The Rocks Cry Out

This has turned out to be the “sleeper” of my whole career!

The method is so simple as to not warrant description.  Most magicians wouldn’t lower themselves to use it, and most lay people don’t know such things exist.  Maybe that’s a perfect muddle ground!  The only “trick” at work is audience management.

I pick up a small box, announcing that I have something very special here.  Opening the box, they see colored tissue paper protecting the contents.  I make some production out of delicately unfolding the paper.  Finally they get to see that it’s…a box of rocks…three rocks actually, which I very UN-ceremoniously dump into my hand.

I explain that these are not magical rocks, and verbally distain those who “charge crystals” and such, ending with “These are not special rocks at all, but they do have a special purpose.  The Bible says that if we won’t praise God, the rocks will.”  (This kind of stuff flies very high in this buckle-of-the-Bible-Belt town.)

I spend some time talking about the Greek word “ktisis” and King James’ translation of it.  (Bible school finally pays off!)  “Even inanimate matter recognizes its place in the universe; only Man has forgotten who he is.”  (Again, this is guided missile monologue in this specific locale, and it hits every major believe present, from Baptist to Muslim to Wicca!)

I hand out the rocks (which are quarter sized “decorator” polished gravel) to three people, asking that they hold it in their hand until it becomes warm.  I split a deck of cards into three piles and give one to each of my helpers, spreading them out on the table before them.  (Important: I spread the decks!)

I now have them take one finger and run it back and forth above the spread, finally dropping a finger on a single card.  They slide the card toward themselves, and I collect the remaining cards.

I ask them to place their now warm stone on top of the card.  (At this point all cards are face down, and no one knows the value of any card!)  I’ll spend just a moment describing the flow of energy and noting the stack: table, card, rock, hand.  (My heckler in the first show, at this point called out “Scissors!” which got a laugh.)

I now ask for the rocks to be handed to me, and I spend some acting time “teasing” the answers from these three small stones, eventually naming each stone as I hold it up, before placing it on the table.  When this is done, I recap by pointing to each of the stones and repeating the name of the card it rested on.

This signals my helpers to turn over their cards, which over course match what I’ve called out.  The combination of small tactile objects plus small lecture tidbits (who doesn’t like trivia?) together with an “impossible” card reveal has made this a “most requested” item in my repertoire.

Astral Projection Meets Hypnotic Regression

This is the first effect where I actually have someone stand up front next to me.  The prop is simply an I.D., but I’ve practiced to the point where the reveal is almost instantaneous.  It’s very effective, but the real “power” is in the build up.

I show the deck as the volunteer walks forward, explaining that we’re going to try an experiment in “time travel”.  Before the show began, before anyone came into the room, I stood here, alone, and did something very specific to THIS deck of cards.

I have the volunteer take a couple of “deep cleansing” breaths, while I explain briefly about the effect of oxygen changing the pH of the blood, which automatically affects higher brain function.  I’ll usually have them take about three deep breaths. (Doing it with them makes it almost impossible for them to resist; mirroring in action!)  Then I’ll make a small joke about hyperventilating; this keeps it from getting too serious, while holding them within a cooperative mood.

I then explain that before anyone came in, I took a single card out of the deck and turned it over, and put it back into the deck.  I speak slowly, and make a very clear hand gesture as I do this.  I ask them to close their eyes, and “see” me, standing in this very room, one hour ago.  I am all alone.  The tables are here, the chairs are here, but there is no one else present but me.  (Seeing the room as it is, sans bodies, seems to be an easy visual, even for those who aren’t visually oriented!)

I’ll repeat this a couple times, and ask them if they can see this within their mind’s eye.  Sometimes they’re almost afraid to answer, but I keep my voice level and encouraging.  Regardless of the answer, I’ll ultimately “lead” them to seeing me with the cards in my hand, taking out a single card, etc.

Finally, when they indicate (by word or facial expression) that they do, in fact, see the deed, I ask very simply, “What was the card?”

This usually makes them open their eyes and look at me.  I’ve only had one person who didn’t immediately have a card ready.  In her case, she hesitated for a very long time and finally named the card I had tried to force during Silent Running (More research is warranted!!!)

