Dedication. This book is for my beautiful wife Sophie (who will think Lam stupid and soppy for writing this) and my brilliant children Macy & Preston. I love them more than Fig Rolls. Thank you for everything, you all make me so happy. Written by Andy Nyman during October 1997. Cover by Chris Power. Illustrations by Danny Buckler. Andy Nyman, 67 Hammersmith Grove, LONDON. W6 ONE. copyright (c) 1997 Andy Nyman. All marketing rights reserved.§Introduction. 27.10.97. ' am shocked that I have actually produced a set of lecture notes, Actually | am shocked that anyone would want to see me lecture I know what I am about to admit to isn't particularly cool but, | love magic. I don't just mean performing magic, I mean I love the books, tricks, dealers, adverts, conventions, magic shops, drawers full of crap I never use and most of all I love my magic cabinet. | am as enthusiastic today as I was when I first got hooked in 1987. It fills me with a genuine warmth to think how many great friends I have made out of magic and I must say a quick thank you to some of them. Guy HollingSworth; apart from being my best friend Guy is also the man who made me realize 1 could be creative with my magic; in other words if you think these notes stink blame him. Thanks to Paul Cowling, my best American friend, for always being more cynical about things than I was, please come home soon. Thanks to Jeremy Dyson for getting me hooked on magic again, Jez our friendship means so much to me. Thanks to Pete Robertson for all the work, Richard Wiseman for foolishly believing that I like him, Chris Stiles for being 'misery guls' and to Mare Paul for all our mentalist chats-you're a true friend. Thanks to John Lenahan for being the loudest friend I've ever had and to Anthony Owen for being able to put up with John for so long. Thanks to Danny Buckler for being so lovely, Chris Power for being a tower of strength, Richard McDougall for being so Caring and so inspirational, Ian Keable for being so easy to offend (I was so tempted to leave him off this list just for the sake of it), Jerry Sadowitz for always being so sweet and finally Anthony Davis for being able to talk more shit than anyone I've ever met in my entire life. ! hope that these notes are of use to you and if you find yourself actually performing anything from them please write and let me know as I would be genuinely delighted to hear from you.Deep Red Prediction. This is an effect which I premiered at The Hen & Chickens theatre in London on an evening of magic presented by myself and Guy Hollingworth. The idea for the effect was to have a prediction effect with something | loved, films. I also wanted to have an added feature which is my version of the superb Koran Medallion. Effect. A spectator is asked up on stage. He sits by a table upon which is placed a carrier bag. The man is told to imagine that he member of a video club and must now make up his membership number. He calls out a random 4 digit number which you write onto a post-it note and stick onto the bag. A gentleman is then asked to stand in the audience and is asked to name a film; whatever film is named will be the film the man on stage is going to rent. The man names a film e.g. Jaws. It is made clear that the man who named the film is not a stooge and did not tell you in advance the film he would think of. You now explain that the night before the show you had a weird premonition. Ask the man on stage to reach into the bag and remove the video: it is Jaws "he audience is amazed. As if this was not enough you tell the man that there is something else in the bag and that he should take that out. The man removes a membership card from the bag and reads out the number on it; it is a perfect match of the random number named. As a bonus effect you now remove your shirt and show that the number is also tattooed on your back (this final stage is not essential). Method. There are two stages to this routine, forcing the film and duplicating the number. Forcing the film: My preferred method is to force the film 'pre-show'. The way I do this is to take someone discreetly aside before the show begins and ask them if they would be able to help me later. I now take a pack of blank cards onto which I have written the names of different films. This pack is set up like a Svengali deck. Every second card is a force card i.e. Jaws, and these cards are trimmed along one long edge to be a little shorter than the indifferent cards. All the other cards have different film titles on them, as shown overleaf.I now riffle through the cards (as in the diagram above right), and ask the spectator to say stop whenever he wants; this will be a force card. I now ask him to replace the card in the deck. | now check to see that he is happy that I couldn't know what film he is thinking of. If he is I ask him not to forget the film, not to tell anyone else or to write it down so that it remains impossible for me to discover the film locked in his mind When the moment arrives in performance I simply say to the audience, / spoke to a gentleman briefly before about films; is that man here? Sir | asked you to think of a random film; once vou had decided on one, you didn't tell me what film it was, you didn't tell anyone else what film it was and you didn't write it down. Is that correct? He wiil say “yes”, proceed, Sir, what film are you thinking of? He says Jaws and you are home free. In the unlikely event that the man lets