When in Rome -Peter Turner

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When in Rome

Notes from Italy

By Peter Turner

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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:

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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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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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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.

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xiii 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

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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

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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

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3 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

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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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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.

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9 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

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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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11 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

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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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17 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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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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19 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.

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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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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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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

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23 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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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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25 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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“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?”

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?”

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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

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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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29 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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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.”

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31 (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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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.

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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

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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

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35 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

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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.

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37 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

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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.”

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39 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

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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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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 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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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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53 “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)

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54 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?”

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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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57 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.

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“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

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59 (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.”

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.”

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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)?”

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61 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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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.

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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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65 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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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

When in Rome -Peter Turner

When in Rome

Notes from Italy

By Peter Turner

Dedication

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Michael Murray

September 2014

Introduction

I

Ethics

and codes

II

Your intuition

Effect

Breakdown

The psychological force of 7

Springboard

On its head

Full performance

The outs

Additional idea

Mark Chandaue additional idea

Paul Shirley additional idea

Credits

III

Simply overlooked

Effect

Breakdown

Making the effect more

The Matrix moment

The justification

The peek