This is basically an ambiguous statement that can apply to anyone. What you want to do is write the following phrase on the billet: This person was very close to you and was always there when you needed someone to turn to. When they departed, it felt like you couldn’t live without them for a while, but you used their love as a way through. I want you to understand that even though they can’t be with you, as long as you keep them in your heart, they are never truly forgotten.’
If you know a relative has passed away recently or you do a little pre show, you can mention their name at the end. All you need to do is replace ‘they are never truly forgotten’ with ‘_____ will never truly be forgotten’ putting in the relatives name. Always remember to be careful with this as you don’t want them to feel upset when the routine is done.
Have this billet on the table from the beginning in plain sight. When you have finished the first part of the routine, say that there is one emotion
that is probably more powerful than any of the ones already mentioned, and that is love. Have the participant think of a close relative who passed away recently. Show them the billet and have them pick it up and read what it says to themselves silently.
This is where the word play comes into action. Instead of asking them ‘do you know what I
mean?’ or something like that simply say ‘do you understand?’ If you look in the text, it says ‘as long as you UNDERSTAND that they will never…’ so to the assistant it will appear as though you are confirming that they understand what to do, whereas to the audience, it will appear as though you know who the relative is. Only slight DR used here, but it can have a really lasting effect. If you have the text written up on a really nicely designed card, you can give it to them at the end and you will find that it makes a beautiful souvenir for them that they will remember for years to come. It also takes the heat off the other three billets.
Alternative
Here is an alternative that isn’t as bold with the last billet and doesn’t deal with the touchy
subject of emotion. I used to do this before coming up with the above version.
It’s very simple to understand. Instead of using emotions, use three pieces of information such as ‘job, house number and middle name.’ You need to acquire the knowledge of one of these bits of info. Let’s say you know their job. Write the names on the back of the billets and have them in this order: job, middle name, house number. Pick up the first billet and have them think of their middle name. Actually write the job on it. Fold it in half and write ‘middle name’ on it. Have them tell it you.
Do the same, next getting them to think of their house number. Write their middle name on it and so on. Then when you secretly turn them over at the end, you get three perfect matches! I would only do this as a demonstration before going into a longer, more substantial piece.
Final Thoughts
As some of you may have realised, there is a great opportunity to do a cold reading in this effect. The assistant has already given you three memories and told you they are an emotional person, so what more could you need? When wanting to do a reading, I’ll usually insert it right between the two phrases. Don’t make this too long, but just a brief summary of the information you’ve gathered.
This is just a nice little convincer to make it
appear as though you can really read their mind! Let’s say that the happy memory is when they last walked their dog. Pick up the ‘happy’ billet and act confused. Then say ‘out of interest, what was the dog’s name?’ Presume they say
Whiskey. Say something like ‘oh, now I get it’ and place the billet back down. Then, when writing the happy memory on the next billet, never mention ‘dog’ but put something like ‘Drink? Alcohol? Pet?’ Then when you reveal all at the end, it looks like you not only picked up the memory but also the name of the dog, which they were probably thinking of during the memory! Simple!
Finally when asked to pick a scary memory, 80% of people will say ‘watching a scary movie,’ as you tell them NOT to think of an emotion that is too upsetting. You can, if you feel confident enough that they will go for some sort of choice like this, instead of writing vague statements on the first billet, swap the order around and use the first billet as the FEAR emotion, and write the horror movie on it. It's not 100 percent, but if you never take risks, you'll never know!