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(201) 431-2429
POST OFFICE BOX 144 • FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY 07728
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Copyr~ght by Al Mann Exclusives
("Wocus" is the pronunciation given to the Latin word 'Lotus' by the Modoc Indians of Klamath Lake 'Valley of Knowledge' in California)
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Wizards, Warlocks, Witches, Sorceresses, Necromancers, Magi, Wonder-Workers and Mystael Thergists, Voodooists, Shamanesses and Conjurors, Exorcists and Divi-ners; Prophets and PrognosticatorsJ Diabolists andFaust-ists, Enchantresses and Sirens.
To all Eartly Mortals; Tatooed Brethren and Denizens
of the Deep; Inhabitants, Visitors and Invaders of the Nether World.
To all Kings and Titans. To Boreas Rex, Ruler of the
North Wind and Sovereign of the Frozen Reaches and Poseidon God of the Ocean
Seas-OCl/tOW
<aJe
that the principle known as "TheWocus Legacy" was first discovered and applied to billet work by your humble and warm blooded Servant, Arch Mage Ipsissimus and Master of Magic of the Order of The Silver Key, Al Mann!
To all who read and enjoy my writings, Greetings! And may the Gods smile with you always and may your purse
grow fat. (p)
There is something new under the Sun!
The Secret that I am about to devulge .ay or may not be to your pleasure. Yet, bear in mind that master magicians
like the late Al Baker spent a lifetime mussing over the
folded billet and experimenting with ways of secret17 open-ing the billet and readopen-ing its hidden message.
Bert Reese's umbrella move and Al Baker's Center-tear and three-pellet trick are the fruits of this labor.
Your humble author spent many months perfecting the
original 'Acidus' moves, which are today the acme of
THE WOCUS LEGACY AN AL MANN EKCLUSIVE So now I introduce a billet that works by itself!
After it is folded it opens out by itself like a 'Lotus Blossom! '
Please examine the gimmick in the envelope that has white paper on one side and a glassine film on the other. I have left this gimmick as is so that you can see how it is put together. If this gimmick is folded in half it will open out when released!
Play with it awhile but only fold it in one direction instead of two ways. After you understand the principle, use rubber cement and cement a piece of white paper on the exposed side where the film shows. When the cement dries, trim off the edges slightly and now the gimmick will look like a piece of card, like the material you use in billets.
You can now use this gimmick as a billet by having some one write a message on it and then turning the card writing-side down. When you pick it up, do not look at it but hold it over
your head and fold it two times in one direction only. (see Fig. J)
Then throw it into a box but do not look into the box. Just walk away and get your crystal baIlor a glass of water and as you hold the baIlor glass over the box, pretending you are looking for images, you will get a good look at the message on the now opened billet!
Now for the details
--MAKING THE WOCUS LEGACY BILLETS. You will need some polyethy-lene film,
6 mil
in thickness (.006 of an inch). Do not use any-thing thinner 0 This material is sold in paint stores and some hardware departments. For a few dollars you will get a roll that will last you a lifetime and some left over.Cut some pieces of the film is sizes
2!
by J inches. Then apply cement to the edges of two pieces as shown by thedia-gonal lines in Fig. 1. You must use a cement that will work with polyethylene. I use a cement labeled 'Contact Cement' by Duro.
This cement can be used on rubber and leather. The film will curl a bit after the
cement is applied. Let it dry as per the Fig. 1 instructions (about 10 minutesJand then put
the two pieces together carefully aligned BUT they do not have to be aligned perfectly. Place the pieces under a press till the cement takes. I use two pieces of lumber and some clamps.
When ready, cement white paper on both sides with rubber cement and then trim the gimmick so that it resembles a piece of card.
What you make is actually a small pocket of film that is sealed on all four sides. There should not be any air bubbles in-side the pocket. Your prepared billet now has hidden powersl It
THE WOCUS LEGACY AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE HANDLING THE BILLET. Give the VIP a No. 2 pencil
or a ball-point pen to write with. He can write a whole question that covers the whole cardl After he finishes tell him to turn the card writing-side down so that no one can see the messagel
Tell the audience that you are going to pick up the card and fold it and to please watch you and notice that you never look at the card. I must touch the card with my finger tips to get the necessary vibrations, you say.