I give a very visible sigh of relief, and fan the cards, showing the card they name as being the only one reversed.  Initially, I pulled this card out and tossed it onto the table, but didn’t really see the advantage, so now I simply pull it out and hold it up.  This get a huge applause, and I always shake the person’s hand and ask for more applause for them as they return to their seat.

Two things to note: first, I hold the deck edge even with the audience’s eye level.  We’re all on the same floor (they’re seated) so this works.  In another venue, my handling might change.  After I (intentionally) “remember” to toss the Joker, I have a Jack of Spades and a Queen of Spades that would be visible to anyone who had the right angle.  Holding this deck cupped flat between my hands allows me to instantly open the deck whichever way is required, with no “move” needed.

Second, I hold the deck up, fanning it in front of my face.  This greatly simplifies targeting, since I need only to spot the correct card and make the break.

This effect is becoming a favorite for me AND for those who see it done!

The Goody Bags

At this point we take a quick break from the mind reading and talk about the Bags.  Every guest gets a sealed “lunch bag” when they enter the room.  Each bag contains the same items.

A pencil, already sharpened, with eraser

A white 3x5 index card

A colored 3x5 index card (four different colors distributed randomly)

A small white envelope containing a business card

A couple small hard candies

The pencils are giveaways.  There are two effects where the spectators need to write, and “handing out” pencils seems sloppy and unprepared to me.  I’d like for these to be promotional items and have done some pricing online, but so far we’re using “Ticonderoga” brand pencils, which come pre-sharpened.  Very handy.  They are black with green and gold bands around the black erasers.  Very sharp.

The colored cards are for a Q&A using Annemann’s version of the O.M. Box.  I spend a great deal of time (a la Banachek) demonstrating exactly how they should be folded.  And then have the guests write two pieces of information: 1. A question they’d like to ask a “psychic” (if we believed in such things!), and 2. A personal fact that not everyone is aware of.  The box is passed around to collect the cards, and set on the table for later.

The white cards are a “time waster” that I thought would be entertaining while waiting for everyone to finish writing their questions.  It turned out to be a complete project unto itself, and I’m considering dropping it.  A “simple” math problem where everyone ends up with the number “9”, only it’s not simple at all.  People can’t follow directions!  I wind up moving from table to table “helping” them, and the punch-line is all but lost by the time we muddle through this.  I’ve talked to some teachers who detailed how the give instructions while waiting for the “slowest” child to catch up.  We’ll give it one more shot, just because I personally like it.  But GEEZ!

Finally we get to the small white envelopes (actually the whole reason for having the bags in the first place).  Those who have Devin Knight’s Glass Box Prediction will remember the marked paper; this serves the same purpose, but a bit more intricately.

There are 28 cards (same number as guests present).  Sixteen cards have different symbols on them, and 12 are blank.

I explain that those guests who have a symbol MAY be asked to participate of some of our experiments.  These are chosen “at random” by drawing a matching card from a clear zip-lock bag.  This sets the stage for a very powerful finale later on, giving them plenty of time to forget the setup.

Now let’s move on to our next experiment.  I reach into the bag and pull out a card.  Who has the…?

Addendum:

The bags can also contain fortune cookies (yes in the first show, no in the second).  It is entirely possible to have prewritten “fortunes” handed out not-quite-at-random.  Looking into potential effects here!

Zener Floaters

The next pair I had established as “floaters” (could be inserted anywhere) just in case Silent Running didn’t work.  Again, good idea!

The only effects so far that use a full Zener deck, the first is a simple PATEO game with a prediction left in the box.  I don’t know why, but it didn’t occur to me until show-time that with this particular handling the final choice doesn’t really matter.

The top five cards are my forces.  Split (don’t deal) into five piles and run the game.  I start; the game goes quickly, and with no obvious forethought.  The fourth selection (by the spectator) allows a bit of humor, because I’ve been saying “I’ll pick two”, “You pick two”, etc.  On this round there ARE only two, so when I say “You pick two”, well the obviousness just gets a small laugh.

