Effect;
The performer talks of his days at school - he vividly remembers desperately watching the clock and seeing the second hand stand still for what seemed like an eternity. Every second that passed seemed like an hour and every hour seemed like a week. He longed to get out of that small, stuffy classroom, but for some reason every time he looked at the clock the hands just seemed to be stuck.
A spectator is asked to look at the face of her watch - sure enough it slows down. Eventually it stops and the spectator is seen to be ‘stuck inside of a moment’ not being able to move or even speak. The performer snaps his fingers and brings everything back to a pleasurable normality.
“To pass the time I used to actually will the time on the clock to move - well that, and draw on the table.”
The performer asks for the help of a spectator. They assist the performer and sit to his right. The performer asks them to glance at their watch and see if;
“…the second hand seems to be stuck in a moment.”
The spectator replies that they do indeed appear to be stuck there for some time. The performer explains that when we are put into a situation which makes us nervous or uncomfortable, our
perception of the amount of time we spend there is not necessarily accurate. This may be the explanation for his days in school
“At school I was not exactly the crayon in the box, so to speak, however I did learn a lot about myself and about people. You see, when people are nervous they seem to act differently.”
The performer asks the spectator to remove his or her watch and just glance at it once again. They see that the second hand again seems like it is taking longer to move than it should. The
performer explains that our perception begins to change as he mentioned earlier when a person is placed under a stressful situation.
“You see the seconds still pass at exactly the same speed as they would normally, however you are aware of everything around you and everybody for that time. Your nervousness makes the second seem longer, it isn’t you’re simply paying it more attention than you would normally.”
The performer continues explaining that it might even be possible to say you were stuck inside of a moment. The performer asks the spectator to be totally silent and raise their hand for just one second, which they will time on their own watch. The spectator’s hand is raised for what seems like an eternity. Finally the
spectator’s hand is lowered as they confirm the second has passed. Clearly the spectator has a different perspective of a second than the rest of the room. The performer continues:
“You see at school I found myself willing the clock to move to 3.15 so I would be able to get out of that small nasty classroom. But I found that the more I wished it to move, the more it seemed to slow. At times I even thought I had managed to stop the clock. The time seemed to stand still, I seemed stuck to my chair. I couldn’t move and neither could the second hand of the clock.” The performer asks the spectator to focus her attention on the watch face once again, this time she is to will the time to move, just like the performer once did. However the more she does this,
again just like the performer, the slower the time seems to pass. In fact eventually the time actually seems to be standing still. The spectator appears to be stuck rigid to the spot. Just like the
performer as a child, she appears to be stuck inside a moment. The performer snaps his fingers and the spectator is fine, as is her watch. She is thanked and returns to her seat.
Method:
This is a strong mixture of suggestions and magical methods. The majority of the routine is actually suggestion - however the finale phase is simply dressing for the classic feat of PK power, the watch stop.
Any method for the classic watch stop can be used. Let us first deal with the routine from a suggestion angle.
The first phase of the routine is all accomplished using the
‘Definition = Creation’ technique, however it is not explicitly spelt out for the audience. You relate a story of your own school days. However through this, the ‘Definition = Creation’ can still work its wonders. I introduce the effect as follows:
“I vividly remember my school days longing for the bell to ring, so I could leave that stuffy little classroom. To pass the time I used to actually will the time on the clock to move - well that, and draw on the table. It seemed however the more I willed the time to move along, the slower it became. The more I wanted it to move and the more I focused on it, the slower it became.”
I then ask for a spectator to assist. I sit them on my right if they are wearing their watch on their right arm, or vice versa. I want the watch to be visible to the audience at large. Here I use a
it seems to be stuck, it seems to take much longer than a second to actually move. I am sure we have all had the experience of glancing at a watch/clock, and for what seems like three or four seconds, the second hand seems stuck as you look?
I am unsure of the explanation to this, possibly our perception of time. Or whether the second hand seems stuck because you fail to see it tick on as you initially focus? That's by the by. I find it works. This Convincer combined with the first seeds of suggestion you have already planted in the introduction are more than enough to allow the first phase to happen. You ask the spectator to look at the face, to keep her hand raised for the same amount of time it takes for the second hand to move. This will appear strange. To the audience it might even look as if the spectator keeps their hand raised for something like 10 - 15 seconds. This is
exaggerated by exploiting The Power of Silence Rule, which we have already covered. I often follow it up with the simple line: “…those second hands seem to be stuck in a moment.”
