Greg Arce - Lost in Thought

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(2) I hope I don’t need to tell you that Xeroxing this book and passing it around is something you SHOULDN’T be doing. If you do then just consider that brain I’m holding to be yours… don’t make me step on it!!! You are allowed to perform all the effects anywhere, but I keep all marketing rights. COPYRIGHT 2006.

(3) TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD INTRODUCTION ACTING TECHNIQUES SHOOTING LINCOLN FO(U)R EYES VOO-DEUX BOMB ROULETTE PINHEAD’S ROULETTE WHAT A CHARADE SWAP STICKY POP SOME STRANGE IDEAS BIZARRE DUPE SUPER SWINDLE STEAL A SYMBOL COLOR WINE-OH! STICKY DUPE MAGIC WORDS – A RANT POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE THE ___ BOOK B’WAVE HEART OR DIAMOND CLUES ROCK/PAPER/SCISSORS ONCE SILLY MAGNET Q & A GIFT BAG PRE-SHOW SUBTLETY HYPNO-MATH MAPQUEST ADD SENSE HALLMARK MEMORY ONE MORE RANT. PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE. 4 7 9 20 28 37 42 45 49 54 57 63 64 66 68 70 72 75 79 84 92 95 96 97 99 101 104 107 111 120 124.

(4) And now a word from Millard Longman… I’ve known him for quite a long time… as you will see. For those that don’t know him, well, where have you been! He only created one of the best peek ideas using a business card… ever!!! If you don’t know his Acidus Novus then you should… shame on you! Well, get up and go buy it! Don’t just sit there!!. FOREWORD by Millard Longman. It was a warm evening in the late 1970s and I had arrived early for the magic club meeting. I had been president of the club for a few of months and always arrived early. As I walked into the room I saw him standing by one of the tables playing with some cards. I had seen him many times before, but this time he seemed different. He kept doing the same move with the cards over and over – getting the mechanics down perfectly – the fabulous presentations for this trick would come later. The trick he was working on was The Bizarre Twist by Paul Harris. That trick has remained a favorite of mine ever since. This is one of my fondest memories of Greg Arce. He was a teenager at the time; I was in my mid thirties. In spite of the age difference, Greg and I were very good.

(5) friends. We spent many hours together talking and practicing magic, but we also spent much time just laughing together about everything that went on in life around us. Greg was so funny that at times I could barely breathe from the laugher! Greg seems to create both comedic and dramatic presentations with no effort at all – the ideas just pop into his mind as if he was channeling spirits! Hey, maybe that is his secret – he is channeling the greats that came before him! At one of our magic shows, Greg had this birdcage vanish that he made himself; the cage was wrapped entirely in flash paper! He vanished the birds by setting the cage on fire! Of course, Greg had not tried setting the fire in practice due to the high price for that much flash paper – that was a mistake. When he touched it off, the whole stage lit up as though a low yield nuclear device had been triggered! The fireball went up almost ten feet towards the overhead curtains. We all watched in terror – frozen in time – as the world went by in slow motion. Luckily, the building survived and Greg just kept going through his act. Afterwards he told of the fear he felt inside, but none of it showed outside. Even then he was a great actor! Since those early days, Greg moved from southeast Florida to California where he stills lives and works and plays. He wrote, directed, and starred in his own feature film called Den. Den won several critical awards, but is.

(6) yet to find a major distributor. Perhaps Greg will release it directly to DVD? So now the teenager that I spent so many happy hours with has become a master magician, mentalist, actor, filmmaker, author, and is still a very funny guy. You are now reading one of his fabulous books and you are in for another fabulous treat. Greg’s essay on acting techniques is essential reading for any performer looking to increase his impact on a live audience! Study this essay often; it will pay big dividends! The rest of the book is filled with routines that will take full advantage of your new acting abilities. Enjoy this book and think about the mind that comes up with this stuff – the fabulous mind of Greg Arce! Millard Longman 5/5/2006.

(7) INTRODUCTION Another book? What the hell do I have to say? Apparently, too much. I decided to put some more ideas together… some I used in the past, some I tinkered with and others came from a mix batch of working out other people’s problems. Within, you’ll find some new ideas that, if I were not a lazy bastard, I might have actually marketed some of them. Also, little rants that often ramble, and rumble, in my mind. Of the effects inside, I can tell you that I’m proudest of creating STICKY POP and the Acting Technique essay that first appeared in AM/PM magazine. I want to thank Tom Cutts for allowing me to put it in this book. Well, I hope you find some fun stuff inside and get a different viewpoint on certain effects. I put two handlings for effects that are not mine, but have my touches. I want to thank Max Maven for letting me run by him my touches on his POSITIVE/NEGATIVE routine, based on a Larry Becker idea, and a special thanks to Charles Gauci who gave me his blessing on putting in my handling of his brilliant EYE TO EYE effect..

(8) Also a big thanks to Millard Longman, Banachek, Richard Osterlind, Larry Becker, John Riggs, Paolo Cavalli, Brad Henderson, Tony Blake, Barrie Richardson, Jheff Poncher, Chuck Hickok, Michael Weber, and all the others that let me run stuff by them to see what they thought. And a special thanks to Paolo Cavalli for once again coming up with the brilliant design that became the cover to this book. That’s three in a row for him. One more thing: I went against everyone’s advice and decided not to include illustrations or pictures. I even restricted going into too much detail when describing a basic sleight. Why? Well, I felt that the best mentalists I know are able to figure things out on their own. Nothing is spoon-fed to them. Something deep inside told me that I’d rather foster thinking instead of spoon-feeding exact details. I’m sorry if it bothers some, but I hope I will create some great thinkers that way..

(9) ACTING TECHNIQUES This essay can apply to both a magician and mentalist… as a matter of fact; just about any performer who wants to put some extra thinking into his performances: “A magician is an actor playing the part of a magician.” We’ve all read or heard that one, but how many of us have really put it into use? I have. I performed magic from the age of five until I was in my twenties, but in college I decided to study theater because of that simple statement I heard that was attributed to Robert-Houdin. The crazy thing is I fell in love with theater and gave up the magic... at least, professionally. But over the years I started incorporating many of the techniques I learned in acting within my magic. I found they were especially helpful when I became fixated with mentalism. What were some of these things? Well, how does an actor make certain feelings believable to an audience when, in fact, he is not really having them at the time? How can you really bring on those feelings at a moment’s notice? How can you use physical actions and movements to convey inner emotions? There are many ways to do all these things, but I’ll try and cover some that I’ve used when displaying my “psychic powers.”.

