POST OFFICE BOX 144 • FREEHOLD, NEW JEFSEY 07728
~~j'~O~
~enl\~\~
The
Spi,,;
ts
Al
MANN
iifd~
POST OFFICE BOX 144 • FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY 07728
PSYCHO-MENTISI3
FORh"'WORD
':Jha t the magician does and what his audiences see is not the ~portant thing in the ereation o~ great magic. It is what tho audience 'thinks' the magician
did and \-That the audience think they saw, that creates that enchanting illusion o~ real magic.
Can'ou bend a horseshoe? \'lith the power o~
your thought? Can you lift a car vTith the tips of your fingers? Can you levitate yoursolf? You will only have to do it once!
'rho chap that made a cloud disappear fror,l the Flo-rida skies is today reaping ~ harvest. Sevural articles and books have been Hriten about him. lle has been appoin-ted to several 'psychic' committees. he does not have to make an~'1Uore clouds disappear.
A sideshm~ pel'fol"rll(;r made a comfortable living just by tellin,; the same story over and over. On stage he had a eicillt blow-up of a no'tVspaper article telling the story of the time he fell asleep in a drunken stupor on a beach in the Phi1ippino Islands and \-loke up inside the stomach of a sn~~e. Luckily, he said, he had a jackknife in his backpocket to cut his "flay out!
Psycho-I1entisis offers much food for thought and the off-boat magic that will create a reputation and much talk. 'rake advantage of the smallest grain of publicity connected ~dth this type of mucic and b1ow-it-up bigger than life!
o
rrWD
Have ~\m~. m/tt/k1{
PSYCHO-MENTISIS
AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVES
THE BENDS
EF,li'ECT: An examined U.S. copper penny bends while held in the spectator's hand and continues to bend until it doubles over I
METHOD: Fig. 1 shows three coins. For the moment we say
they are U.3. copper pennies.
0
The penny at Fig. 1A must b e , . ~
a steel penny but looks like ~ ~
a copper penny. These pennies
are sold at the magic stores A B and come ,-lith other effects. Fig. 1 They can be picked up by a
mag-netl
The bent pennies at B and C are regular copper pennies but look exactly like the steel penny. One coin is partially bent and the other is bent-double. All three pennies will be needed for the effect.
Fig. 2 shows a secretary-type billfold held closed with a rubber band. The dash lines indicate a hidden magnet inside the wallet next to the skin.
1
c
TO PREPARE: Coin "C" is palmed in right hand. Fig. 2 Coin "B" is placed out of sight bet'Neen the
edges of the wallet right under the rubber band
as indicated by arrow Fig. 2B. The rubber band is only
used to keep the bent coin in position while the wallet is in performer's pocket.
TO PRESENT: Pass coin "A" out for examination. Take CDIlt your wallet and remove the rubber band holding the hidden bent coin in place by pressure of the left thumb and fingers.
After the spectator has exrumined the coin, takeit back and place it at the end of your wallet as shown in Fig. 2 "AI!
Tell the spectator that you do not want to touch the coin again. Holding the wallet with your left hand, tell the spec-tator to stretch out his left hand as you dump the coin from the wallet into his hand. Then say, "Please close your hand as soon as the coin drops."
Try the move a second time. As tho spectator closes his hand ask him if he felt anything. "When phenomena occurs, you will definitely feel a surge of energy leaving your body."
Nothing has happened on the first two tries 80 you say. "Let's try it with your right hand," As you say this you na-turally transfer the wallet to the right hand. The hidden bent coin will now be free to drop out when the wallet is
PSYOHO-MENTISIS AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE 'rUE BENDS ••••• cant.
tipped. This time the visible penny 1s p,laced directly over the hidden magnet as shown in Fig. 2 "0'.
This time when the wallet is tipped over the spectator's hand he will get the bent coin while the unbent one will re-main attached to the magnet! Perfor.mer then places his right
thumb over the penny on the magnet to hide it.
"Keep your hand clenched and try to visualize the pennJ' bending. There! I felt something, didn't you?"
Continue with a little more patter and then tell the spectator to open his hand. Most certainly he will be amazed!
The spectator will take a long look at the bent coin BUT
as you take it back from him switch it for the palmed coin and say, "Say!
The
coin is still bending," and throw coin"e"
to the floor or at the spectator.The bent coins are bent with a small vise and a pair of pliers. Be sure to place a cloth in the jaws of the vise and the teeth of the pliers so as not to mark the coins. You will have to make a number of bent coins as the spectator's will surely want to keep them as good luck char.ms. The coins bend easier if they are heated a bit.
Dimes and nickels or other coins can also be used pro-vided you can get the desired steel coins.
This effect can of course be presented anywhere, even on a street corner, and it is intended for close-up use.
SOMe of the readers may see a similiarity in tlis effect to Bill Nord's "Bill-Ze-Bub" which was done with a writing pad. If the reader has the writing pad gimmick he can of course use it with this routine. However the wallet, coins and magician seem to go together most naturally.
A PAUSE
Before proceeding further into our fascinating voyage into fsycho-Mentisis it is well to stop and reflect on two
im-portant items. No doubt the mentalist and the close-up worker have discovered that magnets are their best friends. Seeming miracles can be performed by the use of magnets, so it be-hoves the artist to get a bushel full of masmets of all sizes and shapes.
A hidden magnet usually replaces a sleight like the 'french-dropl' A PROFESSIONAL mentalist should never have to resort to the french-drop sleight which is known by every child who knows the cups and balls.
In the above effect, "The Bends 'I all the moves are
na-tural moves and the performer hardly uses his hands. The wallet is used because it is handy and so that the performer does not touch the coin.
Every close up worker should own a magnetic finger ring. Emerson and West are presently selling one complete with book of routines for about $12.50. As will be seen later
PSYCHO-MENTISIS AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE A PAUSE ••••• cont.
a magnetic ringer ring or any gimmick with a magnet that can be palmed will take the place or the french-drop.
