1

2

HAND BLUFFS PLUS MORE STUFF 2009 Dale A. Hildebrandt

All rights reserved.

All marketing rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this material, the publisher and/or author assumes no responsibilities for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of information contained herein.

First Edition 2009

Website: http://www.mirrorname.com/

Blog: http://devilstilldeals.blogspot.com/

Lincoln, NE

3

WARNING: PLEASE NOTE: THE AUTHOR, PUBLISHER, EDITOR, SELLER, AND/OR ANYONE ELSE CONNECTED TO THIS BOOK IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, MANNER, OR FORM, SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR USE OR MISUSE OF THE INFORMATION IN THIS BOOK! THIS LEAVES YOU, AND ONLY YOU, AS THE SOLE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR USE OR MISUSE OF THE MATERIAL IN THIS BOOK! YOU AGREE TO CHECK LOCAL LAWSAND TO OBEY SAID LAWS AT ALL TIMES--BEFORE IMPLEMENTING THIS MATERIAL! THIS BOOK IS NOT INTENDED AS MEDICAL ADVICE OR AS HYPNOTHERAPY ADVICE! THIS BOOK IS ONLY FOR INFORMATIONAL AND ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

4

PREFACE

Dale Hildebrandt is a soft spoken, gentle, creative man and performer Though I've yet to meet him face to face, I've known for years that I'd like to shake this man's hand. After reading 'Hand Bluffs and More Stuff' I may have to re-think my desire! Who knows what will happen?

In all seriousness, what Dale has laid out in this humble and thought provoking paperback is at once both extremely useable and very effective. As performer's we hob-knob and shake hands with people, volunteer's, spectators and audience members on a regular basis; even booking our shows and solidifying our contracts over a hand shake. In the everyday world shaking hands is one of the first things individuals do upon meeting each other...what could be more basic or simple?

There is something simple and poetic about shaking hands...there's also something very deep and useful when it comes to doing it properly, consciously or with magical intent.

Think about it!

The fate of entire Nations have hung in the balance, waiting eagerly for a committed embrace before declarations of peace and cease fires have been signed. Soldiers have grasped the hands of their President or Royalty or met their wives with an initial handshake. Secret Societies have known their brethren through mystical gestures and tokens imparted through the grasping of their hands. Others are given the keys to the city or multi-million dollar business loans over a handshake. Personal and professional exchanges, business promises, contracts, loans, liberties, freedoms, commitments, romantic dates and moral support can all be nestled and made or broken by a simple shaking of hands. Do not underestimate this Universal act of connection, communication and sealing...Dale certainly hasn't!

There is a lot you can tell from a person based on their handshake. Is it firm or soft, gentle or intimidating? Is the pressure too much or is it like shaking a dead fish? Are the hands warm, moist, dry or calloused? Is the handshake brief or long and connected? What do we tell others non-verbally about ourselves when shaking hands? What might we learn about others and what changes or effects might we facilitate as a result of the exchange?

These things and more have been explored by Dale in the book you're now holding. Your hands have grasped and shook hands with thousands of people in your lifetime...for the first time, with the tools to follow, you'll learn how and why to shake hands, and how to use the action, embrace, anchor and symbol for a variety of stunning, magical, hypnotic and psychic effects.

Dale's teaching style and material is a pleasure to read, deep, thought-provoking and remarkable. I loved a number of suggestions made in this tome and have incorporated them in my own work with great results.

5

It's my opinion that to be the best performer's, entertainers, conscious human beings and engineer's of altered states and realities we must look closely at the smallest details and fine points of our work, exchanges and interactions. 'Hand Bluffs' will allow you to do just that and provide you with much food for thought, tools and techniques with which to make a greater impact in the world, your performances and daily interactions. I would go so far as saying that ANYONE who shakes hands with people can and will benefit from this unique piece of work, especially being a performer and Purveyor of Mysteries!

"Thar's gold in them thar hills!' Grab your mental pick and shovel in preparation to mine the gold from these pages. There's plenty of it and I know you'll be well rewarded.

Shaking, Jerome Finley

6

FOREWORD

Here Lies the Truth Functional Fictions and the Power of Pretending By Michael Weber

Some 4,000 years ago, Phoenician sailors accomplished navigation utilizing primitive charts and observations of the Sun and stars to determine direction. Current wisdom suggests that many of their star maps were, to a large degree, wrong and yet most of their ships managed to find the way.

While the maps may have been wrong, they were still useful.

The errors were extant, but functional.

Today, you can drive along Sunset Boulevard and see vendors selling "Maps to the Stars Homes" and while some of those celebrities do live in those homes, many more of the designations are either out of date or just plain wrong - those Stars were never in those houses. The people who buy these maps drive around simply to look at the outside of a big house and imagine who and what are inside. And in this way these modern faulty Star maps are functional as well the tourists who buy the meretricious maps have exactly the same emotional experience as if the information was perfect.

These examples serve as an analogy my current personal opinions about NLP as a tested and reliable scientific practice. I do not, personally, find the entire NLP approach to be 100% accurate, believable or in line with my own experience and understanding of the ways the world works and people think, act and respond. And yet, there are many "techniques" which seem to have emerged from or become a part of NLP practice which may serve as useful maps to help us get to where we want to go.

Dale has offered up another collection of his interesting observations and odd ideas which create the chance for us to navigate our way to thoughts that might have otherwise never been.

Niels Bohr, the Danish physicist, won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922. He was renowned for modeling the internal structure of an atom and announced that he never believed in superstitions and pseudo scientific beliefs. Niels closed most of his public speeches with a particular story to end on a humorous note that further drove his point home: "One of our neighbors in Tisvilde once fixed a horseshoe over the door to his house. When common friends asked him, `But are you really superstitious? Do you honestly believe that this horseshoe will bring you luck?' he replied, "Of course not; but they say it works even if you don't believe in it."

If you have a magical power, perhaps you weaken it by naming it, or allowing others to define its limits and applications. Perhaps magic works regardless of your belief. What is

7

the functional difference between a suspension of our old disbelief and the imposition of a new belief?

I toast our lack of real understanding Here is to Superstition and Religion, Supposition and Science, Belief and Truth - Power to the Placebo!

Michael Weber January 2009

8

HANDSHAKE INTUITION

The following are 15 things relating to shaking hands (handshakes), and touching hands, that produce astonishing results. Some of these are accomplished through the use of mere suggestion while others rely on a combination of trickery and suggestion, and still others are purely trickery. I will first list the 15 things and then after the list of the basic presentation, I will give the modus operandi for each item as well as the result(s) that can happen by using each idea. As you read this list, I want you to reflect, really reflect, on the power of these ideas to enhance your reputation and to create effects in their own right. I want you to imagine that these things actually happen to you when you meet someone and the effect this would have on you if you had no ideas about possible methods. For a moment, please attempt to reflect on these things as a layperson would on first encountering them. This will prove to be a valuable exercise. For a second valuable exercise, after you have reflected on these things as a layperson might, go back before reading the methods and see what ideas you come up with on your own. The third exercise I shall give is the most valuable one: go out and do these things multiple times with different people.

1) Sometimes when people shake my hand, they may get a flash of intuition that helps them, says the mystery entertainer, before shaking hands with the participant.

2) At another event, the mystery entertainer says Sometimes people get flashes of intuition because of shaking hands with me.

3) At a different time and place, the mystery entertainer is introduced by a friend. The friend says, When Dale shakes hands with people, they sometimes feel a weird vibration or a tingle.

4) At a party, I am introduced to a contact and the person giving the introduction says, His hands are often either ice cold or extremely warm when you shake hands with him.

5) In a very stuffy, hot room, my handshake proves to induce chills.

6) In an icy cold room, my handshake proves inexplicably warm.

7) Some people go into a trance immediately when I shake their hands, others go into trance after a few more minutes, I say.

8) I tell the participants at a group exercise, Before we start the visualizations, Id like you to each hold hands in a circle. You may feel a weird vibe of energy emanating through my hands and throughout the circle.

9) I often find myself getting flashes of intuition which produce an electrical charge in my hands, says the mystery entertainer. Sometimes the entertainer says this before lighting up a light bulb or causing sparks to appear.

9

10) Its the strangest thing because I get flashes of intuition when I shake hands with people and they seem to connect into my psychic worldsometimes for a few seconds and, at other times, for a few hours.

11) Some people get so nervous around my energy that their palms inexplicably begin to sweat more than normal. However, they soon calm down.

12) Some people see a bright flash of light when they shake my hand.

13) Sometimes I need no oracles. I simply get psychic information through the touch of a hand.

14) Some people feel a tingle or vibration when he shakes hands with them.