So pick up the card and hold it over your head so that it is visible to all, openly fold the card once as shown in Fig. 2.
Then fold it a second time in the same direc-tion as in Fig.
J.
The card is slightly rounded like a cigar but to the audience it simply looks like afolded card. .
Hold the card in the air as in Fig.
4.
as you patter. Then place it inside a cigar box or what have you but place it so that side "X" as shown in Fig. J is downwards and touching the bottom of the box.Never look at the billet or inside the box while handling it. To the audience it just looks as though you threw it into the box, but actual-ly you place it in the box gentactual-ly.
The billet will open up as soon as you release it.
The billet must also be marked with a secret 'dot' as shown in Fig. J, so that you will know which is the top of the billet. That way the billet will open right-side up so that the message is readible.
All is now ready for the reading which you do in the pretext of doing something else.
That, Gentlemen, is the gist of the idea. There are many fine points for working with this principle and I will detail some here. You will no doubt come up with other ideas in handling.
Fig. J
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WdlJU8: If you palm a dummy billet ir. the lefthand, then if you bring the true billet held in your right hand to the left hand, you can easily switch the billets and then tear up the dummy billet. Allow a few bits of paper to drop to the floor and then throw everything into a box or basket. The billet will open up among the pieces for later readingl
THE WOCUS LEGACY AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE
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EFFECT. On the seer's table is a scryer's crystal ball on a small podium.
A sitter is asked to write out his most im-portant question and then to turn the card writing side down.
The seer then takes the card and folds it and then removes the crystal and drops the folded
card under the velvet cloth that covers the po-dium. The crystal ball is then replaced and the seer looking into the crystal divines the thought and answers the question.
Fig. 5 gives the solution. The podium is about four inches high and J inches square. The Crystal ball is a
4
inch diameter ball. The po-dium has no top to it so that the crystal ball can nest in it. Fig. 5B.After the sitter finishes his writing, the seer removes the crystal ball and the velveteen cloth. After the billet is dropped into the podium, the cloth is replaced but so that the back is higher in order to expose the now open billet as in Fig. 5C
A Wocus Legacy billet is used of course and it is marked with a pencil dot as in Fig.
J in order to place it correctly inside the podium.
The best presentaion is to simply take the billet, fold it and drop it into the podium quickly without any farther ado and then do the reading. This will hit the sitter between the eyeso
NOTE. The back window shown in Fig. 5B need not be as big as shown. A 2 inch high . opening will do.
A
B
Fig.
5
YOUR CRYSTAL BALL. (MF) You may be able to buy a 4 inch crystal ball today for about $100. But some crystal balls sell for as hibh as $20~000. Your crystal ball is like a fine jewel. A flawless and near perfect (spherically) ball is as expensive as any precious
jewel. They also go up in price with the years. Most crystal balls come out of Quartz crystal and come from Czechoslovakia.
So insure your ball for a few thousand dollars and tell your sitter about it.
NOTE. The Wocus billet can of course be re-used simply by using a pencil for the writing or using Erasable Bond paper.
5
THE WOCUS LEGACY AN AL MANN EKCLUSIVE
If the 'billet kings' of the past were alive today they would probably handle the Wocus billet as follows.
If you can palm a playing card undetectedly, you can do the move described here.
First get a prepared billet that measures 2 by 2 inches. After the VIP writes his thoughts on it, fold it from the bottom up in thirds~ as shown in Fig. 6, A and B.