The second item of importance is the magician's den table. The table should be the square card table that seats
4
per-sons and is made of cardboard. This table should have at least two magnetic fields. One in rront of the performer's place and another one to his right. These magnetic rields are created by attaching a strong ring or horseshoe magnet to the underside or the table top where desired. The best way to do this is to cement a piece or sheet metal to the corr.ot pla-ces and then attach the magnets.The erfect that follows will show the reader the ama-zing erfects possible with the magician's table mentioned above HOWEVER if the reader does not care to prepare 'a table he can still perform the effects by hiding magnets under his shirt sleeve, for example OR he can ~bed a strong magnet in a writing tablet or brief case.
PERMUTATION OF MATTER
A SOLID THROUGH SOLID EFFECT
EFF1ECT: Examined and \Ulgimmicked sai'tey pins link _ together without anyone touching them. They link in the hands of a spectator. They link into the sitters ringer ring I The ungimmick pins link slowly in mid air berore the eyes of the audience without any cover.
This close-up effect is in three parts using diffe-rent size of safety pins.
The reader may wish to do only one of the parts or two or all three of them. I f the reader does not own a link-ing flink-inger rlink-ing then he may do only half or the second part, etc.
Needed:
18 18
4
or more 1 inch lon§ safety Fig. 3 "A
or more 2 inch lon~ Fig.
3
liBsafety 3-inoh long sarety pins,
l<~ig. 3
lie"
pins, pins,
1 magnetic ringer ring or other similar gimmick
1 billrold as the one used in the previous efrect "'lhe Bends."
1 linking finger ring (optional) 1 magician's table (optional)
A B C
}?ig.
3
PSICHO.MENTISIS
PERMUTATION OF HATTlm
•
•
••
•PART I
AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE cont •
Three examined and ungimmioked safety pins link in the hands of a spectator!
PREPARATION: Take three of the 1-inch safety pins and link them together and place them between the edges of the wallet (with the hidden magnet) and out of sight and hold them in place with a rubber band as in Fig. 2
PRESENTATION: Have the spectator choose any three safety pins from a small dish of 1-inch safety pins and have them examined. (these pins are of course ungimroicked)
Next take the three loose safety pins and place the.m on the extreme end of the billfold away fram the hidden mag-net. Go through the routine as done with the bent coins or placing the unlinked pins into the hand of the spectator.
On the third try, place the three loose safety pins over the magnet and throw the hidden linked pins into the specator's hand.
This first part of the act should convince the spec-tator that you are a magician and that you are using ordina. ry props although this should not be mentioned.
Part I can be done anywhere. Part II is a table pre-sentation and Part III can only be done over a magnetic field.
PART II
Three large safety pins link and unlink visibly. They link and unlink in the hands of a spectator. They link into the spect~tor's finger ring!
For smoothness in the present~tion of this routine,
4
it is necessary to do Part II with the large 3-inch long safety pins and then go into Part III by using the 2-inch pins. The reason will be obvious to the reader as we proceed. If the reador does not own a linking finger ring he can still do the effect \,Iith the spectntor IS own ring.
One of the 3-inch safety pins is gimmicked and it is the onl
t
pin r;immicked in the whole act of "Permutation of Hatter.' As indicated in Fig.4,
the pin is ~tmmickedby soldering the point inside the head at "AI and cutting the bar at point
"B".
It is better to buy a gimmicked pin than
A
~to make one at home.
The effect currently on the market called, "'!'he Linking Pins II by Jerry Andrus is highly
re-comended. The routine by Andrus is tops. The safe-ty pins visibly link and unlink and in the spec-tators hands. Four pins are furnished 'tiith the
routine. 'fhree are unprepared and one is gimmicked. 8 ~
P SYCHO-MEi'iT ISIS AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE PER!1UTATION OF HATTER •• PA'rT II •••••• oont.
I f the reader owns a linking tinger ring, proceed as tollows: Give out the
3
straight pins for examination. The gimmicked pin is hiding out of sight behind a book or box or in pertormer's pooket.Take two of the straight pins and place them in your left hand, but secretl~ link them into your linking ftnger ring. Then say, "Look! they have linked into my wedding band!
Ot course they will link into any ring. Let me borrow ~our
ring tor a moment." This time you have switched tor the gimm.ik-ed pin and pass it into the spectator's ring.
You are now stuck holding two tinger rings with linked pins. You could very well proceed to link the two tinger rings together BUT that is not reoommended as it would indeed be taxing the spectator's oredulity or gilding the lilly but then it depends on the atmosphere created so tar.
It is best to unlink the pin tram the spectator's ring by rubbing the tinger tip lightly over the gimmick bar and pushing the tinger ring out. See Fig.
5.
As you hand the ring baok to the spectator tell him to choose and inspect three satety pins trom the other dish which contains the 2-inch long pins. While spectator is doing that you have ample time to unlink the pins trom your ring.
NOTE: All the magic is in the satety pins as tar as the spectator knows. He has ,seen the pins repeatedly link and unlink, so it is no surprise that the pins also linked into the tinger rings. No suspioion, it any, has been directed to the tinger rings. However it the two tinger rings are linked together, the spectator may suspect that your innocent-looking wedding band is not so innocent.
The spectator has already seen two examined pins linked into a tinger ring so when he sees a third, supposedly examined pin, lirur into his own tinger ring, the illusion is complete.
I~ the reader does not have a linking tin~er ring, he can proceed as follows: Borrow the
spec-tatorts ring and pick up two pins, the gimmick one and a straight one. Link the gimmick pin into the ring and then link the straight pin into the gimmicked pin.
Hold the ring up with the two pins held together so that it looks like the two pins have penetrated the ring, then
shake the ring and the straight pin Hill tall
and torm a chain with the gi~ick pin. Fig.
5
It'ig.5
shows the correct way to hold thegimmick pin and ring prior to unlinking them. Just rub the lower bar ot the pin vlith the tip ot your index finger back and forth and then push the ring otf.