(10) Before I begin let me give you my own theories on the performance of mentalism or psychic powers. I believe that you, the performer, must act as if it is real... more so than when doing a card trick. People really believe in such things and if you can come across as the real thing, well, you’re 90% of the way there. So when I do anything that is considered mental magic I apply certain rules. I ask myself, “If this were real, how would this look? Isn’t it more convincing that I don’t get it 100% right? Why would I give them a limited choice to think about if it were true that I can read anything in their mind?” So how do I apply those rules and combine acting? I’ll give you an example: The Thought Transmitter. I love this item. But I don’t want to give someone a limited choice as to what they can imagine. What do I do? I open it up and draw a circle (conveniently in the area I need them to write) and say, “Picture this is the earth and it is spinning.” I then draw lines around the circle to represent the earth spinning... these lines now block out other areas on the pad for them to write on so they can only now write in the circle. I continue, “In a moment I will turn around. I want you to picture yourself being lowered onto the earth, but your eyes are closed. When I snap my fingers you will open your eyes and be somewhere on the planet. You can be anywhere. In a foreign land. Or somewhere you know. Maybe it’s a generic place like a desert. Or you are on something or in something.”.

(11) “Maybe you are with someone you know. Or with a stranger. Maybe the first thing you see is an object. It can be anywhere on this earth. In one or two words, print where you landed on the earth and close up the wallet. Ready?” (I snap my fingers) “Quickly write where you went. Have you done so?” When they respond in the positive I turn around and pick up the wallet. I put it away into my top pocket as I say, “Was this place or thing important to you?” In that moment I catch a glimpse... I’m talking about microsecond here. I don’t pause to stare at the wallet. I don’t slow down the path of my arm as it goes for my pocket. I don’t stop if I only saw a vague clue as to what is written there. Why? Here comes the acting. Up until that second I have no idea what is on there. If I catch only a brief glimpse of what’s there then I have to start using my mind to work out details. What did I see? Was it a big word? Was it two words? Was it a place? A name? All these questions that now run through my mind project physically on my face. Without having to work at it, my own face will look like my mind is busy trying to sort information. And shouldn’t that be what would be happening if I had the gift? I love giving myself that type of challenge when I do mentalism. It feels good to struggle for an answer and looks even better from the audience’s point of view. But there’s more. I use an acting technique called “sense.

(12) memory” to further enhance this effect and I use it in a kind of backward thinking kind of way. What is sense memory? Actors use this to recall an event in their life so that they can bring up a certain emotion. So if you tried to do a crying scene and it wasn’t working, you would try to think back to a time in your life when you really cried. But you don’t just think about the moment you cried, you try to picture everything that happened just before that moment... try to recall if there was music playing... hear the music... was there a smell in the air... try to bring that odor into your memory... maybe a siren was going by your window at that moment... hear the siren... try to picture all the objects in that room on the day you cried. Here is how it gets weird... as you start to recall all these things you will find something that triggers your tears and most of the time it will be some innocuous item or event, like an ashtray that was in the room, or you were eating stale potato chips at the time. For some reason these weird triggers will start your tears to flow. Somehow your body has attached an emotion to something within that event and it’s not always what you think it will be. So how do I use this with the transmitter? Okay, let’s say the person wrote BOAT as where he was or what he saw. I’m not going to scream out, “You were on a boat! Aha!! Boy, am I good!” I will do it in pieces and give him the impression that I am still going into his mind..

(13) I’ll say, “Go back to the place or thing or person you saw when you opened your eyes. Be there again. Look around. Take more time to gather information. Wait. I get a sense of instability. Like I’m not grounded. I’m moving slightly. I get a sense of rocking. Take a deep breath. Wait. I smell that the air is cleaner, but there is some sort of hint of... I don’t know, like seawater or something. Listen to what is around you. Oh, I hear birds, but not pets... like a squawking. A seagull? I’m getting seagulls. We’re on or near water! There’s some land far away in the distance. Are we on a ship of some kind?” Try that and see the reaction you get. I’ve had people stand there in shock. What they perceive is that I am jumping in and out of their mind just as they sense or see these things. The opposite is what is happening. I make the statement that puts the thought in their mind then they see or hear the picture of what I’ve just given them and then I pretend that I’m getting a mental picture. I am giving them a list of sense memories, but just as they react to them, I call out that I’m getting a new feeling or picture. They become an instant stooge, but yet they are amazed. I hope I made that clear. I try to act in the way a psychic would act if he were getting messages. I create an inner dialogue that causes my body to react in a certain way. Here’s another acting trick: Okay, you’re assignment is to act like you are asleep until another character wakes.

(14) you. Well, most beginning actors will just close their eyes and use the tired “snoring bit” to come across as if they are asleep. Try this instead: Close your eyes. Now try to picture the Jack of Hearts. See the card in your mind. Try to see all the detail. Is this a one-eyed Jack? What color are his sleeves? Is this an old card you are holding or one fresh out of the pack? Check to see if it has any marks on it or is crimped in any way... Hey! Wake up! Wake up!! If you do this exercise with your eyes closed you will really look asleep. Your eyes will dart from side to side as you look at your mental Jack of Hearts. This will look like REM sleep. The fact that you are trying to work out details will take your mind to another level and more than likely you will really be startled when the actor calls out your name. Inner dialogue is the key. Asking yourself specific questions. Giving yourself tasks to do mentally will also cause your body to react in certain ways that convey that something real is happening. I’ll quote from myself when a question about faking a mistake during a card trick was posted on The Magic Cafe: You turn over the card that was supposed to be the right card, but it is the wrong card. Stare at the wrong card. Try to remember what you ate for dinner a week ago... trust me, your face will make the right contortions if you try to think about that. Tell yourself internally,.

(15) “That’s not the card. It’s supposed to be the card. I wonder what happened?” Try to now remember the name of your first grade teacher. Then try to remember what you ate last night... when you remember think to yourself, “Hey, I know how to fix this problem. I can change this card to the correct one.” I know it sounds silly but this inner dialogue makes you react physically as if what is happening is actually happening. After awhile you won’t need to go through so many steps and you will get use to how your body reacts in that situation so you can recreate it at a moment’s notice without all the steps. Actors will work on a scene for a while and bring up all their emotions and go through all the steps, but then while they are doing the scene they just go into it naturally. By doing the homework first it allows you to bypass it when the time comes. Another method used in acting, which I touched on earlier, is called The Magic If theory. The Magic If is just using a technique of visualization of what would happen if the circumstances you are portraying were real. Actors would say, “If I really did commit this crime how would I react? If I really had to tell my mother that my underage girlfriend is pregnant, how would I tell her?” You can apply that thinking when creating an effect or structuring a routine. Think about how it would look if the magic was real or if you really had the power to move.

(16) objects or read minds. Try to see yourself really performing the effects without the help of a tricky double-backer or a nailwriter. When I do my coin bending I always use the idea that I’m not certain what coin will bend or when. I try to put it into their minds by saying, “If it happens I’ve been told that it feels like it’s getting warmer, or colder, or like electricity... one person said it felt like the coins were shifting in their hands. So just relax and concentrate. Just try to feel what is happening in your hand.” When I do that speech and stare intently at their hands, I have a 75% record of getting them to react. They will say they feel something. I had one girl scare me when she screamed as she suddenly experienced something in her hands. I came upon this technique by applying the Magic If theory to my coin bending. Some will ask, “What about the other 25% that don’t react?” Well, I get a major percentage of those individuals to react by staring at their hands then looking up suddenly and saying, “Did you feel that!? I think it’s one of the smaller coins. Did you feel it?” If you repeat this several times you will get a positive answer. One again I combined the Magic If with the transfer of Sense Memory... I’ve given them a reason to feel something and most of the time they will..