15) The last person who shook my hand felt a surge of energy.

The Modus Operandi List:

You should only read this list after you have reflected on the above items. Remember, first reflect on how you would feel and react if and when these things happened to you. Attempt to see this from the perspective of a layperson that has no idea or clue that there is any trickery involved in any of these things. You may even want to just say these things and attempt them in the real world before you even read the ideas and suggestions behind the above list of items. Next, reflect on how you would do each one and how you would enhance each one for yourself. Then, go out and attempt them on multiple people. This exercise is important in understanding the underlying nature of humans as well as being able to see the impact of a few simple words.

So, now you are probably wondering how I cause each item to happen and the intended result(s) that are produced from each item. Some of them you may think you have figured out by now, and others you may not have a clue about as of yet. This will soon change.

What follows is the theory behind what I say, how I say it, the intended result(s) of saying it, andwhen appropriatethe trickery behind the idea. I say when appropriate because some of the ideas are merely suggestions that enhance what you do. There is no real trickery to it. In fact, one of the ideas may even BE REAL, but that is for you to decide upon. Some of these ideas got their start with Luke Jermays book Building Blocks and Jerome Finleys The Crimson Wall of Lictalon from his ebook Random Acts of Kindness. Others are credited below as appropriate.

Without further ado, here are the so-called methods:

10

1) Sometimes when people shake my hand, they may get a flash of intuition that helps them, says the mystery entertainer, before shaking hands with the participant.

Modus Operandi: This is a linguistic trick and a suggestion all wrapped up together in one nice package. I give people a reason for a flash of intuition to happen in their minds. The reason is that they have shaken my hand. People get flashes of intuition all the time, all throughout the day. So, I figure, why not take credit for a couple of them. Since this is a naturally occurring thing throughout peoples days, I might as well tell them that when they shake my hand, they may get a flash of intuition. Notice I say Sometimes and may. When the few people who do get a flash of intuition before, during, or right after shaking hands with me, tell this story to others it will set up a belief of expectancy. Other people who hear about this amazing thing happening will also get flashes of intuition because they have been put in a suggestible state by the words and feelings of their friends and peers. Other people will have no flash of intuition, but you have to remember that this is not a 100 percent guaranteed thing. This is a simple risk I am willing to take. I shake hands with people and some get a flash of intuition. Others become more in rapport with me as I give them their psychic reading and simply do not bring up the handshake idea again. HOWEVER, you may find them shaking your hand after the reading and then get a flash of intuition (or you may set things up that way), wherein the accuracy of the reading acts a convincer for the handshake to cause the flash of intuition. This is latter idea is an expansion on Kentonism by Kenton Knepper and is heavily influenced by Docc Hilfords Ball and Tube booklet.

2) Sometimes people get flashes of intuition because of shaking hands with me.

Modus Operandi: This is based on the same principles as Item 1, but there is a small linguistic difference that can make quite a difference here. The idea is to connect flashes of intuition with shaking hands. This is done through the use of the word because. Because is a linking word that shows cause and effect. Of course, the whole idea behind this is that you are totally making up the cause in order to get an effect. However, the way you have worded things allows for people to reason that A must happen because of B. So when B happens, they allow A to happen. In this case, they think, at least on an unconscious level, that shaking hands causes flashes of intuition. You give yourself some wriggle room with the word Sometimes, but you also reinforce this happening at times by using the word Sometimes. Sometimes implies that his happens at least part of the time. The link Because gives a reason for this to happen Sometimes. This is a powerful strategy that relies on nothing more than conviction and linguistics.

3) At a different time and place, the mystery entertainer is introduced by a friend. The friend says, When Dale shakes hands with people, they sometimes feel a weird vibration or a tingle.

Modus Operandi: This result depends upon one major thing. It depends on having someone who believes in you to introduce you to the person who you want to have the result upon. This adds Social Proof to the mix. Since someone else is making the

11

claim, and this someone else has met you before, then it adds more credence to the claim. Just as we trust things from respected sources more so than from new sources, this helps to add credibility. The person who introduces you has previously experienced one of your mystical handshakes. This method solely relies on social proof, but is tied into Item 14 which relies on trickery. Performing Item 14 sets you up to later perform Item 3 with pure social proof as the method! I put Item 14 on the bottom of the list because I wanted to go through some of the more pure ideas in the first few sections of the list. Once you read the trickery behind Item 14 you will see how this all ties together.

4) At a party, I am introduced to a contact and the person giving the introduction says, His hands are often either ice cold or extremely warm when you shake hands with him.

Modus Operandi: This is simply a different version of the Social Proof principle. See the next two items for ways to accomplish these things through trickery. The important thing here is to get the person to use the word often whenever possible. This implies that it happens more than not and so you will tend to get more results because of the suggestion implanted into peoples minds that this happens a lot around you.

5) In a very stuffy, hot room, my handshake proves to induce chills.

Modus Operandi: Based on a simple Annemann idea, that is made more practical by modern technology. You simply have a small ice bag hidden upon your person which allows you to have a very cold handshake.

6) In an icy cold room, my handshake proves inexplicably warm.

Modus Operandi: Just the opposite of the above Annemann idea, this one was inspired by Liam Montier and Andi Gladwin who use it for a different effect. I have a hand warmer inside a jacket pocket. These are little devices that are miniature heat packs that can be adapted to fit in your pocket.

7) Some people go into a trance immediately when I shake their hands, others go into trance after a few more minutes, I say.

Modus Operandi: This is pure suggestion to get people to become comfortable going into a trance. Those skilled in NLP and hypnosis will notice that this is a double suggestion, and a kind of bind. They will go into trance immediatelyor in a few more minutes. They can do it now or they can do it later. However, they will do it because they are shaking my hand. I have given them the reason that their mind is searching for so that they do not become analytical about it, and instead accept one of the two suggestions offered for them to simply go into tranceeither now or in a few minutes. This is based on the works of Milton H. Erickson, M.D.

12

8) I tell the participants at a group exercise, Before we start the visualizations, Id like you to each hold hands in a circle. You may feel a weird vibe of energy emanating through my hands and throughout the circle.

Modus Operandi: This is based on an old theatre game I came across, combined with ideomotor responses and suggestion. I suggest that they may feel a weird vibe of energy emanating through my hands. This will often cause one or both people holding my hands to squeeze or loosen their grip, which often causes a chain reaction in the rest of the circle as each person adjusts to the other peoples grips. The theatre game was to squeeze only when the squeeze was directed to you, yet inevitably the game ended because there were squeezes emanating from nowhere. Take full advantage of this simple idea and you will be heartily surprised and well rewarded.

9) I often find myself getting flashes of intuition which produce an electrical charge in my hands, says the mystery entertainer. Sometimes the entertainer says this before lighting up a light bulb or causing sparks to appear.

Modus Operandi: This is pure trickery. You use common conjuring methods that are commercially available for the lighting bulb or to cause sparks to appear. The value of this approach is that it enhances the suggestion approaches by allowing you to do things on demand and can be used in a challenge situation in which you have set yourself up for success. There are many ways to induce these challenge situations and when you produce the challenge you will be able to produce the result as well!

10) Its the strangest thing because I get flashes of intuition when I shake hands with people and they seem to connect into my psychic worldsometimes for a few seconds and, at other times, for a few hours.

Modus Operandi: This is a pure suggestion technique. It also is a bit of a trance inducing technique. You are telling them that YOU get flashes of intuition but you are also giving a reason for how they will connect into YOUR psychic world. This can form a very strong rapport with some people, and they will feel as if they are entering your world and you are entering their world in agreed upon and mutually beneficial terms. This is similar to the trance induction mentioned in Item 7, as you give them a choice to connect psychically for a few seconds or for a few hours, but there is not a choice to NOT connect! This is a very interesting approach to use with people.

11) Some people get so nervous around my energy that their palms inexplicably begin to sweat more than normal. However, they soon calm down.

Modus Operandi: This is an interesting approach because it relies on the actual physiology of the human body. If someone is coming to see a psychic entertainer or psychic reader, they sometimes will have something on their mind that will make them a tad bit reluctant or nervous. You turn this bodily reaction into a sign that your energy is affecting them on a physical basis. Also, just by the mere mentioning of sweating of the palms, you can often cause the palms of the more suggestible people to start sweating.

13

People who are coming for a psychic reading can often be in a certain suggestible state, and so you can use this tactic to help them feel better, because you add in the line However, they soon calm down. This negates the feeling of nervousness without negating the reality of the sweating palms. This also helps people who are genuinely nervous at meeting you to calm down and helps both of you gain rapport with each other.

12) Some people see a bright flash of light when they shake my hand.