6
P S YCHO-IwfENT I S IS AN AL MJU~N EXCLUSIVE
PERHUTATION OF 1.JIA'fTilli ••••• cont. part II
~ig. 6 depicts a spectator1s finger ring
with apparently two pins luuced to it. ActuallY only the gimmicked pin is linked to the ring and the other straight Pin is linked to the gimmick pin. The pins are held in place momentarilly by slight pressure of the tip of the thumb or finger as the ring is displayed. '.tihen the pressure is released the straight pin will fall and form a chain :X> that it appears that the pin has magi-cally penetrated both the ring and the pin.
PART III
This phase of the routine is most fascina-ting since ungimmicked pins appear to lime slowly in mid air before the eyes of the spectator!
Fig.
6
~o bring about this wmazing effect and several others, the performer must work over a 'magnetic' field. This could be preferably in the magician1s den but can also be done over a brief case or over a tablet, etc.
Fig. 1 shows the top of the magician's table with two magnetic fields at A and B, althouGh only one is needed, a
second one comes in hnndy sometimes. TheRe ~agnetic fields are made by cementIng good size ring or horseshoe magnets under the top of the table at the
desired spots. ~en a bar magnet, say about 1/2 by 1 by 2 inches will do.
NOTE: Credit for this idea is due to magician J. van Rinlchuyzen (Rink) of Holland. His excellent routine with paper clips appeared in Lewis Ganson1s IIClose UP Ma~ic, Volume II.
Any two or more objects made of soft metal or steel 1-1ill become induced with magnetism instantly when held
over the magnetic field.
Fig. 8 shows: A-safet;,! pins.
B- two nails. C- two coins, the largor coin should be held over the smaller. D- two keys.
The reader can readily see what amazing; effects can be done with this principle.
After doing the coin bending or key bending or nail bending act you can shmv that the objects are still hot and have become induced
with your personal magnetism {?)I A
sitter A B Performer Fig.
1
Bc
D Fig.8
PSYOIlO-MENTISIS
PERMUTATION OF MA'I"rER ••••• cont.
AN AL MANN EXOLUSIVE Part III
Not all metals can be magnetised. So the per~or.mer
must test the items he will use with a magnet.
If the performer is not good at doing a convincing French-drop, he should use a magnetic ~inger ring in this routine.
PRE;3ENTA'rION: After the spectator has chosen
3
o~ the 2-inch long s~ety pins, the magician shows that they can be linked by magic as he links them together by magnetism. to do this the magiCian holds the pins over the magnetic~ield, say about six inches over the table toP. The pins will link together as shown in i"ig. 8 "All.
Here the per~ormer can invite the spectator to try to do the same with three other pins. The spectator o~ course ~ails unless there is another magnet under his side.
Per~ormer then takes the three pins ~ram the spectator and links them unto his to ~orm a chain of six pins I
(be~ore the act, performer has linked 3 pins together
and place them out o~ sight on his lap)
As performer displays his chain of six pins with his right hand he secretly palms the three linked pins on his lap. Three or the pins from the chain of six are given back to the spectator or just placed on the table or into the dish or pins. The other three pins the magician takes into his right hand one at a time where they become attached to his magnetic ring OR other\·l!se he gets prepared to do the French-drop and exchanges the three loose pins for the three linked ones and throws the linked pins on the table for the spectator to see. IIThey are linked I" you say.
NOT 8: Jinything small item that has a piece of metal embedded in it can be caused to stick together. EJerunple: strips of neuspaper, playing cards, business cards.
.t'SYCHO-hENTISIS
All AL MANI~ ElCCLUSIVE
THE SPIKES OF ASMODh"US
In which vie consider the bent nail act.
In the early 1950's, your author happened
to visit Abbott's New York City Conjuror's shop on 42ni street. Jim Reneaux was behind the counter. We had been discussing the blindfold act and turning walking sticks into live snakes when He were interrupted by a gentleman terranean accent. with a heavy
Medi-He told us about an act done with metal
spikes.
The e£fect was that a bowl of steel nails orspikes are passed out for exwmination and then the magician takes anyone and bites off a piece and spits it out. I lau~ed
at the gentleman and as sumed he was having pipe dreams. To my surprise I found out later that not only was the nail act a fact but that an American magic dealer could supply mo~t of the props.
In the uenii for May 1960, Bascom Jones Jr. and Frederick M. Shields treated on the bent nail act using 16-penny nails. This act, however, was presented as a feat of strength. The magician bent the solid nails with the fingers of one hand. Stuart Robson was the supplier of the bent-nail act which came complete with bent nails. Jack Floyd, a New Yorker is given credit for suggestinS the use of nails made of solder for easy bending after they are substituted for the real steel nails. It is the solder nails that can actually be bitten with the teeth and apiece of real nail At this writing (1977) spit out I
~oc Doueherty of 2037 Plainview
Ave., Pittsbur?p, Pa. 15226, is selling a close-up nail act for $4.00 usinG 8-penny (2!z inches long) nails,
complete with
3
nails made of solder •. ::'nd now for our up-to date Uri Geller type nail act. l.i'irnt you should make some solder nails, althOUGh that is not totally necessary. If you make the solder nails they should be about
4
inches long or longer.5
or 6 inch long nailswould be better. Thene nails are made out of soldering wire, cut to size and then a head and point are fashioned by the aid of a hot prenf.ing iron.
Needed are: One or two solder nails.
A bag full of
4
and5
inch long nails. 6 4-penny nails which are 1 ~2 inch long
An assortment of bent nails
in various shapes.
The billfold used in "The BendS."
A sheet of ~lass about 12 by 12 inches
A few bent spikes.