(17) Okay, now how do you practice acting frightened or angry or confused or happy? Well, actors work on it all the time. The funny thing we do is to try to step out of ourselves when the real emotions happen. There has been many times in my life where I’ve been convulsed by tears and will walk up to a mirror to see what it looks like. It’s kind of a schizo-type thing to do, but the more you think about how you look in certain situations, the more you will develop this alternate awareness. It becomes second nature to think about what you are doing as you are blatantly telling a lie, or how your face reacts when someone is gossiping about a friend. How could you use this in magic? Try this: You want to see what it really feels like to search for something in your pockets and really not know where you are going to find it? Get a friend, or partner, to hide your extra coin in any of your pockets before you put on the suit. Now go into the routine not knowing where that coin will be. I suggest you videotape yourself while you do this. But you want to make this even more real, tell them to do this when you least expect it... like when you’ve been booked at a real show. Here’s another funny experiment to try: Stand in front of the camera and have your friend or partner, ask you various questions. The range of questions have to be from easy to just plain bizarre. They can ask, “What’s your name? What would you rather it be? What’s your mother’s maiden name? What was her age when you were.

(18) born? Who was the first man on the moon? Why do you think they thought the moon was made out of cheese?” Now, of course, you don’t want to know the questions in advance and you should be either setting up your show or practicing it while they toss the questions at you. Go back and look at the tape. You are probably going to see yourself making facial contortions that look silly yet are real. You’ll also notice subtle eye shifts as you ponder information you know and things you’ve never thought about. When you’ve looked at all the possible combinations of expressions and questions, well, then sit down and try to figure out how you can make an inner dialogue that causes you to react those ways. Of course, you want only those things that fit your routine... if you are searching for a lost card in the deck, that you know is in your pocket, you wouldn’t use a question that has an easy answer... you should go for a question like, “Why can’t I remove the tag from my pillow and why is it illegal?” That question will make your face register, “I thought the card was right there? Did I screw up my shuffle?” Sit down. Think about your routines and what inner thoughts you are trying to convey to your audience. Now try to see what questions, or situations, can run through your mind that will make your face and body act in the proper way. It sounds like a lot of work, but when you’ve worked it out several times you will see that you don’t.

(19) have to constantly have the inner monologue turned on... it will all come out naturally. I’d love to hear what kinds of actions and speeches you come up with to help certain situations in your magic. Please feel free to write to me at [email protected]..

(20) SHOOTING LINCOLN. THE WHAT: The performer pulls out three invisible coins and has the spectator select one then toss that coin and see how it lands… heads or tails. The performer has predicted the outcome of that process. THE HOW: Okay, okay, I know… it’s been covered a number of times and many have their own take on this… but I wanted to add a few of my touches and handlings. First, the idea of predicting the outcome of such an experiment was first put out by Larry Becker and then made popular by Max Maven on his videoMind series. It was called Positive/Negative in that series. For those that don’t know, it is merely an equivoque of three coins and a double out to cover the heads or tails sequence. Becker had an envelope to cover the heads or tails portion and Maven used a subtle wording & display on the back of a business card to make it an impromptu effect. I loved the premise and then fell more in love with it when I saw John George’s take on it on his video. It was a great idea on how to solve the final heads or tails outcome. I used it for over two years… and then….

(21) Well, one day I was faced with doing a performance at a cabaret and I really wanted to open one set with the coin prediction, but I knew that I couldn’t use John’s ending because it would not be visible to 99% of the audience. Simple solution: I had a color photo made of a penny. Actually, two photos: one showing the heads side and the other the tails. I had the color copier enlarge the photos so that now I had two giant color photos of a penny on both of its sides. Next, just use a Himber wallet or any such device that can easily have two outs. Now you have a small effect that plays really big… in just about any theater. But let me cover my word-play because some have said that they love the way I use equivoque in this simple sequence. Although, this is a simple effect and over quickly, it will take a bit of doing to explain all the subtle touches… but I’ll try. The basics & my patter: I point to a spectator, rather dramatically, and say, “Young lady, an experiment of the human mind… trust me.” On the table, I then start to push invisible coins towards the spectator, as I call them out, “An invisible penny, invisible dime and an invisible nickel… can you see them?” I wait for an answer and this causes some amusement as the spectator and others stare at the invisible coins on the table. Here are the two possible things that will be said by the spectator, “No, I don’t” or “Yes, I see them”,.

(22) and here are my answers to those questions: “You have to start drinking… then you’ll see them” or “Good… so you’ve been drinking.” Both of those answers get a laugh. Now in either case I go over the amount of coins and where they are on the table… the penny is always to my left followed by the other two coins. Why? Well, you’ll see in a moment… “With your right hand pick up one coin… and one coin only.” The spectator does that. I usually ask, “Which coin did you take?” Most of the time they will immediately answer, but some will say, “You tell me” and I either answer with one of Max’s outs for this type of heckling or simply say, “C’mon… just tell us… it’s not that big of a deal.” Okay, here is where the layout of the coins is important. About half the time, when I say, “Pick up a coin with your right hand” the spectator will immediately pick up the penny, which is to his extreme right… my left. When this happens you are done. Simply say, “Take the penny and slap it on the table.” Wait for them to do that then say, “Is it heads or tails?” You’ll find that a lot of people either won’t look down at the invisible coin or not even lift their hands, but they will still call out the outcome. You now have another possibility for a little joke. If they don’t pick their hand up then say, “So you have X-ray eyes? You can see right.

(23) through your hands?” And if they don’t look down then say so, “You didn’t even look! You are that sure?” Whatever is called out you then open your wallet or envelope and pull out the right photo and have the person open it. I prefer to use a wallet because I can open it correctly and say, “Would you please take out the one piece of paper that’s in there and open it up and show them.” It plays big when the spectator opens up this large sheet and displays a large color copy of a penny. I then take it back from them and turn the paper around to show the blank side as I say, “And there’s nothing on the back… for you skeptics.” Also, the wording I always use with the unused coins is this: They pick up the penny and I pretend to scoop up the dime & nickel as I say, “So you left the dime & nickel for me… biggest tip of the evening so far.” I then pretend to pocket the invisible coins. Back to the other outcomes: The second most used combination happens when I say, “Pick up one coin with your right hand” and they proceed to pick up one of the silver coins. I then say, “Now with your left hand pick up another coin.” Most of the time they pick up the other silver coin so I say, “Those are your tips for this evening… keep them.” I then pretend to move the penny that’s on the table towards another person as I say, “So she left the penny on the table… could you please pick it up and slap it on.