Modus Operandi: I have two methods for accomplishing this one. The first method is a gimmick sold in magic trick stores known as a DLite. I prefer the yellow or red colored ones. This item lets you produce a light at your fingertips. I shake hands using my right hand and position my left hand so it is in a peripheral part of the other persons vision. The left hands thumb wears the DLite and sets it off when appropriate. The second method is to simply say the words and see if the person follows along! I will often throw this suggestion out to see how suggestible the participant is and to see if I should use trickery to accomplish a more defined result or go with a more suggestion based route to entertaining them.

13) Sometimes I need no oracles; I simply get psychic information through the touch of a hand.

Modus Operandi: This is nothing other than truth. Sometimes you need no oracles for one of two reasons: You get genuine intuitions about the person in front of you that prove correct, or you get information given to you during the touch of the hand that proves to help you with your readings. Such information which proves helpful with readings would be things such as the color of their nail polish, fingernails that have been bitten, calluses on the hands, and so on.

14) I knew some of you would skip down to here from Item 3. Some people feel a tingle or vibration when he shakes hands with them.

Modus Operandi: The vibration is based on pure linguistics I thought long and hard about using a novelty item known as a hand-buzzer which you wind up and then it produces a vibration. The hand-buzzer is too bulky to be easily concealed and ditching it would prove to be difficult in an intimate setting or uncontrolled environment. However, the tingle is based on pure trickery. Go down to a pharmacy or similar store and buy the liquid version of a product whose brand name is ICY-HOT. ICY-HOT first produces a cold feeling and then a hot feeling, and can be interpreted as a tingling sensation. Have just a bit on one finger and you will be able to produce a tingling sensation. You can dab some into a button on your shirt and have it ready to use throughout the day, or you can use it simply once at the beginning of the day and let the legend spread and use linguistics to create the effect over and over again with new people throughout the day, especially those people who talked to the first person who felt your tingling handshake!

15) The last person who shook my hand felt a surge of energy.

14

Modus Operandi: This is a way to use the principle of social proof without having another person present. You tell the participant that something has happened in the past, and they have no real reason to doubt you. The above statement is also ambiguous. It has been made ambiguous on purpose. Do I mean that the last person who shook my hand felt a surge of psychic energy or physical energy or both? The type and intensity of the energy is left to the mind of the participant to interpret and act upon accordingly.

Secret 16) The Firm, Yet Polite Handshake

Modus Operandi: This item has the result of producing respect and inducing rapport. I did not list it with the rest of the ideas because I thought I would just put it here at the end and also I figured that not very many people would really understand the impact. The impact of this item can be just as powerful as the other 15 items, when done correctly! When you shake someones hand, you want to have a firm handshake, but you do not want to crush their hand. You are a mystery entertainer who works all the time with your hands, so you should have a firm handshake. If you want to increase the strength of your handshake they sell hand-grippers that you squeeze throughout the day to build up the muscles. You slowly increase to harder and harder to use hand-grippers. This is great if you want to break someones hand, but no so great if you want to induce trust, comfort, and rapport. So, when you shake someones hand make sure that you match the pressure of their handshake with the pressure of your own handshake. This is really about real-time biofeedback. If they give you a wimpy handshake, this is not a signal to crush their hand. Still be firm, yet relaxed. If they try to crush your hand, do not try to overpower them with your own strength. Instead, try to match the power of their handshake. This takes a lot of skill, practice, and rehearsal. However, once you know how to shake hands with anyone you will become aware of so many opportunities that present themselves.

Shaking hands and/or touching hands provides you with many useful tools, including ways to increase your legend, gain rapport, deepen astonishment, start trances, gain compliance, and lead people to your way of thinking and to make people truly wonder and think about you and your powers.

HINTS & TIPS: The following are some Hints & Tips for applying these techniques.

The Lately Ploy: This is useful for practicing the previous techniques with current friends and acquaintances. Here is one simple example: instead of saying Sometimes when people shake my hand, they may get a flash of intuition that helps them, (as in Item 1), you choose to say Lately, when people shake my hand, they may get a flash of intuition that helps them. This implies that these things have just started happening to you and changes the expectations for people who already know you. The people who already know you have most likely NOT had these experiences with you, so you use the word Lately to imply that this power of yours has just started.

Invading Space: This is a refinement which you can use with all of the above handshake techniques. I learned this while rehearsing some of the above handshake techniques.

15

You want to slightly invade the space of the person who you offer your hand to for the handshake. As Adam White put it to me, You want to cross over their 40 yard line or more. You want to offer your hand and have it accepted. You increase the chances of this happening when you reach your hand out to the person in a friendly gesture, and move your hand towards their body. This also leads into the next tip.

A Small Pattern Interrupt: When using these handshake techniques, either with a new contact or an old friend, you can shake hands WHILE you tell them what happens when people shake your hand. This will act as a slight pattern interrupt, and at the same time disarms any suspicion on the part of the participant. Suspicions may be particularly strong when using these techniques with old friends, who may suspect a prank such as a joy buzzer or other such things. You will be shaking their hand for at least three beats longer than they are used to, which will cause a small pattern interrupt and make your suggestion(s) more likely to bypass the critical factor which will increase the success rate of said suggestions.

16

AN ERICKSONIAN READERS OPENING

This is an approach to beginning a psychic reading that is heavily influenced by the work of Milton H. Erickson. Usually when someone wants a psychic reading, they have something they want help with in their life, whether it is to make a decision or improve in some way, or any other number of things. Getting people to open up to you during the reading can sometimes be difficult. The following scripting allows people to feel like they can tell you everything while keeping back other things, yet they will open up to you and tell you everything that is truly important for you to know during the psychic reading. What follows is the simple script that will get people to treat you as a trusted advisor:

There are a number of things you dont want me to know about, that you dont want to tell me. There are a lot of things about yourself that you dont want to discuss. Therefore, lets discuss those things that you feel free to discuss, and be sure that you dont discuss those that you are unwilling to discuss.Milton H. Erickson1

The above quote from Milton H. Erickson is very, very effective to get people to open up to you about anything and everything. As Erickson explained in Conversations with Milton H. Erickson, M.D.: Volume One, the client feels free to discuss things because they can always hold things back, but before they know it, the client has shared everything that is relevant! This is because the sharing process is made into a safe process. The client feels that they can use the permission to withhold for more important matters. You are forcing the client to respond to the ideas of both withholding and communication at the same time. Erickson mentioned that this was a particularly effective approach to people with body image defects. I have found the pattern that Erickson used is useful to get anyone to open up about anything. This is a very powerful technique. The client may shuffle around the things they tell you, and it may not be in a linear fashion, but the client will tell you everything that is relevant to your session. Erickson also mentions how a woman who may have had several affairs will open up about three of five affairs, giving you all the information you really need without you needing to know about the two secret affairs.

By using the above pattern from Milton H. Erickson, you will also help create a lot of good rapport. You will be seen as someone who is interested, but not nosy, as well as someone who wants to help but does not want to interfere. This approach also works better than simply saying Tell me everything.

You can use an Ericksonian Language Pattern to get people to truly open up to you while they feel they can still keep certain things secret, yet you influence them to share everything that is truly relevant, and they feel as if the idea to share was their own choice.

1 This quote is from pp. 5-6 of Conversations With Milton H. Erickson, M.D.: Volume One edited by Jay

Haley.

17

THE BACK SLAP ANCHOR

This is a concept I first explored after reading a Carlos Castaneda book. The book was titled The Fire From Within. In this book, Castaneda talks about how he began to realize that before anything magickal or psychedelic happened, Don Juan de Matos (Castanedas supposed mentor and teacher), slapped him on the back between the shoulder blades. Whether or not this really happened, and whether or not Don Juan existed is not the point.

What is important is learning how we can use something similar in our own performances. Anchors are associations that have been created between two or more things through some sort of relation process. One common anchor amongst many people is hearing a certain song, which reminds them of a certain person. Thus, the song is an anchor that causes the memory of a certain person to come to the forefront of the mind.

How can we use anchoring to enhance our performances? In this chapter I will discuss one method to anchor the experience of magic for one person over a series of days and different performances. This chapter is meant to explore anchoring for one individual, and exploring how to use such anchoring over a series of different events.

For this demonstration, we will call our participant Jake. We will show Jake a minor miracle of mind reading or pseudo-hypnosis. However, before we do so, we will explain that the body has certain Activation Points that allow people to shift consciousness and energy (or chi or life force) to a greater point of being and realization. We will then tell Jake that one of the major Activation Points is between the shoulder blades on the back. Before we show Jake any magic, we will ask permission to engage the Activation Point. When we get such permission, we will lightly slap Jake on the back, between the shoulder blades. We will then demonstrate a minor effect for Jake. By minor effect, I mean something which is amazing, but not your top-of-the-line work. This is an introductory phase.