A paper bag with a secret inside smaller pocket
8
PSYCIW_HEurr ISIS AN AL NANN EXCLUSIVE THE SPIKES OJ? ASHODEUS • • •
•
cont.PREPAR/.TION: Prepare a grocery bag of a size to hold about 12 nails
4
and5
inches long, ''lith a smaller inside bag. This inside bag is made of paper and cemented to the in...side of the bag.Into the secret bag place one solder nail and one slightly bent nail and one nail bent-double. These are the
4
and5
inch nails. Fig. 9 shows various bent nails and one spike.Nails
"An
and"C"
go into the secret inside compartment to-gether with the solder nail which should beabout
4
or 4~ inches long.All the nails must be polished with an emery cloth so that they resemble the solder nail.
A B
c
D EFig.
9
The other nails B, and D and the spike E are later thrown on the floor and passed out to the audience.
If you do the nail-up-the-nose bit and if your audience can stomach it, then you need a special extra nail. This nail
9
is about
5
or 6 inches long and polished and the point filed down round and also nickel-plated if you lvish. 'rhe act of dri-ving n nail through your nose is easy but not recommended for nice audiences as it is indoed vulgar. Anyone can do it. All you have to do is try it. The nail enters through one nostril and passos ovo:::' the roof of the mouth, the sinus cavity.You must also bend into various shapes 3 1~inch long nails and place these between the edges of your billfold which has a hidden magnet in it as per lig. 2, and place a rubber band around it to hold the bent nails in place •
.Place the bag loaded lr;i th thu iron nails and g:immicks on a table on stage together with the plate of ~lass and you are ready.
THE PRESENTATION: On stage afte::'" the patter, the maGician tru{es the paper bag placin~ his right hand fingers into the bag and over the secret pocket while the right thumb pinches the bag fram the outside.
The magician then turns the bag upside dOlm over the plate of glass therby dumping it's contents except for the gimmick nails which are held back by the right hand.
This is the Bascom Jones presentation. The idea is that the nails mw{e much noise. Some of the nails fall to the
PSYCHO-UENTISIS AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE THE Sl>IKES OF ASMODF.US • • • • • cont.
the bag and some more nails drop to the floor. The plate
or
glass which the magician held in his lert hand is now plaoed aside and the bag of nails is placed on the table.Ma~ioian reaches into the bag and takes out abunch of straight nails plus the bent nail "A" and "0" as shown in Fig.
9. Nail
"e"
is palmed in left hand and nail "A" is held toget-hor \-li th the rest of the straight nails in the left hand."Ladies and Gentleman, You no doubt have heard that some magioians oan bend solid steel spikes Hith their thoughts alone." As maGioian says this he hits the miorophone with one of the straight nails to show their solidity.
"Thore is really nothing to it. All you have to do is wave it in the air like this.1t
Na§ioian demonstrates by doing the familiar sleip)lt
shown in ig. 10. The nail is taken between the thumb and first finGor and it is moved up and down and wiggled sideways at the same time.
"Of oourse, this is only an optical illusion, the nail does not bend at all." Here tho magioian
takes up another and says, "But you must
replaces the nail into his left hand and
t
keep on trying."r~gician again replaces the nail in his right hand and this time picks UP the partially bent mil "A" but imme-diately starts wigglinG the nail so that the audience is not given a chanoe to notice that it is bent.
10
"Perseverance pays off!! says the magioian as he stops the movements and
keeps the bent nail oovered by his hand Fig. 10 and begins to rub the nail and then shows
it to be bentJ
Magioian passes the bent nail to the audienoe for a sou-veneer. Next he approaches the bag again and takes up more nails so that he nOl"T holds about six or eight nails in his left hand together with the solder nail and the bent-over nail "0".
1'lagioian calls a spectator from the audienoe to come on stage and allo't-ls him to inspect some nails. Here the macician gives thH spectator about four or five nails to hold in his hand and ask him if they are solid and to try to bend them by rubbing them. l~gician lets the spectator keep one nail and the rest are placed bacle into the bag. Magician is nOH holdinG in his hands only the solder nail and the bent-double nail palmed in his left hand. The spectator is of course standing on the per1\ormer's right side of the stage wing so that the performer's baok of left hand is to audienoe.
Both the magioian and the speotator now rub their nails together. "NOll you will see the nails start to bend. Mine is
11
PSYCHO-l1~·.L'ISIS AN AL MANN l!JCCLUSIV.lli 'l'lii:!; SPIKES OF ASMODEUS •
•
• • • • cint •alroady bending. How is yours?" At this point the magioian shows that his nail is partially bent like in Fig. 9 "BII.
Performer plaoes the partially bent solder nail back
behind his left hand and continues to rub it and in the process he aotually bends the solder nail till it doubles up to make it easy for palming and exchanges nails.
".Any luck yet?" 'l'he spectntor of course can not bend his nail by rubbin~ it.
Magician then shows his solid iron nail bent double and gives it out to the audience.
'l'he magician addresses his assistant on stage saying, liThe reason you have not suoceeaea. is beoause the nail is too big for you. You have to start learning this business with small nails. Here are some small nails."
'lb.e magician takes out three 1~ inch long f'inishing nails and shows them to the audienoe.
For this experiment, make sure that you do use fini-shing nails.
Any
other type of nail will not do. Youhave before hand seoreted three bent finishing nails between the edges of your magnetic billfold. These three nails are bent in different shapes. One is bent double, a second one is bent in a "Vii shape and the third is bent like a pretzel.The illusion is perfeot in this presentation. First, the magician bends a large metal nail sliGhtly and passes it out to the audienoe • Next he bends another large nail till it doubles and lastly he is foroed to switoh to tiny nails beoause his assistant is a novice at the art.
The magician then hands the three small nails to his assistant. "Please examine these nails but do not bent them with your fingers. I am going to teach you to bend nails with the power of your thought alone."
"Have you and I ever mot before? Aren't you glad? etc. as magician takes out his wallet and removes the rubber band. "Plaoe the nails on my wallet. I do not \-lant to touch them. Please olose your fist as soon as I drop the nails in your hand and olose your eyes and concentrate in bending metal." 'rhe magician continues as in ff'i'he Bends" effect. For this effect you 1-1ill have to Hark with your right side to the audience.