Then hold it between the fingers as shown in Fig. 4 and then put it to your temple and then take it
A
as shown in Fig. 7 and place it against the temple of the VIP. As you do that stick the first finger of the right hand (assuming you are right-handed) between the folds and with the help of the VIP's temple push the billet into your fingers and out of sight. Let the billet open out as you release the pressure of the thumb. The thumb may also help in opening the billet. Get a quick glace at the message and then look away, crumple the billet in your hand and pocket it. Get a slate and chalk and read his
mind! Fig. 6
You must practice these moves several times before presenting it. The idea is to clip the top of the billet between the first and second fingers and let the billet open out downwards, while the four fingers and palm cover the move.
(SMP) There is nothing wrong with you folding the billet. Many persons in your audience resent taking orders from you. I well re-member the time when I told the editor of a newspaper to open the prediction box. She
said to me, "You open it. Why should I open it?" So I open it and had an easy time of it and got
headlines for it. Some spectator even refuse to take
Fig. 7
part in the show or get out of their seats. So if you fold the billet for them, you are saving them the effort.
But you must convince them that you never look at the billet even after it is folded. While you are holding the open billet against the VIP's temple you glance at it in the pretext of looking into his eyesl
T.A. Waters, aptly put it that billets are psychologically invisible (Script)l
Once the billet is folded and then crumpled and pocketed it becomes non-existent as from then on you are going to read minds! Since you are still 'fishing' for vibs, the audience assumes that you do not know the thought yet until you write it on your slate!
THE WOCUS LEGACY AN AL MA-NN EX.CLUSIVE
The Wocus Legacy billet can be used as a prediction pellet! It will not work with the 'key' boxes due to the pressure exerted by the billet inside the key. The pressure will slow down the oper-ation and cause failure, BUT it works well with.
Nelson's Prediction Pen. This item was sold by Bob Nelson of Columbus Ohio and some are still available. The pen takes a big billet. So the Wocus billet can be rolled as in Fig. J and stuck into the pen.
A good way to present the effect is to seal the opening
in a small bottle and then break the seal with the pen, depositing
the billet in the act of trying to take it out. In the meantime the billet has expanded so now you will have to either take the billet out with a pair of tweezers or break the bottle with a hammer! Use an opaque bottle.
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'Bottle .'
EFFECT. After the sitter writes hisquestion on a piece of card, the psychic takes the slip and rolls it and sticks it into an ink bottle. The question is then divined and answered.
Fig, 8, reveals the method. The bottle is painted with jet black paint on all sides and the bottom except for the back side
which is transparent. However, when the psychic removes the bottle from his desk drawer, he flashes it and it appears to be painted on all sides.
The billet must be inserted into the
bottle so that side "X" as in Fig. J is Fig. 8 facing the front of the bottle. That way
the billet will open out right-side to the back and exposing the message as in Fig. 8.
This bottle you should not break as it has taken you some
trouble to prepare. The billet is taken out with a pair of Tweezers and rolled up in the act so that the billet looks the same as
when it went it.
Now, I ask you, what mortal in his right mind is going to believe that the rolle"d billet blossomed o:ut to reveal the secret message? Besides they will know that the bottle is painted black on all sides!
THE WOCUS LEGACY AN AL MANN EX.CLUSlVE
On JUly 10th, 1982, Gary Lee Williams of White Plains, N.Y. phoned to say that Tr-Id was out-of-this-world. I was working on The Wocus Legacy and let him in on the secret. Straight away he put his mind to it and called back four hours later to say that he could do the "Lotus Move" with an unprepared piece of paper!!!
He then wrote a letter with all his ideas on it (July 16th) and these ideas are incorporated in "Wocus II."
If the following instructions are followed, you will find that the "Lotus Move" works every time.
THE PAPER. Although any kind of soft paper can be used, it is best to use opaque paper. Red or blue paper. This will obviate the thought of transparency.
Use fieces of paper the same size as the billets you are used to. Say 22 by
Jt
inches square.Fold the paper in half and 'break' the fold by folding the paper back and force. This will assist greatly in the move. Also if you wish you can fold the paper into quarters and 'break" the quarter folds also. But actually only the first fold is important.
THE GIMMICK. Use a single thickness of polyethylene film, 6 mil thick. (see sample in envelope).