A few days later, we will meet with Jake again. Jake will most likely ask to be shown something. Engage the Activation Point again and perform a stronger piece of mind reading this time. Jake will be impressed, your magic will have seem to have become stronger, and you will now have Jake associating the Activation Point with magic happening after engagement of said Activation Point.

A few more days later, you run into Jake again. You ask him if he wants to experience something again. He agrees. You engage the Activation Point by giving him a slight tap on the back between the shoulder blades. You show him one of your strongest pieces. He is thoroughly impressed.

After a few weeks, you and Jake attend the same party. You ask Jake if he wants to experience something really wild. You slap him lightly on the back at the Activation Point. You can now perform any demonstration you want. In fact, by this point, you may be able to get a magical experience out of Jake by simply engaging the Activation

18

Point. When he is tapped on the back, he will associate this tapping with magic happening. Now you can go in for the kill, and do a cold reading which will be considered more accurate than if you did not use this elaborate set-up. You can also perform some hot reading, and other pieces to engage Jake in the process.

Jake now has an anchor set on him that is associated with magic. You tell him some things about himself, and he will automatically consider it magic because of the anchor that has been set. This will enhance the perceived accuracy of your cold reading. The cold reading will also be associated with being mystical and magical; thanks to the anchor you have set on Jake.

As you can see, this is best used in a one-on-one situation.

19

THREE KNUCKLE SWISH

This is a very interesting technique that explores the use of both anchoring and rapport. I first found this idea in An Insiders Guide to Submodalities by Richard Bandler and Will MacDonald. For those just starting out in anchoring, this process will prove both easy and fruitful.

Before we go further, I want to mention a little-discussed technique to make sure that wherever you set an anchor, you will trigger the anchor at the same place. For example, a beginner might set an anchor along the arm, but when they go to fire the anchor they forget exactly where on the arm that particular anchor is set. In order to fire off the correct anchor, simply use some chalk. Put the chalk on your fingers, and as you anchor the person on the arm, the chalk will transfer to the area you are anchoring. In order to fire the anchor, just find the chalk mark. If you want to set several different anchors, which you sometimes need to do for various purposes, you may want to use several different colors of chalkone color of chalk for each anchor.

A Swish Pattern is when we take two or more anchors and replace one anchor with a different anchor. In the Three Knuckle Swish, we will anchor three different things to the first three knuckles of the participants right hand. The first thing we will anchor is a negative feeling the participant has over something. We will touch the first knuckle as they describe this experience. Next, we will have them think of something neutral, that they dont feel one way or another about. We will touch the second knuckle to anchor this experience. Finally, we will have them think of a time when they were feeling positive and resourceful and everything was going their way. If they cannot remember a time like this, for whatever reason, then have them imagine a time in the future like this.

Now we will perform a Swish Pattern. This Swish Pattern is known as the Three Knuckle Swish. You take the fingers you used to anchor each experience on the knuckles, and brush them across all three knuckles at once, starting with the negative anchor, going to the neutral anchor, and ending on the positive anchor. The person will now be experiencing a resourceful, positive state of being, and will usually find a way within to deal with the negative aspects. This is not therapy! This is a simple positive, self-affirmation, and guided visualization.

When you first start with anchoring, you may want to use chalk on your fingertips to mark anchors you have set. We can cause a person to have a positive, self-affirming experience of their own worth through the use of the Three Knuckle Swish pattern. This is a valuable use of anchoring, both for a participant and for your own self.

20

THE DEEPER TAROT

Effect: First, the Tarot Reader has the client cut off about a third of the deck; saying that this will represent the Past. The Tarot reader holds their hand over the cut portion of the deck and says I sense a man, something to do with romance. The portion of the deck that has been cut off is then turned face up, and put on top of the rest of the face-down Tarot Deck, and it reveals, for example, the Lovers card has been cut to by the client. Now, cut even deeper than before this time, and this card will represent the Present! The client cuts even deeper and before they turn over the packet, the Tarot reader says I sense something to do with sleep, and dreams. The card is then shown to be the Nine of Swords. Now, spread to the first face down card and that will be your Future Card! Of course, what kind of psychic would I be, if I did not know the Future in advance? I sense Travel, either it will be spiritual, mental, or physical, but there will be a moving or move of some kind. Please turn over the Chariot card. The Future card is then revealed to be The Chariot Card.

Method: This combines a sleight of hand move known as The Balducci Cut-Deeper Force with a ruse I came up with called the Ambiguous Tarot.

Balducci Cut Deeper Force: Have the Force Card on top of the deck. Next, have someone cut about a third of the deck and turn it face up and place it in that condition back on to the top of the deck. That will get your Past Card. Have them cut even deeper this timehence the name of the forceand turn over that whole packet and place that packet back on top of the deck. That gets you the Present Card. Now have them spread the face up cards until they get to the first face down card. This forces the Top Card from the original order of the deckin this case The Chariot Tarot Card.

Ambiguous Tarot: This is an idea wherein you tell people properties of a Tarot Card with no memorized deck work and no marked cards. You simply have to relate whatever you say to the cards that show up in the first two parts of the Cut Deeper force. Since Tarot Cards are generally ambiguous to begin with, and can be interpreted in many different ways, you will have an easy time connecting whatever general statements you make to the Tarot cards and to the person in front of you. Some Cold Reading practice comes in handy as well, because then you can relate the card with even greater ease to the information you get from the Cold Reading aspect of the session. For really ambiguous language phrases, you should check out the works of Milton H. Erickson, M.D., and also

21

look into the Milton Model developed by Richard Bandler and John Grinder, which is discussed in several Neurolinguistic Programming books.

False Memories: Some people will give you credit for knowing ahead of time what each of the three cards were when you combine the Cut Deeper Force with the Ambiguous Tarot ploy. You can even lead them to this faulty conclusion with a statement such as, I was able to divine meanings of cards before you even turned them over, and I was even able to tell you the Future before anyone else knew! This will cause some to forget the exact details of what happened. If they do not forget, you still have something impressive on your hands because you divined meanings and then you divined in very specific terms what the Future card was that they selected!

Credits: Quick To Tell by Robert E. Neale, in the book The Magic Mirror, employs the Cut Deeper Force to force the third playing card in a fortune telling routine. The method first appeared in Neales May 1996 Tricks of the Imagination Column in The Linking Ring Vol. 75, No. 5, p. 73. Jeff McBride then applied the Cut Deeper Force to Tarot cards in his two-volume video set, The Magic of Jeff McBride. In October of 1995, Mike Maxwell had a similar idea published in The Minotaur periodical, Vol.7, No. 2, p. 6. What I have added to this is an idea that allows you to apparently, and ambiguously, know all three cards ahead of time. The addition I have made allows the ability to predict (albeit vaguely) the first two cards.

Liam Montier shared the following with me: There is an old force that you could apply here, so you would have a direct hit on the first and last cards, leaving just the middle one to be bluffed. You would basically begin with the Lovers on top, and the Chariot underneath.

Slip cut the top card into the pack, about a third of the way down, but keep a little finger break below it as it lands, before replacing the rest of the cards on top.

Now offer the cards to be cut, and the moment the spectator grabs the outside edge of the deck, you simply move away with everything below the break, leaving them holding the cards above it, with the Lovers card lowermost. You can now continue as described.

However, if you still wanted to keep the element of risk, you could crimp the Chariot card; put it about a third of the way down, and go for it.

HINTS & TIPS:

On Ambiguity: Here is a list of a few ambiguous subjects to bring up for use with the first two Tarot Card selections: Change, Relationships, Love, Decisions, Wealth, Health, Knowledge, Work, Play, Cycles, Excitement, Power, Fear, Conflict, and Emotions. There are plenty others you can choose from, and a good Thesaurus will be helpful. You want to have a good supply of these ambiguous subjects or subjects which cover a broad range of things so that you do not end up repeating the same two or four subjects for the first two Tarot Card revelations. If you end up reciting the same thing each time, people

22

will talk to each other and find out that their reading was not very special. This is even more important if you are going to be performing for people who interact with each other, and who will compare notes.