This last pile now gets split up into five cards (all known!), but I continue the ruse (“I’ll pick two”, “You pick two”, etc.)  Finally on the last card, I “give in” (“Pick whichever card you like”)

At this point, for the first time, I reveal the small card left behind in the box.  I ask them to remove it and read it.  Once this prediction has been read, THEN I ask them to turn over the one remaining card, a match.

It’s interesting, because at this point someone has always asked to see the cards, thinking they’re all the same.  Of course they’re not, and by this time I have them well mixed as well, but it seems to clear the deck (so to speak) for some other effects later on which DO in fact use “special” cards.

While the Zeners are being examined, I locate the appropriate cards for step two, my version of the old red dot/blue dot packet trick from the 1970’s.  I remind them that there are five each of five different symbols, and here I have SIX cards (very important phrasing, here.)

I lay these six cards out in a row and have them select only one.  The first time, I had the spec just use a finger and slide the card toward himself.  The second time, I used a gold coin and had the spec place the coin on top of a card.  I think the second method is more effective for a number of reasons: it’s more tactile, the coin “holds down” the card in a more psychologically effective manner (makes it immovable), and the idea of a gold coin “hooks” into something visceral in the mind of everybody I’ve ever encountered.  The coin stays!

Of course, now I just pick up the remaining cards from whichever end is appropriate.  A Hamman count shows all five cards just alike.  Then the spec turns over his card to see that it’s the only one that’s different (hopefully the same one that got predicted in step one.)

This is more powerful than one would expect, possibly because they work together.  As a “butt saver”, it completely gets the attention away from the failed S.R. effect.  In fact from the first show, that was the lead-in; “Most people can’t fool me like that.  I think you might be special.  Can we try something to test that?”  Or course nobody’s going to refuse THAT!

Silent Running Scared

This one truly concerns me because, frankly, I can’t get it to work!

I don’t want to disrespect the inventor, who is in reality a much better magician than I am.  This effect has gotten rave reviews, and every magician that I’ve talked to has enjoyed doing it.  This makes it clear to my mind that the problem is with my delivery on some level.  Still, that delivery being what it is, this is not working.

Billed as “true” mind reading, a spectator is asked to “build” a card in their mind.  I won’t go into method at all, but the strength is supposed to be that there is no “pick a card”, no “write this down”, no “whisper to your neighbor” kind of magic trick stuff.  The card exists nowhere except in the spectator’s mind, which is then read by the mentalist.

Working with friends and family, it never worked because of familiarity issues.  This is to be expected, especially in mentalism.  But the premise reads so clear, and the theories are sound; this HAS to work!  (In fact, I seem to remember my friends and I playing a game exactly like this in elementary school.)

Other great mentalists have added their own embellishments to the work, and I chose one of these handlings (from someone that I admire for other work he’s done), and placed it in the line-up.

This is close to the beginning (NOT the opener, or even the second effect) because from the earliest consideration I felt that I might need “recovery time” if it failed.  That was a good decision.

The first show, the gentleman wasn’t even on the right key, ultimately giving a pairing option that wasn’t strictly possible.  He’d misunderstood something; my fault, even though several others I talked to later said they were thinking of the “correct” card.

The second show was the same.  The “no fishing” option broke down completely, even to the counting of pips.  Right color, wrong end of the spread.  I’ll have to write this one off as a loss, at least for my present skill level (that’s the story we’re sticking to!)

I want to “give it one more shot”, but my wife doesn’t know why I’d even consider it.  There are MANY other ways of doing (in the audience’s perception) the same thing, and that’s probably what I should be looking at.

Rats!

The Zener Board

There’s an old packet card trick I bought from Adam’s Magic Company; it was hanging on a wire tree in the drug store.  I was fourteen years old, and a dollar ninety five plus tax (in those days it was three percent) was a lot of money.  It was worth it.  A small manila coin envelope contained three cards, an Ace, Two, and Three of Diamonds.  No matter which card the “victim” chose, I could prove that I knew it ahead of time.  I forgot that trick years ago…

The Zener Board began as something I read in an old Annemann manuscript.  I need to look this up for exact reference, but at the moment I don’t have it.  I spent several days completely immersed in as much literature as I could get my hands on, taking notes of what (I felt) would and wouldn’t fly.  As a result I have a stack of papers with scribblings in every corner, and lots of arrows pointing back and forth between similar or complimentary effects.