you down and names a non-force film; don't panic. Continue as follows, Sir wouldn't it be amazing if the film in that bag was the film you'd named. Now ask the spectator to remove the video in the bag; it doesn't match, Of course it doesn't match; what do you want miracles? I must admit though that if the film would have been right that would have been the icing on the cake. There is something else in the bag...., now proceed with the reveal of the number.If you don't have the stomach for pre-show, or would rather work the effect on stage, here is a cheeky idea from dashing Scottish magician, Pete Lamont. Pete, or as I prefer to call him "The cagiest man in magic", suggests having a bag full of Papers with Jaws, or whatever your force film happens to be, written on them, As you explain what is in the bag, i.e. titles of hundreds of different films you pull one out and mis-read it as another title. Alternatively you could have another title written on an extra Paper which you have finger palmed. As you go into the bag to demonstrate you remove the palmed piece and hand it to someone else to read. They can then keep that piece until later. Duplicating the number: In performing this effect I soon came to realize that the matching of the number is almost stronger than the video prediction. I think this is due to the fact that getting the film right is almost too perfect, whereas the audience know the number prediction is real as they have witnessed the whole Process. By combining the two effects each is strengthened. To predict the number you need a rectangular post-it note pad and a cardboard video card. Cut the top sheet of post it in half and place the video club card under it, sticking out to the left as below left. HIME PosT-AT Make sure that the back side of the membership card is facing you. You now ask the Spectator on stage to invent a 4 digit number. After he has named it you write it onto the post-it in big numbers. After a moment’s pause you then write it again onto the membership card (above right).Here is the big question though: how do you fill that moment and what possible reason could there be for writing something twice? The tip | am about to give you is something that you can use in any effect where you have to double write. | am really proud of this piece of thinking as it is deeply logical and will not arouse any suspicion. Here goes: after you have written the information once, you sigh and shake the pen as though it has stopped working. You then write the information a second time and act pleased as though you have fixed the pen The Load. Loading the card into the bag is really well covered and by the time the effect is over the audience will forget you even touched it. In performance you have just written the number twice and the pad is in your left hand. Place your left thumb onto the membership card holding it in place. Tear off the post-it with the number on it with your right hand and Pick the bag up with your left hand. If the carrier bag is on the table laying flat, you should pick it up by the top handle and as you do the pad slips inside the bag; as you stick the post-it onto the outside of the bag you drop the membership card into it. The act of sticking the post-it onto the Outside of the bag is so logical, that picking the bas up is above spicion. The diagrams below show the exact position for the lift and drop of the bag and card Auioiace View If you now re-read the effect you have the shape and workings of. the whole routine; I hope you enjoy it.Homicide. U have been using the following effect for quite some time. It is very powerful as a routine in its own right but is also p part of a one ahead routine. {t is the apparent fairtess of the procedure that gives the appearance of extremely clean mind reading. Effect. Whilst my ba of cards off ya h them between procedure has been completed you turn around and ask him to think of the card he cut to. The spectator 't look at a card didn't tell ity, and then proceed to place one hand above and one hand beiow his ciosed paims. With no fishing you now reveal exactly how many cards he is holding: bear in mind he ever nted them. These used cards are left to one side. TI procedure is then repeated h ihe remainder of the deck. The Spectator cuts off any number of cards but this time he does look at the bottom card and then shuffles his packet. He hands you his packet, and concentrates on his card. After a moment you look through his shuffled packet and remove one card: sure enough it is the spectator’s selection. Method ‘The deck used is a regular deck shuffled into any order. [ then use Ted Lesley's super' marking system in a slightly odd way. Look at the top card, if it is the 3 of Clubs on the back of the second card mark 3C. On the third card mark the value of the second card, and so on. Work this system throughout the deck; in effect you are marking one behind. The marking should be placed as Mr. Lesley suggests on the upper half of the card. Incidentally, the top card of the pack remains unmarked, a nice throw-off for any knowledgeable eyes. Once you have completed marking the deck go back to the second card. I now add a second set of markings on the bottom half of the cards: numbers. For this I use the rest of the marking transfer sheet and number 1-52. If marking as Mr. Lesley recommends, there are not enough figure |’s; therefore I now use the spare ‘S’ symbols in place of the figure one; i.e the