After the presentation some bent nails and spikes are strelm about the stage, dressing room and theatre seats. ,:)omeonc VIill pick them up. rrake them home and say they saw you bend them. Some will sell th~. It is good publicity
Some rusty bent nails and spikes Hhould be on dis-play in a Glass case in the lobby.
PSYCHO-HEllfTISIS AH AL MANN EXCLUSIVE ~HE PRA.NKENS~EIN APPAIR
In which we cosider the regeneration of dead bodies!
Nothing new, of course I Magician's, from the dawn of civilization, have been producing live birds out of thin air, rabbits out of empty hats and rejoining decapitated heads on their victims.
In the Fr~enstein Affair, we do the work close-up
in the magician's den and show the spectators some positive
results!
The magician states that he has succeeded in bringing dead bodies back to life.
12
"I
have already succeeded with microscopic lii'e(magi-cian points to his microscope on the shelf). I have revived dead microbes ana bacteria and have now progressed to where I can revive dead insects as large as ants and flies. I have dis-coverea what is, to the insects, the elixir of regeneration (here the magician shows the spectators a test tube with crys-tals)."
"11' you are interested I would like to demonstrate
some of my experiments to you."
".Here is a jar full of the dead bodies of ants. Please watch me carefully. I will place a few of these dead ants into
a clean glass. Sprinkle some of
my
magic crystals and stir thelot."
Sure enough as everyone watches some of the ants come to life and crawl out of the glass and unto the table.
"I
find this relatively easy. What is giving me moretrouble are the larger insects like the house fly. Here is a dead fly that I ,viII try to revive right now but I have no
guaranty that it ,.,ill work."
The magician sprinkles the fly lofi th his magic crystals and soon the fly comes to life!
That is the effect of the "Frankenstein Affair" as presented in the magician IS d0n. ~'he microbes come to life in the mind of the spectator. The ants come to life right before his eyes, but the fly sometimes comes to life and sometimes not.
What you need: 1 jar half full of dead ants. about 6 live ants, small
1 live house fly, fat, in a mmall glass bottle with holes in the cap 1 test tube with salt crystals
1 chemists beaker or drinking glass 1 Corindals Billet pencil
1 microscope (cheap) sitting on shelf, optional.
13
.p SYC nO-HEN'!' ISIS
AU AL I1ANN EXCLUSIVE THE FRANKill'lSTEIN AFFAIR
.
.
. . .
.
cont •TH~ PREPARATION: ~i1ith a pair of twizers, drop about 6
live ants into the Corinda Billet pencil chamber and cover
it ~rith a !"ubber e!"asor cap. Place the pencil in yOll!" inside
coat pocket. The jar with dead ~ts, the test tube with salt
crystals and the drinking glass are all in sight on the table. The live fly in it's bottle are in Y0ll!" pants pocket.
'tHE PRl!;S EN'"fA'l' ION : Patter about your experiments l-Ii th dead
bodi~s, microbes, bacteria, etc. Offer to demonstrate.
~how the jar l-li th the dead ants and pour some on the table
to prove that they are dead. You may wwnt to give the spec-tators a magnifying glass to look at the dead ants.
Ask someone to POll!" some of the dead ants into the olean glass or beaker. Show the 'magic' crystals in the test tube
and aprinkle some crystals into the glass.
Secretly remove the rubber erasor from the billet pencil and innnediately stick the pencil amongst the dead ants and sti!" the mess.
NOTE: 'l'11e billet pencil has a plunger that drops by gravity so that all you have to do is to invert the penoil and the plunger will drop and push out the ants.
Next just sit and \>latch for movements amongst the dead ants ana soon the live ants will came to the sll!"face.
"They do not all come to life" says tho magician, "But I am happy llith the partial success. Imagine being able to do that with human bodies!"
With the fly, the act is a bit different. Let the specta-tors play l'lith the live ants, while you excuse yourself to wash your hands for the next experiment. Caution the spectators not to allot" tho ants to escape as you l-Jant to :::tudy them to see how long they live.
"hile in the bath roam you must submerge the bottle H'ith the live fly l.U1der lvater until it stops moving. Then take out the 1'1'1 and bring it into yotU' den and drop it on the table. Sprinkle some Imagic ' crystals (salt) over it and itshould soon came back to life. If' the fly comes alive it means it was not dead but just water-logged. l~e salt crystals absorb the
water out of the fly. If the fly does not came to life it means you held it under \-Tater too long and is now dead.
The u.se of the billet pencil to stir the mess seems rational since the dead ants and the salt are dry. But there must be many other Hays to introduce the live ants into the glass.
If the reader does not mm a billet pencil and desires one they are available at ~p4.50 from Al Mann Exclusives.
Other insects recommended for this experiment instead of ants are lady bugs, the small ones.
PSYCHO-HEWfISIS AN AL MANN l!XCLUSIVE
A discussion on the Abnormal Lift.
The phenomena of the 'Abnormal Lift' is something we seldon read about, very rarely see and no one can explain.
A fe .. v months ago, YOU1" author was entertaining a nice group of friends and net-[ acquaintences. I did O'Daneven's Secret and Out-of-This-'iJorld with a borrowed and shuffled deck. The card trick made the ladies quite nervous as they questioned what forces had been at play since they had mys-teriouly separated the red cards from the black.
Next I did the ,glight of the Psycards. Everyone in the audience new 'some' card tricks, yet the Flight of the Psycards baffled eV0ry one so completely that they wrote
let-ters to each other days later saying that the effect had no rational explanation.
14
However, they were unaware that I had been just as impressed by an old gentleman who was a retired civil servant. He had travelled much and knew a few tricks of magic that he had done many times. One of the tricks was the 'abnormal lift.'