Cut the film smaller than the billet. It can be round or square. Also cut a small piece out of the center as shown in Fig. 9
I prefer the square piece.
The hole in the center of the film serves several purposes. First you can tell where the center is by feeling it with your finger-tips. Secondly it lessens the friction of the gimmick after it is folded into
quarters. This friction sometimes causes the gimmick to slip out a bit.
Thirdly, the hole in the center avoids a 'break' after the gimmick is folded into quarters. Since the film has a 'memory' and a
<>
tendency to open out, a break will slow this action.
Fig. 9
THE PRESENTATION. After the VIP writes his thoughts, he is instructed to turn the slip writing-side down.
You have the film gimmick palmed in your left hand. So you pick up the message paper and place it writing-side down over the gimmick and then cover the paper with your right hand and place your hands to your head to get the 'vibs.'
Then without looking at your hands, fold the paper downwards and over the gimmick, and then into quarters. Now -l~ you throw this folded paper into the box, it will open out to reveal the message!
THE WOCUS LEGACY
WOCUS II cont.
. .
.
AN AL MANN EKCLUSIVE
NOTE. Never put a break in the film. This will only program
the memory of the film so that it will stay folded at the break •. So when you fold the billet into quarters, DO NOT make the folds hard, but fold it over gently so that the folds are actually rounded instead of flat.
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If the paper is twice as largeas the gimmick, you can do the Wocus Center-Tear. After you fold the paper into quarters with the gimmick inside, hold it to your temple and notify the audience that you received the thoughtl then
tear the paper up as you do with the conventional center-tear
technique. Steal back the folded center piece and then tear up the rest into tiny bits and throw everything into a basket or what-have-you, and show your hands otherwise empty---.
Do not look into the basket until you pick up a clip-board
for example and start to draw your impressions. You can see the open center-piece as you look over the left side of the clipboard
(or the right side).
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Fig. 10 explains the miracle. The Wocus II
billet is folded into quarters and dropped into the ballot box through the slot. The billet opens up and reveals the message. The
only problem is that you must practice to see how you must insert the folded billet in order for it to open right-side up.
The back door in the Ballot box can be
covered by a swinging secret door. Since the Fig. 10 box has a bottom, that should not be hard to do.
The box can also be made out of a card-board candy box.
Since the Box has a back door, you can pick up the box
~der any pretext, tilt it back towards your lap and let the
b~llet fallout. You can then read it at leisure and then return it to the box if necessaryl
I~ an e~ergency you can even use a paper bag. Simply cut out a w~ndow ~n the back. Drop the billet into the bag, shake it or whatever and glimpse the messagel The bag and all can then be
torn up and thrown away I
Making the billet open up right-side-up is quite easy. Just place a mark on the back side upperright hand. Then fold the billet
so that the mark is on the outside of the folded billet and insert the billet into the box with the mark away from youl
THE WOCUS LEGACY AN AL MANN EKCLUSIVE
Well, Gentlemen, that is all I can tell you about the "Woc,:s Legacy." But I have a feeling that there has got to be more to ~t
than that. No doubt that something more will develope later And if you do not think that the information given here is worth more than the price paid for it, perhaps you are not well versed in billet work of in the art of the Mentalist.
I for one do not want to go back to doing the Mutus-Nomen-Debit-Cocis card trick and palming it off as mindreading, although I admit that laymen love the trick.
GlJa.,mpilt.
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IA person is told to write down her thoughts on a piece of paper and then to concentrate on the thought. She is then told to eraSe her thoughts from the paper.
The same paper is passed to another person who
is also told to write down her thoughts and then to
fold the paper twice.
The Mentalist takes the folded slip and holding it at his
fingertips divines the first thought that was erased and then
destroys the paper and divines the second thought!
The reader may already have a solution for this effect. But I am sure you will agree that the plot is intrigueing.
