When in Rome -Peter Turner

When in Rome

When in Rome Notes from Italy By Peter Turner

Devil Publishing, 2014

Copyright © 2014 by Peter Turner No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now or to be invented, without permission of the author. First printing: 2014 Devil Publishing

Editing & layout by: Mike Vance, [email protected], www.magicmike.org

Peter Turner

Dedication

Zach, I hope to see you performing some of this material one day. This book is dedicated to you, I love you little man. The world is your oyster, no matter what happens follow your dreams.

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Table of Contents Dedication ............................................................................... v Table of Contents ................................................................. vi Acknowledgements ............................................................... x Foreword ............................................................................... xii Introduction ............................................................................ 1 Ethics and codes ..................................................................... 7 Your intuition ....................................................................... 15 Effect ...................................................................................................... 17 Breakdown ............................................................................................ 18 The psychological force of 7 .......................................................... 18 Springboard ..................................................................................... 20 On its head ....................................................................................... 21 Full performance .................................................................................. 25 The outs ................................................................................................. 28 Additional idea .................................................................................... 32 Mark Chandaue additional idea ........................................................ 32 Paul Shirley additional idea ............................................................... 40 Credits ................................................................................................... 45 Your Notes/Ideas ................................................................................. 46

Simply overlooked .............................................................. 51 Effect ...................................................................................................... 51 Breakdown ............................................................................................ 53

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Peter Turner Making the effect more ....................................................................... 54 The Matrix moment ............................................................................. 56 The justification .................................................................................... 58 The peek ................................................................................................ 63 Presentational acrobatics..................................................................... 67 Full performance .................................................................................. 71 Additional ideas ................................................................................... 78 Stealing information ............................................................................ 79 Applying the information ................................................................... 81 Credits ................................................................................................... 84

Name place variation (after stealing the information) . 85 Effect ...................................................................................................... 85 Breakdown ............................................................................................ 86 Updating the one-ahead...................................................................... 87 Full performance .................................................................................. 91 Additional idea..................................................................................... 94 Credits ................................................................................................... 95 Your Notes/Ideas ................................................................................. 96

Bold unlock pin divination.............................................. 101 Effect .................................................................................................... 104 Breakdown .......................................................................................... 104 Morgan Strebler additional idea ...................................................... 108 Michael Murray additional idea ...................................................... 109 Credits ................................................................................................. 111 Your Notes/Ideas ............................................................................... 112

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When in Rome Increment control (force) .................................................. 117 Effect .................................................................................................... 118 Breakdown .......................................................................................... 118 Credits ................................................................................................. 124

Not Ed Marlo’s snap change ............................................ 127 Variation #1......................................................................................... 127 Additional idea .................................................................................. 130 Variation #2......................................................................................... 131 Credits ................................................................................................. 133 Your Notes/Ideas ............................................................................... 134

Positive actions and words speak loudly ...................... 139 Effect .................................................................................................... 139 Breakdown .......................................................................................... 140 Full performance ................................................................................ 143 The anagram ....................................................................................... 161 Additional ideas................................................................................. 182 Credits ................................................................................................. 184 Your Notes/Ideas ............................................................................... 185

Why star signs? ................................................................... 189 Reaping what you sow ...................................................... 193 Mark Chandaue additional idea ...................................................... 194 Credits ................................................................................................. 196

The Bob principle - Hearing stars................................... 199 Your lucky star.................................................................... 209 viii

Peter Turner Effect .................................................................................................... 209 Full performance ................................................................................ 216 Your lucky star – Any sign, sure fire ............................................... 221 Effect .................................................................................................... 222 Breakdown .......................................................................................... 223

Nod to star sign .................................................................. 229 Effect .................................................................................................... 235 Breakdown .......................................................................................... 236 Credits ................................................................................................. 240 Your Notes/Ideas ............................................................................... 241

Double star sign revelation.............................................. 245 Effect .................................................................................................... 245 Breakdown .......................................................................................... 246 Be controversial – Think backwards ............................................... 246 Effect .................................................................................................... 247 Back to the effect – Double star sign variation ............................... 252 Additional idea................................................................................... 260 Credits ................................................................................................. 262 Your Notes/Ideas ............................................................................... 263

Scarred for life .................................................................... 267 Conclusion .......................................................................... 274

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Acknowledgements Michael Murray, Mike Vance, Dave Garbett, Ryan Robertson,

Kenton

Knepper,

Bob

Cassidy,

Atlas

Brookings, Enid Blyton, Paul Shirley, Mark Chandaue, Chris Bartak and Morgan Strebler. -

The groovy gang. My Sound boards, inspirations, analytical eyes, look outs and most importantly my friends. I love you guys.

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Peter Turner

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Foreword

I feel both honoured and privileged to be the one who introduces this work to you. Whilst I'm sure that most of the readers will already be familiar with the high calibre of Pete’s work through his prior releases, most will not have had the good fortune to meet the man himself. Let me offer you a small glimpse into the world of this “larger than life character.” My first introduction to Pete and his work came a few years back when he released his limited edition book Bigger Fish. Initially cautious about the high price tag, Pete offered to Skype me prior to making my purchase.

Taking Pete up on his offer, we embarked upon a marathon session during which Pete tipped almost everything from the book. I was immediately taken not only by his approach to mentalism but how genuinely passionate he was about the art. I’m seriously convinced that if I didn't have work to go to, we would still be talking now! Naturally I was quick to invest in his work and so our friendship grew. Most often when you finally get to meet someone in person whose work you admire, they are a disappointment. With Pete it is a whole different story. xii

Peter Turner Despite his outward appearance, he is a very gentle and caring person. He gives his time freely and really brings out the very best in those around him. With Pete there is no ego or hidden agenda. He is a people person, and in this respect I feel that he would make a great councillor. I mentioned above that he was a larger than life character and I firmly believe this to be true. If Pete told me that he was not from this world I would believe him. He is so sickeningly talented. His skill set does not end with mentalism; he plays the piano better than anyone I know and that is nothing compared to his guitar work. Whilst it would be so easy to hate him from sheer jealousy, he somehow brings out the very best in you. Every time I speak with him I am enthused; he has managed to unlock the gates to my own creative talents and almost all of my recent creations were a direct result of our talks. I have seen Pete do things that you wouldn't believe. He doesn’t create legends, he is a legend. Read the words that follow, be attentive, be inspired and be thankful to Pete for all that he does for us.

Michael Murray September 2014 xiii

Peter Turner

Introduction

What you have here are my notes from Italy. When you hear the word “notes” it sounds like a brief outline of what’s important thrown onto paper. Anyone that knows me knows that I could not do that—I love to ramble and go off on tangents as I feel that is where the flavour is. I have done that countless times in these notes. I hope the reader gets a feel for who I am as a person throughout these notes. I have tried to let you (the reader) know about me as a person as the notes go on, as hopefully these notes will still be being read long after I am gone. I have detailed routines that I use presently. These routines have taken a long time to refine and I am proud of each and every routine, idea and premise within these notes. 95% of the routines and principles you will read inside these notes have never seen print and have never been shared publicly. I have no doubt in my mind that you will love the material detailed in these notes. What I hope you take away from this is a realisation of maturity in comparison to my earlier works. This should serve as a good representation of 1

When in Rome growth and I am thankful that you have followed my journey thus far. Mentalism is an art that is constantly moving and I am learning and growing daily. I hope you realize when reading these notes that I am just expressing my opinions and the way I view things. If you have an opposing view on how things should be done or don’t like some of the material, that is fine also. Mentalism is a purely subjective art form and it is natural to have different viewpoints. I hope these ideas spark off ideas and thoughts when you read/refine/perform these routines, whether it be one line, an entire routine or a story. When reading these notes, try to think about all of the applications you can come up with for each idea. Think about how you would present these effects—you will notice after each effect/principle I have added pages for you (the reader) to add your own notes. This will make the book completely unique and personal to you. So why are these notes here? Well these are details of some of the things that I shared in Rome in 2014 that had a great response. There were a lot of things shared in Rome, so naturally not all of them made 2

Peter Turner it into the book. If you were one of the participants in Rome, I am sure you will remember the impact these routines had on the class. I can promise there is something in here for everyone. So enough of my ramblings, Enjoy x

P. Turner, 2014

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I Ethics and codes

This is a simple essay on revealing pin codes. Years ago revealing a pin code was something I shied away from for obvious reasons. This is also the opinion of a lot of performers, as it is a subject area that is very delicate. I am not here to try to change your opinion of how/what you should perform. All I ask is for you to think of safe, creative ways you can reveal pin codes without actually revealing any delicate information.

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When in Rome I have come to realise, over the years, people for the most part don’t care (in England). If you look at the “Matrix moment” detailed later, you will notice that you can apply this small principle to gauge from your participant whether or not they would like you to proceed in divining their pin code. I think that in all honesty the key here is asking them if they are comfortable with it. It is simple: if they are not, they will say they are not; if they seem unsure (which should be easy to gauge from their body language), there are ways to deal with things in such a way that you can guess the number safely and gain trust simultaneously from your audience. I feel whenever you climb inside someone’s mind and start revealing information you are touching upon things that are delicate. There are a few things I want to outline to make this type of effect safe. This is for the people that don’t already know (which I am sure a lot will), but I would rather be safe than sorry. In any close-up scenario, I would always advise deducing a phone unlock pin as it can be changed on the spot to either a new code they are happy for you to guess, or if they are happy for you to guess the existing code, they can change the code immediately after the performance. 8

Peter Turner This type of effect is about reminding the participant to be safe, that these sorts of codes can be guessed if the circumstances are right and not to leave things like banking, PayPal and email apps open on their phone. This means there is something positive that has come of you divining the code. I try to avoid banking pin codes, as they are psychologically more dangerous. If I am ever going to want to seemingly divine someone’s bank pin, I will always say: Performer: “Ok, to protect your privacy and anonymity let’s generate a four-digit number at random. This could potentially be a bank pin as it is four random digits. I will refer to this number as your pin code. I need you to imagine this number really being your actual pin code.” If you go back to The Devil in Disguise there is a routine called “Credit Card #1.” This routine uses four digits off of their bank card that you use as a substitute as their pin code. That is often how I would get to a four-digit number or “The life equation” from Jinxed/Bigger Fish 2. Each of these numbers holds no actual relevance, but there is a beautiful thing that happens when rubberneckers or eavesdroppers drop in mid-routine. If anyone joins the routine mid-effect they will hear you saying such things as “concentrate on your pin code” and 9

When in Rome see you divining it; to them they witness a miracle as they missed the first half of what was said. This is a subtle dual reality but the story they will tell; they will exaggerate and, of course, it will give you legendary status. If you are divining a pin for a phone, there are a few things I would consider. Firstly, a lot of the time when performing this routine it will be for groups or the participant’s friends (in close-up) as they tend to congregate together. This is a more open and relaxed scenario, but still be cautious. When divining the first two digits, lift the phone so that only the participant can see what you are typing. Address the group watching: Performer: “Keep your eyes on (participant’s) face. Their reaction should tell you whether I have gotten the numbers right or wrong.” Two things happen here: one, the code is kept private from the group and you can be open with the last two digits, and two, the audience still has something to watch and react to. I have found with this approach, that because the participant has to react for the first two digits to show everyone that you were, in fact, correct, the reaction is normally louder and more exaggerated than it usually would be as that is what they think you expect them to do.

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Peter Turner I would advise you not to shy away from these types of effects. They are great to have in your arsenal. Just be creative with the ways that you apply them. Always be safe. That leads us to the first section of the book. Here you will have a few ideas relating to pin codes with which I have had no end of fun. Each of these has been something I have used for a long time, and I hope you get as much mileage out of them as I have.

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II Your intuition

This effect is something I consider to be one of the cleanest pin revelations. One thing I really love about this divination is that it is not you doing the divining but the participant, and therefore it instantly adds an air of credibility to what it is that you do. First, let me tell you the story of how this came about (briefly I promise), and then we can get into the routine. When Michael Murray first performed his incredible “Springboard” on me, my mind was reeling with ideas. It 15

When in Rome was one of the most versatile principles I had ever come across, but there was only one issue for me (which I am sure others will love): the playing cards. I loved the process so much but felt that it was slightly redundant when using playing cards, as the possibilities were endless. I decided the best place to apply the principle would be to do it for a pin revelation. I had been toying with a forcing idea of Annemann’s at the time from 101 Methods of Forcing, which enabled me to force a four-digit number every single time (I won’t outline the force here). From this I was able to use “Springboard” to get to a participant’s pin code. The problem was (I am also honest about my own work) that unless the participant was particularly astute and had a good memory, it was a difficult process for them as there was a lot to remember. I am sure you can imagine how difficult this made performing this if I didn’t have the full attention of the participant and or the participant had been drinking or was tired. At Blackpool 2013 I was sitting in the “Winter Gardens,” and Fraser Parker approached me to show me where he had taken the idea. He had gotten the participant to arrive at the number “9” using a mechanical force, and instead of complicating the process and “spring boarding” four different digits, he applied a “Springboard” from the preceding digit to guess the

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Peter Turner participant’s pin code. This had stopped any confusion and made it easy for any participant. It was incredible. I was thinking about that particular approach and there were only a couple of things I didn’t like (some of which was true for my original variation, also). The force of the number “9” was too long and the process seemingly (for me Fraser pulled it off really well) mathematical. Then the second thing was the participant using “Springboard” to tell me about their pin code. Psychologically, again I think it sent alarm bells ringing and made the process more deduction based and also obvious that all I needed was the first digit (if the participant was to backtrack). So I refined it again and here is what I developed. I hope you love it.

Effect The performer, any place, any time, sits with a participant and proposes that the participant attempts to guess his pin code. The participant is asked to simply think of what they believe the first digit is (they never say it out loud), and then the second, third and fourth. The performer writes down his pin code on a business card and slides it in front of the participant. He then for the first time asks the participant what they believe the pin to be.

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When in Rome Let’s say the participant says 6934. The performer asks the participant to turn around the business card and, sure enough, the numbers are 6934.

Breakdown This is a routine that is incredibly simple and employs the use of a well-known principle in mentalism, a less known but incredibly brilliant principle and a verbal reversal technique. The first technique is the old psychological “force of the number 7.” (Don’t skip this routine yet thinking you now know the routine; trust me, you will miss out on something amazing.) The second technique is Michael Murray’s “Springboard.” The third technique is my “On Its Head Principle.” Let’s break these down, piece by piece, and then connect them all.

The psychological force of 7 I first saw this in Psychological Subtleties by Banachek. The force was around long before this, but I thought this would be an amazing book to reference and credit as even the

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Peter Turner simpler ideas in that book can serve an amazing purpose in an impromptu situation. Here I will outline how I would force the number 7 as though it was just the force, and then later explain how it fits into this routine. Here is a simple script to follow that should allow you to force the number seven: Performer: “I want you to think of a number from one to ten, but don’t go for 3 as it seems everyone does.” That’s it. As simple as it sounds, that effectively forces the number 7. Note: I have found if you ask the participant to say out loud the number instead of thinking it, the hit rating is much higher, but in this routine you don’t want the participant saying anything out loud, as the process is transparent. An alternative I would suggest (this is not mandatory) is to give them a pen and paper and say: Performer: “I want you to quickly write down a number from one to ten, but don’t go for 3 as it seems everyone does.” This will have the same effect that saying it out loud does. It also makes the participant’s job a lot easier, and at the end you can both turn around your pieces of card for confirmation. 19

When in Rome The reason this hits more often is simple psychology: when you ask a participant to think of a number from one to ten the chances are it will be 7, but because the participant has never said the number out loud, they have never committed to it in tangible form and it gives them the opportunity to change their mind a few times (they can do this even when they are trying not to be a pain). Conversely, asking them to say it out loud or to write it down means that they are committing to their natural instinct and don’t have a chance to change their mind. If you really wanted to not use the paper (which I don’t), you can redirect them back to their original thought. Performer: “Be honest with me, did you change your mind?” If they say yes: Performer: “Remember, this is all about trusting your instinct. Go back to your initial thought.” This, again, just redirects them back to their first thought.

Springboard Without being rude, I am not going to outline “Springboard” here because I feel it is easier to explain in the context of the performance. I also feel it’s easier to explain in the performance section.

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Peter Turner

On its head For the purpose of a fuller explanation, here I will outline the “On Its Head Principle” in its simplest form and then proceed to explain a couple more potential uses for the principle. Imagine you are going to force a playing card using a psychological force (usually the Ace of Spades or the Queen of Hearts). Address the participant before the force, saying: Performer: “I am thinking of a playing card and I want you to try to guess what it is. Coincidentally, I think this happens to be your favourite playing card. I want you to guess what card I am thinking of, and to tell me when you have a playing card in mind.” Participant: “Yes.” Performer: “Let me remove the playing card I am thinking of from the deck.” Run through and pick out the Queen of Hearts and place it face down onto the table. Performer: “What is the card I am thinking of?” Participant: “The Queen of Hearts.”

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When in Rome The card is turned over it is the Queen of Hearts. This is the way it was originally portrayed in The Portugal Notes. This is fairly bold as the card could miss, but it is easily washed away by saying: Performer: “As you can see by simply guessing, the chances of you getting the card right are next to none. Now that you know what my favourite card is, let’s mix up the deck and do this again using your feelings.” (I noted an out here just to show how a simple miss can be handled in a situation like this. From this point move into an “Equivoque” and have them successfully use their feelings to find the card.) I then took the technique further and realised it has many uses. Using it to its full potential, there is no chance of a miss (a slight exaggeration, but if there is a miss, it’s usually a performance fault). One idea I toyed with was the use as a justification to handle a billet after a participant had written down a thought. Performer: “I know recently you have been questioning your decision-making ability. I want to prove to you that if you follow your instincts, your own intuition is often all you need to make decisions. Right now I am thinking of a name. It’s a name that holds some relevance in my life. You have never met this person and haven’t heard me speak 22

Peter Turner about this person, but if you could tune into my feelings, I am sure you can pick up on this. “I want you to relax and trust yourself. Don’t just try to guess what this is, try to feel what this is. I am not going to write down this name as I don’t want you hearing the sound of the pen or letting the way my arm moves to write specific letters influence you in anyway. “I want you to write down what you believe the name is.” A pen and a billet are handed to the participant, and the participant writes down the name and the billet is folded. There should be no heat on the billet now because it’s the participant guessing the name you are thinking of and not the other way around. That means if you take the billet, you say: Performer: “You think you have written the name I am thinking of inside here?” This is where you take your peek. Performer: “In fact, before we open this, it’s best you ensure there is no way this can be seen through. You check that it is completely opaque and I will write down what I am thinking of, as I don’t want people thinking I am just agreeing with you.”

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When in Rome Hand the billet back to them and gesture that they should hold it up. Write down the name you peeked onto a billet and place it face down. Performer: “Before we commit to seeing if you got the name right, do you think this person has dark hair or light? (They answer.) Follow your instincts: is this person an introvert or outgoing? (They answer.) And finally, what do you feel this person’s star sign is? (They answer.) “You may think you were just guessing at those details. I could spend all day telling you that you are correct, but then again I would say that. There is only really one way I can prove that you got everything right.” Slide your billet in front of them. Performer: “Before you turn that over—it is in front of you and isn’t going anywhere—who did you believe I was thinking of?” They state the name and turn over the billet. It matches, but more beautifully, it confirms the star sign, the hair colour and characteristics! Obviously this takes advantage of my “Confirmation Principle” as well, but you can see by flipping it on its head, it opens up a basis for more hits and a nicer presentation.

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Peter Turner I also squeezed in this line: “I know recently you have been questioning your decision-making ability. I want to prove to you that if you follow your instincts, your own intuition is often all you need to make decisions.” This sort of thing gives the participant an air of confidence and therefore has a therapeutic effect, also killing two birds with one stone. If you don’t like “spectator as the mind reader” routines, hopefully this one can convince you to try it out and you may just change your thinking (Who knows?). Now that you have the necessary steps to making this routine work, let’s piece it all together with the full performance script and “Springboard.”

Full performance (We will imagine you are acquainted and have performed a few things on the group.) “I know recently you have been questioning your decision-making ability. I want to prove to you that if you follow your instincts, your own intuition is often all you need to make decisions. I know earlier you were wondering if it was possible for me to guess a pin code. The honest answer is, ‘Yes, I can,’ but it wouldn’t be that impressive as that is what I do. Whereas if you could guess my pin code, we could kill two birds with one stone.