(24) the table? Is it heads or tails?” And now you can use the same lines when this happens. Another funny note: Most of the time the person that has picked up the two invisible coins sits there through the next process and actually is holding up their hands as if they contain the two coins. I usually make a comment about that by saying, “No, put them away… it’s your money now.” So I have found that probably over 90% of time I get those two perfect outcomes with the easy to do equivoque process, but what happens when I don’t… Well, first, I always use a woman for this process and I’ve noticed that has increased my chances of one of those two processes to occur. I’m not sure why, but women seem to either go for the direct route of the penny or go for keeping the two silver coins. I hate to make an observation, but I have noticed that the prettier ladies, and the ones that look like they might be high maintenance, usually go for the two silver coins. Don’t hate me for noticing that, but it is true. Anyway, what if they pick a silver coin first then go for the penny? No problem. Here is the patter: “What coin did you pick up? Ah, the nickel. Now with you left hand pick up another coin. The penny? So you left the dime for me as a tip.” Scoop up the coin that is left and pocket it. Now say, “When I snap my fingers I want you to put one coin back onto the table.” Snap your fingers..

(25) If they put the silver coin back then scoop it up and say, “Another tip… great! So you’ve kept the penny for yourself… slap it on the table…” and go from there. But if they place the penny back on the table and keep the silver coin, I say, “So you’ve kept the dime for yourself… well, that’s your tip for the evening… please keep it.” Now I push the penny that is on the table towards another spectator and have them slap it. Some would say that this is the worst outcome, but I actually like it because of the second layer I add in my speech, which I even do when the person has picked up both silver coins and someone else picks up the penny. I say, as I have them start to open up the prediction, “So she left the penny and you called it heads… and the penny is heads.” Why is that better? Well, it throws in a subtle idea that there was more process that could have gone wrong at any moment. The first spectator might not have left the penny for the second spectator and the second spectator could have called it as tails instead. We know that the outcome was set, but to the regular audience that throws in another way that things could have gone wrong. Believe me, I know because I’ve actually had that said to me right after the effect. So what did I add to this classic routine? Not much… just the large color photo to be seen at a distance and the idea of calling the money tips and having a reason for putting them away. For those that decide to make up the predictions, it’s easier to buy one of those jumbo pennies.

(26) and first take a color copy of them then have them blown up further. If you use a real penny they tend to lose a bit of clarity as they are blown up. But you can get someone with a good camera to take an extreme close up of a real penny then blow that up. Another hint: If you are doing a walkaround gig, or some place where people could talk to each other, then make up color predictions of the dime and nickel and switch those in from time to time. You can even make up one of a quarter and change up what you say so you have four coins you can force. And another hint: When I’ve done this for a large audience I’ve used the idea that I’m suspending coins in the air and they are hanging from thin threads. When the person plucks the coins off the “thread” I use the same lines and when they put something back I tell them to hang them back on the thread. As for the head/tails thing, if the penny is still the one left hanging, I tell them to pretend to give the penny a snap and let it spin on the thread until they see it stop. Then they are to call the side that’s facing them. One last thing that Larry Becker said to me, “One thought on the 3 invisible coins. As in your example use a penny, dime and nickel or quarter. One copper and two silver. If the selection by the lady is one of the silver coins, you say, "Just like my wife...always goes for the silver, of course. Might just as well take the other one too." You push the remaining silver coin for the lady to.

(27) pick up. Leaves you with the copper. Naturally if she selects the penny, you're home.” Nice. Unfortunately, what once Max made truly impromptu I’ve chosen to take away the impromptu nature of it, but make it something that was visual to a larger audience. A big thanks to Becker for first putting the idea out there and a big hand to Max for popularizing it with his own spin. Also, Max pointed out that he feels my line, after turning the picture around to show it is blank, could be a bit of “running when not chased.” It fits my persona so maybe it might not fit your style so consider Max’s words if you plan to put it into your act. Max suggests just being sure that the blank side is exposed casually has you are unfolding the prediction..

(28) FO(U)R. EYES. THE WHAT: The performer shows a little box that contains both a half dollar and small plastic ball. He brings up a young lady and a young man. He has the young lady pick either object, but not show the object to anyone. The performer is able to instantly tell her what object she picked. Now the performer and the young lady play a game of hide and seek… she continues to hide her object in either hand and the performer tries to guess which hand… he guesses right every time. After several correct guesses, the performer has the young man pick up the object that was left by the lady and put it openly in either of his hands. The performer makes the stipulation that if he puts it in his right hand then she must put her object in her left and vice-versa. The young man decides openly and the performer has a third spectator open up a prediction that has been in full view and the prediction details not only the outcome of this game, but what object the lady originally picked. THE HOW: For those that have Charles Gauci’s Eye to Eye then you already know how you guess which hand contains the object. You can probably also guess that both objects in that box will work for the guessing game..

(29) First, my compliments to Mr. Gauci for having provided such a well-made gimmick and idea. I was instantly attracted to it when I saw him perform and lecture this effect. As with everything I see, I decided to tweak it a bit and make it a longer premise and routine. The routine I described above is the one I use to open my stage show. I felt that it was a fooler, had me in the midst of the audience already and, at the same time, was a bit intimate. I also liked the fact that later on in the show I could explain that some people thought the routine was just a fifty-fifty shot, but that in reality it was a series of fifty-fifty shots that could have gone wrong at any time. Here’s what you’ll need: Mr. Gauci’s Eye to Eye effect, or any similar ones out there that allow you to know what objects the spectator holds in their closed hands, but I feel Gauci’s is the best out there. Two different objects that have the properties needed to allow you to know what hand holds the object. A small box that will hold both objects in separate sides of the box. And some metal shavings that have been colored to look like small fragments from the box. My box is a small wooden box that has a lid which nests on top. It is a pretty fragile box that I painted red. I filled the box with a yellow sponge that I then carved out two spots to hold the half and the ball… each object is in its own space and inches away from the other object..

(30) When you open the box, the objects look like two rings sitting in a ring box. Directly below the area where the ball sits, I have cut out a hole about the size of a quarter on the bottom of the box. I also carved away a bit of the sponge so that there is just a small wall of sponge directly beneath the ball. I then took some thin sheet metal shavings and painted them red. These shavings look like tiny fragments that might have fallen from the box. When the ball is set in its place, if you put the shavings directly beneath the hole in the box, they will be attracted up and stick to the sponge. If you remove the ball, the shavings will fall down. That’s the secret of knowing what object was picked. Not an original idea from me… it’s been done before to know what objects are pulled out of a box or holder. For the predictions: I have two Himber wallets that each contains two predictions. One wallet contains these predictions – (1st prediction) THE LADY ORIGINALLY CHOSE THE HALF DOLLAR SO THE MAN GOT THE BALL. NOW HE HAS THE BALL IN HIS LEFT HAND AND SHE HAS THE HALF IN HER RIGHT, (2nd prediction) THE LADY ORIGINALLY CHOSE THE HALF DOLLAR SO THE MAN GOT THE BALL. NOW HE HAS THE BALL IN HIS RIGHT HAND AND SHE HAS THE HALF IN HER LEFT. The other wallet has these two predictions: - (1st prediction) THE LADY ORIGINALLY CHOSE THE LITTLE.