Unfortunately, it didn’t occur to me at the time to ALSO note the source of the data.  Some of it is original to me, but most is a distillation of other’s works.

Annemann’s description was for three symbols to be present on the board, with conditions for two possible outcomes.  The third was never handled beyond informing the subject that “Nobody ever chooses that one” and “You’re special.  Let’s do something else”.

That kind of incompleteness bothers me; I don’t think it even fits in with what people believe my personality to be, so there had to be a solution for every possibility.  I also didn’t like the lack of symmetry (to my eye only) of three symbols, so I added a fourth and divided the board into quarters.  This has worked very well, and the size of the board would allow it to work for a much larger audience if that occasion ever arises.

In the first show, I hadn’t yet figured out the fourth solution, but was fairly confident that I had chosen the most likely options.  Unfortunately the lady who wound up in the hot-seat was one who I knew to be a devout Christian, and I feared that she might choose the Plus Sign (thinking it symbolized the Cross).

As has been suggested many times, in naming the symbols, I called it a plus sign, hoping that an aversion to Math would translate into an aversion to that symbol.  In this case it worked; she chose the Square (normally judged most likely) and I directed her to the prediction.

By the second show, I had covered every possibility!

The second show was interesting as well.  This effect got a challenge from an unexpected source: my niece, Hailey!  My wife had invited her sister and her daughter to “Come see what Don is doing”, and here they were!

The person doing the choosing had bad eyesight from a botched cataract surgery, but the symbols were easy for her to see.  She made her choice, and when I turned the board around so everyone could see the prediction on the back, it was eight year old Hailey who called out “YOU PUT IT ON THE BACK!”  It was kind of obvious, so I simply said “Yes?”

She wanted to see the board, so I stepped over to her, and she tugged at the corner of the sheet of typing paper I had taped to the back of the board.  It was secured, of course, but it settled something that was a thought when I constructed the board.

I hadn’t actually painted the prediction onto the board (as I did the front), thinking that it would allow me to change outcomes if I ever wanted to in the future.  I think now that the paper provides a solution (albeit a wrong one) for inquisitive spectators.  By next show, the paper will be gone, and the prediction will be painted in place!

Tomorrow, an early failure!

Next: The Intro

Next: The Intro

After the three digit “prediction”, my opening statement is the “Official” welcome.

While they’re still getting a grasp of what’s just happened, I call out “THAT’S what tonight is all about!”, and proceed from there.

One of my primary joys is working with words, so much of anything I do is heavily scripted.  The scripts are flexible (many routes to choose from), but almost everything that could possibly be said has been rehearsed multiple times.  For this segment, there are no branches.

“Psychic...Mentalist...Mind-Reader...whatever you choose to call it, the idea of someone who is able to pull the very thoughts from our minds...is a frightening proposition.  We like to believe that our thoughts are private...sacred, if you will...the last stronghold of solitude.  But it may be that in the realm of the mind...there is nothing sacred...”

I can see the attitudes transforming as this monologue is delivered.  Faces become alert and thoughtful, hands fold in on each other, even postures become more erect.  One day I want to get a tape of this, because it’s an amazing thing to watch, from my perspective.

Don’t know how much of this change to attribute to my own personal stage presence, or to the words themselves, but I actually kind of enjoy it.  (Maybe a little megalomaniac showing through!)

At any rate, this tells me that they’re keying in, so without giving even a second’s pause, I point to an individual (calling them by name if I know it), and begin The Zener Board.

…tomorrow…

The Opening Effect

First up, the Corinda Opener (er...uhm…a la Banchek)

Try as I might, I’m not gaining any ground in working the NW.  (I seriously don’t want to “give away” secrets, but those who have read the “13 Steps” will know exactly what is meant!)  My penmanship is just not acceptable.

So I fell back to Banachek’s short pencil.  The effect is very much the same from the audience’s perspective, and still a very eye opening entrance.