The Journalists Quest: This is a way to get people to open up even further to you and to relate the first two Tarot Card selections as being congruent with your precognitive, yet ambiguous, predictions. Journalists are taught to generally ask questions which will not give a simple Yes or No answer. So, instead of saying something to the sitter such as Can you relate to this card? you will ask them a question such as How does this card relate to your life currently? for a card that represents the present. Combined with An Ericksonian Readers Opening this type of question will get people to connect with you and the cards, as well as giving you more information for your Cold/Warm/Hot reading. You want to ask questions that begin with the words used most often by journalists. These words are: How, Why, What, Where, When, and Who. For example, lets say you get The Death card for the Past. Youve declared before the card was turned over that it had something to do with relationships. You now give a reading about The Death card and relate it to a change in a relationship. Now, you will ask, Who did you have a change with relationships in the past? Nearly everybody has had the status or style of a relationship change in their past. This gets the sitter to open up without totally realizing they are giving you information. You are just discussing the Tarot cards and their meanings with them, and involving them even more. Adam White brought my attention to asking the question How does this card relate to you? and this jogged my memory of the questions asked by journalists. Now, when you perform The Deeper Tarot in combination with An Ericksonian Readers Opening you will tend to get a deeper connection with the sitter. This is a good thing.

Another Small Pattern Interrupt: This is another way to interrupt someones pattern and make the suggestion of predicting the first cards even stronger. This was developed with the help of Adam White. When you ask the person to cut off the first third of the deck, you DO NOT have them complete the cut. You instead use the Ambiguous Tarot technique and say something such as This card relates to knowledge. You then have them turn over the packet. This interrupts a process that they are in the middle of doing, and makes the suggestions later on in the routine stick better in the mind of the participant. After they turn over the card, you relate the card to the topic of knowledge, and then you proceed with the same procedure of having them cut deeper, but do not let them immediately turn over the cards. Instead, you will have the participant hold the cards while you again use the Ambiguous Tarot method to relate a generalized topic to the card. You will then have them turn over the packet of cards. This helps blur the line even farther for the participant, and helps to confuse them as to when you said what about which card. Later, many participants will report that you told them the meanings of cards before the participant turned over the card.

23

CAPTAIN PENNY, THE PSYCHIC PIRATE

Old Presentation: The magician brings out a small treasure chest. This is what is left from the treasure of an eccentric known as Captain Penny, The Psychic Pirate! exclaims the magician.

Whats a pirates favorite letter in the alphabet? asks the magician, who then immediately says Arrr!

Whats a pirates favorite state? asks the magician, who then immediately says, Arrrrrkansas!

Finally the magician says Do you know why pirate jokes are funny? and then continues, They just Arrrr!

The treasure chest is opened up. As you can see, only a few tokens are left from Captain Penny, the Psychic Pirates treasure. The fake gold tokens are dumped on to the table.

Now, Captain Penny had a crew of misfits, outcasts, and thieves. Tonight you will play one of those thieving marauders, and I will play the part of Captain Penny, the Psychic Pirate! As the magician explains the roles, the magician then puts on a fake eye patch, the type you can get from costume stores and are readily available during the Halloween season in the USA.

The magician turns around. Captain Pennys favorite numbers were two through nine. He would take between two and nine coins and bury them in a remote island. Do you have an island on you? This will invariably lead to some weird, and hopefully humorous, replies. Well, a pocket will work just as well. Take between two and nine tokens and put them into your pocket. The magician waits for this to happen. You can jingle the tokens around so you dont think Im using some sort of weird powers of hearing. Please inform me when the treasure has been buried in your pocket.

The spectator informs when the tokens are now in the spectators pocket. Now count the remaining tokens. The magician pauses and then says I believe you have a two digit number. The spectator replies that they do, indeed, have a two digit number. Add the two digits of that number to get a second number, a number even you were not thinking of, one that is truly random. The spectator informs when they have done this task. Now take that many tokens and bury those in your pocket with the first part of the treasure. Jingle them around if you want so I cant figure it out by sound.

The spectator informs the magician when the tokens are in his pocket. Great. Now youll play the role of the thieving marauder. Take as many tokens as you want from the remaining coins on the table and put those in your hand, but leave at least one to make it difficult for me. Tell me when youre done. The spectator replies they are done.

24

The magician turns around and says Arrr, youll play the role of the thieving landlubber and Ill be Captain Penny, The Psychic Pirate. Im afraid Ill have to make you walk the plank, for youve stolen three coins and put them in your hand. Arrrr! The spectator opens his hand and he does, indeed, have three coins. The spectator dumps the coins form their pocket back on the table and the magician picks up all the coins and puts the coins back into the treasure chest.

Arrr, matey! Id like to give you this treasure for being such a good sport, and playing along with Captain Penny, The Psychic Pirate! The treasure chest is given to the audience member. The spectator can examine everything and take everything home. They will never figure out what truly happened.

Method: You have 20 tokens in the treasure chest. Have a person take between 2 and 9 tokens and put that amount in their pocket. You could have them take one token, but I find it helps to hide the method of the trick by restricting them to between 2 and 9 tokens. Next, have the person count the remaining tokens. It will always be a two-digit number. So you get your first hit when you say they have a two-digit number.

Have the person add the two digits of the two-digit number to get a new random number. Have the person take as many coins as the new random number and put those in their pocket. Now have them put as many coins as they want in their hand, but tell them to leave at least one to make it difficult for youthis is just a smoke screen that keeps them from realizing how many total tokens are in play.

When you turn around, look at the remaining number of tokens on the table. Whatever number of tokens are on the table, subtract that number from the number nine. So, in the above example in the Presentation, there were six coins left on the table. The magician subtracted six from nine and got the total of three which meant three coins were in the spectators hand.

As you turn around, you put both your hands into both your pockets. You palm off three more tokens. When the tokens are dumped back on to the table, you add the palmed tokens into the pile and put everything back into the treasure chest. If the person challenges you on how many tokens are in their pocket, you can replywithout the slightest hesitationthat they have 11 tokens in their pocket. This is because they will ALWAYS have 11 tokens in their pocket at the conclusion of the routine. Since you added more tokens into the mix and did not bring attention to the number of tokens during the routine, it will be nearly impossible to reconstruct the effect.

Discussion: If you use a cheap enough, and small enough, treasure chest, then you can now give away the treasure chest. You can find cheap wooden pirate style treasure chests at many hobby and crafts stores. The total price of giving away the treasure chest and tokens can be as low as $3.25 per performance. That price includes the treasure chest and the tokens.

25

Plus, you have left the spectator with a nice souvenir. You could have your business card in the treasure chest as well, with a personal note to the spectator written on the back of the card. The pirate jokes, the pirate theme, and the pirate play help to hide the mathematical nature of this effect.

Credits: I was first introduced to the mathematical coin-in-hand trick in a write-up titled Coin Caper on page 64-65 of Raymond Blums book Math Tricks, Puzzles, & Games. I added in the pirate theme to help distance the mathematical nature of the effect in the presentation. I also added in the idea of palming extra tokens and putting them into the mix to help hide the math that is used in the effect, and to throw off any mathematically oriented spectators who might try to reconstruct the effect.

I also added in the idea of giving away the treasure chest and tokens (if you go the small chest route), along with a business card, for promotional purposes. Finally, you may want to consider aging the treasure chest, but I find it funnier to simply add in a line such as, Captain Penny, The Psychic Pirate, liked keeping his treasure clean!

Notes: Some of you may be tempted to use pennies or other coins, but it is actually better to buy some fake, plastic gold coins. You can get them very cheap, and many crafts and hobby stores have them for sale. This way, the total of the coins does not get mixed up with the value of the coins, so the mathematical part is never messed up by the participant.

My Current Presentation: What follows is my current presentation, which is suitable for parlor, and not readily handy for close-up, as I doubt the restaurant worker wants to carry this many props for one effect, inside a medium-sized treasure chest!

I bring out a nice sized treasure chest, which has not been aged. I also bring out an aged-looking map. The following dialogue then ensues:

This map led me to this treasure chest! This is what is left from the treasure of an eccentric known as Captain Penny, The Psychic Pirate! exclaims the magician. Captain Penny once went into a bar. The bartender said, Howd you get a peg leg, Captain Penny? and Captain Penny responded, Arrrr, a crocodile bit off me leg when I was at sea! The bartender said, hmmm, thats interesting, but how did you get the hook? At this point, the magician pulls out a fake, plastic hook from the treasure chest. Captain Penny said, Arrrr, I got into a duel with another captain and he shot off me hand! The bartender pondered this for a moment and said, Thats amazing, Captain Penny, but how did you get the eye patch? At this point the magician pulls out an eye patch from the treasure chest. Captain Penny said, Arrr a bird pooped in me eye! The bartender looked a bit perplexed and said, Howd that cause you to lose an eye? Now the magician picks up the hook and makes a swiping motion over his eyes, BEING VERY CAREFUL NOT TO TOUCH HIS OWN FACE AT ALL, and says Captain Penny responded, Arrrrr, it was the day after I got me hook!