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When in Rome “Firstly, it would prove it is definitely possible to deduce someone’s pin code. “Secondly and more importantly, it will really show you just how strong your own decision-making ability is. “The only clue I will give you is that the first digit is not a three. Think of a number from one to ten. Got it?” Participant: “Yes.” Performer: “Be honest, did you change your mind?” Participant: “I did.” Performer: “This is about trusting your own intuition, not questioning it. Go back to the first number of which you were thinking. Just so everyone is clear, I am not going to write down my pin, as I don’t want you to be influenced by the sound of the pen or the way my arm is moving. “For the first digit you trusted your own intuition. There is a good chance that, the number you are thinking of is, in fact, the first digit of my pin code.” This is where we will employ “Springboard.” Performer: “Now that you know the first digit, using your intuition, do you think the second digit is higher or is it lower?” Participant: “Higher.” 26

Peter Turner Performer: “By how many?” Participant: “Two.” Performer: “Now you believe you know the first and the second digits, right?” Participant: “Yeah.” (Just quickly cutting in, assuming the participant has gone for the number 7, we now also know the first two digits! I know what you are thinking: what if they haven’t? We will cover this later.) Performer: “Knowing the first and the second digits, do you think the third digit is higher or lower than the second?” Participant: “Lower by 5.” Performer: “Perfect, now that you know the first, second and third digits, let’s do this one more time. Do you think the last digit is higher or lower than the third?” Participant: “Higher by one.” Based on the participant’s decisions, we now know that the participant believes (if they have chosen the 7) that my pin code is 7956. Performer: “Now that you have what you believe is my pin code, I am going to now write it down. If I was to just 27

When in Rome say it out loud, people might just think you are agreeing with me for fear of getting it wrong. In all honesty, it doesn’t matter if you get it wrong—as long as you were close you did perfectly.” Write down whatever the participant believes the pin to be, in this case 7956. Slide the business card in front of the participant and ask them to say what they believe the pin is out loud. If it matches (which it should), incredible; if not there is no worry as the message at the end is ultimately what I find important.

The outs A lot of the time in this routine, there is no need to employ the out because the participant will often give away what the first digit is without realising it. For example, if the participant thinks of the first digit and then says the second is 3 higher, then I would bet they have gone for 6, as starting with 7 and going three higher is going to be too high (in the context of a pin). Similarly, the participant can’t have gone for an 8. It can also go the other way and be too low to be a 7. You can employ clever questions, too. Let me give you an example.

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Peter Turner The participant is now thinking of the first digit; they say the second is 5 lower and the third is 1 lower. In this context it could be 7 (if it hit), 2 and 0. Before you write anything, say: Performer: “Be honest, do you believe there is a zero in my pin?” If they say No, you now know it has to be higher than a 7, so it could be 8 or 9 (I have never had anyone choose a 9). I would then write down 8, 3 and 1 (I then would apply the “off by one” outlined later). Remember, there is no harm in asking any question as they are deducing yours. Instead of answering, give them a slight smile as if to say “I cannot confirm or deny your assumption.” If you can fish for one of the indefinite digits, then you will always know. If you are a little uncomfortable with a verbal out, here is a mechanical out. I have thought long and hard and wondered just how I could end this routine in as strong a sense as the hit (using a mechanical out), and in all honesty, there is never going to be a stronger ending. Every single time I have ever performed this routine I have never had somebody go for anything other than 6, 7 or 8.

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When in Rome This means that the “Off by One Principle” fits perfectly as an out. The problem I found (which I don’t think most people will have a problem employing) is that if you apply the “Off by One Principle,” you are taking the hit away from the participant. Look at it logically: they were all off by one and you knew it. It’s almost (in my opinion) like laughing in their face and saying, “Your decision-making ability is s**t, mine is far superior.” I then realised that if I softened the blow with a message then it no longer becomes a problem. If you are going to hand them a card on which to write their choice, I would recommend handing them a card with the following message printed on the back. Don’t point it out, as you will (if needed) draw their attention to it later. “True perfection has to be imperfect. “In life when you trust your own intuition, you will always get so close to anything you aim for. You should always use your intuition whether it be when making a simple decision or within an intricate social situation. “You will have truly used your intuition to its maximum capacity today if each decision you make is just one step away from where it needs to be.” 30

Peter Turner (Or if you prefer you can just write “off by one.”) If the digits are, in fact, off by one, then no problem, you have credited them for doing exactly what they needed to do. I would point out verbally that each one was off by one and then say this: Performer: “The aim of this entire thing was to have you see what has been staring you in the face this entire time. Often the greatest things in life are right under our own noses and we just don’t see them.” Gesture for them to turn over the card. After they have finished reading the card, address the participant: Performer: “I think you now know your decision making is exactly where it needs to be. If you take anything away from this it’s the ability to view things from a fresh perspective and above all else to trust yourself.” Note: As I pointed out I don’t hand them the card to write down their pin. If you choose to follow the way I perform the routine, in which I just write something down, I simply have the printed message on my card and slide it toward the participant with the writing upside down.

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When in Rome This way, because it is a block of text and upside down, they won’t think about reading it. If you notice they are, just tell them to place their hand on top of it so it cannot be touched by anyone else at any point.

Additional idea This is just a quick point about this type of routine. “Spectator as the mind reader” routines are like marmite: some people really love them and some people really hate them. I am obviously in the camp of loving them…too much! Even if you are not a fan of this plot, you don’t need to frame these types of routines as spectator as the mind reader. You can quite easily turn these types of routine into influence routines, where you psychologically (or psychically) implant the thoughts. Then you are still achieving the same result, yet they are not reading your mind. You are simply controlling their thoughts.

Mark Chandaue additional idea Note from Pete: Before you get to read Mark’s amazing variation of this effect, let me tell you about Mark. He is one clever guy!

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Peter Turner I constantly run my ideas past him and Michael Murray now. The two of them are happy to pull apart my ideas as they understand the feel I am going for. They always offer good alternatives and criticisms that ultimately make my work better, and if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t know what to do. Even though I haven’t known Mark a long time, I instantly felt a connection with him—he is genuinely one of the good guys. I know you will love his take on this. When his book comes out, get it; you will regret it if not! My first experience of this effect was when I was driving up to Bradford to hang out with Pete for a few days. Pete called me on my mobile to ask how far out I was. I told him I was about half way and had just stopped for a coffee. He said, “Here's something to think about while you drink your coffee.” He then performed “Your Intuition” on me over the phone. Not for the first time in my life I was blown away by Pete's genius. This is probably the best use of a psychological force I've personally come across. Pete explained the out to me and it's a real thing of beauty. However, I perform mostly impromptu and so can't be set up for the out all the time, so I wanted to find a way to eliminate the out so that all I needed was something on which to write. My first thought was to push them towards the psychological force of 7 by limiting them to an odd 33

When in Rome number. I considered changing the script to: “The first number is an odd number and it's not a 3.” However this still left them with too many options—1, 5, 7 and 9—and if anything, this was worse than Pete's because it still needed several outs and now they were two apart instead of one. I changed the script to: “The first digit is an odd number above 3.” This limited them to 5, 7 and 9, but this still wasn't good enough; I still needed outs and the options were two apart instead of one, and so this was still inferior to Pete's original version. I needed to limit them further and so I achieved this by giving them a clue on the second number like this: “The second number is higher than the first.” This limits them to 5 or 7 on the first number, because if they guess 9 on the first number, when you say the second number is higher they can't go higher, and so they know the first number is wrong and adjust it to 7 or 5…most of the time. Unfortunately I found that sometimes people think of 0 as 10 instead of zero. I tried to get around this in the scripting by talking about pins being a combination of four digits ranging from zero all the way up to nine, but some people still treated 0 as 10 after picking 9 as the first digit. After some thought I realised that eliminating the zero would not only stop this from happening, but it would also help me to determine whether they started with a 5 or a 7. The astute amongst you will have realised that with a possible choice of 5 and 7 for the first digit we are still going to need 34

Peter Turner an out. Eliminating the 0 reduces the number of times we need an out. With the new script, over 90% of the time I know which number they started with by the fourth digit. I will go through my final script and the way I perform it now, which uses a nail writer, and then I will discuss the non-nail writer version. Even if you don't use a nail writer, read the whole thing because much of the explanation is included in that version. I have only included the important parts of my script to allow you to use your own wording for the rest. I begin with a business card in hand on which I have already nail written the number 5. I do not outright state that this has my pin on it, but I imply it by lifting the card slightly when I ask if they believe it is possible to guess someone’s pin. The important part of the script begins, “As you have never done anything like this before, I will give you a couple of clues: there are no zeros in my pin and the first digit is an odd number above three.” This limits them to 5, 7 or 9. Once they have indicated they have a number in mind, I follow with: “The only clue I will give you on the second digit is that it is higher than the first digit. How many higher do you think it is?” This kills the 9 and gives you the first chance to discover the first number; if they answer more than 2 here, they must have started with a 5, because there are no zeros that could be considered 10. Whatever 35

When in Rome their response, I add that number to 5 and nail write the result next to the 5. “I'm not going to give you any more clues. Do you think this digit is higher or lower than the second?” Once they respond, follow up with: “By how many?” I add or subtract their answer from the second digit and nail write it next to the second. This is your second chance to tell whether they started with a 5 or a 7—if the result is higher than 7, then the first digit must be 5. If the subtracted result is either 0 or -1, then they must have started with a 7. If at any point the number indicates they must have started with a 7, I will casually pocket the card and keep track of the pin in my head; e.g. 7 + 2 - 7. The fourth digit is handled just like the third. “Do you think this digit is higher or lower than the third?” Once they respond, follow up with: “By how many?” Again I add or subtract their answer from the third digit and nail write it next to the second, unless the third digit already indicated the first digit is a 7 and so the card is out of play. This is your last chance to tell whether they started with a 5 or a 7. If the result is higher than 7, then the first digit must be 5, and a 0 or -1 here indicates the first digit is 7. If this last digit is where I discover that they must have started with a 7, then I leave the card in play. We now are in one of three positions.

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Peter Turner We know they started with a 7: in this situation I calculate the pin (e.g. 7+2-7+1 = 7923) and say, “Be honest, do you think my pin is 7923?” As I say this I will casually pocket the card if it is still in play. We know they started with a 5 and we have the pin written on the card: in this situation I hand them the card and say, “Before you look at my pin, what do you think it is?” We don't know whether they started with a 5 or a 7, but we have the 5 version written on the card. This does not happen that often because with the 0 removed as an option, there are only a small number of combinations that work with both 5 and 7 as a first digit. In this situation I test on the last digit of the 7 version. Let's say we have 5647 on the card. I will say, “Did you get the 9 for that last digit?” If they say Yes, I will follow up with: “Be honest, do you think my pin is 7869?” As I say this I will casually pocket the card. If they say No, then I say, “Never mind, you've never done anything like this and the odds of getting a one in 10,000 number with the only clue being the first number isn't 3 are nearly impossible.” Note the subtle reframing here—also known as complete bollocks. Because we eliminated the zeros, the odds are less than one in 10,000 and the clue was a little more specific than “it's not a 3,” but they will never question that statement. I now hand them the card and say, “Before you look at how close you got, what do you think my pin is?” When they turn 37

When in Rome over the card and see that the number matches, they will think you were just messing with them, making them think they had got it wrong, however they will remember that the odds were 1 in 10,000 and the only clue they had was the first number wasn’t a 3. The non-nail writer version is identical save that you simply track their choices; e.g., 2 higher than 4 lower than 1 higher. By the end you will either know what number they started with and can reveal it with: “Be honest, do you think my pin is xxxx?" or you will be in the position that it could start with a 5 or a 7. In this case simply write the 5 version on a business card and then test on the last digit of the 7 version and proceed exactly as described when the number was nail written. Some final thoughts and tips: Never draw any attention to the business card beyond the moment when you say, "Do you think it would be possible to guess my pin?" Here the emphasis should be on the pin, not the card. If you pocket the card don't make a big deal out of it; in this situation you want the implication to be that you only needed the card as proof if they were wrong. When they start with a 5, always put the business card in their hand before they reveal the number. Personally, if I'm doing this one on one, I don't have them reveal the number. I just hand them the card and say, “Have a look at my pin and see how close you were.” 38

Peter Turner I prefer the nail writing version. I have found that even when you pocket the card and never show it to them, they remember the card was in play before the start. Also when they start with 5, you have a miracle that is impossible to backtrack. I originally did the non-nail writer version and I wrote the 5 version on the card as an out because 7 is the psychological force. However I have found that with this particular script, 5 seems to be picked most of the time— in my experience over 90% of the time. This is great because often I know this by the second or third digit. If they go more than 2 higher on the second digit, the first is a 5; likewise on the third digit if they go higher again they picked a 5. When they pick 5 as the first digit, you have been holding a card from the very start and you hand them the card before they reveal their guess. Finally, if you are worried about pocketing the card unseen when they pick the 7 version, simply have a blank card in that pocket so that you can either pocket or nail write the 7 version if they ask to see the card (nobody has ever asked me). Oh, really finally this time, a massive thanks to Pete Turner for the original effect and Michael Murray for the principle at its heart. This is now my favourite impromptu effect and is also my answer to “What am I thinking?” When asked that question I respond with, “It doesn't quite work like that; it's a co-operative process. Rather than me guessing 39

When in Rome what you are thinking, maybe I can show you how you can access the thoughts someone is willing to share with you. Do you think it would be possible to guess my pin?” I hope you get as much fun out of this routine as I have had with it.

Paul Shirley additional idea Note from Pete: Paul Shirley is an incredible thinker and performer. I first met Paul over Skype and we instantly clicked. The thing I love the most about Paul is his sense of humour; he has an addictive laugh and he really brings out the comedic side in anyone. I then had the pleasure of meeting Paul in London—what a weekend! I got a message saying, “Pete, I am in London. Are you coming down?” I am not going to go into the stories of half of the things that occurred that weekend. All I will say is it involved a restaurant owner trying to get me drunk to have his wicked way, a French man fighting someone over a cigarette, and a dead body….

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Peter Turner OK, not a real dead body, but you may get kicks out of this.

Whenever I leave a hotel, I always shape the sheets for the cleaner to find. I hope you love Paul’s thoughts. Let me start with my thoughts on this effect. I think it is great, and the reason it is great is that it is the participant that does all of the work for you. The one thing with this routine is that it is very systematic. I am going to offer here my thoughts on how to break the feeling of it being systematic using a simple presentational tip.

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When in Rome When you look at the first digit, it is because it is deduced differently from the rest of the digits that the process at this point seems natural. When you get to the second digit, however, I think asking straight out of the gate whether it is higher or lower can be a little mathematical. This is easily remedied. Simply use this script. Performer: “You instinctively chose what you believed the first digit to be. I want you to imagine seeing this digit right here in the air.” This is where you will pretend to be holding the digit in the air. Performer: “I am going to move my hand above and below where you are imagining seeing that digit. “I want you to wait till you get a feeling that just tells you to stop, and whenever you get that feeling just say, ‘Stop.’ If my hand is above the imagined first digit, it will tell you the second digit must be higher, and obviously if it is below the imagined number, it tells you the second digit is lower. “It is essential you follow your feelings.” Wait till the participant says Stop.

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Peter Turner Performer: “Now you know it is higher. (If they said stop on ‘lower’ you would say lower.) Using the same feeling that you just had, close your eyes and feel how much higher.” They answer. Performer: “Now that you have your creative juices flowing and you feel you know what the first and second digits are, do you think the next digit is higher or lower and by how many?” This stops this part of the process from being two steps; instead of the participant deciding on the next digit being higher or lower and then having to answer by how many, it makes the answer one answer. After they have answered, the last bit is even smoother. Performer: “Now that you know the third digit, what about the last one?” This should now prompt the participant to answer higher or lower and by how many without having to ask them. They should say this out loud without thinking because they are accustomed to the process. This means that each process is seemingly different and isn’t as systematic. It will make the process flow to the point that by the time the participant realises what has happened, they know the pin code and so do you. 43

When in Rome This is really simple, but it makes a massive difference to the overall effect not only to the presentation, but it makes the participant believe they are really picking up on information. In essence the routine becomes more credible.

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Credits Michael Murray – Springboard principle (“Springboard” 2013 + Piece of my Mind 2014) Banachek – Psychological force (Psychological Subtleties) Art Vanderlay – Serial divination (Unreleased) Mark Chadaue – his take on “Your intuition” (Unreleased)

Fraser Parker – First digit force (Utsukushii) Paul Shirley – Feeling it (Unreleased)

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Your Notes/Ideas

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III Simply overlooked

This is an incredibly effective phone code divination that is so simple you will wonder why you had not thought of it. Don’t overlook the simple nature of this effect; before dismissing it go out and try it. I promise it gets incredible reactions.

Effect Whilst sitting with a group the performer asks if anyone has a mobile telephone with a lock on it. One of the people in the group removes their phone and is asked by the 51

When in Rome participant to show someone they trust at the table the lock for the phone. Whilst this is taking place the performer makes a conscious effort to look away, so as not to get any visual clues. Once the participant has completed showing someone else, the phone is locked and checked to be locked. Two people at the table are now aware of the lock on the phone, and the performer asks them both to think of one digit in that series of digits. He looks at the participants, proclaiming, “I think coincidentally you are both now thinking of the same number. The reason I use the word now is because you (the performer points to the first participant) changed your mind. You thought of one digit and changed to another. As I have been speaking, you (the performer points to the second participant) have been contemplating changing your mind. “Without giving away what the number is, are you both thinking of…is it the digit in the third position on which you are now focusing?” They both freak out, proclaiming it is. The performer takes the phone. He then turns to the second participant and asks off the cuff, “Coincidentally, is the third digit your favourite number?” She freaks out again, proclaiming it to be true. 52

Peter Turner “Ok, you (points to participant 1) focus on the first digit.” The performer punches it into the phone; he looks at participant two, punching in the second and the third digits. He asks both of the participants to concentrate on the last number. After a few seconds he punches in the last number, unlocking the phone! The performer has successfully managed to unlock a participant’s borrowed phone.

Breakdown Any place, any time. I knew I was on to a winner when I first showed this effect to Michael Murray (when I first developed it). The reason I knew this was going to play so strongly was the swear words that came from Michael when I successfully divined the pin to his phone. Presentation is what counts with this effect. There are a few things going on I would like to point out before going into the method of actually getting the pin code, as in all honesty that is the easiest part of this routine. So let’s take a look in steps at what makes this routine work and then break down each of the steps. Making

the

effect

more

than

just

a

pin

code

(psychologically) The “Matrix moment” 53

When in Rome The justification The peek Presentational acrobatics The reveal Wrap up As you can see, there are seven steps to making this routine work. This routine is an incredibly simple routine, but piece it together correctly and you have an on-the-fly miracle that you can perform anywhere.

Making the effect more This is something that can be applied to any pin divination. I believe it makes the effect much more memorable and also seemingly more impossible. The way I do this is with a very simple script that makes the pin code more relevant. Let’s assume we have asked a participant if they have a phone with a lock on it. Performer: “On your phone, do you have a Facebook app?” Participant: “Yes.” Performer: “Do you ever email from your phone?” 54

Peter Turner Participant: “I do.” Performer: “How about money transfers and online banking?” Participant: “Both.” Performer: “That’s the amazing thing with technology: it helps to simplify the way we go about our daily business. At the touch of a button we can access private messages, contacts, banking information and private emails. “When you think about it, it’s a bit daunting to think that there are only four digits protecting what essentially is our entire livelihood. Imagine if someone could crack those four digits; it would show you just how fragile the security system is on our lives.” Take a look at the script. You can see how I have taken something that is considered a luxury and reminded people just how dangerous it could be if it got into the wrong hands. The effect is no longer about guessing the pin to the phone; it is about compromising someone’s livelihood. The pin code to the phone is merely a bridge to do that. As you can see by pointing out little details, you realise that the premise of the routine grows and it adopts a natural presentation.

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The Matrix moment This is nothing more than a beautiful theatrical moment that I thought I would add. A lot of the time people are uncomfortable revealing information as sensitive as a pin code as it can be considered intrusive. This little principle addresses that situation head on. I remember when I was younger reading Banachek’s work and seeing a line that has really stayed with me all of these years. He said if something is seemingly a problem in a routine, paint it red (or words to that effect; it has been a while since I read it). That’s what I decided I would do in this scenario. I have mentioned in other sources that I draw lots of influence from children’s books; there is also a vast number of other sources from which I draw information, one being films. I don’t often get a large amount of time to watch television or films these days, but when I see a movie that I think is going to be worth the watch, I put it on in the background when I am writing. For the readers, Training Day is on in the background now. The theatrical moment I am about to share with you was inspired by and practically lifted from (as I am sure you will understand if you have seen the film) The Matrix.

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Peter Turner One of my favourite scenes in the film is where Morpheus offers Neo a red or a blue pill. Here is a quote from the film that outlines this particular scene: “This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill…the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill…you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember, all I'm offering is the truth—nothing more.” I think it is wonderful and this sort of thing fits so perfectly with what we do. I loved this line so much it inspired me to ask a similar question at the start of a pin divination routine. It is a lot simpler in nature and protects the participant’s privacy should they not want you to guess their pin code (killing two birds with one stone). After you have applied the script that makes the effect seem psychologically bigger, segue verbally into this: Performer: “With that in mind I am going to offer you two choices. The first choice is you tell me you are not happy with me guessing your phone code in front of other people—and that is totally fine—and we will take this no further. Or you let me try to read you to ascertain the code on the phone, and in doing that, you allow me to open up a Pandora’s Box of information. 57

When in Rome “The choice is yours.” Respect the participant’s choice. If they don’t want to go any further that is great as you have completed the effect without ever having to do anything, and it suggests when the participant says No that they believe you could guess the code. I have found in any scenario where someone has said No (which is very infrequent) that someone else at the table steps in with their phone to guess theirs. So if you were adamant on showcasing your ability, there is usually someone there that will want you to do it. If the participant says they want you to try to guess it, proceed.

