is no longer needed via Dustin Dean’s UBT. Notice whether your pre-drawn picture is correct, and memorize the actual date of birth. 9. Based on what you peek in the center tear, determine if your pre-drawing is correct. If it is, conduct the “air drawing duplication” (thanks, Atlas) and then reveal the card on the table to show that you knew her birthday all along. Go ahead and tell her the exact day she was born, and you have stunned her with a great finish!
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10.
If your pre-drawing is incorrect, you will never refer to it
again. Remember that the script refers to it as being an off-hand distraction before you started the effect. So it won’t matter that you never refer to it again because the card was supposedly for you, not for them. Instead, you will use your knowledge of her birthday obtained via the UBT to conduct an accurate air drawing duplication (or you can do it on another business card) of the object that matches her birth month. And thus it is still a stunning conclusion in my book.
CONCLUSION You may have noticed the 3rd logical disconnect of using a list of months instead of star signs in order to conduct the drawing duplication. I think that if we use a list of star signs rather than a list of months, they might work back to the mind-clearing exercise easier. So I changed the star signs to birth months to build another wall in the way of backtracking. With that said, if you don’t have the star signs and their dates
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memorized, you can just use a list of star signs instead. It’s weaker, but will still work with most. It also simplifies things, and you don’t have to ask what part of the month she was born. It also goes without saying that this routine is only appropriate and impactful for a total stranger. If the spectator thinks you could have obtained the information from her Facebook page or a friend, then she won’t be impressed very much. Finally, I wanted to thank Dustin for sharing his center tear with me. I love it! I want to also thank Olivier Boes for giving me permission to share his “10 Second Star Sign Reveal.” And I feel Atlas Brookings must be credited for the use of “air drawings” that I observed in his demo on PenguinMagic.com. Atlas Brookings’s “Cloud Nine” should also be credited because Atlas also asks the spectator what part of the month he was born in his Penguin lecture in order to correctly identify the person’s star sign. I hope you enjoy this!
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Bonus Tip and Alternate Handling: If you are having difficulties with the initial “hidden” tear, no worries. I've had a few people who came to me wondering what to do because their paper won't tear right. This was because their cards were either too thin, or too thick. Thanks to Madison Hagler, I now have a solution! Madison found that his card was too thick and made it difficult to initiate the first tear. To fix this, he simply applied an extra step during the preparation of the billet. He made a very small tear in the card where the initial tear occurs. This causes the initial rip to happen much easier, and won't tear the card in any other spot but where the small tear was applied. This means that if the card was too thin and tears in the wrong spot, this method will fix that problem. The original version of this tear was slightly different than the streamlined version you see now. It began as a tear that was designed to really sell the fact that you can't be peeking at anything. After each tear, you'd immediately show your view of the card by turning the pieces over, then back again. It was extremely fair Page 50
looking, yet dragged out the tearing process and didn't appear as just a casual tear. For the sake of completeness, you may find that you enjoy this handling so I've decided to include it here. After the first tear that your participant sees (after the hidden tear), you are left with two halves of the card. The half facing the participant looks completely normal and opaque, yet the half facing you has a secret flap for gaining your peek. To hide this discrepancy, you will simply place your right fingers over the torn away section as you rotate the pieces forward. This will display your view to your audience which is seemingly normal. Now simply rotate the pieces back around. Continue on as normal by opening the flap and initiating the second tear. Place the pieces you've just torn behind the pieces with the writing in your left hand. After gaining your peek, simply close the flap as you rotate all of the pieces to display to your audience. It will now appear that the audience has seen everything that you have seen, meaning that you could not possibly have seen their writing. If you need any more help,
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please feel free to contact me and I will personally help you!
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Conclusion: Thank you all so much for investing in this project, both with your time and money. I sincerely hope this tear serves you well and aids you in achieving the impossible. There are so many different effects that can be done with a tear, the possibilities are endless! If you'd like to join the private UBT Facebook group to discuss routines, tips, ideas and more, please feel free to add me and send me proof of purchase by messaging me with the password: Underground. I look forward to seeing you there!
-Dustin Dean Video Explanation: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gjtqcq29etnb8ij/ubt %20explanation.mov?dl=0
Quick Demonstration: https://www.dropbox.com/s/sc4cwhtzz5p1r3h/ubt%20front %20shot.mov?dl=0
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