number 12 would appear as $2. Once you’ve numbered the cards you are set. A couple of trial cuts will show you how fast and effective this is. The best way to achieve this marking system iscither to buy direct from Ted Lesley, which would give you the benefit of his accompanying book, or to purchase 1Opt (2.5mm)white Letraset. The routine plays exactly as in ‘effect’. I know this sounds like a lot of work, but trust me and try it, itis deadly.The Screw up Factor. I was performing my 30 minute mind reading act last year at a pri room in a restaurant in London. The function was black tie and fairly upper class. There were twenty guests at the dinner and all was going fine. | was performing “Heart and Stone”, my version of the living and dead test, and realized half way through the effect that I couldn’t locate the necessary envelope. Beads of sweat dripped into my blindfold as I knew that | now had a pretty strong chance of being completely wrong. I took a deep breath, explained I was finding the experiment harder than [ had expected and plumbed for an envelope. It was the wrong one: in fact it couldn't have been more wrong: it was the furthest one from the necessary envelope. There was a slightly awkward silence as | explained that these were experiments that relied on everyone concentrating and as the restaurant was so noisy it was understandable that not everyone could focus correctly. After a couple of moments a very well dressed and well spoken man pronounced “Well that has totally f****d me up. Now I believe that all this is real. Why else would this chap stand here in front of all of us and fail?” At which point two other guests agreed. | was speechl This for me was a seminal moment. I had read a number of times that a near miss strengthened a mentalist's act, but the response that I got for completely screwing up shocked me. Not only was it hot embarrassing, but it served to legitimise everything else that I did. Where this leads me to I don’t really know. Is it worth putting something into your act that doesn’t work? For the sort of situations that I work, mainly after dinner parties and smallish corporate functions, | am almost convinced that it is. One thing is for sure, if they ‘buy’ you they will let you get away with murder, and if that means deliberately screwing up to help knock them sideways, then do it. When the next morning comes | firmly believe they won't remember the one ‘mistake’ you made, what they will remember was incredibly strong material performed in a way they believed.Take The Money & Run. Effect. Nine film canisters are placed onto the table; they are all empty. A spectator is asked to pick one up and whilst your back is turned to take a coin from his pocket and to drop it into the canister. Once done, the spectator is asked to put the lid back onto the canister and to then place it back onto the table, mixing or rearranging the canisters in whatever way they choose. Once the procedure is completed you turn round and after a moment reveal which canister the coin is in, what value the coin is and finally what year the coin was minted. After a moment’s silence the audience break into a cheer the like of which will leave you ina daze. Method. To many of you the explanation of this effect will be disregarded as nonsense; but please try it for yourself and you may just open the door to a whole new world. The effect is accomplished in the most obvious way: I actually do it for real. When I first thought of the effect I wondered if it would be possible to achieve it without the use of trickery. After many months of staring at the film canisters used in the effect, I discovered that | had a gift. I realized that I actually had the ability to see through the plastic. | know this sound like madness, but the more [ tried seeing into the canisters the stronger my ability became. After a couple of months | got to the point where I could ask my wife to place any small object into the canisters and I would be able to tell her what she had put in there. All I can say to you is that it will take many months of practise, hard work and self-belief to pull off a genuine feat of mentalism but the result has resounding implications on all the research that has been done on second sight to this point. If [can't be bothered to use my ‘gift’ I fake it in the following way. Firstly you need 17 empty 35mm film canisters. This is not as hard as it sounds, simply walk into a chemist and ask them for any old canisters they have, most of them will be only too glad to get rid of them. Take nine of the canisters; these you must mark with either a clock face marking (I believe this is an idea of Anneman) or simply scratch the numbers onto the lid. The diagrams overleaf show how the clock markings should look.The diagrams above show how 1, 2 & 3 O'clock should look when scratched onto the lids. The best way to mark the lids is to scratch it on with a Stanley knife. Once done you need to keep the canisters in numerical order. The best way to do this is to fit them into a small box so that when you are ready to perform you can simply place the canisters Onto the table, | to 9. The remaining 8 canisters contain one of each coin in our currency; |p, 2p, Sp, 10p, 20p, Sp, 50p (new), £1. As you place these into the canisters make a note of the year on each coin. The best place to do this is on the very top of the first page of your pad for the performance. Once done tear the page off below