26

Next, the magician says Now, lets get to the important part of the treasure! The loot! The magician takes out a plastic bag that has a pirate logo printed on it and dumps out a bunch of fake golden tokens/coins.

Now, Captain Penny had a crew of misfits, outcasts, and thieves. Tonight you will play one of those thieving marauders, and I will play the part of Captain Penny, the Psychic Pirate! says the magician.

The magician turns around. Captain Pennys favorite numbers were two through nine. He would take between two and nine coins and bury them in a remote island. Do you have an island on you? This will invariably lead to some weird, and hopefully humorous, replies. Well, a pocket will work just as well. Take between two and nine tokens and put them into your pocket. The magician waits for this to happen. You can jingle the tokens around so you dont think Im using some sort of weird powers of hearing. Please inform me when the treasure has been buried in your pocket.

As this is being done, the magician makes another pirate joke: Whats a pirates favorite state? asks the magician, who then immediately says, Arrrrrkansas!

The spectator informs when the tokens are now in the spectators pocket. The magician says, Now count the remaining tokens. The magician pauses and then says I believe you have a two digit number. The spectator replies that they do, indeed, have a two digit number. Add the two digits of that number to get a second number, a number even you were not thinking of, one that is truly random. The spectator informs when they have done this task. Now take that many tokens and bury those in your pocket with the first part of the treasure. Jingle them around if you want so I cant figure it out by sound.

As this task is being carried out, it is time for another pirate joke: Whats a pirates favorite letter in the alphabet? asks the magician, who then immediately says Arrr!

The spectator informs the magician when the tokens are in his pocket. Great. Now youll play the role of the thieving marauder. Take as many tokens as you want from the remaining coins on the table and put those in your hand, but leave at least one to make it difficult for me. Tell me when youre done.

As the spectator carries out this task, you give another pirate joke: Whats the pirates favorite branch of the military? The ARRRRRRRmy!

The spectator replies they are done.

The magician turns around and says Arrr, youll play the role of the thieving landlubber and Ill be Captain Penny, The Psychic Pirate. Im afraid Ill have to make you walk the plank, for youve stolen three coins and put them in your hand. Arrrr! The spectator opens his hand and he does, indeed, have three coins. The spectator dumps the coins

27

form their pocket back on the table and the magician picks up all the coins and puts the coins back into the treasure chest.

Do you know why pirate jokes are so funny? asks the magician, who immediatelyand I mean immediatelyfollows up with saying, They just ARRRRRRR!

Everything method-wise is accomplished as before. Its the pacing of the jokes and the intertwining of them along with the really great punch-line at the end of the presentation that sells this even better. The pirate treasure chest that I use is suitable for parlor sized performances or closer. Everything that is in the treasure chest was bought from a hobby and craft store; as was the chest itself. I bought a bunch of different pirate props and put them all into the treasure chest. Then I took a plastic bag with a pirate logo on it and put the required amount of tokens in it for the trick to work. The three extra tokens are in my right pocket. When I turn around in the routine, I bring my hands up to my temples, and then as the routine progresses, I put my hands into my pockets. At this point, I palm the extra three tokens.

I then take my hands out of my pockets as I turn around. As the spectator dumps the coins back on to the table, I load the extra coins while under the guise of picking up the coins to put them back in the bag. The reason the tokens are in a separate plastic pirate bag is so that they are easy to get to during the routine. I simply have to look for the bag, which is twisted shut, and take the bag out of the chest. I then dump the lootthe tokenson the table. This also makes for a rather easy reset because all you have to do is take three coins out of the plastic bag and put them back into your pocket. When performing with the larger sized chest, I prefer not to give it away. However, there are plenty of props inside the chest which could be easily handed out and given to a spectator or spectators with your business card attached. The aged map introduced at the beginning of the routine was acquired in the same hobby and craft store as everything else.

The Map Touch: Michael Weber suggested the following touch for this routine. In Michaels own words: The fact that you KNOW the spectator will have 11 coins in his pocket at the end of the procedure could allow you to prepare a treasure map that obtusely includes that information without suggesting a force.

28

WITCH FINGERS

Here is an approach to using the Pea Can for mentalism that I think you will enjoy. In this approach, we talk about dowsing, and then have a spectator demonstrate the ability.

Effect: The magician brings out four metal tubes and shows that the tubes are empty. He pours water into one of the tubes. Have you heard of witching for water? Its also known as dowsing. Tonight I propose an experiment in dowsing. Now, many would say you need a dowsing rod, but I think that is just a tool that is used to focus ones own psychic powers. If youll turn around for a moment, Ill mix up these tubes. Okay, the tubes are mixed up. Now, clasp your fingers together, and imagine a stream of white light entering through the crown of your head and flowing into your hands. You may even feel your hands start to get warmer, or you may feel a warm, tingling sensation through your spine. And now, point the first finger on each hand up and move your hands in this position over the tube. As you can see, your fingers are starting to attract to each other. Dont resist it, the more your resist, the more your fingers will want to go together. And I see your fingers are now touching each other over container number three. Water is poured out of the container, and the other containers are shown to be empty. The impromptu dowsing has, apparently, worked.

Method: This is a combination of two effects. The first effect is that of the two fingers being attracted to each other. It is my understanding that this is an old body stunt and has been published in a couple of different places. It relies on both body mechanics and suggestion. A handling of it titled Cathys Screwy Finger Bit by Jim Ryan (written up by Phil Wilmarth) appeared on page 501 of The Magic Menu Years Six Through Ten. The other effect is the lowly Pea Can; given a new context here as a simple way to hold water for test conditions. Each Pea Can is loaded so that it can pour water, but appears empty when first shown. And there are a few suggestions that I have thrown into the routine to make bits more effective and to add to the drama of things. Of particular interest will be the line the more you resist, the more your fingers will want to go together. I stumbled upon using this suggestion when doing a demonstration of Cathys Screwy Finger Bit with an uncooperative participant. Immediately, compliance was given to the suggestion which was quite useful as part of the finger bit relies on suggestion. As for the theme of dowsing, this was basically another gift that I received by listening to a spectator who commented after a performance of Cathys Screwy Finger Bit that it reminded them of witching for water!

Notes: This routine demonstrates how listening and paying attention to your audience can bear ripe fruit. Without the reactions of the audiences I performed for, this routine would have never been inspired in me much less created and fleshed out. Those spectators, even the uncooperative ones, helped to make this routine that much stronger.

Credits: Bob Cassidy was the first to use the theme of dowsing combined with Pea Cans. Michael Weber suggested that any water production or vanish method could be combined with the dowsing theme.

29

BONUS ITEM (PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE): HAUNTED HOUSE HALLOWEEN HORROR

Effect: The magician shows that a deck of formerly blank-faced cards has writing on each card. On each card is a different word. The first few cards are each shown to have different words. Those cards are then displaced on to the bottom of the deck. The magician asks for a number between 1 and 52. Lets say, for this example, that the chosen number is 20. The magician counts down twenty cards and pushes the 20th card towards the volunteer. The card before the chosen card is shown to have the word Rollercoaster. The card after the selection is shown to have the word Bank.

The magician then explains, Mind reading can be a very difficult process. I dont always get the exact word, but I can usually get the theme of the word. For example, if you had chosen Rollercoaster then I might say Carnival. And if you chose Bank then I might say Money. So now Id like you to please look at your card and concentrate on the word. Im sensing costumes, and candy, orange and black decorations, I keep getting a holiday stuck in my headdoes your card have something to do with Halloween? The spectator confirms that the word DOES have to do with Halloween.

Suddenly, the spectator gets a bit demanding and says, Oh yeah Mister Mentalist Dude, whats the word on the card? The magician then replies Oh, well now that Ive tuned in I can tell you the word is Bats!

Method: The first bank of ten cards are all unrelated to Halloween. The ninth card is marked with a black pen on four corners of the border design of the cards. The first nine cards are shown to be all different and then that bank of cards is displaced to the bottom. The bottom card is shown to have the word Army Base written on it. All the even numbers between 1 and 42 have Halloween themed items.

This means that when you get an even number from the volunteer you give them the card that falls on the even number. In the above example, you would have given them the 20th card. If they ask for the 21st card then you say Okay, well discard 21 cards, and then you give them what is really the 22nd card! This principle has been used by many different magicians to force the same card that is repeated throughout a deck. For example, their force card may be the Nine of Diamonds. So every other card is the Nine of Diamonds.

What I did was to combine this principle of forcing a card with a presentation that is outlined in Jerome Finleys ebook Random Acts of Kindness. His effect is titled At

30

the Madhouse. He uses a slightly different force from the one used here in order to force from a bank of cards that all have the same force item on them.

