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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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 thought-of 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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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.
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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.)
121 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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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.”
123 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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