I encouraged him to demonstrate it. I had read a lot about it and knew 'Hhat it "las but had never taken the time to investi-gate it. The test Has repeated sev·)ral times with different people. Your author who Heighs 212 pounds was lifted effort-lessly by four persons using only their index fingersi
It did not feel like being lifted but rather I felt I "vas floating up in a soft cushion. 'l'here was no strain at all at the four places Hhere the four persons had placed their fingers to lift me. It was an amazing exporience.
This demonstration took place before I performed my card tricks. Amazingly enough the persons present were not at all impressed by the abnormal lift demonstration because it was overshadowed , .. 11th my feats of unexplainable magic, the
card tricks.
Actually the abnormal lift does not look too impressive until someone analyses 'uhat actuall;v happened.
Have you ev<.'r tried to lift a 50 Id. dumbbell? If you are not a weight-lifter you are in danger of hurting or break-inc; an arm or your back in tht3 attempt. A friend of mine once ridiculed a Hei:r~ht .. lifter vrho wan \'lOrkin'~ out vlith 45 lb. dumbbells. The dumbbells as they lay on the floor looked most harmless and easy to lift.
My
friend said thore was nothing to it as he r'eached over to pick up ono dumbbell 'Hi tIl one arm and almost collapsed not only from the strain but from the shock. Hot only did he failed to lift the Height but he almost toppled ovor head over heels.If a person tries to lift a 50-lb weight v;i th only his
PSYCHO-HE'I'TTISlS AN AL HANN EXCLUSIVE lHPONDERABLE ENERGY ••••• cont.
The ~our persons who lifted me were each handling
53
pounds!No amount o~ explanation is possible to account for the act. Some say it is concerted effort.
15
Burling Hull and Hereward Carrington once did the ab-normal lift on a weighing scale and said there was a big di~
ference in the recorded weight i-Then th-3 person Has lifted. \"J.hether anyone wants to admit it or nott there are still un-known ~orces surroundin~ us. rladio and 1elevision were unknown forces just a few decad~s ago!
Following is the way the test was done on me:
I sat on a chair with my ~eet square on the ~loor. Four persons, one of them a woman, were instructed to clasp their hands together like a v~se, extending their ~irst t~'lO fingers out together like in ~ig. 11. Two presons placed their two index fingers under my knees and the other t\'lO under m;: arm pits for a trial. There were no breathing excercises. All four persons ~..J'ere then told to place their hands over mit head like a pyra17lid of hands and when the per~ormer said "Go t they all removed their hands from my head, clasped them and li~ted me. I repeat that it was a most amazing experience.
Since the test is beinG taught to children in some
schools, the test may have 10$t some of it's entertaining value ~or the theatre mentalist, BUT there are many ways of dressing up this principle so it will allrlays be a baffling test for many.
Pro~essor Nika \-lriting in the 4th voltUllllo o~
Psycho-Gizmo, does the test Hi th the person lying dovm on a six-~co t table. He uses 6 persons, three on each side to do the lifting. Nika also describes the same method as shown
. i!'. 11
J.n J.':;. •
~ast Indian magicians are amazing peo)le doin~ the lift by liftin~; a 50-lb rock l'l1it~:l pressure of the tips of thEl index fingers.
- The AbnorIi1al Lift experiments alre excellent to do at anytime anyv;here in com-bination Hith any psychic show.
Perhaps some enm rprising future psychic can try lifting a small car. Just di-vide the weight of the car by 50 to al"'y·i ve at the approximate number of persons needed!
\'Jorldwide fame aHai ts tho one who triec and succeeds.
p SYCHO-I>1_~~'r IS IS An AL HANN EXOLUSIVES
THE REACH OF ~HE HIND
Another look at the mystery of the pendulums.
The pendulums in bottles was treated in ItMental-Ettes." 'rhe behaviour of a pendulum insido a bottle is a deep mystery for the observer.
A recent experiment is as follows:
.A lady ca."11e in fOl" a hypnotic prescription-session. To test her sug-gestibility she w~s told to choose one of six num-bered bottles on a small tray-table. Uhile the operator sat same 10 feet a't-lay, she was told to place her ten fingers on the top of the table, stare at the pendulum and liill it to move and s'tving. Soon the pendulum began to swing until it
stroke the side of the bottle While the pendulura continued to
~
~
"-(:> <:>'"
~ ("lIlIIII...
(I> c) c!> (t>"
strike the bottle the sitter ,·ras told )':;0 takf; t, ouieL. looice atthe other pendultuns Hhich Here motionless. ~
The sitter refused to believe that she "las causing the movements of the pendulum and accused the operator of being
resposible for them.
?~O atmosphere of the seance room and the presence and reputation of the magician help to deepen the mystery.
No one has yet noticed or commented on the fact that the stpings on the pendulums are all of different lengths.
The apparatus shown in l"i:;, 12 shows the pendulums to be of equal length yet that is not the case at all. There is no doubt that the box shown l-Tould make the pendulum effect more mystorious. 'l'he apparatus is of simple construction so that
the performer can dismantle it to show that there are no hidden motors, clockl-1orks or strings.
It is made of four piece of transparant plexiglass, which make tho sides and front and back panels. The top L~ or
5
inchesof those panels are Dainted black (A) to hide the fact that the inside board is laying diagonally. The pendulums are sus-pended from tho inside board about
3
inches apart.The box measures
3
by 12 by 19inches. 'rhe longer pendu-lum is 10 inches long and the shortest about six inches long.'rhe l~igh.t s are ~ade from fish line Heights and painted in diffe:--'ent colors. 'lbe whole structure can be held together by top and bottom frrumes.
17
1'SYCHO-MEliTISIS AN AL NAl'lN EXCLUSIVE
•
• • • • cont •The idea o:C the apparatus pictul""ed in . fig • 12 is that the pendulums appear to be all of equal len(~~th. It is questio-nable lvhether this is an improvement over the pendulums sealed in bottles.