the dates; this is your crib sheet. These canisters are placed in order in either your case or spread around your pockets. You are now set to go. Place the marked canisters on the table in numerical order and ask for a spectator who has some change in his pocket to come and ist you. Once he is on stage ask him to choose a canister. Because you have laid the canisters out in a line I-9 you instantly know what number he has chosen. All you now need to do when it comes to the reveal is to look for the corresponding mark on the lid. If, for instance he chose the fourth canister you simply look for the canister with the four o'clock mark on it. That will be the canister with the coin in it. Once he has selected a canister ask him to move away from the table, thus preventing him from switching it for a different canister, and whilst your back is turned tell him to drop a coin from his pocket into the canister, showing the coin to the audience first so that they also know its value. He is then to replace the lid, put the canister onto the table and then mix all the canisters.‘Try to listen when the coin is dropped into the canister as it will give you a major clue as to what denomination the coin is. In the UK, if there is no sound when the coin is placed in it means one of three things. Most likely is that the spectator has placed an old 50p into the canister which only fits in sideways therefore no sound. He may also have been a smartarse and left the canister empty or finally and least likely, he is extremely cautious and has deliberately placed the coin in without making a noise. A 20p, Sp & Ipall have a lighter sound when dropped in whereas a 10p, 2p & £1 are all heavier sounds. This listening phase only provides a clue and is not essential As you now know the number canister you are looking for it does not matter how much the canisters are mixed. When you turn back to the table you stare intently at the canisters and place your hand above them. As you act sensing the coin you spot the number mark you are looking for. Once spotted you can start to climinate the other canisters. You should eliminate all but three of the canisters. When there are three canisters left you state that you are going to pick up the canister you believe contains the coin and shake it. Tell the audience that if they hear the rattle of the coin to applaud loudly. You then pick up the canister containing the coin and shake it. This shaking is done for two reasons. Firstly it is an applause cuc for the audience, secondly it tells you what coin is in the canister. This is achieved by a fairly sneaky technique. Because of the different weights and shapes of the coins they all have different sounds and feels when you shake them in the canister. The only way you will learn this is to do it. A couple of hours will give you the feel for the coins. The way you shake the canister is essential. Hold the canister from above and shake it in a circular motion so that the coin is made to rotate against the walls inside in the canister. This is the crux of the effect and is a knack move that can be achieved with just a couple of hours of practise. the diagram over should give you some idea of the action. You will soon learn to recognise how different each coin feels.The Knack As soon as you know what coin the spectator has placed in the Canister go to your case to remove a pad and pen, at the same time discreetly pick up the canister with the duplicate coin in it. With the duplicate canister hidden in your hand go to pick up the canister containing their coin. As your hand passes over the canister bring the hidden canister into view and toss that to the spectator, as shown below. Ask him to remove the coin from the canister and read the date on it. You now pick up your pad, checking the date of the coin on the crib sheet, and proceed to reveal the date of a coin that you have never seen or touched ~ \ . a= \ The Switch =<Because there was no heat on the coin when they dropped it into the canister they will not remember the appearance of the coin i.e. whether it is shiny or not. The canister switch takes place when the audience believes the effect is over: again no heat. Needless to say this effect will work with any currency, just put in the practise to get the knackMagicians Graphology | have always loved the idea of pscudo psychometry and graphology, but how to end these routines has always been a problem. When I first saw Lee Earle perform a graphology routine that climaxed in a reveal of the final, apparently unscen, picture | knew I had found the routine for me and it is now one of my pet routines. I wanted to perform the routine at the Magic Circle and needed to solve the problem of how to perform graphology to magicians. It would be foolish to believe that you could make them believe, as a group, that | was giving genuine readings, so what to do? I decided to use their magical knowledge as the basis of the readings. This seemed to be very strong for three reasons, it played on what they knew, it kept the routine punchy and through the humour of the situation I had set up, it did leave a modicum of the “....well maybe he can” factor that would otherwise been lacking. I promise the two readings I use and have published here, will not only be 100% accurate, but will also get laughs; what could be better. Incidentally, this presentation is meant for magicians, if performing for lay people then straight readings should