The justification This is where you will set up the method. Performer: “I want you to open up your phone for me and to scroll across to your calculator. I will explain why in a moment.” This is very important: watch the participant looking for the calculator. If they access it using a shortcut or any other method, avoid moving into the next phase (I have never seen this happen). When the participant gets to the calculator, address them: Performer: “I want you to nominate one of your friends to help out.”

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Peter Turner (There doesn’t have to be anyone else there. I will outline a one-on-one justification but I find it nicer if there are multiple people.) Performer: “I am about to turn away, and when I turn away I want you to type in your phone lock, the phone’s code, into the calculator. This means you don’t have to say it out loud or to hold up a number of fingers to let (the friend’s name) know exactly what the code is. “Keep the code on the screen as I am going to give you another instruction.” Briefly turn away. Performer: “Give me a clear Yes when you have typed it in.” Participant: “Yes.” Turn back around and look at the participant and her friend that she nominated. Performer: “You both now know what the code is. The reason I looked away is I didn’t want you thinking I had somehow seen the way you typed it in. I want you both to quickly look at that number and think of a digit in that series of digits.” They both say they have.

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When in Rome Performer: “Just press the lock on the top of the phone, wipe the phone’s screen on your top so there isn’t any indication via fingerprints of what buttons were pressed and then hand the phone to someone else at this table that doesn’t know the code.” The phone is locked and then it is handed to someone else. Performer: “I want you to go to the unlock screen on the phone and just to type in a random code.” (This serves two purposes: one, it shows that the code can’t just be guessed, and two, when the person types in a code and it doesn’t open, it suggests that the phone is really locked to a water-tight degree.) Performer: “Now that you have seen the phone is well and truly locked, I would like you to try to read (participant’s name) to get the code to unlock the phone.” The person with the phone attempts to unlock it and fails again. Performer: “To be able to create a connection with someone can take a lifetime. You know (participant’s name) a lot better than I will ever know her, and you can see how difficult reading her is. I think it is safe to say I will be trying to do this under test conditions. Are we all happy the phone is well and truly locked and the only way I am going to be able to open it is if I read (participant)?” 60

Peter Turner The group at this point is forced to agree. We have nonchalantly pointed out and killed several methods here. Fingerprints on the screen are very much a viable method, as is watching someone’s fingers when they type, and so is guessing (to a degree). The reason for handing over the phone to someone else first is to subtly suggest the phone is locked tight and there is no way to get in there. It also shows that the lock is working. When I first started performing this routine some time ago, I had a couple of people say, “Maybe the phone lock hadn’t activated, as I am sure there is a minute delay before it goes on.” I found the solution in handing over the phone to a friend of the participant and simultaneously (accidentally, of course) added to the presentation and created a beautiful justification for handling the phone to get the peek. The problem I found when I first started performing this routine was that I took the phone directly from the participant (so I could get the peek) and then handed it back to them. This is often a similar problem for a billet routine. If you look at a lot of the better billet peeks, the only piece that is illogical (but flies just fine) is when the performer takes the billet back, gets the peek (using whatever justification) and hands it back to the participant. I didn’t want that.

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When in Rome Handing it to a third person and having that person follow specific instructions gets everyone accustomed to each part of this process, so when you ask for the phone to be handed to you, there is no heat on it whatsoever. The reason there is no heat on the phone is because the phone has already been handed out and it has been demonstrated that it can’t be unlocked. Now that you have psychologically solidified this fact, move on to the peek.

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The peek This is by far the easiest part of the routine. Before I talk about the handling of the peek, let’s take a look at how it works.

You will notice I have purposely chosen a light-coloured image from Google so you can see the buttons clearly. If you take a look at the photo it says “slide to unlock.” If you were to slide the screen to the right, then you would go to the code screen and there is no way you could access the phone. 63

When in Rome However there is a little something extra on the screen I bet most people who have an iPhone will have forgotten about or not noticed. Look at the bottom of the screen. There is a little arrow that points up (or a little tab, depending on the phone). If you slide this up, the following screen will appear.

Look at the bottom series of buttons, and you will see the calculator!

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Peter Turner The calculator can be accessed even when the phone is locked. If you were to tap the calculator button now, the code they typed into it will be there for you to view openly. I liken this to an electronic billet peek (minus the billet). By pressing the Home button (the round one on the front) it will return you to the “slide to unlock” screen. There is also something beautiful that happens if you press the Home button (after seeing the calculator) and then proceed to unlock the phone: you will notice that the calculator doesn’t pop up…the menu does! This means that psychologically when the screen unlocks and it goes straight to the menu, it leaves no room for the participant to backtrack. This is because they don’t see the calculator and therefore will forget it was ever part of the process. If the calculator pops up, then it is the last thing the participant sees and therefore it is the last thing they remember. Let’s talk about the mechanics of the peek. The mechanics are incredibly easy; they just require good timing. I am going to break this down into steps. I was initially going to use photos, but it is so simple that it doesn’t need it.

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When in Rome First, after asking the third-party participant (the one trying to guess the code) to lock the phone, reach out with your dominant hand to take it back, and upon receiving it, while your arm is extended, press the Home button (the only button on the phone). Let the people sitting with you see the “slide to unlock” screen. As you bring in your arm toward your body (a big movement), slide up the arrow tab. Press the calculator key, and then casually place the phone into your non-dominant hand (keeping the phone toward yourself) whilst simultaneously saying, “Hold out your palm for me,” (to the owner of the phone) and extending your right hand. The calculator will be open now and the code will be on the screen. Keeping the screen toward yourself and NOT looking at the code yet (it is tempting, but don’t), take hold of the participant’s wrist (with your free dominant hand) and direct their extended palm a little closer to you. Now reach back with your dominant hand for the phone. This is where you take your peek; this is the crucial part of the peek timing-wise. As soon as you see the code, press the Home button again. This will change the screen to the lock screen again. And finally, place the phone palm up into the participant’s hand. When you do the final bit, the reason the timing is 66

Peter Turner so crucial is you need to press the Home button while moving towards the participant’s extended hand. You may be wondering what the reason is for moving the phone from the dominant hand to the non-dominant and then back to the dominant. The pretence is to take their outstretched palm, to move it closer, which you can’t do if you have a phone in that hand, and to place the phone face up into the outstretched palm. Just for fullness of the picture, let me explain what the participant is seeing while this takes place. They see the “slide to unlock” screen when you take back the phone, you ask them to hold out their palm, you place the phone face up in it and they still see the “slide to unlock” screen. You can see why this is so psychologically convincing. The move is not difficult to learn and is over in a matter of seconds, in the time it takes you to ask the participant to extend their hand and for you to place the phone in their palm.

Presentational acrobatics This is the most important part of the routine and will take the most amount of practice. This section of the routine is presentation based, so you can play with it to suit your liking. I am going to outline the way I tend to do this (remember, this can go differently based on the participant’s answers). 67

When in Rome The situation we are in thus far is that two participants know the code, as do you (unknown to everyone else watching), and the mobile phone is currently on the hand of the owner of the phone with the “slide to unlock” screen displayed. Don’t worry about pressing anything just yet. Look at the two participants and address them, saying: Performer: “I want you both to think of one digit in that series of digits for me.” Give them both a second to think and confirm, and then counter: Performer: “What’s interesting about the human mind is when a human is asked to think of a digit in a series of digits, the brain tends to flit as it is naturally indecisive; it will think of one and in most cases change to another for whatever reason.” You are looking for a reaction here; if both people react, both have changed their minds. A reaction may be a little smile or them trying to stay straight faced and in some scenarios them even freaking out. If one reacts and the other doesn’t, then chances are one of them changed; if none react, there is a possibility that neither of them did.

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Peter Turner Anyway, I always say this line: Performer: “Wouldn’t it be interesting if both of you right now were drawn to the same digit?” I have found most people tend to think of the second digit to begin with and then change to the third digit, the outside digits being psychologically less appealing (maybe because they seem too obvious). Anyhow, I wait till they say it would be interesting. If you find one of them reacted subtly, you can say: Performer: “I think with you, you thought of one and changed your mind, whereas you stuck with the first one you thought of. Be honest, is either of you thinking of the digit in the third position?” There is a good chance they both are; if not, most certainly one of them is, and on rare occasions neither of them will be. Either way it doesn’t matter, but the best-case scenario is that both are thinking of the same digit (it happens a lot). This is where in the effect description you will have noticed I point to one of the participants and ask if this digit is their favourite number. I have performed this and the third digit has been a seven, and it genuinely was their favourite digit so I have thrown this out and gotten a hit. I know what you are thinking: why put that in the effect description if you can’t do it 69

When in Rome every time? Well, you can using the old trusty “Confirmation Principle.” All you have to do is say to one of the participants: Performer: “I don’t want you to react or give anything away; even the smallest movement can lead me to the number. What I find slightly strange is that I think coincidentally the digit you are thinking of is your favourite number…. But what’s important is the number you are thinking of is…umm…a 6 (or whatever number falls in the third position).” When they react, it confirms to everyone else that this is their favourite number, but to the participant, by saying, “But what’s important is,” you are basically telling them to disregard what you just said if you were wrong. It’s tiny little scripted moments like this that make the biggest difference. The smallest changes in verbiage are what make this work. So what if neither are thinking of the third digit? Simple, look at each participant in turn and address one of your choosing. Performer: “Are you thinking of the first, second, third or fourth digit?”

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Peter Turner Never ask, “Of what digit are you thinking?” This will compel the participant to tell you the number they are thinking of instead of the position of the number. When the participant tells you the position of the digit, you know the information and reveal it. I am very playful in this section and jazz it up; you know the information and therefore you can get each participant to think of whatever sequence of numbers you like and reveal the information that way. I will outline one way to perform this, but because of the free and easy nature of this effect I urge you to try and change it up each time you perform it.

Full performance Let’s imagine that you had become acquainted with all the people sitting at the table. You will notice right up until the “Presentational acrobatics” that there are only subtle changes. Performer: “Is there anyone at this table that has a phone with a number lock on it?” Lauren: “I have.” Note: I asked for a number lock because this avoids a swipe, which should more or less eliminate Android

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When in Rome phones. If you see an Android, ask if anyone else at the table has a phone with a number lock on it. Wait till they bring out the phones and then “feel for the best participant,” obviously selecting the person with the iPhone, saying, “I think I will work with you for this.” Don’t make it about the phone, make it about the person. Performer: “Perfect. On your phone do you have a Facebook app?” Lauren: “Yes.” Performer: “Do you ever email from your phone?” Lauren: “I do.” Performer: “How about money transfers and online banking?” Lauren: “Both.” Performer: “That’s the amazing thing with technology: it helps to simplify the way we go about our daily business. At the touch of a button we can access private messages, contacts, banking information and private emails. “When you think about it, it’s a bit daunting to think that there are only four digits protecting what essentially is our entire livelihood. Imagine if someone could crack those four digits. It would show you just how fragile the security system is on our lives.” 72

Peter Turner Lauren: “It really is. I am nervous now.” Performer: “Don’t be nervous, just think about what I said. With what I said in mind, I am going to offer you two choices. The first choice is you tell me you are not happy with me guessing your phone code in front of other people—and that is totally fine—and we will take this no further. Or you let me try to read you to ascertain the code on the phone, and in doing that you allow me to open up a Pandora’s Box of information. “The choice is yours.” The participant thinks for a few seconds. Lauren: “I am happy to try this.” Performer: “I want you to open up your phone for me and to scroll across to your calculator—I will explain why in a moment.” The participant follows the instruction. Performer: “I want you to nominate one of your friends to help out.” Lauren chooses a friend, Ryan. Performer: “I am about to turn away, and when I turn away, I want you to type in your phone lock, the phone’s code, into the calculator. This means you don’t have to say

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When in Rome it out loud or to hold up a number of fingers to let Ryan know exactly what the code is. “Keep the code on the screen as I am going to give you another instruction.” Briefly turn away. Performer: “Give me a clear Yes when you have typed it in.” Lauren: “Yes.” Performer: “You both now know what the code is. The reason I looked away is I didn’t want you thinking I had somehow seen the way you typed it in. I want you both to quickly look at that number and to think of a digit in that series of digits.” They both say they have. Performer: “Just press the lock on the top of the phone, wipe the phone’s screen on your top so there isn’t any indication via fingerprints of what buttons were pressed and then hand the phone to someone else at this table that doesn’t know the code.” The phone is locked and then it is handed to someone else. Performer: “I want you to go to the unlock screen on the phone and just to type in a random code. Now that you have seen that the phone is well and truly locked, I would 74

Peter Turner like you to try to read Lauren to get the code to unlock the phone.” The person with the phone attempts to unlock it and fails again. Performer: “To be able to create a connection with someone can take a lifetime. You know Lauren a lot better than I will ever know her and you can see how difficult it is to read her. I think it is safe to say I will be trying to do this under test conditions. Are we all happy the phone is well and truly locked and the only way I am going to be able to open this phone is if I read Lauren?” Take back the phone and apply the peek. Performer: “I want you both to try something for me: I want you to think like the other person. I want you, Lauren, to think like Ryan, and Ryan, I want you to think like Lauren. With thinking like the other in mind, I would like you to imagine the pin written in the air and to think of one digit from that series of digits.” They both confirm they are doing that. Performer: “What’s interesting about the human mind is that when a human is asked to think of a digit in a series of digits, the brain tends to flit as it is naturally indecisive; it will think of one and in most cases change to another for whatever reason. Ryan, I think you think Lauren would 75

When in Rome think of one number and then change to another, whereas Lauren, I think you think that Ryan would instantly stick with one. “Wouldn’t it be an interesting coincidence if both of you were thinking of the digit in the same position right now?” Performer: “Is either of you thinking of the digit in the third position?” Ryan confirms he is. Performer: “Ryan, you believe Lauren would have gone for the digit in the third position. Lauren, in what position is the digit you believe Ryan would have picked: first, second, third or fourth? Lauren: “The second position.” (We know Lauren is thinking of the number 3 and Ryan is thinking of 4. I hope you are following this so far; this is so much easier in performance to explain.) Performer: “Lauren, are you thinking of the number 4?” Lauren: “No.” Performer: (looking slightly confused) “Ok, Ryan are you thinking of the number 3?” Ryan: “No?”

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Peter Turner Performer: “I am sure I was getting the digits three and four. Lauren, what is the number you are thinking of?” Lauren: “Three.” Performer: “Ryan, how about you?” Ryan: “Four.” Performer: “Ah, I think I understand what has happened. Because you were thinking Ryan would choose three, I assumed that’s the number Ryan had chosen, and because, Ryan, you thought Lauren had chosen four, I picked up on it as Lauren had actually chosen four! “We can work as a group for the last two to avoid any confusion. Both of you focus on the digit in the first position for me.” (I purposely get them the wrong way around, to set me up for them to think of things together to apply a “Hoy”-style principle in a moment.) The performer looks at Ryan, then Lauren and finally back to Ryan. Performer: “I think this is either yours or your favourite number—this doesn’t happen too frequently. Is the first digit the number seven?” Both participants freak out.

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When in Rome (This is why you should always read the full performances. Each participant will assume that whatever digit is called out is the other person’s favourite number, if it is not theirs. This is an added touch not in the “Breakdown” section of the book.) Performer: “You guys really are doing amazingly; just the last digit to go.” The performer hovers his hand over the top of the phone for a few seconds, and then instead of calling anything out, he goes to press a button and then changes his mind. Performer: “Focus for me.” After a few seconds the performer presses a key and the phone opens up! The table goes wild.

Additional ideas With a routine like this, it all comes down to presentation. I have never had one person call me on the calculator. When I performed this for Mark Chandaue and Michael Murray for the first time, each one of them opened their calculator this way all the time and it completely went over the tops of their heads!

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Peter Turner Another thing to take into consideration when you are using someone else’s phone is to gather other pieces of information. After unlocking someone’s phone, I will sometimes (if the situation warrants it) move into Isabella’s Star 2 and apply something a little devious that I use all the time and create absolute miracles. Let me tell you about a little move that you can apply openly that no one will notice and will give you a host of information to use after a time delay. I will first outline the simple method (which doesn’t have to be used in conjunction with this routine; it can be used with Isabella’s Star 2 or any other calculator or picture effect) and then how to use it in a simple but effective way.

Stealing information When you borrow the iPhone, very openly find the calculator, and make sure the participant can see the screen. Make sure they know you have gone straight to the calculator. Lift the calculator toward yourself for a second and double tap the Home button. Do this while casually talking; no one will be suspecting anything happening yet so there will be no heat.

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When in Rome When you double tap the Home button (the only button on the front of the iPhone) it will bring up a sub-menu allowing you to jump between other open applications on the phone (essentially a quick access menu). As you scroll from side to side, you will notice the open apps. If you look closely at the open message app or the WhatsApp app, you will notice the names of the people they have been texting! This is a very small font; if you are struggling seeing this, simply click on the message button (the little bubble), or the WhatsApp button, and it will open that app for you to get your peek of a name more clearly. When you have the information you need, double tap the Home button again and select the calculator. This sounds on paper like a lengthy process, but I do this all the time, and once you have it down, it takes just a few seconds to get the necessary information. Note: I have found on females’ phones that they will usually put love hearts next to their partner’s name when they store it in the phone. If they do it makes it very, very easy to directly get them to someone specific and to nail that.

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Applying the information This is ultimately very simple and it will give you a natural time delay. After you have performed for the first participant (you have stolen the information from the phone), move on to performing for someone else in the group. Normally I have found this works better in groups of three, but it will work with any size group. Use a standard billet guess to reveal the name of the next participant, and almost every time it prompts the other two people to say, “Guess a name I am thinking of.” That is a perfect moment because, of course, you now have a piece of information you can do this with billetlessly, meaning that it will completely sell the fact the first time around you didn’t need the billet and were just using it for insurance or affirmation (depending on your justification, if any). So I know what you are thinking: how do we get them to think of that name? The honest answer is we don’t! We are going to make it seem like we have and then take the credit for the hit. Let’s say you peeked the name Markus. We have no idea who that is or what relation they are or anything.

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When in Rome All you have to do to the participant is let them do a “silent reverse fish.” This sounds very complex but it is, in fact, very simple. Say to the participant: Performer: “I want you to keep changing your mind among names that mean something to you—maybe people you have recently talked to, friends, family, any name that has a connection to your life—and I will try to pick up on one that is standing out more than the rest.” They do this. Performer: “The first thing I am feeling is that there is a male name that is standing out to me more than the rest. I am not sure of the reasons why just yet. Ok, and there is a hard sound at the start, like an M, M, M. Focus on this person clearly for me.” At this point, when you throw out male, their brain begins to fish for the name without them saying anything out loud, and when you say the letter M, their brain will do the same thing. They should now be thinking of the person you want them to think of—it will be highly unlikely that they will not be. Performer: “Can you tell me the reason why you are thinking about this person? And be careful not to say this person’s name.” 82

Peter Turner This is a beautiful subtlety because they will give a reason which will suggest to everyone else that they really did think of this person and that there was a reason for it, and that is, of course, why you were picking up on it! Now all you have to do is finish with the revelation.

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Credits Michael Murray - Additional thought

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IV Name place variation (after stealing the information)

I did say that this works best in groups of three. Here is a routine that I find is so lovely and yet so simple in its workings. When refined it is an absolute masterpiece. Here is what the effect will look like.

Effect The performer addresses the two participants—we will call the participants Michael and Bill. The performer sets two unique tasks, one for each participant. 85

When in Rome The performer addresses Michael and explains that he, the performer, is thinking of a particular city. He sets Michael the task of guessing the city. He explains that the first city Michael will think of will be a guess, and therefore based on probability he would be wrong if he stuck with his initial choice. He asks Michael to keep changing his mind through a variety of cities, but whilst doing it to imagine his voice (the performer’s) saying the names of the cities in his head. The performer writes down the city he is thinking of and drops it into a wine glass on the table. He then turns to Bill and asks Bill to think of a name of someone in his life. He then writes down this piece of information (without Bill saying a word) and drops this into the glass as well. For example, let’s say that Michael said the performer was thinking of Manchester and Bill was thinking of Markus. The glass is tipped and the papers opened to show that both are, in fact, right!

Breakdown After you have performed a routine guessing a name (or any

other

piece

of

information)

with

traditional

methodology and the other two participants are asking for you to do the same on them, you will move into this routine.

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Peter Turner (Remember we have stolen the name already using the method outlined above.) This routine really only uses two simple principles. The first is the one-ahead principle. This is a principle that is often used incorrectly and is often done so badly that the secret of it is very obvious to the participants. Where I am from (as many performers will attest that have visited me) in the local bars many people use the one-ahead as a means to get free drinks, and therefore when I created this simple update and it flew past the people that used this every time they were out, I knew that it was just right. First I will outline how I have updated this wonderful principle.