Then, what I did was to combine this with a principle that I have discussed with Liam Montier. I call this the Theme Force Principle. Every other card is related to a Theme; in this case the theme is Halloween. Ive prepared a small little cheat sheet so you can construct your own deck if you so desire. You could also use this with the Theme of School, which is what I first came up with, but in order to make it a bit spookier and fit in for an October performance, I used the Theme of Halloween. Of course there are lots of other themes you could apply this principle to once you think about it for a while.

Now, I know you are probably asking, But how did you get the exact word Bats? Well, you only have to memorize 26 things because of the force we are using. You can restrict it even further by asking for a number between 1 and 22 because you say you dont want to deal cards all day. Some of you may want to simply put each force card in alphabetical order. This way, you know the last force card is Zombies and one of the first force cards is Bats! I also think if you want to be really dedicated to the effect you should memorize every other card from the bank of cards that you displace to the bottom of the deck at the beginning of the effect.

When describing the scenes you are seeing, it helps if you really visualize those scenes yourself and you might even want to guide the visualization of the volunteer or the entire group and get everybody involved in thinking about this word that the person has chosen. Now, many times I will end with the revelation that the word has a Halloween theme. But, if I get challengedsay by a fellow magician or a more stubborn spectatorI have the bank of cards memorized and can say something to the effect of This is really difficult. Dont tell me the word. I did not plan on trying something so extremely hard tonight, but I might just be able to pull this off. Im seeing caves and fangs. Your word is Bats, correct?

What follows is the list of the nine card bank that you show to be all different at the beginning:

FIRST BANK OF NINE 1 Hospital 2 School 3 Airport 4 Coffee House 5 Hotel 6 Boat 7 Carnival 8 Zoo 9 Library

31

What follows next is the stack of cards you will have after displacing the first nine cards:

THE SET UP AFTER THE TRANSFER

1. Church 2. Vampire 3. Beach 4. Ghost 5. Europe 6. Ghoul 7. Car 8. Mummy 9. Ocean 10. Halloween 11. Sand 12. Haunting 13. Eyeglasses 14. Werewolf 15. Flowers 16. Frankenstein 17. Rabbit 18. Skull 19. Rollercoaster 20. Bats 21. Bank 22. Gargoyle 23. Cereal 24. Tombstone 25. Zebra 26. Spider Webs 27. Supermodel 28. Costumes 29. Spoon 30. Candy 31. Railroad 32. Trick Or Treat 33. Pilgrim 34. Pumpkin Carving 35. Pluto 36. Skeletons 37. Silverware 38. Zombies 39. Diner 40. Graveyard 41. Library

32

42. Witches 43. Army Base 44. Hospital 45. School 46. Airport 47. Coffee House 48. Hotel 49. Boat 50. Carnival 51. Zoo 52. Casino

Reset: If you want to have the force cards memorized then you will need to reverse count the cards dealt to the table back on to the top of the deck. After that you must cut above the marked card and place the original bank of nine top cards (which are now at the bottom) back on the top of the deck. If you simply want to get your hits with the effect by using the Theme Force Principle, then your reset will become quite easier. Simply make sure that the top card is an indifferent card and that the bottom card is in correct order for the stack to work when you place the cards dealt to the table back on to the deck. Then, after doing that, place the bank of nine bottom cards back on the top of the deck and you are ready to go amaze some people. (This is the one advantage of not memorizing the position of the force cardsyour reset becomes much easier! Of course, if you are challenged as to what the card exactly says, you have to resort to explaining that It doesnt work that way, but Ill try and then actually go with whatever gut feeling response you get!)

Mnemonics For Remembering The List: What follows are some Mnemonic Associations that you can use to remember the alternating stack of force cards.

Number Card Mnemonic 2 Vampire Two Fangs 4 Ghost Four sheets covering four

ghosts 6 Ghoul A one-eyed ghoul (the six

looks a bit like an eye) 8 Mummy The eight looks like

bandages wrapped around a Mummy

10 Halloween The lo in Halloween is also the number 10

12 Haunting A Haunting occurs at Midnight (12 AM)

14 Werewolf The 1 transforms into a 4 with a few lines, like a Werewolf

33

16 Frankenstein Imagine the 6 as two bolts resting across the 1 for Frankenstein

18 Skull The 8 is the two eyes over the 1 which is a mouth for a Skull

20 Bats Imagine 20 bats flying out of a 0 shaped caved

22 Gargoyle The two 2s are perched Gargoyles waiting to strike

24 Tombstone Imagine 2 tombstones shaped like the number 4

26 Spider Webs The 2 is a spider resting in a 6-shaped web

28 Costumes Two kids dressed as mummies for their COSTUMES

30 Candy The 3 is a candy bar, the zero is a CANDY dish

32 Trick or Treat 3=Odd=Trick 2=Even=Treat

34 Pumpkin Carving The 3 is a carved pumpkin; the 4 is a knife

36 Skeleton The 3 are leg bones, the 6 is the rest of the SKELETON

38 Zombies The 3 is a half-risen zombie, the eight is a fully risen Zombie

40 Graveyard 4 people in an empty GRAVEYARD

42 Witches The 4 is a broomstick, the 2 is a WITCH riding it

The Repeat Option: It is possible to repeat this effect immediately after the Halloween revelation. This is accomplished by having a bank of cards which force a different subject. For the second part of the effect, I have chosen to force a school subject. The theme that revolves around this bank of 20 cards is that 10 of them are school related. What follows is the list if you decide you want to be able to immediately repeat the effect.

SCHOOL DAZE LIST

1. Church 2. Vampire 3. Beach 4. Ghost

34

5. Europe 6. Ghoul 7. Car 8. Mummy 9. Ocean 10. Halloween 11. Sand 12. Haunting 13. Eyeglasses 14. Werewolf 15. Flowers 16. Frankenstein 17. Rabbit 18. Skull 19. Rollercoaster 20. Bats 21. Bank 22. Gargoyle 23. Cereal 24. Chalk 25. Zebra 26. Chalkboard 27. Supermodel 28. Teacher 29. Spoon 30. Professor 31. Railroad 32. Report Card 33. Pilgrim 34. Detention 35. Pluto 36. Recess 37. Silverware 38. Playground 39. Diner 40. Homework 41. Library 42. High School 43. Army Base 44. Hospital 45. School 46. Airport 47. Coffee House 48. Hotel 49. Boat 50. Carnival

35

51. Zoo 52. Casino

SCHOOL DAZE LIST AFTER THE HALLOWEEN CARDS ARE ELIMINATED:

The following list is what you will have left after getting rid of the Halloween bank of force cards.

1. Cereal 2. Chalk 3. Zebra 4. Chalkboard 5. Supermodel 6. Teacher 7. Spoon 8. Professor 9. Railroad 10. Report Card 11. Pilgrim 12. Detention 13. Pluto 14. Recess 15. Silverware 16. Playground 17. Diner 18. Homework 19. Library 20. High School 21. Army Base 22. Hospital 23. School 24. Airport 25. Coffee House 26. Hotel 27. Boat 28. Carnival 29. Zoo 30. Casino

SETTING UP FOR THE REPEAT: The repeat of the effect is quite easy to set up. I have the Cereal card marked. It is also a short card. This means that I can cut to the Cereal card and know, for certain, that I have cut to the Cereal card. The idea of making the Cereal card a short card and cutting to it was given to me by Adam White, with his permission it is published here. The idea of marking the card was originally intended so I could find the second marked card and cut to the deck. By making the Cereal card both marked and a short card, things have been made quite easier. There is one exception to

36

the School theme in the list. It is number 22, which is one of the original bank of cards that was displaced. A mnemonic will be given for it in the following list as well.

Mnemonics For Remembering The School List:

Number Card Mnemonic 2 Chalk Two pieces of chalk 4 Chalkboard A chalkboard divided into

four sections 6 Teacher A one-eyed teacher (the six

looks a bit like an eye) 8 Professor The two Ss in professor

make up an 8 10 Report Card A straight A report carda

Perfect 10 12 Detention Detention held after lunch

(12 pm) 14 Recess Where youd rather be after

detention 16 Playground Imagine the 6 as a swing

and the 1 as a ladder 18 Homework The dog 8 (ate) the

homework only Once (18) 20 High School Two Os in school for High

School (20) 22 Hospital An ambulance with the

number 22 on it in bright colors

The No-Memory Option: When I first performed this effect, I had none of the cards memorized. I simply revealed the card before and the card after the chosen card. I would explain how for the Church card I might get the word Steeple and the word Preacher but it would not be an exact hit. Likewise for Beach I might get the words Ocean and Sand. I would explain how getting thoughts is a very daunting task, and the best I could do was to hope to get close to the general theme of their card. Then I would start throwing out words related to Halloween and then finally ask, Is your card related to Halloween somehow? Since the card was a Theme Force of Halloween, the answer was always Yes. This is a quite plausible plot for people to follow. After all, if mindreading was easy, then you would be doing things other than showing them this effect.