(31) BALL SO THE MAN GOT THE HALF DOLLAR. NOW HE HAS THE HALF IN HIS LEFT HAND AND SHE HAS THE BALL IN HER RIGHT, (2nd prediction) THE LADY ORIGINALLY CHOSE THE LITTLE BALL SO THE MAN GOT THE HALF DOLLAR. NOW HE HAS THE HALF IN HIS RIGHT HAND AND SHE HAS THE BALL IN HER LEFT. I know that sounds like a mouthful, but it covers all the solutions. I originally wanted to give them the chance to place the objects in the same hand, but that caused me to have too many outs to worry about. This ending is enough and has gotten great reactions when I’ve performed it. Back to the routine: I always try to pick a couple… like a wife & husband, boyfriend & girlfriend, etc. When I bring them up, I put the girl to my right and the guy to my left. In my stage show, I liked to sit at the edge of the stage with them so it looked casual and intimate. I would open the box and display the objects inside to the audience. After that display, I would turn to the lady and say, “In a moment, I want you to pick one of these objects, but I really want you to decide which object you would like before picking it out. Make a strong decision as to which object you want and go for it. Please keep the box turned so no one sees which object you picked… especially me. Tell me when you’ve picked your object.”.

(32) I turn away from her so that the audience can see that I cannot see her actions. Some times I turn to the man and have some light banter with him as the lady picks her object. When she calls out that she is done I turn around. At that moment there a times when I already know what she took because she moved the box in her actions and I see the red shavings. If I don’t see them I don’t take it as a positive that she removed the half. To make sure of the decision I pick up the box, without really looking at it, as I place it near the guy and say, “This will be for you… later.” Having done that I can now see which object she took, but I don’t immediately reveal it. Oh, here is something that happened so maybe you can learn from this experience: In one show, while I was turned, I heard the lady pick up the object and close the box… I then heard a brushing sound. I realized she had seen the little pieces and brushed them off the table to clean it off. I think it was an involuntary reaction on her part, but luckily I caught that or I would have been wrong from the start. So listen to everything that is happening around you. Back to the action: Since I now know what object she picked, I can now pull out the appropriate wallet. I always keep the wallet that has her holding the half on my right side. I pull it out and say this, “Oh, and here is a prediction for the end of this little game.” I hand that.

(33) wallet to someone in the front row to hold. I then look up at the audience and say the following: “Now some think that I placed those two objects randomly into the box, but that is not so. Those objects reveal a bit about a person’s make up… let me tell you how. If the person picks the ball they tend to go for the fun side of life… not a hundred percent, but a little more than most.” “For instance, a person that picks the ball could be working on some important tax papers one night and suddenly get a call from a friend who has tickets to Gigli 2. The fun person would say, ‘Sure, let’s go out. I’ll take care of this another day.’” “The person that picks the half has more of the business side of life in their system… not a hundred percent… just more than most. That person, if they were working on important papers, might get a call from a friend that says, ‘I just got tickets to Johnny Depps’ new movie, and it’s a private screening, and we can have dinner with him after the show!’ Well, the half person would say, ‘Sounds great, but I really have to get these papers done. Maybe next time.” As soon as I finish that line I turn dramatically towards the lady and say, “So now I have to figure out if you are a fun person or a business person.”.

(34) I study her for a bit and make some comments. If she has family or friends in the audience you can hear them snickering or making comments. I suddenly say, “You know, you look like a person that has a lot of fun in life… but I think you decided to be more business like tonight… show them the half.” She reveals the half and I get my first round of applause. I continue by saying, “Now that I know a bit about you let’s play a little game. I want you to take the half behind your back and decide which hand to keep it in. When you’re done, bring back both hands and keep them closed in tight fists. Try not to give me a hint as to which hand contains the half.” She does this and I usually turn away a bit so that no one thinks I’m trying to get a peek at her. When she comes out with both hands, I face her… we both have our sides to the audience, I say to her, “I want you to pretend that you have a tiny voice you can send down your arm and into your hands. This tiny voice will whisper in my ear, ‘It’s in this hand’ or ‘It’s in this hand’, but I really want you to imagine that voice and how it’s sent down your arm, into your hands and then whispers in my ear.” When I say those things to her, I mime with my closed fists and put my fists right next to my ears as if I’m hearing a whisper. These actions allow me not to go near her or touch her hands… she does all the actions I need by pretending to whisper in my ears with her closed fists..

(35) So I usually do the guessing game about three times… not much more than that. Also, as of lately, I tend to use two of the Gauci gimmicks so I know exactly which hand has what… I don’t want to guess as to what I think is happening. Those that have it will know what I mean. Okay, back to the action. I’ve guessed correctly, three times in a row, where the object is hidden and I turn to the guy and say, “You have the final word here. In a moment I want you to decide whether you will put the ball in your right hand or left… but, mind you, whatever you do then the young lady has to do the opposite. So if you put the ball in your left hand then she must put the half in her right or vice-versa. And you will do this out in the open so we can all see what you decide on.” So he decides, let’s say, to put the ball in his right hand and the lady then puts the half in her left. I go over what has happened, including the fact that things would have ended differently if the lady had chosen the ball to begin with. I reach forward and open the wallet that is being held by the spectator. I ask them to pull out the one paper that’s inside and read it out loud. As they read the paper, I point back and forth between the two spectators to show the correct elements within the prediction. So, as they read, “The young lady first chose the half so that means the young man got the ball”, I point from right to left at the proper objects and who is holding them..

(36) For sake of completeness, I always code which side I open the wallet by what the lady is holding in the end and which hand. So, if she has the ball in her right hand then I open the wallet from the right side and so on. Of course, you can figure out which way would be best for you to remember which wallet or envelope to take out in the beginning and which side to open. Also, you could set this as a multiple out premise and have four predictions hidden somewhere and then point out the correct one when it is time. I feel that’s not as strong as having what appears to be a prediction that’s been out for practically the entire routine. This is a brilliant effect by Charles Gauci and I hope I've given you an idea on how to add impact to this effect. And for those that wonder, I titled the effect Fo(u)r Eyes because of the four outs that are needed to do this version of Eye to Eye..

(37) VOO-DEUX. THE WHAT: The performer shows a drawing of a voodoo doll and explains that soon someone will pick how to hurt his victim and exactly what spot on the body will be damaged. The performer writes and draws something on the drawing, without it being seen, and puts the drawing inside an envelope. Now he calls out to spectators to scream out various weapons or tools to hurt or kill someone. He writes each offer on a separate piece of paper and balls each piece up. When several weapons have been called out, he asks one spectator to join him on this ritual. The spectator is asked to randomly pick one of the little balls of paper and his choice will be the weapon used on the voodoo doll. After the weapon has been chosen, but not revealed, the spectator is asked to use one of his hands and touch any part of his body that he feels will be the affected area on the voodoo character. As soon as the spectator touches the body part he thinks will be affected, the performer quickly removes the voodoo character from the envelope and shows that there is an X right on that very area… but also written on the drawing is the word KNIFE..