When "The Donovon Papers" was released, many subscribers wrote to ask what kind of paper was recommended. Looking into the AME files I found the ideal paper. It is Erasable Bond Typewriter paper,
Medium weight. This is sold in stationery stores and is made by several companies. As expected some is better than others.
This paper has amazing qualities! You can type on it or write on it even with a china marker and the writing can be easily erased with an ordinary eraser.
You can even write on it with ink and it will erase. But let's not go that far. In our tests we will use a no. 2 pencil.
Together with the erasable bond paper, I found the secret of the Vampire Thoughts! Here it is, in print for the first time!
SECRET AND PRESENTATION. The secret is quite simple. It is
the patter and the plot that will intrigue your audience.
The first person gets the piece of paper and an impression gimmick. Here I recommend the gimmick that is used in the Jupiter
Effect in "Through A Wall, Mistily." But you may have your own favorite.
After the secret message is written, take back the gimmick as you tell the person to look at her writing and to concentrate on her thought. She is next told to erase her thought from the paper
THE WOCUS LEGACY VAMPIRE THOUGHTS
AN AL MANN EK.CLUSIVE-cont. • ••
with the eraser on the back of her pencil and to pass the slip of paper and the pencil to another person. The second person is told to write her thoughts on the slip of paper as you turn your back for an instant and glimpse the impression of the first person's thought I The second person next folds the billet.
You take the billet at your fingertips and without looking at it place it to your temple and divine the first thought, the one that was erasedl to the amazement of everyone.
During the ensueing amazement, tear up the slip of paper and discard it
0- -
(you have just done your favorite center-tear method )and then reveal the second thought.NOTE. If you know the secret of The Donovon Papers you will have no need to tear up the folded slipS
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Here is another intrigueing plot that may dumbfound your audience. You inform the audience that you are going to attempt a most difficult and unique test.
"You have all heard of thought reading, well I am going to try something different. You may call it Memory reading!"
METHOD. The method used here is exactly as the method used in "Vampire Thoughts," except that you do it with a single person.
Tell a person to think of a thought or question and to
write it down on a slip of paper. He is then to concentrate on'it and then to erase it from the paper and to think of something
else. He is instructed to write his thought again on the same slip of paper.
Mentalist takes the paper and folds it and places the slip to his temple. He then destroys the piece of paper and discards the pieces, some of which drop to the floor.
Mentalist tells the person to please concentrate on his thought while Mentalist writes on a slate.
Say that the second thought was "Son" and that the person is thinking about it.
"I have received an impression and I have chalked it on this slate which I will show you shortly. Please tell us, for the bene-fit of the audience the exact thought you had in your mind."
Spectator replies "Sonl"
"That is what you were thinking about, Correct?" "YesS" "You were not thinking of anything else'? "NOS"
"Ladies and Gentlemanp while this person was thinking of
his Son, I was attempting to read, not his thought but his memory! His memory had a clear record of the first question in his mind!"
THE WOCUS LEGACY
THE MNENE' S NUMEN cont, •••
AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE
"Will you please tell the audience what your first question was. The one that you wrote down first and then erased"
"My questions was, 'When will I sell my house?"
Mentalist turns his slate around and shows the same question chalked on it!
NOTES, The first question was gotten from the impression
gimmick. The second thought can be gotten via the center tear but as you can see it is not at all necessary.
The patter for this effect can be most convincing since you say that your subconscious mind records everything that you have ever read, seen, touched,tasted or smelled. In fact everything
your senses feel! is recorded in your memory and can be re-called.
Through Gilded Gates The Wonder Workers Pass
(FP)
To Conquer Worlds Beyond The Mean
Performing Miracles En Mass
That Lesser Mortals Have Not Seen Yet Their Wonders Are Wrought By Principles Well Known
But Hidden, Beneath The Pale Of Things Giving Their Deeds A Golden Crown
And Their Words A Magic Ring
And Coupled Within The Normal Vein
We See A Wondrous Strain
Of Enchanting And Bewitching Joy When We Behold With Cheer Delight A Magician In His Ployl
Al Mann Wishing You