Updating the one-ahead One of the biggest problems that I always struggled to come to terms with in the one-ahead was asking someone to say the piece of information out loud during the process of a one-ahead. It really sent alarm bells ringing, and I had a range of questions that I wanted answering based on it. One of the most common mistakes made in the one-ahead is this ghoulish line: “Can you tell everyone here what it is you are thinking of?” (If you use this line and it works for you that’s great, but for me it doesn’t and was a pet hate.) 87

When in Rome You can see how this could instantly set alarm bells ringing in the participant’s head, and because this principle is commonplace and widely known, it pretty much ruins the effect before you have gotten through half of the premise. Just because this is commonplace does not mean it cannot be used effectively against people that already know this technique. Here is how I tackled the problem of getting the participant to say something out loud in a logical fashion. Performer: “Now I know you have come into this in a slightly sceptical sense. So if I was to guess something you were thinking of, you may think I somehow heard you saying this thought out loud or come up with the most ridiculous methods as to how I guessed what you were thinking. “But, if you were to guess something I was thinking, then it proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that we all have a sense of intuition, which we often overlook. “So, I am thinking of a random word, which you are going to guess. I am not thinking of something profane. “I want you to start thinking of random words. Now, the first set of words you think of, based on probability, will be wrong. So I want you to change your mind over and over again.

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Peter Turner “Trust your own intuition. Maybe focus on the kinds of words that you think I would think of. “Right now, being a fairly sceptical person, you will probably be thinking of ridiculously long words like antidisestablishmentarianism

or

supercalifragilistic-

expialidocious.” (This is a tiny little subtlety I use with real sceptics, as these are generally the first set of words they think of. It is commonplace that these people think of these words, but as I am telling them to change their minds from these, it ensures I don’t have to write down a word down like that, which would completely give away the game later on.) Performer: “I am going to write down my word and to commit to it, and I just want you to keep changing your mind even after I have committed to a word.” The performer writes down a word, screws up the paper into a ball and drops it into a wine glass. (In performance this would be the second participant’s word; more on that later.) Performer: “I am going to give you five more seconds to change your mind, and whatever word you say out loud is going to be the word that you commit to.” Now I count down from five to one and point at the participant and they will say the word out loud. 89

When in Rome As you can see via the scripting, there is a logical reason for them to say the thought-of word out loud now. They have to, to commit to it, and they don’t have a piece of paper to do so. The point here, I think, is going the extra mile to wrap up what we do. It is very easy to stick to what we know or what we are taught and to do it that way over and over again without changing anything. The phrase “if it is not broken don’t fix it” doesn’t really apply to mentalism. Anyway, we are not fixing it per say, just giving it a new lick of paint. It is the same with these notes: there will be a few things that you will really like, some you will moderately like and some that you will hate. That is the nature of the beast. Remember, when reading any type of material there is value in everything. If you don’t like a premise, change it; you like a premise but don’t like a method, change it; you just like one line that is in there, use it elsewhere. Take these notes and build upon them to create your own miracles; you are not bound to doing things the way I do them. I have said it before and I think this is a beautiful place to say it again: mentalism is purely subjective. Back to the situation at hand—where were we? Ah, we have updated the one-ahead. 90

Peter Turner Now there is the matter of applying it in this scenario. Let’s say the participants are again called Michael and Bill.

Full performance (We will imagine that we have already gained the information we need from the participant’s phone.) Performer: “Now that I believe we all have a connection, I would like to attempt a triangle of intuition. “Michael, I know you have come into this in a slightly sceptical sense. So if I were to guess something you were thinking of, you may think I somehow heard you saying this thought out loud or come up with the most ridiculous methods as to how I guessed what you were thinking of. “But, if you were to guess something I was thinking, then it proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that we all have a sense of intuition, which we often overlook. “So, I am thinking of a city that means something to me. You are going to guess this city. “I want you to start thinking of random cities. The first set of cities you may think of, based on probability, will be wrong. So I want you to change your mind over and over again. “Trust your own intuition. Maybe focus on the kinds of cities that you think I would think of. 91

When in Rome “Being a fairly sceptical person, you will probably be thinking of the city we are in right now and you would be wrong. It may not even be in this country. “Bill, I would like you to think of the name of somebody that means something to you. In fact, scan over all the people from within your life; for example, friends, family and acquaintances, and the reasons that you may think of these people.” Both participants nod to confirm they are following the instructions. Performer: “Michael, I have written down here the place that means something to me. The only clue I am going to give you is that this is a place that I went with my Granddad.” The paper is screwed into a ball and dropped into the wine glass. What you have in fact written, is the name that you stole from the phone. The reason for the glass and screwing the paper into a ball—screwing them up is not essential, but it just aids the next process—is when the glass is tipped over, the balls will fall out and naturally make it difficult to follow which ball is which, mixing themselves up in the process of falling. This saves you from having to swap billets, which is not technically difficult, but again, it’s one compromise I really disliked. 92

Peter Turner Another thing about the wine glass is the stem; it psychologically seems that you have never touched the contents of the glass because the stem is separate from the bowl of the glass. Performer: “I am going to give you five more seconds, Michael, and whatever city you say out loud will be the city that you commit to.” Five seconds pass and Michael says the city out loud. Performer: “You instinctively feel that is the place I went to. Bill, I am going to tell you what I am feeling so far. “As you scan over all of these names I am seeing more male names than female, so probability would suggest that you will settle on a male name. I am also feeling, as you are scanning over the male names, one starting with a hard sound like an M or an N. In fact, it is definitely an M. “Can I ask you why you thought of this person?” Bill: “This is my Dad. I went to see him today.” Performer: “Ok, I feel I am ready to go for this.” This is where you will write down whatever city Michael said onto a piece of paper; the paper is then screwed up and dropped into the glass with the first piece. Performer: “What is your dad’s name?”

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When in Rome The question here will change depending on the reason they give. Let’s say that it is someone they visited earlier. You would ask, “Who was this person you visited earlier?” It is really a tailor-made question to force them to say that name and not change. The glass is tipped and the paper is opened to reveal that both pieces of information have been guessed.

Additional idea I would make an effort to mark one billet, in a subtle way, so you know which is which when they fall out. This means that when they fall out you can choose the order in which you reveal them. I would personally reveal the information on the billet you guessed first and open the billet where the participant guessed your thought second. This means the participant gets the last hit, as for me that is the most impressive billet of the two. You could even have Bill (the second participant) mix them up and use equivoque for the participant to “instinctively” deduce which billet is which.

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Credits Bob Cassidy – Name Place routine

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Your Notes/Ideas

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IV Bold unlock pin divination

Before I get into this pin divination, let me stress that this is not for everyone. I have used this a few times now and blown away even the biggest sceptic. It is really one of the simplest ideas in here, but on paper it seems ridiculous and convoluted. That’s because it is. I won’t lie, but some of the best effects in history have come from ideas that were so convoluted people overlooked the method.

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When in Rome Here is a simple example of a couple of things in the past I have done that took so much effort for a few seconds payoff. Look at the “Dreams” video on YouTube, the one with the shooting star. The method to get the thing that she wanted as a child was a hypno preshow. I hypnotised her the day before, asked her openly what she wanted and then hypnotised her to forget I had ever asked. But that wasn’t the convoluted bit as that is fairly standard. The bit where I went to ridiculous lengths to make the effect happen was driving over a hundred miles to find the book and having to drive a hundred miles back. All for the “Moment.” People who know me know how sneaky I can be: I often carry a red-backed and a bluebacked one-way force deck to lectures with me. Before the lecture I will ask someone if they have a deck of cards and tell them that I want to make a prediction that will occur later in the lecture. I then ask them to turn their back as I don’t want them seeing and as they will play an important part later. I then place my one-way force deck into their box and take their deck with me (obviously the colour I put in depends on the colour of their deck). I then say to them: 102

Peter Turner Performer: “I have placed one card in a particular position. I want you to sit near the front in the lecture, and if I ask if anyone performs with cards, raise your hand so I can see you. “I will ask if you have a deck of cards I can borrow. Just hand me the deck where I made the prediction. I will openly ask you if you know the order of the cards, which you don’t, and there is no way in a second I could know the order. “Please don’t hand the cards to anyone else or look at them as I don’t want people thinking you know where particular cards are. Can you promise me you won’t change the order or touch them?” They promise at this point and off I go. All I have to do now is force a playing card and I have the cleanest version of an ACAAN with a borrowed deck. For those people wondering if this is similar to the one I do over Skype/online, no it isn’t, but I will go to ridiculous lengths to make anything happen. The only clue I will give you is I never use stooges in these type of effects (online or live) or pre-show (in the online versions you may have seen). But the moral is: to make miracles happen you have to put in the mileage, and most are based on ideas that are so ridiculous they fly so far under the radar.

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When in Rome That is similar to this effect: it happens in real time and in front of everyone. This effect was based on something I saw in an Alex Pandrea lecture. He did an effect where he recharged the battery of his phone by touching it. I liked the idea, but it was very magical—too much so for my taste, plus it was his phone. My mind started to race with ideas that I could use the application for and this hit me. I have since refined the idea and I like this routine very much because of its bold nature.

Effect The participant’s mobile telephone is locked and without any effort you seemingly unlock the phone.

Breakdown The core of this method is simply a screen shot. Yeah, you heard me right. If you take your mobile phone—I know the buttons on an iPhone; you will have to seek your manual or use Google for any other phone but all smart phones do this—and press the Home button and the Lock button and you hold them for less than a second, it will capture any screen you are currently on. 104

Peter Turner This is how this is going to help you. Ask a participant if they mind you using their phone to show them something. I have never had someone say they mind. Pick it up and get it onto the lock screen. Quickly screen shot, and then address the participant and ask them to unlock the phone, but to keep the code private from everyone as it is not for them or you to know. When they hand you the phone, proclaim: Performer: “I know what you were thinking just then: wouldn’t it be awesome if I could have opened your phone for you…guessed the code? You were thinking that, right?” They will have thought this. I have had people hand me their phones and say, “Why don’t you guess it?” At that point tell them you will when you know them a bit better and that you will come back to it later. But let’s pretend they have unlocked it and you are applying the line about what they are thinking (outlined above). While you are saying that line, go into the picture gallery and the last picture taken will be of the screen lock. Then click on the picture to enlarge it.

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When in Rome You will notice two white bars across the picture. Simply tap the picture one more time and it will look just like the lock screen. Then address the participant again. Performer: “In fact, would you mind me trying to guess the code?” I have never had anyone say No at this point; if they do say No, simply delete the picture and move into another effect. If they say yes, feign pressing the Lock button on the top of the phone. Then swipe to slide the picture to the previous picture and back again quickly so it looks like you slid to get the unlock screen. See the video below for details, as this part is hard to describe in writing. Turn the phone so the participant can see the lock screen (what they are actually seeing is a picture of the lock screen). Tell them you will keep the digits hidden from everyone else. Hold the phone towards yourself and tell them to focus on the first digit.

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Peter Turner Press the screen anywhere (nothing happens anyway, but it looks like you typed a number). Repeat this for the next two digits. When you get to the last one, you are going to apply an important move: you are going to press the Home button (the round one on the front) and turn the phone toward the participant (this takes practice to get the timing right). It will show the menu screen and look as if you have just unlocked it! They will see it flash bright and the menu open up and assume you have correctly guessed the code. Now all you have to do is go into the pictures and delete the photograph (under the guise of going to the calculator or messages to type in a prediction). To erase the photo, click on it and the white bars will come back; click the recycle bin and finish by pressing the delete button. There is now no evidence on the phone to suggest that you didn’t get the code. I suggest you try this. The reactions from it are great and this is perfect when you are in a scenario with someone who is not playing ball and complying with the above effect (“Simply overlooked”).

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Morgan Strebler additional idea Note from Pete: When I shared this with Morgan, he instantly started batting ideas towards me—all amazing! An hour later he called me back, and what he shared with me I am about to share with you. I love this idea and it ensures you end clean without having to go back into the photos to delete the evidence. This is a really simple idea, but often the simplest ideas are the ones that make the biggest differences. As Pete mentioned, this ensures that you end clean with no evidence left on the phone. The way to do this is to delete the photo while “unlocking the phone.” You will notice when you angle the phone towards yourself, if you tap a digit on the photograph (essentially tapping the image) the white bars will appear at the top. If you look at the bottom corner you will see a little picture of a waste bin. Click the waste bin after pretending to work out the second digit. The audience will believe that you pressed another digit. You will notice that a little box pops up asking if you want to delete the photo.

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Peter Turner Click the little box in place of the third digit, and the evidence is now gone. For the last digit you never touch the screen. You actually press the middle button using Pete’s “Double touch” and turn around the screen as it opens. The phone can be handled directly back now and you don’t need to worry about the participant finding any evidence.

Michael Murray additional idea One of the things that Peter and I had noticed when performing this routine is that the participant often asked afterward, “Ok, so what was my code?” This is obviously a big problem, because you don’t know the code. Here is my simple solution that is reminiscent of Pete’s “Bob Principle.” If the participant asks that question, simply reply with: Performer: “Obviously, I don’t want to say it out loud for everyone else to hear. Come hear.” Lean in and whisper. Performer: “I have no idea, it was just a lucky fucking guess.”

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When in Rome (Obviously, feel free to take out the profanity, but in the right scenario it makes a big difference.) The participant will react at this point to what you said, making the audience believe that you, in fact, did guess the code! Look at the scripting: “Obviously, I don’t want to say out loud for anyone else to hear.” To the audience they will assume you mean the code; the participant will think you want to hide the fact you just pressed anything and just guessed a secret. You could lean out and then say: Performer: “Sometimes in life when you follow your instincts you just get lucky.” This stops the participant from telling anyone after you have left that you just guessed, as you said it out loud and therefore there would be no need. This really illustrates working smart, not hard.

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Credits Morgan Strebler – Additional idea (Unreleased) Michael Murray – Additional idea (Unreleased)

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Your Notes/Ideas

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V Increment control (force)

This force, as I am sure you will come to realise, is a lovely little force. The reason I have decided to outline this force in these notes (if you wondered why the force was seemingly placed in here at random) is because this force is perfect for the first number in “Your intuition.”

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When in Rome There are a number of applications for this force. Let your imagination run wild. I am currently exploring lots of applications for this force and will detail my findings in my “Book of the demons”

Effect Variation #1: The performer asks a participant to think of a playing card. Without any fishing the performer can name the thoughtof playing card, or if desired, have it as the only card in a completely examinable wallet. Variation #2: The performer asks a participant to think of any letter of the alphabet—the participant never says this out loud. The performer also says very little and only talks when he is instructing the participant. The performer then asks the participant to take that letter and to think of a country that starts with that letter. The performer is able to deduce the country.

Breakdown This force can be used to force anything that goes up in increments (or anything that goes up sequentially; i.e., 5, 10, 15), and more than that it also teaches a valuable lesson

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Peter Turner (I think) about how to take things that are not considered useful within a specific art and, with a little bit of work and refinement, make them incredible and totally practical. The original concept goes back to the “stop force” or “timing force” using playing cards. Don’t worry, this effect isn’t done using any cards at all, but to understand how it works you need to understand the timing force. This is also referred to as the “stop force” or the “dealing force.” To quickly refresh your memory, it’s the force where the performer deals down the cards one at a time at a particular pace and the performer asks the participant to say stop at any point, which usually forces the sixth card. The first thing I did with the force was to eliminate the cards and to replace them with a beautiful invisible piece of theatre. I hope you enjoy what I have done with it. To start with I will explain how the stop force is done with playing cards (after all, this is a great way to practice the pacing). At first this will seem bold, but I promise once you have the timing down, it is so easy and will work 99% of the time. Take a deck of playing cards and place a force playing card in the sixth position. When you are sitting with a participant, start to deal down at a moderate pace. 119

When in Rome When you have dealt two cards, look at the subject and say: Performer: “Yeah, say stop.” (Say it in a tone that suggests that they should have known they were saying stop. Their brain will freak out at this point and they will say stop on the sixth card. Get the pacing down, and once you have, you can force any number. The card they stop at will always be four cards after you have said, “Yeah, say stop.” That is, if you want to force the tenth card, then use the stop line after the sixth card and then they will stop on the tenth.) Once you have gotten used to the pacing and you’re comfortable, you are ready to practice the Increment Force. Here is the scripting/difference between the Timing Force and the Increment Force. Performer: “In a moment when I ask you to think of something, it's essential that you say nothing out loud. “If I ask you to think of moving your arm, I don't want you to do it, just think of it. Stay as inanimate as possible; don't blink, nod or say anything out loud.” (This may sound like overkill, but it's essential and it ensures things go the way we want.) 120

Peter Turner Performer: “I am going to touch the air like this (tap a full stop in the air). Every single time I touch the air like this (touch a different spot in the air), I want you to imagine letters of the alphabet going up in increments.” Here we will give the participant a demonstration. Touch the air while simultaneously saying, “A,” touch the air again and simultaneously say, “B,” and repeat for C. Whilst doing this, remember the pace of dealing down the cards as the same pace is going to apply theoretically; it is like you are dealing invisible playing cards into the air (without making a dealing motion). Performer: “In a moment I am going to do this without saying a word. The only time I will say anything is if I want to give you an instruction. It’s essential you count in your mind up through the letters every time I touch the air. Do you understand that?” This will force them to verbalise a Yes or nod their head. When they do you want to remind them: Performer: “Stay as still as possible and don’t say anything. “Are you ready?” Start to touch the air (implying the same pace as you would deal a playing card onto the table).

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When in Rome After the second air touch, say: Performer: “Just think stop.” This will force the letter “F” (or somewhere in that very near vicinity)—I rarely miss on this. Continue to touch the air but increase the pace after a few letters, and when you have estimated you have counted all the letters, wipe the air clean. The number of touches really doesn’t matter as the participant stops counting after they have thought Stop on a particular letter. (This will subtly suggest that you went through the entire alphabet and the subject had the free choice to stop anywhere. More importantly, this is beautifully theatrical.) Address the participant: Performer: “You are now thinking of a random letter, and neither of us said anything out loud; everything was done in our minds alone. Do you agree that letter was a completely free choice?” Participant: “Yes.” Performer: “I would now like you to think of a country that starts with that letter. This ensures that there is no way I could have somehow influenced you to think of a country, as fate decided what letter you would stop on, and that ultimately helped you make the decision on the country.” 122

Peter Turner I would like to remind you that you are not just limited to forcing the letters in the region of the letter “F.” Here is an example of how you could force the letter “I.” Continue to touch the air until you point to the letter “E” and then apply the line, “Yeah, think stop.” This would force the letter “I.” The reason this works is it forces the participant to just stop a few letters after the letter “E.” If you wanted to force another letter for whatever reason, it’s easy as long as you remember this line: “A few before.” What do I mean by that? I would go to the letter I wanted to force (let’s say we wanted K). I would then count a few letters back, K – J – I – H, and that would be the letter “H” and therefore that is the letter on which I would apply the line. The force for the value of a playing card would be done in the exact same manner. I always force the Six of Clubs. I just apply the forcing line after the number 2. I know what you are thinking right now: that doesn’t help you with the suit, right? For that I apply something very simple that flies straight under the radar that I call “Not Ed Marlo’s Snap Change.”

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Credits Jean Hugard – Stop force (Royal road to card magic)

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VI Not Ed Marlo’s snap change

There are two approaches for this: one is the simple and effective approach and the other is the bold approach. I will let you decide which I prefer.

Variation #1 This variation is something you will have to just try to see the effectiveness of it. It is essentially a verbal subtlety that ensures you know the order in which the participant changes their mind. It is a clever take on “restricting without seeming restrictive.” The participant gets slightly 127

When in Rome less from this than the audience, but it flies straight under the radar so I never worry. Address the participant: Performer: “To make sure you know the four suits, can you say them out loud for me?” Participant: “Clubs, Hearts, Spades and Diamonds.” Performer: “In a moment I am going to snap my fingers, and every time I snap my fingers I just want you to cycle through the suits.” As you say the word “suits,” snap once close to your body, snap a second time a few inches from the first time and then snap a third and fourth time, each time a little farther than the last time you snapped. I understand that it is a very difficult instruction to understand in text. Essentially you are non-verbally suggesting to the participant: “Each time I snap my fingers I want you to move to a different suit.” Because you used a specific word in your scripting, the word “cycle,” the participant won’t change the order of the suits they committed to when they named them out loud (in this example I used CHaSeD order). This means they will constantly go around CHaSeD order (don’t worry, there is a video link in a moment).

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Peter Turner For example, let’s say you want to force a Club and the participant has said the suits out loud in CHaSeD order. Address the participant: Performer: “Visualise the first suit in your mind and get ready for me to snap my fingers.” This will let the participant know to think of the Club and that when you snap they are to start stepping through the cycle they chose. Now all you have to do is snap count along in your head. Snap (Heart), snap (Spade), snap (Diamond). Go around as many times as you like. Slow down on the last few, ensuring you stop on Club. Remember, you aren’t saying the suits out loud. When you do, stop them on the Club and address the participant. Performer: “Be 100% honest, you didn’t know you would be thinking of a playing card?” Participant: “No, I didn’t.” Performer: “You didn’t know that you would be changing your mind in the order you did?” Performer: “No.”