The setup is to have my dry erase marker set in plain sight on the tray of the white board, with a folded 3x5 index visible before the show begins (actually throughout dinner, if anyone notices.)

At show-time, the effect begins before anyone has become aware that “we’re rolling”.

When the marker is uncapped, there is a very brief show of “fumbling” with the paper switching hands with the marker so that, without mentioning it, I have made everyone aware of the paper.

Now I simply ask in an “impromptu” manner for three people to call out a number.  This has worked (or not worked) in different ways.

The first performance had people who were there for reasons other than to simply enjoy a show.  It happens; it’s part of the deal.  How one handles it determines how far one can go in the art.

As soon as I said, “…give me a number b…”, I was interrupted by a voice from the back calling, “FIVE SEVENTY EIGHT!”, to much laughter.  It wasn’t directed at me so I simply continued “BETWEEN 1 and 10”.

The voice called “FOUR!” and I used that as my first digit.  (The second show saw no such unexpected events, but to make sure, I asked for three people to THINK of a number, then pointed to them.)

Now most people don’t know that I am left handed, and this worked to an advantage here.  The short pencil was in my left hand, and the marker was in my right.  Most people are awkward at writing on a white board, and I have practiced sufficiently to make any number with my right hand without too much hesitation.  It worked well.

One more thing; the paper displayed was a duplicate of the one already on the hard surface.  (Banachek’s lecture notes have a full description.)  This didn’t need to be the case, as it’s completely possible to open the paper and “do the deed” without anyone catching on.

But I decided to keep it simple, and had a duplicate paper already folded (creased), and opened out on the writing surface.  Then I only needed to ditch the first one and proceed with the second already in place.  Refolding was accomplished as the paper was brought back into sight, with no discernable delay.

My line here is, “It took three people to make up this number (pointing at the board), but it took an eight year old boy (referring to Banachek’s excuse for sloppy writing) about three seconds to give me this number."  (Showing the paper, still folded)  "He asked me if I could somehow work it into the show, and I thank you for helping me to do that!”  I hand the paper to the closest spectator and ask them to read it.  Of course it matches and the people are awed.

The first show (remember the heckler?) I heard, “LEMME SEE THAT PAPER!”  I hadn’t planned on doing that, but a quick glance at the note reassured me that it was safe to do so.  (The handwriting was crude but legible; like an eight year old!) so I walked the paper back to the person, who made a “face” as he studied it.  The people on both sides of him agreed “That’s what it says!”, and he had no choice to accept.  (And he was much quieter for the rest of the show!)

The one change I’m planning before the next show is a way to keep the paper from sliding around as the short pencil does its work.  I believe that a post-it note, glued face down to the hard surface (so that the sticky patch is face up), should hold the paper just securely enough to accomplish what needs to be done.

More tomorrow…

Long Time No See!

Wow!  Genuinely didn’t intend for it to take this long to get back to this blog.  For those of you who are still interested, thank you!

It’s a very different thing, running the whole show as opposed to just showing up at somebody’s party and performing, and my experiences with other business arenas don’t seem to apply here.

We’ve now actually done two shows and the restaurant wants us back on May 6^th.  I still don’t have a vehicle in place for ticket sales, so that is a priority.  A couple friends from the local magic club have taken an interest, and I’ll be listening closely to whatever they want to tell me.

My intent was to establish this as a viable money-making entity, id est a business.  So far that’s the part that has eluded me.

The audiences have been more than happy, giving great reviews.

After a single hiccup with the restaurant (who’s responsible for what) they’re thrilled (I’m bringing in business that they would not otherwise see.)

I’m very happy with the show, what I’m doing (and learning), and more than able to continue this for the foreseeable future.

Now, how do we make it pay?

Since I don’t have a concrete answer at present, we’ll have to leave it at that for now.  At the very least I’m promoting good-will and growing a base of word of mouth ambassadors, which is beneficial to any business (I’ll take my gains wherever I can find them!)

For the next few days, we’ll be looking the individual effects, how they played and why, plus my own thoughts for their future, as well as looking at what could be added in the future.

Stay tuned.  I promise it won’t be so long next time!