(38) The spectator opens the paper ball for the first time and reads the word on it… it is KNIFE. THE HOW: I’ve only tweaked this premise a bit. I found that just having a big X on the right spot is not enough. The more information you can have on the final drawing the more it seems impossible that you were able to guess what the spectator would choose. In this effect you are dealing with two principles: drawing the X seconds after you see it and forcing a word that you can cleanly draw in advance. I’ll also detail another method for the X and other information you can have on there to further prove you knew in advance what would be chosen. First, the X… use an envelope that has the back cut out of it so that you can easily nailwrite the X once you see where the spectator places his hand. But there’s a little subtlety you can use here… as you start the routine you hand someone the envelope to hold as you explain a little history of Voodoo. That envelope is complete, but when you take out the voodoo drawing you then put the envelope away as you explain what you are going to try and do. Now when you bring back the envelope again you come out with the other envelope that has no back. A little extra touch is to mar or bend both envelopes in the same spot so that some people, who are very aware, catch that and see it as the same envelope. Don’t go overboard with this… a little deception goes a long way..

(39) That’s the easy way to get the X in the right place… a backless envelope and a Listo nailwriter, but if you want to work at it a bit… You can make it a little more deceptive with a bit more work. Use a thin magnet sheet (the kind used to make refrigerator magnets) and cover that with a picture of the Voodoo character. Also, cut out an X out of sheet metal and paint that black so that it looks like a large X made from a magic marker. The envelope has a light sketch of the voodoo doll on the outside that you use for a demonstration by pointing out the various body parts, but that sketch will allow you to move the metal X into place from the outside of the envelope. You also need a false fingertip, or thumbtip, that has a magnet inside. The magnet should be stronger than the strength of the magnetic sheet that is behind the Voodoo character. In this scenario, another spectator can hold the envelope the entire time and you open it only after the selection of weapons has been made and the body area picked. As with the first, you already know the weapon and you move the X to the proper spot by using the Voodoo guide on the outside and pressing your magnet finger against the X that is inside the envelope. Now that we have how to get the X on the right spot then what about the weapon of choice? A force. You basically pick one of the most common weapons to use.

(40) such as knife or gun and write that on the Voodoo character. When you start calling for weapons you start by writing whichever one they first call out then just write all the other papers as your force weapon. Of course, if someone calls out your force weapon first then just stop there and make a big deal about the freedom of choice and do your big reveal. So when the person picks one piece of paper he has a very good chance of picking the force weapon, but if he picks the only one not the force weapon then say, “Okay, one down… keep picking up pieces until we are left with one unknown weapon.” He can only leave the force weapon at the end. Also, there are some subtleties you can use in this force: You can write your force weapon on a few of the papers and do a simple equivoque to those papers. Or write your force weapon on every other paper and mix them up, but keep the force weapon on every other spot in a line of balled up papers… make sure you mark them somehow so you can spot them. Now you can have the person pick up any two papers that are next to each other and do a simple equivoque of those two and still prove that he could have made another choice by opening the other paper. I cannot just end there. I want you to think about how many pieces of information you can have on that drawing before you reveal the X. If you do preshow work then this is the time to get a name of an enemy from someone. If.

(41) you know somebody’s name in the audience and they are with another friend then pick the friend and have them make believe they are harming their friend… the one you know the name of and have already written it on the drawing. Force numbers to make a date when the murder occurs; force a color to explain what the victim was wearing the night that the murder took place, etc. The more stuff you can already have on that picture the more it will look like any choice made could have been predicted on that voodoo character. And I’ve mentioned this in the past, if you want to really force a lot of items, in a row, then get Osterlind’s SOS bag. It’s marvelous for this situation. In my stage show, I used that bag to do a similar routine where the voodoo picture prediction had the same weapons chosen and the same colors that were used to clip the papers that had those weapons and the same exact body places the spectator would clip the papers on his own body when the drawing was revealed. That’s absolutely no work for a multiple outcome prediction. And from Max: Annemann had a force of a weapon also… apparently better than mine so look it up and U.F. Grant had developed the magnetic X idea in the 40’s..

(42) BOMB ROULETTE. THE WHAT: The performer talks about various routines used by others that are full of danger and tonight he wants to join them. He talks up about the inherent dangers in the next routine and how he’s warning those that watch it not to try it at home. Finally, after a serious discussion about what is to happen, he pulls out six cute little cartoon bombs. The bombs are about the size of a ping pong ball and have that cartoon look of a black bomb with a fuse and the word BOMB written right on them. The performer shows that each bomb has a little mousetrap device underneath them that you can load with a cap so that when it is picked up the trap goes off and BOOM!! He loads one of the bombs then mixes them so that no one knows which is which. He then places each tiny bomb on its own paper coaster. He has someone else shuffle the coasters around so that now even the performer does not know which contains the deadly bomb. Slowly the daredevil puts his hand over the bombs and suddenly raises one up by lifting it by its fuse… a loud CLICK is heard, but no BOOM. He does this four more times and finds all the safe bombs. To prove there was danger he lifts the last bomb and BANG!!!.

(43) THE HOW: This has got to be the cutest and safest roulette effect to do. I came up with it when I saw these baby bombs sold at the local magic store. I’ve seen them since at other novelty stores so I’m sure you can find them in your town or on the Internet. Essentially, they really look like tiny cartoon bombs… the kind you would have seen the Coyote holding just before it goes off and made him turn to ash. They are black, round, and have a flat bottom those houses the cap device… also known as a bingo device in some stores. When I first bought them I knew I would do a comical roulette routine, but as I worked with them I started finding that it was hard to mark the one I needed to follow without making it obvious. I kept playing around with various spots on the bombs, but nothing worked for me and then it happened… I knew I was going to present this at the Magic Castle and probably place the little bombs on one of the nice felt-covered tables that can be found there. I could tell that when the cap went off it sent out a flash and spark that could burn a spot on the table so I realized that the bombs would have to sit on some sort of holder… like a coaster. As soon as I realized that, I knew that it would be the coaster I was tracking and not the bombs. I bought some crazy looking paper coasters that I could easily mark up and the marks would just blend in..

(44) Now I had a simple routine, but what I didn’t realize is how well it played. My initial thought was that this would be a cute routine and no one would feel it was dangerous… how wrong I was. The first time I did it I heard the cries and whoops of surprise as the unloaded bombs clicked in silence. It seems that even that mousetrap click makes people wince. I guess it’s the expectation of the blast that gets them to back up… sort of like a balloon that’s going to be popped. You can now see how the whole routine plays out. You do a funny, but serious speech about what could happen then bring out the bombs and load one. Mix them up then place the one you’ve kept a track of on your marked coaster. Have a spectator mix the coasters around and then start picking up the little bombs. I have played it up even bigger by blindfolding myself. You are going to be surprised by the reaction you get from such a simple idea and routine..

(45) PINHEAD’S ROULETTE. THE WHAT: You show various paper bags on a table… they could be numbered. You explain that you will crush each bag as they are called out and just leave one standing. The audience picks bags for you to crush, no force, and you crush each. You reach into the last bag and pull out a wicked looking ball that has sharp spikes protruding from it. It would have been very harmful for you to smash that bag. THE HOW: As you can tell, I love the roulette effects. This one requires no forces, preshow, switches or has any real danger to it…unless you are incredibly stupid… you’ll see what I mean by that statement. What you are going to do is make the spike ball. This will probably be the hardest thing to do because it will be something that has to be configured to your own proportions. You see, what you are making is a very dangerous hank ball… the kind that in the past were hollow and used to either vanish objects or produce them by stuffing the objects into the ball. The ball itself should be about the size of a ping pong ball… give or take your hand size… and it can be made out of rubber or wood. I’ve tried both. You.