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When in Rome Performer: “Therefore there is no way I could have known the order in which you would have decided to change your mind?” Participant: “No.” Look at how sneaky the questioning is: it will lead the audience to believe that the participant could have changed their mind in any order, when in fact they really couldn’t. If you are bold you could make the participant promise that they will not change the suit and then almost pressure them to admit they could have changed to any suit in any order. Before anyone takes the word “pressure” out of context, I don’t mean instant stooge or control/manipulate; I mean use of clever questions like the questions above. At this point you can openly produce (in a non-magical sense) the card you forced.

Additional idea This is something that I have explored in great depth in The Book of Demons. It is so sneaky yet completely forces the participant to stick to the order that they chose. It requires good audience management but is very simple; I have used this in close-up for such a long time and I have never had any problems.

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Peter Turner Stand the participant away from the group so they are facing the group of witnesses. After the participant has called out the four suits and you have explained they are going to cycle through them when you snap, face the participant for a few seconds (ensuring the witnesses cannot see your mouth). When you snap the first time, mouth the word “Club,” then snap again and mouth the word “Heart,” then snap and mouth “Spade,” snap and say “Diamond” and then finally snap and say “Club.” NOTE: You would be mouthing them in the order that they specified out loud. Continue to snap and they will follow the order with no problems whatsoever. This will ensure that they will stop on the exact suit you would like. This is a very simple touch, but when you take this principle and you stretch it, there are many wonderful applications.

Variation #2 The bold variation. I cannot for the life in me explain how I do this, but I am accurate 95% of the time without having them say anything out loud. I urge you to try it my way. See how it works for you.

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When in Rome I ask the participant to think of a playing card suit and then I proclaim: Performer: “Every time I snap my fingers I want you to change the suit to whatever suit you feel you want to change to.” I start to snap my fingers at a nice pace (one that feels comfortable) and I close my eyes and think of the suit I would think of. I then start to slow down my snaps and I stop when I feel I would stop on whatever suit it is I want them to stop on. I find this somehow works; maybe it is that we are all similar as human beings…I don’t know!

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Credits Devil in Disguise – Spider force

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Your Notes/Ideas

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VII Positive actions and words speak loudly

This routine is something of which I am particularly proud. It incorporates a lot of different techniques to achieve the end result, but I promise the end result is worth all of the practice.

Effect The performer is sitting with a participant and asks her to think about a question pertaining to a particular situation

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When in Rome that is occurring in her life at the moment to which she would like an answer. The performer then talks to the participant. After working out exactly how she thinks, the performer guesses her star sign, and proceeds to tell her about herself. After he has built a rapport with the participant, the performer answers the question in the strangest of ways that really proves that actions and words can make all the difference.

Breakdown This routine is essentially a Q+A routine with a difference: instead of answering the question verbally, you are going to get the participant to answer the question for themselves using a series of hypnotic actions. (Still ambiguous I know.) I promise all will make sense in a moment. There are a few factors you need to understand when performing this routine. The first is the most important element of Q+A: the most important element to the participant is not the question, it is the answer to the question. I tend to find that the most important element to the performer is proving that they actually deduced the 140

Peter Turner question. In all honesty this doesn’t really matter. The thing that is important is making the participant believe you know what the question is, and giving them an answer that fits the situation that they are in currently. Once I understood this, I then realised that most situations in life can be resolved. There are not very many situations we get into in life that we cannot get out of in some way. I am not saying ALL—that is very important to point out here—as there are some situations in life where there is not an easy resolution. Anyway, I am going off on random tangents, but I think this tangent will later prove to be important. This got me thinking: if I could imply that I knew the answer to the question and then throw out a stock line or apply a cold reading style technique, maybe I could make the participant believe that I answered their question. I did it like this for some time, never actually giving anyone any advice (as I am not qualified to do that), but just trying to answer their question. I then realised this was a waste to the participant, as they were still in the same situation they were in to start with and all I had proved (to them at least) is that I had somehow read them. Then I realised, I do have a power. To a participant that genuinely believes in me, whatever I say is going to have a “white coat syndrome” effect. If they buy into the fact 141

When in Rome that I have some power (even if I claim I haven’t), which does occur as their beliefs will always be their beliefs, then my words hold a high relevance. This got my brain ticking and I wondered to myself how I could use this positively in a question-and-answer scenario. I found out through trial and error something that I am sure is not new in thinking (but hopefully my take on it is). I should give the power back to the participant; I should use my words to make them believe in themselves. Often most people just want to hear from someone else that they are strong willed and that they have the power to move mountains should they so wish. In any question-and-answer scenario I found that I could simply just remind them that they had the power to do anything that they wish, or resolve any situation with some clear thinking and willpower. Obviously this doesn’t read as anything exciting or ground breaking, but when you realise how I make them realise this, I think you will understand the power of this. Now that you know my thought process up until this point, let’s take a look at the full performance and then break it into sections (I am going to streamline the star sign section for ease of reading).

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Full performance Performer: “Hello, Jess. Thank you for joining me. I really do appreciate it. How are you?” Jess: “I am great, thank you. How are you?” Performer: “I am great, thanks. I would like to get to know you, Jess. Just so I can get a feel for you as a person, what is it that you do for a living?” Jess: “I am an administrative clerk.” Performer: “Obviously that sort of role requires you to be headstrong and decisive and to be the sort of person that would be trusted with a lot of responsibility.” Jess: “Yeah, that’s right.” Performer: “I bet it can be overwhelming at times, the amount of pressure others put on you, and I bet it feels like you are almost doing everyone else’s work.” Jess: “It really does.” Performer: “I want to share with you something interesting, Jess. I very rarely do this, but I feel you are the sort of person that would really understand this and take nothing but positive things from it.” Jess: “Okay.”

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When in Rome Performer: “No matter how individualistic we believe we are as people, and no matter how alone we feel from time to time, there is one thing that connects us all. Do you know what that is, Jess?” Jess: “No.” Performer: “The fact is that every single one of us has one stress or situation going on in our lives that we push so far to the back of our minds we pretend it is almost nonexistent. That’s what we do as people: we try to hide it and to pretend it is not there. “I would like to give you a gift, Jess, one that you will take with you and hopefully remember for the rest of your life. Before I can give you this gift, I would like you to do something for me. “I want you to think of a scenario that is going on in your life right now and to think of a question you could ask me surrounding that scenario. An example of that might be: ‘Will I meet the man of my dreams?’ Or, ‘I am struggling with xx at the moment. How do I resolve it?’ “Please don’t think of anything health-related or anything to do with someone passing, as I really am not able to answer those questions. Take a few seconds to think about it. I am never going to ask you to say this question out loud, but I am going to answer this question.

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Peter Turner “The answer I give you to this question, you will completely understand. This way it protects your privacy as no one else here will know the question you would like to ask me. “Do you have a question in mind?” Jess: “I do.” Performer: “Now before I even attempt to give you an answer to the question, let me at least prove that I am getting to know you somewhat. “I feel that you are a very intuitive person…” (The performer continues to read the participant.) Performer: “There is really only one star sign that could represent you. You are an Aquarius, right?” Jess: “I am!” Performer: “Now that I feel I know you a little better I think I am ready to answer the question. Have you ever heard the expression: ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’?” Jess: “I have.” Performer: “Well, as you know, my job is to read thoughts, and whilst you have not said anything out loud, I hope you seek some comfort in knowing I am reading you loud and

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When in Rome clearly. I understand your problem and I have been in this type of scenario before. “I know you have been doubting yourself recently, almost feeling like you have to paint on a smile. I want to remind you of a few things; these few things will completely answer your question. “I have in the past been in a place where I felt so low, like the weight of the world was on my shoulders, that I didn’t feel like going outside to face the world in the morning. I have felt that I just couldn’t get around to solving my problems and most definitely could not see solutions. It was only in hindsight that I realised that most actions stem from a thought. “Negative thoughts create negative and null actions. Let me show you what I mean. “Can I please borrow your hand?” Jess passes the performer her hand. The performer pushes Jess’ hand onto the table top. Performer: “I want you to think of the feelings I am talking about right now. I want you to, in your mind, put yourself into a scenario where you felt like this. “You will notice the moment you start to do this that your hand will become heavier. The more negative the thought,

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Peter Turner the heavier and heavier it becomes. Give me a nod when you feel your hand getting heavier.” Jess nods. Performer: “We can often get so bogged down by negative thought that we end up not being able to do anything at all. Give me a nod when you just know your hand is stuck solid.” Jess nods. Performer: “With these negative thoughts in mind, Jess, try to lift your hand and you will find you cannot. Just try to lift it.” Jess tries to lift her hand from the table and it is stuck solid. Performer: “The harder you try with negative thoughts in mind the harder it is to do anything at all.” Jess tries harder to lift her hand to no avail. Performer: “Relax from trying, Jess, or you will strain yourself; your hand is going to remain locked to the table. I want to show you something. I now want you to think of something positive that you have going on in your life, something that gives you a feeling of happiness. Take a few seconds, close your eyes and really imagine how this makes you feel on the inside.

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When in Rome “When you can fully feel the warm feeling, open your eyes.” Jess opens her eyes. Performer: “With these positive thoughts you should feel you can do anything. Positive thoughts help us feel on top of the world. They make us want to get out of bed in the morning and make it a pleasure to walk out of the door and to take in a breath of fresh air. With these new thoughts in mind, try lifting your hand and seeing what happens now.” Jess is very easily able to lift her hand from the table! Performer: “That goes to show you just how strong positive thought is. I would like to go a step farther with your permission, Jess.” Jess: “That is fine with me.” Performer: “I would like to share with you the power of words. I have shown you that it is often negative thoughts that can affect the way that we act. “It is more often than not the things that we say that affect the way that others act. You can make or break someone else’s day just by the exchange of a few words. I am of the belief that if you have nothing positive to say, you shouldn’t say it all.

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Peter Turner “I would like you to metaphorically take a look at yourself and to make a judgement. Think of something you don’t like about yourself. “I would like you to let these words reverberate around your mind. In a moment I am going to have you try to say these words and I am going to use positive will to stop you. You will notice whilst these negative words float around your mind they create negative thoughts. Just like your hand became stuck to the table a few moments ago, your words will get stuck in your mouth, and no matter how hard you try to say these negative words, you won’t be able to get the words out of your mouth. “You can feel yourself becoming tongue tied the more you think about these words. “Try and say these thoughts.” Jess tries to speak, and no matter how hard she tries the words won’t come out of her mouth. She tries harder and harder, and the more she tries the more her mouth becomes stuck solid. Performer: “Relax for a second, Jess. Don’t panic, take a deep breath in and, whilst relaxing, think of one of your strong qualities. Think of one thing you love the most about yourself.

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When in Rome “Let this reverberate around your head for a few seconds. You will notice that positive words create positive thoughts. I am going to ask you to say whatever it is you are thinking of out loud for me. I want you to be confident when you say it. “Give me a nod when you are ready, Jess.” Jess nods. The performer smiles like he knows something that everyone else does not. Performer: “Jess, when you are ready say what it is you have to say and don’t worry about anyone else.” Jess: “I am a strong-minded and reliable person.” Performer: “I want you to shout that for me, Jess, at the top of your voice. Don’t worry about anyone else.” Jess: “I AM A STRONG-MINDED AND RELIABLE PERSON!” Performer: “Perfect! Jess, I know you are about to approach a crossroads in your life where you are about to make a very important decision. If you take into account how strong you are as a person and approach that decision with positive thought and you use your words positively, you have the power to overcome any situation life throws at you. 150

Peter Turner “The answer to your question is simple, Jess. It’s you.” The performer leans in and hugs Jess. FIN I hope the ending of this routine made the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. I am a massive believer in showing a process, and if you answer a question, answering it verbally is fine, but isn’t it a little bit more exciting when you use their actions to really hammer home your point? This routine will take a lot of work and is not something that is going to happen every single time, but with the right participant and approaching this with the right frame of mind, you can make this happen a good majority of the time. I will provide an “out” for this routine for the people that are worried about this failing. I never worry about anything failing. I feel that the moment I worry something is going to fail in life, which is the moment things often go to shit. I think the moral of this routine really does apply within mentalism as well: “Positive thoughts create positive actions, and the words we say really do affect the way that someone else acts.” Let’s break this down into sections to make the process of learning this easier. 151

When in Rome I will start by going through the performance almost like a director and pointing out the bits of relevance. Also, when I get to the star sign section I will point out the system that I use (there are three main divinations that I use). Performer: “Hello, Jess. Thank you for joining me. I really do appreciate it. How are you?” Jess: “I am fine, thank you. And yourself?” The notes you will see in bold are the bits in the performance where I see a particular relevance. You will notice that I open by thanking Jess for her time and asking her how she is. I find this is something that is ultimately missing from a good chunk of performance: social niceties. Going out of your way to become acquainted properly with your participant takes only a second but makes a massive difference in building rapport. That is something that is needed massively in this routine. Performer: “I am great, thanks for asking. Jess, just so I can get a feel for you as a person, what is it that you do for a living?” Jess: “I am an administrative clerk.” Performer: “Obviously that sort of role requires you to be headstrong and decisive and be the sort of person that would be trusted with a lot of responsibility.” 152

Peter Turner Jess: “Yeah, that’s right.” Performer: “I bet it can be overwhelming at times, the amount of pressure others put on you, and I bet it feels like you are almost doing everyone else’s work.” Jess: “It really does.” You will notice that I ask the participant what they do for a living and then, based on their answer, make a judgement. I would call this a trademark in my work. There is a reason why I do this. A few years ago I was filming a pilot with a television company in Leeds and we went out for a day on the streets. Back then I didn’t have an iota of the knowledge I have now, and it really showed when I was working on camera. There was a director/producer that worked with me called Paul Stead. He was a man that didn’t mince his words; if he didn’t like something, you were the first person to know about it. He kept saying to me time and time again, talk to the person and ask them why they are in town. Try to find something out about them before just moving straight into a routine. At the time I couldn’t understand what relevance this had to anything until I started to watch videos of me performing.

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When in Rome I realised that all I cared about was showcasing the effect and didn’t seem to have a care for my participants. The pilot was a flop and the material on there was terrible. I was young, I was naïve and I hadn’t learnt some of the life lessons I have learnt now. You may wonder why I am telling you this. I always try to share a small part of me in each book so that the reader (you) gets to know a small part about me. The first thing about me that people get to learn is that I am constantly refining myself; when something is bad I take it on board and actively try to better myself. I know I am not perfect and I have a hell of a lot to learn. This was one lesson that took me nearly a year to learn, and I didn’t learn it till I started working as a consultant. I understood when I started watching other people perform as Paul suggested. The participant was more willing to do whatever it is you wanted them to do and to take it seriously if you treated them like human beings. I think now I may overcompensate sometimes (who knows?). But it really is a valid point. Ask them how they are; ask them what they do for a living. This leads me to throw out a small line about their job (which is really tailormade) that suggests I know things about them and

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Peter Turner implies that whatever they tell me will lead me to know a little more about them. Performer: “I want to share with you something interesting, Jess. I very rarely do this but I feel you are the sort of person that would really understand this and take nothing but positive things from it.” I have employed a very simple yet very smart line here: “I rarely do this, but I feel you are the sort of person that will really understand this.” It suggests that this is something that very few people will ever get to experience and it also implies that the participant is perfect for this. It is essential you make them believe that they are essential for this sort of routine as it really helps later on. You also let them know it will be positive. I will explain why this line is important later on. Jess: “Okay.” Performer: “No matter how individualistic we believe we are as people and no matter how alone we feel from time to time, there is one thing that connects us all. Do you know what that is, Jess?” Jess: “No.” Performer: “The fact is that every single one of us has one stress or situation going on in our lives that we push so far 155

When in Rome to the back of our minds we pretend it is almost nonexistent. That’s what we do as people: we try to hide it and to pretend it is not there. “I would like to give you a gift, Jess, one that you will take with you and hopefully remember for the rest of your life. Before I can give you this gift, I would like you to do something for me. “I want you to think of a scenario that is going on in your life right now and to think of a question you could ask me surrounding that scenario. An example of that might be: ‘Will I meet the man of my dreams?’ Or, ‘I am struggling with xx at the moment. How do I resolve it?’ “Please don’t think of anything health-related or anything to do with someone passing, as I really am not able to answer those questions. Take a few seconds to think about it. I am never going to ask you to say this question out loud, but I am going to answer this question. “The answer I give you to this question, you will completely understand. This way it protects your privacy as no one else here will know the question you would like to ask me. “Do you have a question in mind?” Jess: “I do.”

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Peter Turner Performer: “Now before I even attempt to give you an answer to the question, let me at least prove that I am getting to know you somewhat. “I feel that you are a very intuitive person…” (The performer continues to read the participant.) Performer: “There is really only one star sign that could represent you. You are an Aquarius, right?” Jess: “I am!” The star sign section scripting above is, as I mentioned, cut down. Here is exactly how I would do it in performance. The first system is my take on the classic anagram. The anagram I am offering here is NOT my anagram, it is Bob Farmer’s (it may go back earlier than that). What I am simply offering is my take on how to present the anagram. I am going to write the presentation for the star sign Capricorn and then outline how the anagram works. I believe this will show you how clean anagrams can look when done correctly. I will first outline the presentation with just the anagram, then I will outline the anagram and, finally, I will add pieces of performance/script around it to help disguise the anagram a little more with a “time delay.”

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When in Rome You will notice that the scripting is what makes the anagram beautiful. Just before I move into the anagram, let me point out a few things that I didn’t like about a letter anagram in conjunction with a star sign. The first question I always asked myself was, what the hell does seeing the word have to do with star signs? When you think about something people consider so emotionally relevant, how can you formulate that to just guess the word and almost make it scientific? That was the first thing I didn’t like; it didn’t make any sense to me. The second thing was throwing out the letters in a random order. I never liked that; again, it was something that didn’t make any sense to me. Lastly, when it came down to the two star signs, I wanted it handled beautifully and to make it feel like I really was feeling them as a person. So I created viable reasons that were logical to wash away the things I didn’t like with the anagram. You might think I was running when not being chased; I would argue that I am just going the extra mile. So how did I remedy the problems? I hope you enjoy my take on star sign anagramming. Performer: “Do you believe in the Zodiac or horoscopes?” 158

Peter Turner Participant: “I do.” Performer: “I certainly believe it is a fascinating subject. I am a massive believer in the fact that even though the stars are thousands of miles away, they really can and do have an effect on our lives here and now. “I would like to read you, with your permission of course, to not only intuit your star sign, but to learn about you during that process.” Participant: “That is fine with me.” Performer: “We might be a little bit rocky in places, but this is nothing more that connection building. Building a connection emotionally and mentally can take years, as I am sure you know, and I have only known you a matter of minutes. All I need you to do is imagine for me your star sign written in the air. I want you to imagine looking over all of the letters of your star sign and just beaming them towards me. The better you can imagine this the easier this will be for me. “There is one thing I will point out: because you have not mentally transmitted a piece of information before, I am almost certain I will not pick up on the letters in any specific order. I will just pick up on the ones your subconscious is focusing on the most at the time. “Can I take your hands?” 159

When in Rome The participant gives you her hands. Performer: “Don’t say anything unless I ask you a direct question. Focus on your star sign written in the air between us…like…LEO. Are you seeing it there?” Participant: “I am.” Performer: “Great, then we can begin. The first thing I am feeling is there is an R in this, correct?” Participant: “Yes.” Performer: “There also an A.” Participant: “Yes.” Performer: “I am getting slightly confused now, like the connection has weakened slightly. There is not a letter I in the star sign, is there?” Participant: “Yes.” Performer: “You are doing perfectly, though I might in a moment have to resort to you focusing on the picture of this star sign. Is there an ‘S’ in there?” Participant: “No.” Performer: “Ok, can you just in your mind count the number of letters in the star sign for me?” The participant starts to count. 160

Peter Turner Performer: “In fact, please focus on this as an image if you can.” The participant starts to focus. Performer: “Wow, this is much better; a wealth of information has just flooded in. (I would usually add scripts here but I will do this later.) I now know you focus on things aesthetically instead of analytically. “You’re a Capricorn, correct?” Participant: “I am!” It’s as simple as that. What I have done is created a logical explanation for a lot of the flaws that I found in common star sign anagrams. Let me point out the star sign anagram I use and then I will go back over the presentation and break it down piece by piece to show you why I applied certain excuses and washes.