~vhen the apparatus is dismantled the board vlith the
pendulums is held in tho same relative position or more to the vertic~1.l. Since the spectators do not know what to look :Cor they Hill not notice anything dif:Cerent with the pendulums. For the presentation the sitter sits in :Cront o:C the pendulums and places his finger tips an the top of the_table and wills anyone o:C the pendulums to move. The pendu~um is l-Tilled to move back and forth until it strikes the glass and makes a bell-like sound.
'.L'his is one ef:Cect l1here the magic is in the mind o:C the sitter and it amazes theml
HERLIN'S MAGIC MARION~'rT~S
With Merlin's Marionettes, the operator is able to prove his telekinetic powers. The dolls move on the cor.1mand of their master, the magician.
Herlin's dolls do not walk or dance, but they do l-riggle and move their heads and hands. Nobody else can make them move unless they know the secret.
l~e Secret: Figure
1h
gives the secretaway. Rine magnets on a stick. When the ring
mar;nets are placed on a stick vrith their poles reversed they become floating magnets.
If another magnet is passed close to
it, like below the table, the rings become
attpacted by the bigger magnet and they move. irhe extreme sides or ends of the ring magnets will move up and down by moving the larger magnet back and force under the table top. I:C the hand is passed closed to the
:Cloai~g magnets with a magnet concealed in
a ring or palm, the :Cloating magnets will move.
Put a dress and hat on the ring magnets
4
and you have a doll. The dress is not in one Fig. 1 piece but each ring magnet is covered \-litha separate piece of different color paper to malee the dress.
The large magnet is strapped to the leg or attached to the shoe. The hands of the dolls are made from pipe cleaning wire.
PSYC~fO-H&~TISIS
AN Ai. l\l1A.m~ EXCLUSIVE rr}lB . SJ;!;CI!B."l' OF THJ~ ANCIENTS
IN which we consider:
LEVITATIONS! ••••• Ayy! There is a thought to
conjure with. The mention o£ it makes the sceptics scratch their heads. Houdini attempted to debumk Hamers levitation feats but his explanations fell on dea~ ears.
\-/i tnesses said that llome floated in a horizontal position right out a window into space, 70 feet above ground and back through another window in th;;: next roomJ London, 1868.
In 1882
(Jan.
17) magician Kellar attended a seance given by ~glinton, the ~glish
medium who succeeded Henry Slade in ~ope. During the seance, Kellar was holding
Eglintonrs left hand when the medium started to float up so high that he pulled Kellar up with him. Kellar had to climb onto the table to keop a hold on ~glinton's hand!
Kellar stated, "I went as a sceptic, but I must own that I c8IIle auay utterly unable to explain, by natural means the phenomena that I witnessed on 'l'uesday evening."
No doubt that later Kellar learned the secret of
levit~tion
as he put out a challenge to duplicate anything done by a medium.
Saints and charlatans have levitated and teleported themselves into tho pages of history.
Ancient prophets a3 well as some modern ones olaim they have lValked on water.
Present day wonder Horkers do not have to float on air 70 feet above ground to satisfy their sophisticated au-diences. All they need do is to lift themselves a £ew inches I
The av"rage levitation of 200 saints in history is 20 inches. Some have flmm quite high '\-Ihile others have only hovered 2 inches above ground.
A non-magician friend and raconteur of bizzare tales told the author the follm'Jing:
"The gift o~ levitation does not come overnight. I
spent man.' years in profound meditation in the hopes of mastering the devine art. It took me a long time just to knoH what I 1Vanted. It took me a long time just to get the feeling of what it Has all about. One does not oppose the est~lblished
laws of gravitJ- utterly. I fested and followed a rie:orous self-diciplme and denial. Pinally I reached the sta':;e kn01m as t:_J.e "one" with the creater. This is a ~eel ing of pure ecstasy. The "one II
being vibrates in a world of brilliant enel'gy. The astral body projects itself into other
l'SYCHO-fI"iEl'l'l'LlIS AN' AL MANN EXCLUSIVE LEVI'f A'fIONS ••••• cont.
worlds and other dimensions. After a number of out-or-body experiences I noticed that my physical body also commenced to take 'tving."
flI then approached a close friend and confided in him my great secret. I told him I had mastered the art of
levi-tation. That I could demonstrate it to him but although he may not be able to see it I could prove it to him."
"I told him to try to pass a newspaper under my shoes, slowly and carefully, while I stood in the oenter of the roam in a trance. I asked him to proceed very slowly, an inch at a time."
"It took him a few minutes just to bo able to push the newspaper sheet under half my shoes. Then with a,super-human mental effort I completely cleared the floor and my friend Has able to pull the newspaper sheet clear through under my shoes."
The reader must admit that is some patter story and a good presentation theme even though my anonymous friend may be suspected or being "on;t something.
~ .ILLUSI_ON
Now we are going to oreate the illusion of levitation by oombining my friends patter story and newspaper sheet
idea with an idea in
U.F.
Grant's booklet "Bodies in Orbit."U. F. Grant's mss is on levitation ideas and is highly re-oommended.
EFFEC'r: Hagidan paters about levitations and his la-test achievements along that line.
19
A sheet of nevrspaper is placed ov()r a foot stool and then tho ma;;ician stands on the newspaper avo!' the stool and calls on tv-IO members of the audience to come on stage and pull on the neHspape:n sheet. 'l'he shoet oomes thrOU?P. Next the
magician levitates his ,.;holo body off the stool for about 2 or 3 inches.
'1';!E Mb;THOD: You need:
1 stool, 10 inches high. 'rhe seat piece should be about
3
inohes thick. '1'he stool must be strong enough to support the magician standing on two feet or one foot without toppling over. Painted a shiny silve~ color. 1 cloth curtain, about L~ by 6 feet depending on thesize of the ma~;;ician. Opaque white color fitted with an extension arm and a top rod to hold the curtain square.