(46) are going to cover that ball with tiny spikes made from various size nails. Whether using rubber or wood, I found it is best to drill out pilot holes that are slight smaller than the thickness of the nail you will drive in. If you don’t do that then as you insert nail after nail, into the wood or rubber ball, it will split and crack open. I’ve also played around with making tiny holes all around the ball then cutting the nails at mid-shaft and gluing those points in the holes. When you are done you should have a tiny looking mace that has all of these spikes running through it. But as you make the spikeball, keep measuring how far the spikes stick out in relation to where the ball will lie on your palm. You see, in the end this ball will be swinging right on your open palm and it should be hidden from sight if someone is looking at the back of your hand. Once you’ve made and measured your cruel ball then place a loop of thin catgut or thread around the base of one of the spikes. The loop should be big enough and long enough that you can hang it over you thumb and the ball should rest in the palm of you hand. Also, you should be able to pull off this loop easily off the ball… preferably with one hand. If you’ve done all this right then you should be able to hold the hand that has the ball so its back is to the audience and nothing can be seen from that side. The loop.

(47) hangs over your thumb and allows the ball to hang in front of your palm. Now you see where this is going. You show a number of bags sitting on the table… they should all be sitting on their bottoms with the tops opened fully. Have the ball sitting on the table directly behind one of the bags. Explain what you are going to do and while doing this you can naturally show both hands empty as you gesture. When you are ready to get into smashing the bags just rest one hand on the table behind the bag that has the ball and use your other hand to point inside the bags as you ask them to point or call one bag out. In this action you can steal the ball and have it throughout the rest of the routine as you smash bag after bag. One bag will be left at the end so reach inside of it with the hand that has the ball and then bring it out as if it was in the bag, but hold it delicately at your fingers. To make it look bigger than it is you would want to hold the ball by the tip of the longest spike and use two fingers to pinch that tip. Close the rest of your fingers into a tight fist as you hold the ball so that it looks much larger than you hand. Now you see what my stupid comment was about… only someone who forgets NOT to smash the bags with the hand that has the spike ball will be hurt by this routine..

(48) And to be complete, I soon realized, but never made up one, that you could make up an even larger ball and steal it behind the last bag from either your coat (like a dove steal), or from behind the table. One more thing, if you make the ball strong enough you can toss it at a melon or corkboard and have it impale itself… that makes it look even more dangerous. That’s why it’s best to be able to remove the loop before you take it out of the bag. You wouldn’t want someone to spot the loop as the ball impales itself in the melon..

(49) WHAT A CHARADE. THE WHAT: The performer shows various cards that have pop culture references like: Gilligan' Island, Bruce Willis, The Matrix, Paris Hilton, Survivor, etc. He explains that he loves to play charades and over the years he has developed a certain affinity for certain subjects and these cards represent those particular subjects. He further explains that he is so connected to these subjects that he can even tell when players are lying in the game and he will test that gift tonight. Audience members grab random cards from the pack and begin to play a game of charades with their chosen subjects. Although the performer has told them to completely lie when performing their silent clues, he is able to not only tell when they are lying, but explains how their lies are helping him work out the real answers. The final game can end in one of two ways: the performer draws a similar picture to the subject that has been picked or acts out the correct clues and gets another audience member to pick the secret subject. THE HOW: Okay, once again my favorite method for such things: a stacked set of cards in a known sequence that will allow you to know what each person has picked..

(50) Although the method is easy, this is not an easy routine to pull off… you need not only acting skills, but also improv skills. You will need to be thinking on your feet because just about anything is possible. Let me give you some scenarios: Someone cuts into your stack and they take the next five cards. You peek at the bottom card of the stack and know that they have The Matrix, Paris Hilton, Gilligan’s Island, Bruce Willis and Survivor. Now you have to think… you know who has what, but what will make the best ending? How can you create the best ending and the best sequence with what you now know. Here’s my thinking process on that one: I would go for ending with The Matrix or Gilligan’s Island because they have the smallest range of reference to perform. And what I mean by that is if you pick Bruce Willis, well, someone might go with describing his job, or his look, or just one of his movies… that’s too much information to be specific with. The same holds true with Paris Hilton and I think Survivor is too vague to get a strong ending. In this case I would probably stick with The Matrix because it is a more recent pop culture icon and some would struggle on trying to figure out how to describe Gilligan’s Island. Now that decision has to come quickly and you already have to be thinking, once you’ve made it, how you will be using it to end with… will it be a drawing dupe, another spectator figures it out from your actions, or maybe you stand back to back with the person who has.

(51) chosen it and you both start to act it out and the audience sees you doing the same movements even though you can’t see each other. Many possibilities. This is the kind of stuff I love… improv mentalism. Now back to the action: You explain the rules and tell your spectators that they will play a game of charades using their secret subject, but they are to lie as much as they want and in every step of the way. They can even lie when first given you a clue as to what type of subject it is such as making the symbol for “it’s a movie” when, in fact, they have a TV show or person. Let’s start with the person that picked Bruce Willis. The spectator makes the gesture that “it’s a book” and you look at him for a moment and say, “Interesting. You are saying it’s a book, but the way you opened the book was a kind of weird. There was a kind of false gesture to it. I’m thinking that this is probably a person by the way you stood straight at the end of your gesture, but I could be wrong and it might be a TV show… but I know it’s not a book. Go on.” The spectator can now either tell the truth about it or lie, or just keep going. Let’s say they don’t say a word, but just keep going and decide to tell the truth a bit. They try to recreate a scene from one of Willis’ movies… it also could be funny to the audience just watching the person try and act out clues. There’s a lot of natural inherent humor to this whole routine..

(52) So, the spectator does his act and you look at it and you say, “Hmm. I feel some truth in that one. Now I’m sure it’s not a book, but I’m puzzled because I get the weird feeling that this could be about some famous person, but I can’t tell whether this person is famous for a TV show or a movie… there’s something odd about this one. Give me another clue.” The spectator decides to lie a bit an starts acting like a monkey… you stop him suddenly and say, “Great clue!! It’s a lie, but you don’t know how much you gave away.” You pick up a board or pad and write something quickly. The spectator is told to say what his subject was and you turn the pad around to show you’ve written “Bruce Willis”. I’m sure some of you will see that I threw in that interesting idea that I would be mentally confused by Bruce Willis because he was known for TV and movies. And I know some would say to mention it at the end. I say, “Don’t.” Let some of the audience experience that themselves. Don’t push your powers on them… let them discover it themselves. Now you got one, let’s move onto Gilligan’s Island. The spectator chooses to lie throughout. It’s your skills that should shine here. Picking on certain gestures or movements and playing them up to be “tells” that give away his lying skills. I can’t really go too much into it here because it would be a book onto itself if I were to.