The anagram You will be throwing out these letters in this sequence: R. A. I. S. E. the word (RAISE) A lot of people use “R.I.A.S.E.” I have found from a presentational point of view it is easier to remember and flows nicer using “Raise.” So let’s look at this in an anagram. 161

When in Rome R – No – Leo, Pisces, Gemini | A – No – Virgo, Scorpio | I – No – Cancer, Taurus | S – No – Libra, Capricorn | E – No – Aquarius, Sagittarius | Aries

The chart is incredibly easy to follow. You say a letter and if you get a No you move to the right; if you get a Yes you move down the chart to the next letter. This is it in its simplest form. With presentation it becomes so much more, so let’s look at our example of “Capricorn” again and break it down bit by bit so you can see my thinking. Performer: “Do you believe in the Zodiac or horoscopes?” 162

Peter Turner Asking this question is the start of the anagramming process. I will base my performance on the participant’s answer. I want to create instant rapport, and therefore the way to do it is to essentially agree with their viewpoint. No performance of mine is ever the same. Participant: “I do.” In this performance the participant does; this is the scenario I find occurs the most frequently. If the participant says No, make judgement on their answer in a positive way. What do I mean by that? Let’s say they say No. Respond with, “That tells me you are a logical thinker that tries to see the systematic side of things. That’s great, and I think what I am about to show you will fit perfectly with the way you think.” You have complimented them for thinking this way, therefore keeping rapport instead of brushing against the way they think. If the person is on the fence about believing, I might say, “Are you open to experiencing something new and exciting that might change your viewpoint?” Then move into the line below about the stars. Performer: “I certainly believe it is a fascinating subject. I am a massive believer in the fact that even though the stars are thousands of miles away, they really can and do have an effect on our lives here and now.

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When in Rome “I would like to read you, with your permission of course, to not only intuit your star sign, but to learn about you during that process.” I ask for the participant’s permission to read them. This suggests that what I am doing is private, and there must be something about to be read, because if you weren’t really going to get inside their mind, why would you ask that question? It gives what you are about to do an instant air of credibility and at the same time I think it is theatrically nice. Participant: “That is fine with me.” In this scenario the person said Yes; if the person ever says No, then respect their wishes. Performer: “We might be a little bit rocky in places, but this is nothing more that connection building. Building a connection emotionally and mentally can take years, as I am sure you know, and I have only known you a matter of minutes.” This is giving you a logical early excuse for getting a No in performance. In this system you will only ever get one No answer. Most systems you get two. I have taken principles from outside of this that fit perfectly to only ever get one No answer, and the one you do get is in such a logical place it will never be remembered. I always hated being seemingly wrong after you have been right so many times, and that was one of the main faults with anagrams. Now I

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Peter Turner never worry, because the excuse above is more than enough after they agree with it to even think about a miss. In fact, it opens the doors to you being bolder. Performer: “All I need you to do is imagine for me your star sign written in the air. I want you to imagine looking over all of the letters of your star sign and just beaming them towards me. The better you can imagine this the easier this will be for me. “There is one thing I will point out: because you have not mentally transmitted a piece of information before, I am almost certain I will not pick up on the letters in any specific order. I will just pick up on the ones your subconscious is focusing on the most at the time.” Again, another pet hate of mine when anagramming is the seemingly random nature of picking up on letters. We don’t focus on words in a random order, so why would we receive them in a random order? I thought about it, and this seemed very plausible and it gave me an excuse for receiving them in a random order. Performer: “Can I take your hands?” This is theatrical but suggests to the participant that some connection has been created. Why would you do it if it hadn’t? The participant gives you her hands.

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When in Rome Performer: “Don’t say anything unless I ask you a direct question. Focus on your star sign written in the air between us…like…LEO. Are you seeing it there?” This is a very important section; the timing is essential here. I first mute the participant—remember at this moment in time we don’t know what the participant’s star sign is. If we get a No on the letter R, you will see looking at the anagram there are three star signs it could be (Leo, Gemini, Pisces). I need to eliminate one of those star signs before any letter is ever thrown out. The reason for ensuring the participant never says a word is to stop them from saying, “That isn’t my star sign,” when you throw out Leo. With that in mind, let’s look at why and how I throw out Leo, as the timing of this is essential. If you take a look at the scripts there is a slight pause before the word “like” and then again a pause before I throw out “Leo.” The reason for this is if the participant’s star sign is Leo, they will react as though you got it right. If they do not react straight away as though to say, “How did you do that?” then you need to quickly respond with, “Are you seeing YOUR sign in the air?” Slightly emphasize YOUR, which suggests that you know Leo isn’t their sign and you were just using it as an example. If it is Leo, this is a miracle and then you move into the reading from here. If not, move straight on. Participant: “I am.”

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Peter Turner Performer: “Great, then we can begin. The first thing I am feeling is there is an R in this, correct?” I discuss the importance of the word “feeling” in this book somewhere. (These are notes; they get moved so much I couldn’t outline where.) I throw out the first letter. Participant: “Yes.” In this scenario it is a hit; if in the eventuality it is not a hit, there is no worry there. Move straight into the line about focusing on this as a picture (outlined in this example after the letter S). For demonstration purposes, let’s say they had said No; then the signs would now be Pisces or Gemini. I would use Derren’s “Repeat It Principle”: focus on your picture and, while focusing on the picture, just keep saying the title of the picture over and over like Pisces, Pisces, Pisces. If they react you instantly jump on it with, “I was feeling that was your sign.” If they do not react, simply respond with, “Just repeat it over and over again like that.” Now you know they are a Gemini. Seemingly, a miracle has taken place. In this scenario there is an R in Capricorn. So we would move on. Performer: “There is also an A.” Participant: “Yes.” Performer: “I am getting slightly confused now, like the connection has weakened slightly. There is not a letter I in the star sign, is there?”

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When in Rome This is another important line. By claiming you are getting slightly confused, it gives you leeway for a miss. Remember, probability is saying that the farther you get down the anagram, the greater the chance there is of getting the response of a No from the participant. I have taken this into account and have offered yet another logical excuse/reminder to wash away the No, and also I have, if you have noticed, applied a closed question. The closed question is: “There is not a letter I in the star sign, is there?” Say this with a little bit of a confused tone, and no matter what they answer it doesn’t matter. Look at the question again. If they answer with a Yes or a No, depending on what you counter with, it will always be perceived as a hit. For example, and for full explanation, let’s say they respond, “No, there isn’t an I.” Quickly counter with, “I wasn’t sure I was seeing one,” and now you would move into the “focus on this as a picture” line. It’s never seemingly a miss. I have had, on one occasion (after mentioning I am losing my connection), the participant’s phone begin to ring, and when the participant stopped it I said, “Ah, that explains why. That really threw me off. Where were we?” giving me a logical reason for getting a No later as you can point out that the phone interrupted you and you needed to refocus.

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Peter Turner In this book, I have also applied this as a principle (I couldn’t tell you where, but it is definitely in here). In this scenario we got a Yes. Participant: “Yes.” Performer: “I might in a moment have to resort to you focusing on the picture of this star sign. Is there an ‘S’ in there?” I am just topping up a suggestion I have made several times throughout this anagram. I am suggesting that I might fail at any moment. I have also created an excuse should it fail to shift the way the participant thinks, almost blaming them if I do get a No. In this scenario we are going to get a No now. See how I deal with it. Participant: “No.” Performer: “Ok, can you just in your mind count the number of letters in the star sign for me?” The participant starts to count. Performer: “In fact, please focus on this as an image if you can.” The participant starts to focus. Here I apply Michael Murray’s “CUPS Principle” (outlined in this book). I would for any other letter apply Derren’s “Repeat It in Your Mind Principle,” but as I strive for seeming perfection on this letter I use this principle. I

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When in Rome notice the participant is struggling to count. Had it been Libra it would have been instantaneous, and I cut them off after giving them a few seconds and continue. Performer: “Wow, this is much better; a wealth of information has just flooded in. (I would usually add scripts here but I will do this later.) I now know you focus on things aesthetically instead of analytically. I now claim that a wealth of information has come through based on them thinking in a different way. This gives you a perfect example now to read the person and at the same time wash away the miss by simply claiming to have discovered how the participant thinks. Remember, you told the participant at the start that you needed to find the connection. Performer: “You’re a Capricorn, correct?” You now nail the star sign. Your work here is done, you have gained your credibility and you have with no props collected

several

pieces

of

information

about

the

participant that you may not have known before. Now with all that in mind, let’s take a look at the reading of the person based on their star sign. I have gone into a lot of detail about this in the “Readings” section of the book, so for the purpose of explanation let me go into the reading of a “Capricorn” and explain how I would look at it. So first, what is a Capricorn?

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Peter Turner It is essentially a goat with a mermaid’s tail (that is what I see when I look at it). What unique qualities does a goat have? Well, it can climb up any obstacle no matter how steep and rocky. It is also relaxed unless pressured and backed into a corner. What qualities does a mermaid have? It is mysterious, it is rarely seen and it’s relaxed and placid. It very rarely gets out of the water and is also known to be alluring and intelligent. I also know that a Capricorn is an earth sign. Let’s take these simple qualities, mix them together and base a reading on them. You are the sort of person that has had so many obstacles and curve balls thrown at you in the past that you have adapted to being metaphorically quick on your feet and have learnt how to overcome most of whatever life throws at you. I also feel with you there is a sense of constantly refining and aiming high; you are always aiming to better yourself and are not afraid to be honest with yourself. I feel because of this you bottle things up when portraying your feelings to others, and I bet it can often feel like your emotions can get the better of you at times. You keep people at a distance and very few people get to see the real you; based on negative past experience, it’s almost

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When in Rome like there is an air of mystery that surrounds you. I say all of that in a real pleasant sense of course; it’s almost an air of cheekiness. You are a very grounded person that is the go-to person when people are forced to make decisions, and I bet at times that can be weighty, carrying everyone else’s problems. I am certain for sure now. There is no other star sign that could represent you other than “Capricorn.”

As you can see, I just took the description of the drawing and turned it into a reading. Not much to it; reading is not all about doing this (as you will notice reading the readings section), but it makes a massive difference. This concludes the way that I tend to anagram. I will also outline how to make an anagram later on in these notes and how I tend to think about them to try and detract from the letters. In the case of a star sign, it is a difficult thing to avoid. The star sign is now revealed and you proceed with the routine. Performer: “Now that I feel I know you a little better I think I am ready to answer the question. Have you ever heard the expression: ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’?” Jess: “I have.”

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Peter Turner Performer: “Well, as you know, my job is to read thoughts, and whilst you have not said anything out loud, I hope you seek some comfort in knowing I am reading you loud and clearly. I understand your problem and I have been in this type of scenario before.” This is, I feel, a beautiful piece of scripting because if the participant genuinely believes you are reading their thoughts, then it will comfort them to know you have read the question from them and that you empathise. I also suggest in my scripting here that I have been in this scenario before. I do this for two reasons: one, it suggests I can actually see the scenario they are in; if not, why would I mention it; and two, it suggests that I have been in a similar situation and therefore I have a right to be able to answer the question and talk about it without them feeling uncomfortable. Again, this is rapport building. Performer: “I know you have been doubting yourself recently, almost feeling like you have to paint on a smile. I want to remind you of a few things; these few things will completely answer your question.” Try to get some sort of reaction here. I don’t mean a reaction like a wow or a reaction to the effect; I mean a confirmation, some sign, that they agree with what you are saying. Performer: “I have in the past been in a place where I felt so low, like the weight of the world was on my shoulders, that I didn’t feel like going outside to face the world in the

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When in Rome morning. I have felt that I just couldn’t get around to solving my problems and most definitely could not see solutions. It was only in hindsight that I realised that most actions stem from a thought. “Negative thoughts create negative and null actions. Let me show you what I mean.” This

is

a

slight

linguistic

dual

reality

as

the

audience/witnesses will understand that as you are reading the participant and that is what they are experiencing (and it might well be). To the participant if it is, they will accept it as so; if not they will take it as a statement of how you have felt in the past and nothing more. It helps them to sympathise with you and makes them more suggestible to what is about to come. Performer: “Can I please borrow your hand?” Jess passes the performer her hand. The performer pushes Jess’ hand onto the table top. Performer: “I want you to think of the feelings I have just been talking about. I want you in your mind to put yourself into a scenario where you felt like this. “You will notice the moment you start to do this that your hand will become heavier. The more negative the thought, the heavier and heavier it becomes. Give me a nod when you feel your hand getting heavier.” Jess nods.

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Peter Turner This is a classic “hand stick,” but it has a premise and a purpose. The idea of sticking someone’s hand to the table seems like a daunting thing to someone who has never done it. If there is any time you are going to trust me it has to be here. It is self-working (well, to a degree); all it requires is trust in yourself and getting the participant to confirm that they feel it getting heavier. This is not set up as a challenge, so there is no reason for the participant to try and go against you at this point. Just follow the scripts I have provided and you will find this will work. If it doesn’t the first time, don’t be disheartened. Keep trying it; it will I promise! Performer: “We can often get so bogged down by negative thought that we end up not being able to do anything at all. Give me a nod when you just know your hand is stuck solid.” Jess nods. You are practically asking the participant to give you confirmation that they cannot move their hand, that it really is stuck solidly. When they do this proceed. Performer: “With these negative thoughts in mind, Jess, try to lift your hand and you will find you cannot. Just try to lift it.” This is the bold moment, if the participant has given you the nod to let you know they are not going to move their

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When in Rome hand. They should not move it. That is the real secret here: trust in yourself and your participant management skills. Jess tries to lift her hand from the table and it is stuck solidly to the table. Performer: “The harder you try with negative thoughts in mind, the harder it is to do anything at all.” Jess tries harder to lift her hand to no avail. It is essentially your words that are ensuring the participant’s hand is stuck to the table. This sentence reinforces the suggestion, and if in the scenario where the participant is playing along (I have had this happen), they know not to lift it. Performer: “Relax from trying, Jess, or you will strain yourself; your hand is going to remain locked to the table. I want to show you something. I now want you to think of something positive that you have going on in your life, something that gives you a feeling of happiness. Take a few seconds, close your eyes and really imagine how this makes you feel on the inside. “When you can fully feel the warm feeling, open your eyes.” Jess opens her eyes. This is the bit where you need to be clever linguistically. You need to suggest to everyone else that they could damage themselves should they persist in trying to lift

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Peter Turner their arm and at the same time ensure that the participant keeps their hand on the table after they have relaxed it. We don’t want them prematurely lifting up their arm and ruining the next bit of the effect. You will notice I apply the “Confirmation Principle” when I ask the participant to open their eyes when they imagine how a positive thought makes them feel. This is very clever because once you ask the participant to close their eyes, they have to open them at some point. Even if the participant doesn’t get a feeling, when there are people watching them they will feel inclined to open them at some point, confirming to everyone else that they must have felt something. Performer: “With these positive thoughts you should feel you can do anything. Positive thoughts help us feel on top of the world. They make us want to get out of bed in the morning and make it a pleasure to walk out of the door and to take in a breath of fresh air. With these new thoughts in mind, try lifting your hand and seeing what happens now.” Jess is very easily able to lift her hand from the table! There are a few clever bits of scripting here, some for the benefit of the participant and some for the benefit of the audience/witnesses. The most important word in the scripting above is the word “now.” The reason the word “now” is so important is that is suggests that there is a difference from a moment ago (even though there is not).

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When in Rome Performer: “That goes to show you just how strong positive thought is. I would like to go a step farther with your permission, Jess.” Jess: “That is fine with me.” Again, here I am applying a “Matrix moment,” where the participant gets the choice to continue. I have never had a participant say they would not like to continue. The choice is purely theatrical and if you do get a No, then just move straight into the ending of the routine, skipping the “Preventing the participant from speaking” phase. I find it also helps in making the participant more suggestive, as you have told them you are going to be “upping” what happens, and when they agree to it, it is almost like them accepting that something bigger is going to happen before it happens. Performer: “I would like to share with you the power of words. I have shown you that it is often negative thoughts that can affect the way that we act. “It is more often than not the things that we say that affect the way that others act. You can make or break someone else’s day just by the exchange of a few words. I am of the belief that if you have nothing positive to say, you shouldn’t say it all.” I am going to cut in here because this is essential to the method. With this last line, “If you have nothing positive to say then you shouldn’t say it at all,” you are practically

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Peter Turner suggesting to them what is about to happen. You are telling them it goes against your beliefs and the last thing they are going to want to do in a moment is to go against what it is that you believe in. This should stop them from speaking as it is easier to say nothing at all. Performer: “I would like you to metaphorically take a look at yourself and to make a judgement. Think of something you don’t like about yourself. “I would like you to let these words reverberate around your mind. In a moment I am going to have you try to say these words and I am going to use positive will to stop you. You will notice whilst these negative words float around your mind they create negative thoughts. Just like your hand became stuck to the table a few moments ago, your words will get stuck in your mouth, and no matter how hard you try to say these negative words, you won’t be able to get the words out of your mouth. “You can feel yourself becoming tongue tied the more you think about these words. “Try and say these thoughts.” Essentially you are reminding them about the hand, reminding them that the hand got stuck and letting them know that this is no different—it is just occurring in a different place.

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When in Rome Jess tries to speak and no matter how hard she tries the words won’t come out of her mouth. She tries harder and harder, and the more she tries the more her mouth becomes stuck solid. Performer: “Relax for a second, Jess. Don’t panic, take a deep breath in and, whilst relaxing, think of one of your strong qualities. Think of one thing you love the most about yourself. “Let this reverberate around your head for a few seconds. You will notice that positive words create positive thoughts. I am going to ask you to say whatever it is you are thinking of out loud for me. I want you to be confident when you say it. “Give me a nod when you are ready, Jess.” Jess nods. This is important. You do not want the participant to say they are ready out loud! This would totally destroy this bit of the routine. I ask them to make an action (a nod) when they are ready to talk. This prevents them from having to say anything out loud. The performer smiles like he knows something that everyone else does not. Performer: “Jess, when you are ready, say what it is you have to say and don’t worry about anyone else.”

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Peter Turner Jess: “I am a strong-minded and reliable person.” The first time the participant says this out loud they are likely to just say it. Smile at them when they say it out loud, almost like you are proud of them for saying this out loud. Performer: “I want you to shout that for me, Jess, at the top of your voice. Don’t worry about anyone else.” Jess: “I AM A STRONG-MINDED AND RELIABLE PERSON!” This is the hardest bit of the routine in my opinion, getting them to shout this out loud for the world to hear. When they get this off of their chest, trust me, they will feel amazing! Performer: “Perfect! Jess, I know you are about to approach a crossroads in your life where you are about to make a very important decision. “I want to let you know that if you take into account how strong you are as a person, and approach that decision with positive thought, and you use your words positively in whatever situation you find yourself in, you have the power to overcome any situation life throws at you and to achieve anything that you set your mind to. “The answer to your question is simple, Jess. It’s you.” The performer leans in and hugs Jess. I have found (as many performers have witnessed) that whenever I give an emotional reading or perform a piece

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When in Rome that evokes a feeling afterward, a female will be the one that leans in and hugs me, not me hugging her. I feel that is a sure sign that they really have appreciated your time.

Additional ideas This is just a quick thought when anagramming the star sign. I have noticed something very interesting that I have actually used without thinking within performance that this type of anagramming opened up. Each step of the way, other than the Capricorn/Libra ending, there is a little subtlety that I think makes a massive, massive difference to the deduction process. You must simply ask when it comes down to the two drawings, “Can you see your sign as a drawing for me?” If you follow the anagram you will see why this is so great. If there is any hesitation whatsoever you instantly know the star sign (most of the time). Another subtle thing I have started doing, which really adds to the presentation and kills the first star sign instead of just throwing it out in the hopes that it hits is by stating at the start: Performer: “Wouldn’t it be interesting if coincidentally we were the same sign? “I am a Leo…”

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Peter Turner If they react, follow with: “Great, I had a feeling we shared some specific qualities, and that’s why I had to mention it.” If they say they are not, simply say: Performer: “It would have been interesting if you were. We would have shared some specific characteristics and traits.” Then just proceed. I have found this ties in a lot nicer when presenting the anagram. The participant strangely gives you the reaction when they are!

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When in Rome

Credits Bob Farmer – What’s my sign? Michael Murray – CUPS Alain Nu – Astrologic Doug Dyment – Anagram

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Your Notes/Ideas

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VIII Why star signs?

It may come as no surprise to people reading this book that I adore star-sign divinations. I am going to outline a few different things I do with star signs so you are prepared in any situation. You might not, in all honesty, have liked star-sign divinations in the past or used them, and it begs the question: why?

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When in Rome I find that they are such an easy thing to divine, and simultaneously they open up so many windows in terms of giving the person a reading about themselves. They are prop free, any place, any time, pieces of information that a good majority of the time people know (especially females). Try them for me; I promise they are worth learning. Here was a turning point for me in loving all things Zodiac. I was in a nightclub with Mark Chandau and I had a line of people waiting for me to divine their star signs in the smoking section of the club (I don’t smoke; just another little fact about me). I am sure if anyone wanted to ask Mark to retell the events, he could do it much better than me, seeing it from a different perspective. One line that really shocked Mark was from a bunch of sceptical males, who, after having me divine one star sign, ran away telling other witnesses that I was a psychic at the top of their voices. A hardened sceptic turned believer in a matter of seconds from a star sign guess. Crazy! I have found during my experience of performing that females very much hold astrological readings and all things horoscope to be massively impressive when discussed. The lay female never thinks in terms of this

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Peter Turner being one chance in twelve because for them it holds such a huge relevance. I think there is a very important lesson to be learnt here. WE are often the ones that think in terms of probability, and WE are the ones that use said probability to determine how impressive an effect is. If it was to think of a number between one and three, I could see probability playing a part. If there is anything you try in this book, try these next couple of star sign routines and see how well-received they are from the audience’s perspective. In hindsight, after reading back over my notes, maybe it is the fact that a true believer in horoscopes finds it impossible to formulate or systemise something that holds such emotional relevance. Think about that for a few seconds. Also, as another little bonus, if you were using any of this in conjunction with Isabella’s Star 2, then you are already 90% of the way to divining a date of birth. In this next routine, the audience is genuinely going to be doing this. They are going to take into account the person’s characteristics and traits and divine the participant’s star sign based on the person’s characteristics and traits.