AN ilL MAliN EXCLUSIVE
L~VI'.rATIONS
• • • • • cont •
wide,
14
inches long and 20 inches high. 'fhe bag is re-enforced on the inside with cardboard so that it remains open like a box. 'fhe bag is painted a bright color on the rront only and black on the other threesides.
1 sheet or nel-1Spaper, and one assistant (optional). 1 pair dummy shoes with pant legs (optional)
Tim PREsm\~ATION: During the patter the assistant comes
out with the shoppinG bag (bright color side to audience) and takes out th~ stool and places it b0hind the magici~. Then he unrolls the cloth curtain to inspect it and under cover of the curtain turns the shopping bag around so that the black color from the sides and rock of the bag meld ldth the black
bac>:: drop (stage curtam). 'rhe shopping bag is plaoed just a few inches, say four, behind the stool.
Nagician next places the ne'\-J'spaper sheet over the
stool and stands on it. He then calls on tHO volu~teer men ..
b3rs of the audience ( one should be a conrederate and the other a lady) and instructs them on hOH to pull the paper.
H,agicir..Il covers himself Hi th the curtain and then steps
back and into the shopping bag Hhile the newspaper sheet is
pulled away Hith a lot or mystic 1'anfare • .i.''''agician steps back
onto the ~) tool and raise s the cloth, thanks the assitants and
dismisses the lady.
Next tho magician sta tes he is [oing to try for n fe,\-I more inches as the time seems to be apropos. :CIe covers
hirn-selr '\<lith the curtain again, steps back into the shopping bag
and this time raises the cloth so that the stool is seen.
'llhe as :~istant passes a hoop or SHord betHeen the bottom
of the curtain and top or the stool to prove that the magician
is reall:" 1'loating. If the dummy shoes are used they can now
be shown as hanging just under the cloth. The magician then removes the durom;T shoes ani places them behind the shopping
bag and then steps onto the stool so that the audience can
actually see his shoes descending anew. lie then removes the curtain and truces hi s bow. l!hd of miracle.
':rhe reader may surmise that he will not fool anyone
\-rith the trick. Let me say that ;/0:.1. do not need to. Some members 01' the audience '\dll say (kidding, maybe) that they
saw you levi tate. The story will spread. 'l'he newspapers will pick it up (as a lark perhaps) and print it.
'fhat, Gentlemen, is what levitations are all about.
Publicity!
P 3 YC IlO·::·I'lliNT I J IS AU AL MANN EXCLUSIVE LEVITA'fIOHS • • • • • cant.
\ihen Houdini mare 9.n elephant di sappear in New York City's Hippodrome he did not expect anyone to believe that the elephant had actually vanished into thin air but he knew it Hould create a sensation. It became the most talked about teat of st:r>aight magic and made the headlines and that is all Houdini \-J'anted.
,tt'urther Notes
The stool: The top piece or seat at the stool is 3
inches thick. The reas on for that is that part at it can be seen Hhen the magician hides behind the curtain and gives the illusion that it was in sight at all times.
When the magician steps back into the shoppin,; bag to do the newspaper stunt, he only places one leg into the bag and rests his other toot on top at the newspaper. That way when the spectators pullan the newspaper they will teel some resistance as the toot or shoe drag on it. Oncethe news-paper is pulled clear the magician jumps back on the stool, an easy matter since he already has one toot on it.
A talse hand can be used for apparently holding the curtain tram the top edge. Actually the ma~ician is manipula-ting the curtain by the aid of the extension rod. The curtain of course must remain motionless as much as possible.
For the second try at levitation, the performer pulls the curta.in a bit higher so that it is about 3 or four inches above the top of the stool. Sinco the bag is ten inches higher than the stool, the magician has some lee, .. lay.
If the dummy shoes and pant legs are to be used, be sure to use real shoes of the exact duplicate at thecnes you are wearin~; and als 0 real pant legs. 'fhis dur,nn:r only needs about 3 inches of pant leg. Han;; expensive illusions have failed to impress an audeince because the substitued dummy parts do not at all resemble the renl thing.
'llhanks to U. iii. Grant, the author feels that this
inexpensive illusion is one of t~le best that can be presented by a magician vii thout havin[; to resort to the \·lell knmm levi-tation that the public has seen over and over.
The illusion must be practiced many times before pre-senting it.
t'SYCHO-l>1illJTIJIS AN AL HAHN EXCLUSIVE
NOTES
TIlE BENDS: A small key can be used instead of a coin.
The }~gician's Table: Some close-up table performers have their own custom built table. These tables are just a few inches hir,her than the regular table. ~be extra in-ches gives the magician a confortable room for moving their legs and hands under it.
Permutation of Matter: In Part II it is assumed that the performer Hill first do the Jerry Andrus routine \-li th the sa.fety pins.
The Nail Act: The nail-up-the-nose bit was mentioned only for the sake of completeness. 'llhe novice must proceed wi th this stunt at his ovm risk. 'I'he nail enters into the haad only .for about 3 inches. Care must be taken against injury and infection.
TIP: lo/hen a bent nail like the one shown in Fig. 9"B" 22
is held \-lith the curved Plain parallel to the line of sight of the audience, the bend can not be seen. If the magician then ver~,r slowly rotates the nail with the tips of his first finger and thumb, the nail will appear to bend visibly!
Nerlin's Harionettes: Throw a hankerchief over the doll first for a spooky start and then uncover the dolls.
The folloHing items are available fror.l Al
Mann
Exclusives: Emerson and West magnetic finger ring and book$12.50
ppCorinda's billet pencil
4.50
ppThe Linking Pins with tho Jerry .Andrus routine L~.25 pp "Psi-Flexion" the nail act by Doc Dougherty
4.00
ppThe ..i:'~ankentein Ai'fair: Have some test tubes or glass boxes
with some lar~5e insects like a prayine; mantis and say that you rovived it two weeks ago and it is still living!
'lL E l:.l~ID5: l"igure out how to bend a horseshoe by psi power and then make sure the news media hears about it. A changing tray is a good start.