(53) describe all the variations that could happen. Anything is possible and you should be prepared for it. I wish I could go into all the permutations of this routine, but that would be impossible as any combination could come out and you would need to adjust what direction you then take. Also, to further complicate matters, you could just have them all write their own subjects then either get a peek, steal it via an impression device or billet switch… now you would be into some serious fun because as you get the information you would have to start processing, mentally, which one would be given out first and how you were going to end it. Talk about working with out a net… please no Beach Blanket Bingo puns. And I’ve mentioned Osterlind’s SOS bag before, but here is another place where it would work. Picture the audience entering your theater and being ask to write suggestions for the game then dropping them into the bag. Later you force known subjects for your game from the same bag and everyone one thinks that it is someone else’s subject being taken from the bag. Sorry, I couldn’t go into this as much as some would like, but I would prefer to see what happens when others take this idea and run with it. You’ll have to come up with your own list and mnemonics to remember it. I’m very curious to see and read the spin that others put on this idea..

(54) SWAP. THE WHAT: You take out your wallet and say that you had a premonition of a particular card and you placed that card in your wallet. You open your wallet and take out the one card that is seen in there… it is face down so it is still a mystery card. You take out a deck of cards and you shuffle them a bit and then spread them face down on the table. You ask one spectator to simply push out any card from the spread and push it towards you. The spectator pulls out one card and hands it to you so that it stays face down the entire time. You take that card and put it into your wallet to replace the card that was just there. For the first time you turn the mystery card around… it is the 3 of Clubs. You have the spectator deal the cards face up and count them as he is dealing, but he is to stop when he gets to the 3 of Clubs. He does this and ends up counting 51 cards and never sees a 3 of Clubs. You say, “I guess the premonition was right”, and you put the mystery 3 of Clubs into the pack. You then open the wallet to check and, sure enough, it was the other 3 of Clubs the spectator gave you..

(55) THE HOW: My friend, Federico Luduena, is in love with the Premonition effect and has researched various combinations and ideas. I decided to throw my hat in the ring… maybe it’s not a very impressive hat, but it gets the job done. As some have already deduced, the wallet is any switching wallet like a Himber one, and you have two 3 of Clubs inside both compartments of the wallet. The deck is tricked up in a simple manner: take out the 3 of Clubs and put in one duplicate of any other card. I suggest making it a card that won’t stand out like a 2 of diamonds or 5 of Spades. You are ready to go. Take out the wallet and tell your story. Open the wallet, either side is fine, but remember which side you just opened. Take out one of the 3 of Clubs and put it face down. Shuffle the deck, but don’t go crazy and do remember where you put the two duplicate cards in the deck. You don’t want to shuffle in a way that when the spectator deals through he suddenly sees two 5 of Spades near each other. The spectator will pull out any card, it doesn’t matter which one, and gives it to you. Place that card in the empty compartment in the wallet and close it up. Have the spectator deal the cards face up and count. He will now count 51 cards and see no 3 of Clubs. Turn over the mystery card and you’re done. Further prove that it was the right premonition by opening the other side of the wallet and displaying the other 3 of Clubs..

(56) The reset is simple: Take out the card the spectator gave you from the wallet and replace that with the 3 of Clubs that is now in the deck. You are ready to go again. And be sure to check where the two duplicate cards in the deck lie so they are never close to each other in the deck. By the way, SWAP comes from: Switching Wallet And Premonition..

(57) STICKY. POP. THE WHAT: A large, inflated balloon is shown. The performer shakes it a bit and something is heard rattling inside. Now he displays a deck of cards and says that the entire audience will get rid of all the cards… but one. With no verbal force, the performer removes cards from the deck. So, if the audience calls out for all the reds to be removed, the performer tosses those away. Now he asks which blacks are to go: Spades or Clubs. The audience decides on Clubs so all thirteen of those cards are tossed out. Next the audience decides on either throwing out all the cards from ace to seven or eight through king. This process goes on until one card is left. For example, the audience, through its actions, has decided that the 8 of Spades remained. The performer picks up the balloon and shakes it again so that someone in the front row can hear something inside. He places the chosen card on a stand so that it can be seen. Now he takes a large needle and pops the balloon. A card falls out and gently floats down. He asks for someone to pick up the card that was in the balloon and show it. It is the 8 of Spades..

(58) THE HOW: I’m pretty proud of this idea and method. Think about it. No force. No indexes on your person. Any card called for is seen to come out of that balloon. Well, there is an index, but it is visible throughout the routine and allows for any card called for to be in that balloon… at least, it appears that way. Here is what I found: If you take the thin cards, like those used for card manipulation or certain trick decks on the market, you can rough & smooth two decks together and it will appear to be one deck… roughly… pun intended. From stage it easy to hide the thickness by just always facing the cards towards the audience and never showing the edge. But you will find that once you get rid of half the deck that what is left is pretty close to what would be there if it was just 26 cards. In fixing your deck you will be putting them in pairs so that the ace of diamonds has the ace of diamonds behind it and the two of diamonds has the two of diamonds behind it and so on. And you really want to coat the cards well so that there’s no chance of them spreading by accident. Set up that deck so that all the cards are in order and all the reds are on one side and the blacks on the other side..

(59) Now for the balloon: Use opaque balloons… the best are ones that say they have the pearl finish. I use an eleveninch round that is called Pearl Onyx Black. They blow up big and are pretty much opaque unless there’s a strong light behind them. Before you blow one up, cut a large piece from another balloon and drop it inside the one you will blow up. This is the old idea, from U.F. Grant, of having something bounce around inside that will later blend in with all the other pieces. Finally, the secret ingredient, buy one of the tacky glues that you can find in art supply stores. The one I use is called Aleene’s Tack-it, but you can find others at your stores. They usually are in white or brown bottles that squeeze out the substance at the top. When it comes out it looks a bit like Elmer’s glue, but dries pretty clear and is more tacky than sticky… therefore, the name, I guess. When you prepare your balloon, find a spot on one of its sides, about midway between the knot and the other end, and spread a bit of the tacky substance so that it covers a silver dollar-sized area. Let it dry. It will stay tacky for a long time. You are ready. Show the balloon around or just have it sitting on display somewhere. Take out your cards and fan them and go through the process of removing all the cards that they call out. Have some place to dump those cards like a hat or other container..

(60) Eventually, you will be left with one card… actually two. I’ll describe my handling. I hold the remaining card in one hand by holding it at the extreme fingertips and my forefinger pushes it from behind so that it bows out a little. You are holding it in a kind of Biddle grip at the edge of your thumb and other fingers. Now pick up the balloon with your free hand and shake it next to someone so they can hear something rattling inside. Once you’ve done that back up to place the card down and pick up whatever pin you will use to pop the balloon. In that same action, the hand holding the card crosses behind the balloon and pushes the card on the tacky spot. In that very quick moment, the face card of the double will stick and you will be left holding the duplicate that was on the back of that card. This action happens so fast that it really just looks as if nothing has happened. Continue the path that the hand holding the card is going in and place the card on a visible holder as you pick up your pin. It should look like your hand just crossed behind the balloon to reach the table and place the card there. It’s over before you know it. You can display the balloon casually as long as you don’t let it rotate to the side that has a card sticking to it. Pop the balloon and that card will float down as if it was inside. What more could you ask?.

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