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IX Reaping what you sow

This is a beautiful little principle that I think you will love. It is not just limited to star signs. This was inspired by one of Banachek’s principles, “Harvesting.” This is completely different as you will see, but it sparked off so many ideas in my mind, and this is one that has stuck and I use frequently. Harvesting can be found in Psychological Subtleties. 193

When in Rome Let’s imagine that you have just anagrammed a participant and you are sure you know what their sign is. Address them: Performer: “Some people are easier to read than other people; for example, the lady over there (point to someone you/participant doesn’t know), that lady, is a water element. “The gentleman over there, he’s clearly headstrong, most certainly an Aries or a Libra, and you are a (whatever sign they are).” Now what happens is due to the “Confirmation Principle.” Since the participant’s star sign is correct, it confirms the rest of the star signs you pointed out to be correct for free. As you can see, this is easy and requires no extra work at all.

Mark Chandaue additional idea If you are working with a couple of participants, it means you can get the other participant’s star sign for free using this technique (without the use of a one-ahead). In fact, thinking about it, this is almost (not totally) like a verbal one-ahead. On paper this reads as something that very simple, but I promise that it works incredibly well. 194

Peter Turner Once you have anagrammed the star sign of participant 1, this is where you will apply the “Reaping What You Sow Principle.” Let’s imagine they are a Libra. Begin by pointing around the room and pointing out others star signs, and then turn to participant 2 and say: Performer: “You’re the (whatever star sign participant 1 is, in this case Libra), right?” The participant will naturally say no (unless coincidentally they are). Performer: “Which sign are you?” They will tell you; let’s imagine they have said Gemini. Performer: “Oh, you’re the Gemini, which must mean that you (point to participant 1) are the Libra (or whatever sign you anagrammed). In close quarters it’s sometimes easy to get thoughts tangled.” Try this, and you will see the power of it.

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Credits Banachek – Psychological Subtleties Mark Chandaue – Additional idea

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X The Bob principle - Hearing stars

The people that know this principle know just how devious it is. If you haven’t had a chance to read about it, variations can be found in The Devil in Disguise and Bigger Fish 2. Here I will offer a very simple variation that flies so far under the radar you will not believe you had not thought of it (it’s a head slapper).

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When in Rome This leads me to talking about one of my big passions: children’s books. I love them. Strange I know, but a lot of my inspiration comes from them in terms of presentation, and this principle is no different. Enid Blyton happens to be one of my biggest sources of inspiration, and if you have never read The Faraway Tree books you really must. I am going to reproduce a small section (a few paragraphs): They suddenly came to the wood. It was not far from their cottage, at the back. It looked quite an ordinary wood, except that the trees were a darker green than usual. A narrow ditch separated the wood from the overgrown lane. “A wood!” said Bessie, in delight. “We shall be able to have picnics here!” “It's rather a mysterious sort of wood,” said Jo thoughtfully, “don't you think so, Bessie?” “Well, the trees are rather thick, but they seem about the same as any others," said Bessie.

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Peter Turner “They don't quite,” said Fanny. “The noise the leaves make is different. Listen!” They listened—and Fanny was right. The leaves of the trees in the wood did not rustle in quite the same way as other trees nearby did. “It's almost as if they were really talking to one another,” said Bessie. “Whispering secrets—real secrets, that we just can't understand. It's a magic wood!” said Fanny suddenly. Nobody said anything. They stood and listened. “Wisha-wisha-wishawisha-wisha!” said the wood, and bent towards one another in a friendly way. The lines that stood out to me were these particular ones: “Whispering secrets—real secrets, that we just can't understand. It's a magic wood!” said Fanny suddenly. Anyone that has read the “Bob Principle” should be smiling now at just how the simplest things can evoke a “myriad” (anyone at M.I.N.D.S. should get the inside joke) of ideas. There is a lesson there in itself: inspiration should come from everywhere, not just magic books. This is going to 201

When in Rome sound cheesy but I don’t mind: there is a whole host of real magic going on around us that we don’t look for and therefore we never see it. Take a step back and look for it. I promise you the flowers smell amazing. Love, poetry, music, children’s literature, friendship, art and observation are just a few of the things that inspire me. Anyway, back to the use of the principle. During a star-sign anagram (or any other anagram), one of the things I don’t particularly like is the fact that it is primarily letter-based, but it is the most reliable method. This got me thinking: wouldn’t it be amazing if somehow I could throw out the letters without throwing out the letters from the audience’s perspective? Then I thought: heck, I have done this before without even realising I have done it. Because a star-sign divination is my go-to thing and I often have queues of people waiting for me to divine their sign (it really is that powerful), I found that if I had more than one participant wanting their star sign divined, I would have to use a one-ahead or an entirely different divination like “The eye spy divination” from Isabella’s Star 2 to get through both participants. The problem is that they are seemingly not consistent and “eye spy” is not as reliable as a traditional anagram. I used 202

Peter Turner to get around this by whispering the letters into the ear of each participant (the participants didn’t know each other). This got me thinking: why have I not whispered the letters when working with one participant and wrapped it up to everyone else as though I was just asking Yes/No questions? What you are about to read is the exact script I use when performing a star-sign anagram (with the Bob variation). For the people who don’t think “dual reality” is a viable method or that it doesn’t have its place in close-up, I hope this makes you realise it does and can. You are going to be performing the anagram the way depicted in “Positive actions and words speak loudly.” The only difference is that after you have asked the participant to imagine that the star sign is written in the air, proclaim: Performer: “There will be some things I will pick up on during the reading that will be personal. As that’s the nature of this, don’t worry, I won’t say these things out loud. “There are going to be things I need you to focus on that I don’t want anyone else focusing on, as it will give me mixed signals and make things difficult.

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When in Rome “Imagine passing over each of the letters and firing them at me mentally. I can’t promise I will pick up on these in order as you have never transmitted a piece of information before. “I am going to ask you a few questions; I want a simple yes or no and nothing more. If at any point I ask you to play along or mention any other star sign in your ear, please tell everyone here I have done so.” This is where you lean in and perform the anagram quickly as a whisper. This will take no more than 5-10 seconds. When you are done, simply lean out and say: Performer: “I think after asking those simple questions I have in fact established that you think creatively. Can you see your star sign as a picture for me?” This is where you will know the star sign of the two on the branch of the anagram (based on the participant’s reaction to the picture question). This is where you will give a reading for the star sign before you reveal the sign. Remember, the reading is the important thing to the participant; the sign is the cherry on the cake. The participant will be just as impressed as though you did the anagram out loud. The audience on the other hand will

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Peter Turner think you asked a few personal questions (based on the scripting) and then read the person, revealing the sign. This, as you can see, makes the anagram process invisible and takes out the last few kinks, making the process incredibly clean from the audience’s perspective.

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XI Your lucky star

Effect The performer explains his belief in star signs and briefly explains to an audience how to be able to divine star signs by taking into account a person’s characteristics and traits. It is explained that if they just guess this will not work, and they really have to take into account the person’s characteristics. 209

When in Rome A participant is standing, and the performer does not know their date of birth. The performer proposes to read the participant out loud for the audience to hear, and based off of that reading the audience will commit to what they believe the star sign is. It is suggested by the performer that whatever star sign is committed to by a majority of the group will be the star sign that should represent the participant. The audience nominates (via majority) a star sign. The performer divines the participant’s star sign and asks the audience what star sign they got as a collective. It is a match! You could have one person guess another person’s star sign. This will work in close-up or stage. In fact, let me perform it on you (the reader). First ask yourself this question: “Do you believe that even though the stars are thousands and thousands miles away they can have an effect on our lives here and now?” Think about it for a few seconds.

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Peter Turner I completely believe it is possible, and when you believe, it certainly gives credence and credibility to horoscopes or star signs. The way you act, your characteristics and traits, is completely defined by the star under which you were born. That means that if we can take into account someone’s characteristics and traits, we should know the exact star under which that person was born. I am going to read the person sitting beside me. You can’t see this person so you are at a disadvantage, so let me describe him. Pay attention to the characteristics and traits of this person to make your decision. If you just guess or throw out a random star sign, this won’t work. So don’t just expect to call out, for example, Aries and be correct, as you will definitely be wrong. I know what you are thinking: how on earth can you do this? Let me give you an example: I am a Scorpio, the most enigmatic of the water signs. I have tendencies to be reserved and fairly mysterious. I am calm-natured unless backed into a corner and I seek solace in my own solitude. This should be enough to tell you everything you need to know in order to have been able to tell me my sign. 211

When in Rome Trust your own intuition. As we go along, paint a picture of the sign in your mind. Are you ready? The person sitting next to me is grounded and decisive. A very headstrong person, stubborn-natured at times, I feel sometimes makes rash decisions…he can rush into things without thinking. This is not a bad thing; it says he is a doer, not a thinker, and believes actions speak louder than words. Read it back, get an idea of what this person’s star sign is and turn the page.

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When in Rome The person sitting beside me is…

…a Taurus! Did you get that? Don’t worry if you didn’t. Let’s look at why this works. Let’s break it down and look at the wording.

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Peter Turner Headstrong. Rushes into things. Stubborn. These things alone should be enough for anyone to have made the decision of Aries or Taurus. I killed Aries by mentioning it to ensure that it wasn’t chosen. I also mentioned my star sign to kill that. Because my reading is different from the one for Taurus, it completely keeps them from picking the same thing. (If you decide to skip any of the next section, you will miss out on a treat.) Now you understand how this works. There is a high percentage that a lot of the group will pick up on the exact star sign. I always use Taurus as it is easy for people to pick up on this. This means having to wait until you come across a Taurus to perform this, but the effect is worth it. This illustrates another point: I feel very strongly about waiting till the right moment to perform a particular effect. Just because we know an effect doesn’t mean that we need to perform it—it makes it a little more special.

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When in Rome I often feel the best effects are ones that are in your arsenal that are situational. However, I know that not everyone agrees with this sentiment, so I do have a way to do this in any situation, which I will outline later. Let me outline the full performance and then look at alternative variations.

Full performance The performer is sitting with a group of participants (we will imagine that everyone has become acquainted). Performer: “Do any of you here believe that even though the stars are thousands of miles away, they can have an effect on our life here and now?” The group agrees for the most part that they do. Performer: “I very much believe they do. I believe our life is mapped out for us in the stars and everything happens for a reason. “It certainly gives credence and credibility to horoscopes or star signs. “The way you act, your characteristics and traits, is completely defined by the star under which you were born.

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Peter Turner “That means that if we can take into account someone’s characteristics and traits, we should know the exact star under which that person was born. “I would like to give each of you a gift. I am going to teach each of you how to successfully be able to take into account someone else’s characteristics and traits to determine their star sign. “Sam, would you mind us taking into account your characteristics and traits to try and determine your star sign?” Sam: “Yeah, I would like that.” Performer: “We might be a little bit rocky in places, but this is nothing more that connection building. Building a connection emotionally and mentally can take years, as I am sure you know, and I have only known you a matter of minutes. All I need you to do is imagine for me your star sign written in the air. I want you to imagine looking over all of the letters of your star sign and just beaming them towards me. The better you can imagine this the easier this will be for me. “There is one thing I will point out: because you have not mentally transmitted a piece of information before, I am almost certain I will not pick up on the letters in any specific order. I will just pick up on the ones your subconscious is focusing on the most at the time. 217

When in Rome “Can I take your hands?” The participant gives you her hands. Performer: “Don’t say anything unless I ask you a direct question. Focus on your star sign written in the air between us…like…LEO. Are you seeing it there?” Sam: “I am.” Performer: “Great, then we can begin. The first thing I am feeling is there is an R in this, correct?” Sam: “Yes.” Performer: “There is also an A.” Sam: “Yes.” Performer: “I am getting slightly confused now, like the connection has weakened slightly. There is not a letter I in the star sign, is there?” Sam: “No.” Performer: “I didn’t feel there was. You are doing perfectly. Can you focus on your sign as a picture for me?” Sam: “Yes.” Performer: “I am feeling I am starting to get a hold of who you are as a person now. Now that I know you a little bit better, let me tell everyone else what I am reading from 218

Peter Turner you. Sam, it is essential you say nothing out loud. Remember, I don’t know what your star sign is.” The performer addresses the group. Performer: “If you just guess or throw out a random star sign, this won’t work. So don’t just expect to call out, for example, Aries and be correct, as you will definitely be wrong. You are not an Aries, are you Sam?” Sam: “No.” Performer: “That would have been an incredible guess if it was.” The performer addresses the group. Performer: “I know what you are thinking: how on earth can you do this? “Let me give you an example: I am a Scorpio, the most enigmatic of the water signs. I have tendencies to be reserved and fairly mysterious. I am calm-natured unless backed into a corner and I seek solace in my own solitude. This should be enough to tell you everything you need to know in order to have been able to tell me my sign. “Trust your own intuition. Are you ready? “I feel Sam is very grounded and decisive. A very headstrong person, stubborn-natured at times, I feel sometimes makes rash decisions…he can rush into things 219

When in Rome without thinking. This is not a bad thing; it says he is a doer, not a thinker, and believes actions speak louder than words. “That is all you need to be able to feel Sam’s star sign. I feel I now know it. “Does anyone here feel that they know?” A couple of people put up their hands. Performer: “More interestingly, does anyone here feel that they are born under the same star?” One participant raises his hand. The performer chooses one of the participants at random. Performer: “What star sign do you believe Sam is?” Participant: “A Taurus.” Sam freaks out, proclaiming he is, and the rest of the group says that they also believed it was Taurus! As you can see with this routine it is fairly self- working. You could also employ a Banachek-esque principle here that could only be likened to harvesting. This would ensure that more people are watching (audience or closeup) if you asked, “Did anyone else get that?” Then they would raise their hands to say they did. It’s making the question double-barrelled. 220

Peter Turner Performer: “If you went for this instinctively and then changed your mind or you ended on Taurus, raise your hand.” Obviously those who know harvesting will be able to see the difference and see how clever applying the two questions at once is. I love performing this type of effect this way as there is no bigger proof from the audience’s perspective that there really is some credibility in what you are doing.

Your lucky star – Any sign, sure fire I am not going to repeat the entire presentation of the above effect, as I feel if I was doing that I would effectively only be doing it to fill pages, and that is not something either of us wants. I want the pages to be packed with relevant information and not with filler or fluff. What I am about to share is an idea. This is something I have used very little because, in all honesty, I forgot about it until writing these notes. It’s a principle I created some time ago and never really had a use for it. For owners of Bigger Fish, this will remind them of an earlier effect of mine: “Book of the fallen.”

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When in Rome The reason I point it out as an idea is because I have not worked this as much as I would have liked, BUT (notice the capitals) I know this works and is practical (as I am sure you will when you read it). I am, for the benefit of this, going to call it “The Reverse Poll Principle,” the reason being it will be easy to reference later on.

Effect Each member of a table is handed a piece of card and a pencil/pen. One of the members of the table says they are happy to be read and have the group divine their star sign. The performer, who doesn’t know the participant’s star sign, starts to read aloud the characteristics and traits of the participant, and the group is asked to write down what they believe the participant’s star sign to be. The performer explains that it will be the majority vote of the group that counts. So if three of the four have gone for Leo, that is the star sign that we will assume the participant is. If, however, the people at the table all go for different star signs, the participant is to choose one with which he feels he has a connection.

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Peter Turner The performer begins the reading and starts to explain what he feels about the participant. The group commits to, on paper, what they believe the star sign is. The performer totals up the votes and then writes the majority vote on a piece of card. The participant is asked to say his star sign out loud. The card is flipped to show the majority vote of the group and it’s a match!

Breakdown This routine really outlines something that I have been saying for a long time: it is not thinking hard, it is thinking smart that counts. I often feel there are too many mechanical sleights within mentalism, which prefers visual moves instead of words. I have (by accident, in all honesty) learnt how to achieve many things verbally. The reason I believe this is so important is because there is A) nothing to backtrack and B) you don’t need to have an excuse to perform it—you can do it anytime. This routine could be mechanically achieved with a switch, I know, but I feel it is far too much effort. So here is how I would do the same thing.

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When in Rome Use the anagram depicted above to work out the participant’s star sign. I would advise if it goes down as Aquarius, Sagittarius or Aries to bypass this routine (just because the anagram is down to its bottom branches). But it will still work perfectly (that’s just my preference). Now you know the star sign, but the rest of the table does not. This is where you will proclaim: Performer: “In fact, let’s kill two birds with one stone. If the group picked up on your star sign via me reading you to them, it would not only prove that there is credibility in star signs, but also that it is possible to accurately read somebody.” This is where you move into reading the person, and you can say whatever you feel. That is genuinely how I read someone using my own intuition; I just say whatever comes to mind and that is all. Then address the group. Performer: “I want you to keep the cards toward yourself and don’t let anyone see what you have written. I don’t want you to influence anyone else’s decision, and when you have finished, place your card face down in the center of the table so we end up with a pile of face-down cards.”

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Peter Turner When they are done, collect the cards and simply use a miscall. Look through them and say three people have gone for the same sign. Pick up another card, write down whatever star sign you have deduced from the anagram and then slide the card in front of the participant. Ask them to say their star sign out loud and turn around the card and it will match. So let’s look at what happens in the minds of the people at the table. They will just assume if they didn’t go for that star sign, that someone else will have and not even question it. Remember, they don’t know that you know the star sign, so why would they ever question it? You may find yourself in a scenario where the table does have a majority vote that matches the participant’s star sign. I will bet this happens most frequently with Taurus. If this happens, openly display the cards and let everyone see. The thing that makes this routine so hard hitting is the fact that you have hammed up that you don’t know the participant’s star sign. It makes this impossible to backtrack.

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When in Rome Think about what else you could use this principle for. I have had my mind reeling since writing this, with so many different ideas for this principle.

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XII Nod to star sign

This is a thing of beauty and something I found notes of when going through an old notebook. I don’t know why I didn’t think about doing anything with this technique; I believe it is one of the best techniques I have ever created.

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When in Rome This is really short in writing as it is literally as simple as it sounds. Don’t be fooled by this—actually this leads me to another tangent. One question that seems so important to someone is “page count”—I really hate that term. Does it really matter about the number of pages in a book or how short an effect is? I am a massive believer in quantity, not quality. The best piece of advice I ever got, that I would consider totally priceless, was written on a napkin and handed to me in secret by David Berglas. (It was so touching it inspired an effect.) The piece of information…

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Peter Turner …I will keep that for another time.

David Berglas and I in 2014. (Look in my right hand.) Incidentally, to go off on another tangent, let me tell you the story of David’s “Berglas effect.” I genuinely was so shocked when David turned up to watch me lecture at the magic circle in London, and I had been told to feel privileged (I certainly was!). I performed my variation of the “Berglas effect” to open my lecture and didn’t even know David was in the audience. You can imagine the shock when I looked down and he was sitting there.

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When in Rome The effect came off perfectly and I had heard from sources that he was very impressed with my take on it. After the lecture I go up to the little dressing room and Marvin Berglas comes and asks me to come to the theatre. I followed Marvin back to the theatre in which I had just lectured/performed, and sitting on the chairs in the front row of the empty theatre was David. My heart started to beat very fast, and for one of the only times in my life I was nervous…very nervous. I am a massive Berglas fan—I am not even going to lie, I am a fan boy! I sat on the front of the stage (where David had directed me to sit) and we became acquainted. He has a very strong personality about him, which I liked very much, but a soft tone. He then asked me, “Do you have a deck of playing cards?” He looked right at me and my mind was racing. Was he about to perform the Berglas effect on me? No, surely it’s just a myth or legend. He is staring at me. What is he about to ask me? Is he going to ask me to perform mine for him? The last thought was more daunting than the rest, but there were lots of things floating through my head. He looked right at me and with a low tone simply asked: 232

Peter Turner “If I was to ask you to name any playing card inside this deck, what would it be?” (Or words to that effect.) I naturally went for my favourite. David didn’t know it and I certainly hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. I went for the Jack of Hearts, in case anyone was wondering. “Take the deck out of your pocket,” said David. Just as my hands made contact with the cards he looked back into my eyes and said, “Where is the Jack of Hearts inside the deck?” I obviously didn’t understand what he was asking me. How was I to know where it was? The deck wasn’t stacked; I didn’t know the order. I simply replied that I had no clue. The next bit was strange. His tone changed to being more accretive and he said: “You do know where it is. Tell me you know what position it is at and be accretive. Trust yourself.” I was even more nervous. I stated I knew what position it was in. He paused for what seemed a lifetime and he said: “Do tell.” 233

When in Rome I quickly changed my mind and said, “Ten.” David then mimed the actions of taking the cards out of the box. He then asked me to place the cards on the stage beside where I was sitting and to place my hands around the cards so no one could touch them. He then got up and walked towards the door. I thought he was leaving and maybe this was some elaborate prank or he was joking with me. I just sat still. He left the room and I heard a knocking on the door. Rap, rap, rap. This happened ten times, and David walked back into the room. He then asked me to pick up the cards and to deal them slowly one at a time. One, two, three…four…five. When I hit five, David told me to stop. He looked at me but didn’t say a word. Ten seconds went by, then fifteen, and I could really feel the tension. He then asked me to continue counting and to stop at ten. I counted really slowly, all the time my mind was saying, “No f**king way, no way.” I got to the tenth card and he told me to turn it.