The spectator replies that they do indeed appear to be stuck there for some time. I normally offer some kind of rational explanation along the lines of:
“When we are put into a situation which makes us nervous or uncomfortable our perception of the amount of time we spend there is not necessarily accurate. This may be, explains those days in school which seemed so long to me. At school I was not exactly the crayon in the box, so to speak, however I did learn a lot about myself and about people. You see when people are nervous they seem to act differently.”
The performer asks the spectator to remove his or her watch and just glance at it once again. They see that the second hand again seem like it is taking longer than it should to move. Here I simply
reinforce the original convincer covered earlier by doing exactly the same thing again. I then state the following:
“You see the seconds still pass at exactly the same speed as they would normally, but since you are aware of everything around you and everybody for that time, your nervousness makes the second seem longer, it isn’t simply you’re paying it more attention than you would normally. It might even be possible to say you were stuck inside of a moment. Please be totally silent and raise your hand for just one second. Time it on your very own watch.” The spectator’s hand will be raised for what seems like an eternity. Finally the spectator’s hand is lowered as they confirm the second has passed. Clearly the spectator has a different perspective of a second than the rest of the room. Don’t sell this short, it is a strong moment and will have a deep impact on the spectator. I continue:
“You see at school I found myself willing the clock to move to 3.15 so I would be able to get out of that small nasty classroom. But I found that the more I wished it to move, the more it seemed to slow. At times I even thought I had managed to stop the clock. The time seemed to stand still, I seemed stuck to my chair. I couldn’t move and neither could the second hand of the clock. It was if I were stuck along with the movement of the hand right to my chair, my hands were rigid and my lips seemed like they were glued together. The more I tried to move, the more strong I
seemed to bond and fuse with my chair, my hands seemed to melt into the table and my lips seemed to become super glued
together. No matter how hard I fought it, I was stuck along with the second hand. It was OK though, I know that the moment that second passed I would be able to move, so I didn’t try to fight it.” I ask the spectator to focus her attention on the watch face once again, this time she is asked to:
“Will the time to move.”
However the more she does this, just like the performer, the slower the time seems to pass. In fact eventually the time actually seems to be standing still.
“As it stands still you will experience exactly what I did, becoming stuck inside that moment. It’s a weird feeling, don‘t try to fight it, just enjoy it.”
The spectator will now appear to be stuck rigid to the spot. This works for several reasons. Thanks to the convincer used in the effect, when you come to the final phase in which you will actually stop the watch using your favourite method. None will even suspect that you have actually stopped the watch. You have also used much suggestion all be it indirect. If you re-read the
scripting I am sure you will be able to pick out certain rules that we have already covered in the book. All that will remain is for you to restart the watch and the spectator will instantly begin to move again. If they do not, I simply either touch their forehead or snap my fingers loudly. This will cause them to move once again.
Notes:
This is a powerful routine that has drawn inspiration from several sources. Firstly thanks go to Caleb Strange for pointing out the Convincer used to build the rest of the routine. The moment he mentioned it, I had wild ideas running around my mind and what you have just read was the first of my experiments with this interesting Convincer. Thanks also have to go to Orville Meyer’s work which without this routine would not be either as ambitious or impressive. This routine is also closely linked with the thinking expressed in Orville Meyer’s “Telepathy In Action”, a ground- breaking work well ahead of its time. The well read astute Mentalist will instantly see that this effect can provide perfect framing for Bob Cassidy’s work of genius An Experiment In Time -
in my opinion one of the strongest routines of its kind to ever be graciously shared in print which can be found along with several other stunning compositions in mind games in Mr. Cassidy’s “Pseudo Mentally Yours”.
Any method you prefer can be used to cause the watch to slow. Several are available on the market, currently I use an unpublished method. I am not at liberty to explain either the marketed
versions or the unpublished method, however I am sure the reader will have his or her own preferred method.
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