The Dont Turn Over The Cards Ploy: Another option is to NOT turn over the cards before and after the chosen card until AFTER you have revealed their card. This

37

helps reinforce that the cards are all different without hinting at the next principle Im about to discuss, where you MUST turn over the previous card.

Memory Aide: Adam White gave me permission to publish this option for the effect. The first card in the set would be something like Hairbrush. You would associate this with Toothbrush and then know that the next card is the Vampire, which you have memorized with a peg system of the Vampire brushing his teeth. I leave you to develop the peg system further, with this as a starting point.

A Bit More Scripting: Now, when I perform this effect, I usually say the following (lets assume they chose the Vampire card): For Church I might say Preacher. And for Beach I might say Sand. Tonight, however, I am about to attempt something really difficult. Not only will I get the general theme of your card, but I am also going to try to get the exact thought out of your mind. I then start throwing out things related to Vampires, until I get to I keep seeing fangs and bats. Im getting a word very strongly now. The word is Vampire. This helps to make the revelation a bit more involved. It also helps throw a few magicians off the path of the modus operandi of the effect if you are not using the Memory Aide version.

Other Themes to Explore: You can use any theme for this deck that you feel like. You can use Christmas, Valentines Day, Saint Patricks Day, Outer Space, Computers/Technology, and many other themes.

The Opening Gag: The cards I have been using are bridge-sized playing cards that I printed on with a Sharpie Marker. I found a bridge-sized case to hold the cards. The case allows me to open with a really bad gag. The playing cards seem to animate inside the case. The Animating Deck, I say in a mock sort of voice. I then turn over the case and reveal there is a hole in the bottom. Theres a hole in the bottom, I say. Then I go into the effect. This Animating Deck has actually fooled a couple of people until I showed the bottom of the case!

Disarming Suspicion: Sometimes I put the Zoo Card underneath the Army Base Card so that I can show the bottom two cards as being normal. If you do this, remember that the 22nd card in the second series for School Daze will be Zoo and not Hospital. Also showing the first bank of nine cards as being all different seems to disarm any suspicion of a force deck in the minds of laypeople. I do give the deck a couple of false cuts before officially starting the effect. Then I show the bank of nine non-force cards and displace those cards to the bottom.

Some Additions From Oliver Meech: Oliver Meech kindly provided the following ideas for this routine. These ideas are shared in Olivers own words in italics:

DRAWINGS

You could draw pictures on the cards instead of using words. This may help with the visualisation presentation (though it might telegraph the theme).

38

FORCE

Instead of using the counting force you could make up a Svengali deck with the cards and have them cut to a (force) card. N.B. There used to be a pre-cut blank Cardgali available online.

RESET

To avoid having to un-count the cards to reset, you can cheekily get the spectator to do your reset for you! After youve counted down to their chosen number, you can say that to allay any suspicions of funny stuff youd like them to re-count the cards (face down) onto the table. This returns the pile to its original order. Return the chosen card between the packets and youre reset. Obviously, this works best when they choose a small number.

MEMORY LAPSE

You could replace the memory work with a crib on the card case. Whilst theyre looking at their chosen word, you return the rest of the deck to the case and secretly look up the correct word.

WRITTEN ALL OVER YOUR FACE

I wouldnt use this idea myself as it may scare the spectator, but some may find it useful. If you ask them to close their eyes to help picture their chosen (Halloween) word, you can take advantage of their lack of eyesight to put in a pair of plastic Vampire teeth or a Halloween mask. Then when they open their eyes theyll get a spooky surprise.

Credits: Mike Close secretly puts in vampire teeth in his Down For The Count trick and David Parr secretly puts on a werewolf hand in a routine in Brain Food.

39

BONUS ITEM: BIRTHDATED

EFFECT: The mentalist guesses the birth month of a participant, within two months. This is accomplished with nothing more than a pen and a piece of paper. Both the pen and the paper may be borrowed.

METHOD: This is a combination of an old carnival technique known as the J-Line Technique and a concept that was first introduced to me in my reading of Martin Gardners work. The Gardner concept was for a trick that I now refer to as Paris, No London. In the Gardner effect, you ask someone to name a large European city. This is best done in the United States and with someone who has not traveled a whole lot in their lives. You have two predictions, one which acts as a sort of out. You write down the word Paris and then cross a line through it and write London. If the participant chooses London, you say Its a good thing I didnt go with my first guess. Was someone here thinking of Paris? If you have the right crowd in front of you, this question will allow you to get a second hit. If they say Paris, you say I should have gone with my first instinct. I think there may have been some interference though. Was somebody thinking of London?

The J-Line Technique is a way of writing out the month so that it can be read as either: January, July, or June. Combine this with the Paris, No London principle by first writing OCT and crossing it out. If you do the math, you will find that January, July, and June cover every month within two months EXCEPT for October. If they choose October, you simply say I was thinking of January, but I should have gone with my first guess. Below is a graphic that shows how to write the J-Line for the J-Line Technique, along with a crossed out OCT for October. It is important when revealing the J-Line to say beforehand what month the J-Line stands for, thus gaining acceptance, as well as compliance, from the participant. YOU must interpret your scribbling as the appropriate month; otherwise they may interpret it as the wrong month. Remember, you

40

are the one who has the authority here, and so you must demonstrate this authority to the full extent.

Note: The J-Line technique is rarely used by carnival month guessers any longer, as the simple way to do things now is to offer slum prizes and charge more than what the prize is worth. Some have accused the carnival workers of using nailwriters, but this would prove to be simply ridiculous, because the easiest route is to offer slum prizes for the contestants.

41

BONUS ITEM: IMPRINTING THE IMPOSSIBLE II

Required: Three blank face cards and one 52-on-1 card.

Preparation: On one of the blank cards write "YOUR CARD". On one of the other blank face cards write "IMAGINED". Have the cards in this order, faces down. Top card is the 52-on-1 card, next card is "Imagined", third card from top is "YOUR CARD" and last card is the blank face blank card.

Presentation: Count the four cards as three, while showing them to be all blank faced. Show the bottom blank face card. Then deal off the top card. Show the bottom face blank card again and then deal off the top card again. Pick up the remainder and show the double as one blank-faced card. This is a Flushtration Count.

Position Check: From the top of the packet, you have the Your card, the Blank Card, the Imagined Card, and the 52-on-1 Card.

Say: "Three blank faces that need printing." Bring up a spectator. Ask the spectator to imagine any card. Then show him the top card of the packet which should be the "Your" card. "Is Your Card printed on here?" you ask and they respond in the affirmative. You place that card on the bottom of the deck. "Now I want you to think of a card. I am going to print your card." Using a Push-off Double-Lift, you now show the spectator the "IMAGINED" card and ask "Is that the IMAGINED card?" They will say yes. Place the Double on the bottom of the packet. Now ask them to reveal what card they imagined and thought of, they will say what cards they were thinking of previously. Now tell them to name any card in the deck that they haven't named already. Show them the 52-on-1 card and sincerely ask "Is your card printed on this face?" They will agree that their card is indeed printed on that face. Now ask them "Have all the cards you named been printed on a blank face?" They will agree that all the cards they have named have been printed on a blank face--the 52-on-1 card. The rest of the audience will assume that each card named was printed on each blank face card.

Notes: This is a much-improved and much-simplified variation of Imprinting the Impossible. Imprinting the Impossible won an Honorable Mention in an online magic magazine titled Online-Visions (http://www.Online-Visions.com/). I then reprinted it in my first book, Hypnohole & Other Absurdities. I like this newer version as it takes out a lot of unnecessary moves and simplifies it to the point where it is simple enough to work and still devastating. The use of Dual Reality here should be credited to Kenton Knepper. There is still an effect for the person who sees the real cards, as the previously blank cards DO have stuff appearing on them; it just isnt the stuff the rest of the audience assumes it to be.

42

BONUS ITEM: SUPER COIN IN HAND

This can be a very pure moment of mentalism. It doesnt require any of the usual shenanigans employed in Coin in Hand routines. There are no magnets or electronic devices. There are no assistants or stooges. There are no dual realities. Math is not necessary to pull this off (although it can help). This is not the Banachek or Fulves methods. The old method of holding the hand up to the forehead is completely disc