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Peter Turner You know the rest: it was the Jack of Hearts. I have no idea how he achieved it and have come up with a few ridiculous theories that would for the most part be impractical. It really was amazing, and for me it was a moment I will never forget. He then joined me on the stage and we talked about things that are very private to me, and I will never share them. He scribbled something and handed it to me, and that leads back to the essay…. Page count is irrelevant, if the information you are getting is quality. Any information I am sharing here is genuinely from the bottom of my heart stuff I have used and created the best connections with. This next piece is very bold, and in print might seem a little obvious. I have fooled rooms full of people with this (including top performers), not that fooling is the goal as that really doesn’t fit into what is important for me, but I know it is for some people. Let me outline the effect so you can see how beautiful it sounds and then I will go into the methodology and offer some simple but effective presentational tips.

Effect The performer is on stage and talking about how he can just look at some people and guess specific pieces of 235

When in Rome information about that person without ever knowing them. He proposes to attempt to show how this would look. He points at someone in the audience and says, “I feel you, sir, are a Gemini. Yes, you in the blue top with the glasses. Stand. Are you a Gemini?” The person stands and attests to the fact that they are a Gemini! You do not know the person, you do not know their star sign and you have not pre-showed them in any way.

Breakdown This particular effect was one of the effects I performed in Italy that people loved, so much so the crowd at the lecture burst into a five minute conversation in Italian—the reason I knew it was good. (Luca Volpe translated for me!) This is incredibly simple and something I think has been totally overlooked. The uses of this, as you will see, are completely untapped. I want you to think about the possibilities when reading this and to let a flood of ideas come into your head. The secret is really simple. After talking about being able to guess specific pieces of information, point at a mass part of the audience with your 236

Peter Turner hand extended and say, “You, sir, you are a Gemini, correct?” At this moment in time, you don’t know who is a Gemini, but what is about to happen is poetry—you couldn’t make it up. Someone from that group in the audience will nod back at you!! Incredibly simple. The moment someone nods, quickly counter with, “Yes, you sir, with the (name out loud whatever they are wearing), stand for me. We have never met before; we have not talked before the show.” “Can you say out loud your star sign for me?” Audience member: “I am a Gemini!” As you can see, ultra-simple but so deceptive. If a series of people nod, remember who nodded and save that for later. You could almost rock a tossed-out deck without a deck. I know what you are thinking: what happens if nobody nods? (I have never had this happen.) There are a couple of remedies for this scenario. Making a comment for people to nod to: This happens long before the participant ever nods to confirm his star sign; it happens as an off-the-cuff comment earlier in the show. Simply state: 237

When in Rome Performer: “During the show I am going to be asking people in the audience questions. I will be pointing to people and asking if it sounds like them. If I ask you a question and it relates to you at any point, give me a nod.” This will ensure that later when you apply the “Reciprocation Principle,” the participant answers the question! If no one nods for whatever reason, that is not a problem either. Just simply state: Performer: “Ok, don’t worry, I am not going to pressure you; you don’t have to stand. I will point to someone else. You, madam, can you stand for me?” Then you simply move into any other star sign divination piece. It is incredible simple but incredibly effective! As you can see with this principle (which I will go into more detail about later on), it illustrates what I believe to be the most important principle in any art form: Simplicity. The easier something is, the more time there is to play with presentation, which is ultimately the most important factor when everything is boiled down. With this divination the chances of their giving a nod are very high in all honesty. Over the last few years I have found that there are more “Libras” and “Virgos” than about any other

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Peter Turner star sign. I do not know why this is; maybe people have more babies around that time of year. I couldn’t scientifically explain why, but instead of throwing out Gemini, you could throw out these signs instead. However, star signs are one in twelve, and if you are pointing to a mass group you are bound to get a nod.

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Credits Ted Karmilovich – No prop night club act

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Your Notes/Ideas

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XIII Double star sign revelation

This is the last star sign piece in this book. This is incredibly simple and I feel really makes a beautiful justification for the anagram. I have NEVER seen anyone apply it this way.

Effect A participant is asked to divine your star sign and, at the exact same time you divine theirs, to prove that you really do share a connection.

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Breakdown I am sure anyone who has followed my work knows I am a big believer in flipping things on their head and doing it backwards. So let me, if I may, first go off on a tangent and then come back to the effect at hand.

Be controversial – Think backwards This is a tiny essay and a routine (minus the method) at the same time. Before you skip over this because the routine has no method, the reason it doesn’t have a method is not because I am choosing not to share it. It is genuinely because I don’t have a method. You will realise that the interesting thing about thinking backwards is that your thinking will be fresh and you will start to view things in a fresh light. You will notice that when you start to do things the opposite way around, all of a sudden you will realise why most of the things you have been taught or read are difficult to add good presentations to. I will give you an example. Let’s take a look at a simple spoon bend, which is something I don’t do, but don’t skip this as it will give you a look into my thought process. 246

Peter Turner Let’s look at a spoon bend in its traditional sense. When you use your powers to bend a spoon, you end up leaving the spoon in a dishevelled state. When you break this down into its simplest form, you are using your powers for destruction. So thinking about it, what purpose does a traditional spoon bend serve other than to give an example of your mental agility? Ok, that might be all you want to do, but in my opinion it lacks premise. Let’s look at a traditional spoon bend and flip it on its head to exemplify my point of how many windows open up when it comes to finding premise.

Effect The performer produces a spoon and addresses his participant. Performer: “Every single one of us, no matter how individualistic we believe we are, shares one invisible commonality. “That commonality is that each one of us has one problem or stress that is occurring in our lives that we push so far into the back of our minds we pretend it is non-existent.

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When in Rome “These problems can often be summed up in one word. For example, if this was about overworking and not having time to oneself, the word might be ‘stress’ or ‘time.’ “I know right now what I am about to ask you is going to make no sense, but in a moment it will make all the sense in the world. “Can you bend this spoon for me?” The participant bends the spoon. While bending the spoon the audience can see how difficult it is to bend the spoon physically. Performer: “Take a few seconds to really think about a stress that is going on in your life no matter how small. I want you to feel in your heart what word would sum up the stress you are going through right now. “The reason I am asking you to think about summing up this stress in one word is to protect your privacy. If you said the one word out loud, not one person watching here would have a clue what your personal problem is.” Participant: “Time.” Performer: “I want you to write the word ‘time’ into the bowl of the spoon for me.” Let them do this, take the spoon back from the participant and hold her hand. 248

Peter Turner Performer: “I want you first to focus on the problem in your mind for me. Don’t worry, I will not divine the problem and share it publicly. “Imagine how that problem is making you feel at this moment. I want you now to think about a few ways this problem could be solved. “Imagine what it would feel like if you solved this problem. “I am sure you have heard the expression: ‘A problem shared is a problem halved.’ I know you have seen me reading people all evening, and without you knowing I am feeling your problems right now. “The spoon is here to be merely used as a metaphor. I know you NOW have several ways in mind that you are going to tackle this problem, and that is often the first thing needed to straighten out these problems.” The spoon starts to straighten itself a little bit. Performer: “Taking action is the second thing needed in order to fully solve the problem.” The spoon starts to straighten itself and after a few seconds is back in perfect form.

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When in Rome Performer: “I know you now know what you need to do in order to solve the problem. I would like to leave you with this spoon.” Bend the spoon again and hand it to the participant. Performer: “I want you to take this, and every time you think you have made a little headway at solving the problem, straighten the spoon just a little bit. This will always serve as a reminder that you are making progress. “When it is completely straight I want you to place it somewhere you can see it at all times, as this will serve as a beautiful souvenir to remind you how easy it is to straighten out your problems when we take action.” End routine. Think about this: when they take the spoon and they straighten it a little amount each time, they make some headway and they get a visual representation of the problem being solved. When the spoon is completely straightened after the problem is solved, as it is the last action they make, they will always credit you for helping to solve the problem. Not only that, I asked them to place the spoon somewhere that they can see at all times. This means that anyone that visits the person’s property will see the spoon; it creates a

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Peter Turner natural talking point and thus your legend grows, and you have become a part of someone’s history. I did state earlier that I do not have a method for straightening the spoon. I am sure it is not impossible, but it is something I have not looked into. What I want to represent is how to not only make a prop seem relevant, but also to show how, when flipping a spoon bend on its head, you are not only using your powers for good, but you also open up so many angles for presentation. Let’s ask the same question we did when we started, but when thinking in this frame of mind. What purpose does straightening a spoon serve? I bet you now have several answers to this question. Think about the way you perform your effects and try to think

about

them

backwards;

see

how

many

presentational angles you can open. Here is a video that caught my attention that I think should hammer my point home.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RO1e9BwBys

Back to the effect – Double star sign variation That is exactly what I do here: flip the anagram on its head. In doing this it not only resolves some of the issues I had with anagrams, but it also really takes into account working smart, not hard. Let me first outline what methods/principles we will be using in this effect. A reverse anagram Springboard The reverse anagram I feel is beautiful and it certainly gives justification for throwing out the letters, as you will see. I am not going to go over the entire anagram again, as

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Peter Turner it is outlined earlier, however I will show you where the necessary script changes take place. Before we talk about the anagram you need to write up a billet with the star signs on it in a particular order.

I don’t need to see this piece of card during performance as I know the order of the star signs.

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When in Rome If you wanted to work on remembering the order of the star signs, there is a neat little poem by Steven Young in Isabella’s Star 2. I recommend you check out. If you can’t remember them, don’t worry, it won’t stop you from being able to perform this effect. Just ask the participant to put the card face up on the table and perform the effect where you can both see the card. You are ready to begin the effect. Performer: “Would you be comfortable knowing all of the star signs and the order in which they fall?” This is a very clever double question. A lot of people will know all of the star signs, but the order they fall in is something that most people don’t need to learn, and therefore 99% of the time this question will prompt the participant to say No. When they say No, this gives you a logical reason to produce the card with the list on it. I find it is nice if they can introduce your prop for you—not that a piece of card with writing on it is really a prop (I certainly wouldn’t classify it as one). This leads me to another point about pre-written pieces of information on cards: I personally don’t have one prewritten (for the purpose of this effect I am assuming that the reader hasn’t needed to learn the order of the star 254

Peter Turner signs in the past and therefore writing them on the spot is something that is not practical). Learn them. I find pre-written cards and printed predictions as impersonal or not unique. What do I mean by that? Remember, this is my opinion, but I want my participant to believe that what I am showing them and the moment I have created I have only created for them. I want them to feel this is a special occasion for them and unique. If I have the card already written or printed, it suggests that I do this all the time and almost takes the shine off of what it is I am doing, as it has a prepared feel to it. I like to write it in front of them as it almost seems off-thecuff when written for them. Sorry, quick tangent there. Back to the effect. Performer: “That’s not a problem. I have a list of the star signs and the order in which they fall. It is important you know all of the star signs as you are going to deduce my star sign, and if there are a few missing, then it makes it impossible for you. “Looking at the star signs, you will quickly see Aquarius falls in the first month, Pisces the second, Aries the third and so on and so forth. I do know that each month has two

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When in Rome star signs because of the cusp dates, but don’t worry about that as it will confuse things.” Look at the script here. You have practically pointed out that the order of the signs is easy if they count along. You have also told them to dismiss the fact there are two star signs to a month. The beautiful thing here is that they are going to guess your star sign, and because of this when you set a restriction (in this routine it is telling them to forget that there are two star signs in one month) it is FOR THEM. Think about that for a few seconds. If they are guessing, whenever you tighten the net, it is to help them out. This really presses my point earlier about how things often work better backwards. Performer: “I want you to take into account what you believe my star sign is based on the feelings you are getting from me. I feel with you, you focus in terms of words and pictures, so I am going to ask you some random questions and you have to use your intuition and just answer honestly, following your heart. “This is the thing: if you were to just guess you would be wrong. You have to take into account my characteristics. If you were to look at a Leo for example, which I am not, you would realise their characteristics would be confident,

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Peter Turner headstrong and very up front. There is a lot more, but they should serve as an example as to what you are looking for. “When you believe you have it, just imagine my star sign written in the air and tell me when you can imagine it being there.” Participant: “I can.” Performer: “You obviously know your own sign. If you were to look at the star signs, do you believe you were born before or after me and how much before or after?” The participant will look on the list at the star sign they believe you to be and then find theirs and count the number of months difference for you. Of course, at this point we don’t know what star sign they believe you to be, so remember the participant’s answer. Performer: “I am going to ask you if you feel there are specific letters in my star sign. Again, answer based on feeling; remember this is about following your initial intuition. “Your decisions have to be your own and I don’t want people thinking I am making it easier for you, so I am going to be asking you in a random order and at a quicker pace than the questions I have asked you so far.” “Are you ready?”

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When in Rome You can see by looking here that I have made the excuse for asking them about the letters in a random order. The change of pace is so that this process is over very quickly and doesn’t give any spectators the chance to process what is going on. I also stated something very important about trusting their instincts. This will ensure that they don’t change their mind. Begin to throw out the letters from the anagram and let them decide whether it is in there or not. Essentially what you are doing is the same anagram, but instead of saying, “I am feeling there is an R in the sign, correct?” you are changing the question to: “Do you believe there is an R in the sign?” “How about an A?” Again, they are answering instinctively, and in doing so they will lead you to what star sign they believe you to be. It doesn’t matter what star sign they pick for you; you are essentially going to agree with whatever choice they make for you. I have found the worst case to be Aries, as all the letters are exhausted (see the anagram for a better understanding). This works amazingly for every other star sign.

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Peter Turner When you know what star sign the participant believes you to be (remember, they don’t know that you know), but you also know their star sign as well for free. Let’s take a look at an example. Let’s say they have said they were born two months before (when you asked the question earlier), and they have believed you to be a “Capricorn.” All you have to do is count back by two star signs (which would be a “Scorpio”) to know all you need to know. See picture. This is where you have two choices. You can remove another billet and write: My star sign = (WHATEVER THEY BELIEVE IT TO BE) Your star sign = (WHATEVER THEY HAVE LED YOU TO) For a better understanding and full clarity, see the picture below.

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When in Rome This is where you would openly ask what star sign the participant is and what they believe your star sign to be. When the participant answers, you flip over the card and the routine ends here. OR You can hand the participant a billet. You also have a billet and you ask them to write down what their star sign is and what they believe your star sign to be underneath. You will write down their star sign and your star sign underneath. This means that when both of the billets are flipped over, there is a match and you finish on a very high note that validates the fact you have a connection.

Additional idea You could use the Increment Force (detailed earlier) to get them to think Stop on a particular number, and when you hand them the list, have each star sign with a number before it. This would force the 5th, 6th or 7th star sign (Gemini, Cancer or Leo). You could also use Michael Murray’s “CUPS Principle.” Ask the participant to think of the number of letters in your sign.

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Peter Turner If they say Yes instantly, you know it is Leo as there are only three letters. If they take slightly longer it could be Cancer or Gemini. Look for the indifferent letter, which would be the letter M. If they say there is an “M” in there you will know it is Gemini and not Cancer. As you can see with this approach, there is very little questioning to be done and it shortens the process massively. Play with this; it’s bold and it’s fun. If it misses? Well, it was them guessing so it’s the participant’s fault if it’s wrong!

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Credits Michael Murray – Springboard Michael Murray – CUPS

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Your Notes/Ideas

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XIV Scarred for life

This is essentially a rant that takes into account two loves in my life: tattooing (which I have done for close to ten years) and all things mentalism. Even though these two subject areas seem completely dissimilar, they do share some ties and coincidentally those ties are worth further discussion.

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When in Rome It’s very easy to blowout while tattooing. For those who don’t know what a blowout is, it is essentially when the needle goes too deep into the skin and the ink leaks underneath the skin into almost a green bubble. If you go too deep with a needle when tattooing, you can also very easily scar the skin for life. You may be wondering what relevance this has to magic or mentalism. Anyone that has followed my work knows how I feel about the importance of realising your power, how your magic/mentalism is more important than you may give it credit for. Think about how much of your life is affected by magic/mentalism. How much joy/pleasure does it give you? Is it an escape for you when you are feeling stressed? Does it take up a huge part of your life? It certainly does mine. Not a day goes by when I don’t talk about it or actively practice it. Most of the connections I have made in my life, some of my closest friends and people I consider family, I have met through sharing a passion for the mystery arts. It has entirely changed my story and I am so glad things are going the way that they are.

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Peter Turner All of this because I saw good magic. Bad magic/mentalism can have the opposite effect; it can leave people with a sour taste and make them not want to surround themselves with magic. My nanna Pat is one of them. When she was younger (long before I was born), she was excited to see a magician and went and said (and I quote), “He was an arrogant little shit. His show was packed with cheesy jokes that were pulling down his audience, and lots of us walked out before the end.” Since then she has never been interested in magic; for her it was a waste of her time after seeing that. She wouldn’t even take into account that that was one performer; for her she just didn’t care. So when I told her that I was going to be a magician at the age of five, you could imagine her joy. It took me years and years to change her perception and now she’s come round to the idea of trying to enjoy it again. She says (I quote): “I like that mind stuff you do, but magic is cheesy and tacky.” I feel this is probably the best quote I have received, as she is ultimately the hardest audience.

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When in Rome It was a lot of work and she still doesn’t want to actively go out to watch magic. It’s like a bad tattoo: once scarred the person who got the tattoo has their confidence knocked and it takes a competent tattooist to repair it (if they ever get the chance). It all comes down to refining yourself. I don’t mind being honest and saying I have a LOT to learn. I go back just five years and I can see the massive differences in my performance skills. I still make mistakes today (all the time), but I have just learnt to hide them so they appear non-existent (a lot like a tattooist with grey shade on a kinked line). It is about being harsh on yourself and being your own worst critic. Listen to your audience and their feedback; it is very easy to say, “What do they know?” Remember this: you don’t have to be a chef to taste the soup. I was recently at a club that I will not mention and the lecturer said, “The audience is not qualified to say whether what you have done is good or not.” What a load of shit! The audience is more than welcome to make that decision. That is what they are going to do whether you like it or not. I understand you can’t please all the people all of the

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Peter Turner time—that would be impossible—but the aim should be to please as many as possible I think that is why I try to distance myself at times from organisations (again you can see how a bad taste can make someone hesitant). I would like to quote a few paragraphs from Bigger Fish 2. “Someone once asked me three questions that I thought were a really, really strong/inspiring set of questions that I now apply to absolutely every piece I create/perform. These three questions were frequently asked by poet Philip Larkin. 1. Do people believe it? 2. Do I care? 3. Do I still care? This is an interesting set of questions. Do people believe it? Are you credible? Is what you are selling believable? Do people care?

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When in Rome Does it give people an interest in what you are doing, does it make them feel special and is it something that connects them with you or them with someone else? Do people still care? Will it affect them in a positive way forever? Is it something they will tell their grandkids? Is it an experience that will live within the person WHO GAVE YOU THEIR TIME forever? This is a simple formula to help you refine yourself. Get yourself a sounding board on which to bounce ideas, but pick someone who is critical, and when they give you their criticism, take it on board and actively change it. If it is something you strongly disagree with, work together with them to refine it to a point where you are both happy and that should be the point where you actively practice it that way. Then go out and share the love. Good magic can last a lifetime. Who knows? You might inspire someone to change their life the way that your life has been changed and appreciate magic/mentalism on a deeper level. Help them get confidence, help them meet like-minded people and ultimately be part of their story.

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Peter Turner This random tangent might seem pointless, but I want these tangents to contain little things about me and the way I feel about the world, because I won’t be around forever and I want an essence of me to exist in my writing long after I am gone. Hell, if you are reading this while I am no longer around, I hope you enjoyed what I had to offer the mentalism community. For the people reading this while I am still here, I know what you’re thinking: you’re right, I am morbid!

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Conclusion So there we have it! You have made it to the end, I hope you loved the ideas I had shared in here. I am particularly proud of the “Bob Principle” in conjunction with the anagram. This is now my go to effect. These principles and effects I have performed all around the world in all types of venues, I know they will be as strong for you as they have been for me. Please be delicate with them and treat them with respect they deserve. If you have any queries email me at [email protected] Much love,

Peter Turner 2014 x

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