be given and for these I would refer you to Lee Earle's writings Effect. Three of your favourite magicians are each asked to draw a quick sketch on the back of one of your business cards. They are then mixed by one of them and dropped face down on the table. You pick up the first card give a very brief but 100% accurate reading and then return it to its rightful owner. You do the same with the second card. You then proceed to wipe the floor with them by revealing what the third person drew when you haven't even touched the cards. Method The three cards you hand out are marked. The marks are a just dots on the cards in the positions shown below. I never make my marks subtly; I used to and on a couple of performance couldn't see them. Now I take no risks and I use a thick black dot that I know regardless of the lights or conditions I will be able to see. Lo CE)The Spread Hand the marked cards out, rememberifig who gets which card When the drawings have been done have the cards turned face down and shuffled. Take the shuffled cards and turn the top card over so it is now face up on the pile. Look at the card and make some sort of comment e.g. “Oh that’s interesting”. Now pick up all three cards together and tip them to the audience so the card you have just looked at is facing them; the drawing on the third card is now facing you, as shown below. Take a glance and memorise it. Return the cards to the table, or to the person who shuffled them, but keep the top card that you have now all seen. ( The Peek fo ce ces House Look at the first card and give the following reading; “The pressure on the pen here and here shows the person who drew this has a very cynical nature. He is the sort of person that believes that | know this drawing is his because the card ismarked and not because of the way he drew it. This, Sir, obviously belongs fo you.” Pick up the second card, look at it, give a little chuckle to yourself and say.. “ That’s interesting. This drawing shows a person who is easily swayed by other people. For instance this man believes everything, 1am saying is rubbish until [ tell him that these lines here show an above average IQ with a potential for success. So this, Sir, must belong to you.” You are now ready to reveal what the third person drew. You have had a good minute since you touched the cards. Many people, including magicians, will swear you never handled the drawings at all. Explain that as this is obviously the final spectators card you will now reverse the process and try to assess what kind of drawing they would have done. Keep the final reading short and reveal their drawing bit by bit. When you then look at the drawing on their card you must act genuinely pleased and surprised to have been so accurate. The peek used in this effect is the brainchild of Larry Becker and is a beautiful and subtle piece of magic. If it is performed in a casual manner it is impossible to spot. I would like to thank both Larry Becker and Roy Roth for their permission to publish this routineNo Way Out Tove multiple outs. [ believe it is an incredibly powerful device. [ wanted to come up with a version that met with the following criteria: it had to appear to be completely impromptu, everything had to be borrowed and I had to finish clean. "No Way Out" is my solution. It is totally practical and completely bewildering both for lay people and magicians alike. Whilst the choice is only one in three, the effect is so direct that it grows and niggles in their minds like an annoying tune; a lovely scenario. Borrow a watch, a wallet and a coin. As this is performed impromptu you now borrow either a saucer, a beer mat or something similar. You explain that each of the borrowed objects has a value, both financial and sentimental. Pick up each of the objects and in doing so you give a brief description and ‘valuation’. Explain that you have predicted which of the objects the spectator would keep if he could only have one of them. Ask him to nominate one of the objects. Explain that whichever one he says you will pick up and slowly place onto the saucer. He has until the object touches the saucer to change his mind to another selection. The watch is chosen. The wallet and coin are returned and examined, both are clean. The spectator now picks up his watch and looks at it, it has a sticker an it predicting "You will choose your watch", Method and Preparation. You need three stickers. These are the type you can buy from any high street stationers. The size you require is approximately the Size of a £1 coin. It is essential that the stickers are on wax paper, which they pretty much always are. The other essential ingredient is a stick of lip balm. Any brand of balm will do though I prefer Lipsyl. Place the sheet of stickers on the table and on one write “You will choose your watch", on another write "You will choose your coin" and on the third sticker write "You will choose your wallet". You now cut around each of the stickers leaving the backing paper on each one. A couple of minutes before performing wipe a healthy amount of the lip balm onto the back of each of the stickers (actually onto the backing paper).Performance. You should be sitting in a social setting with friends, eating, drinking having a lovely time. If you are unlikely to find yourself in this scenario put these notes down and get yourself a life. A couple of minutes or so before performing this trick discreetly stick the waxed "Wallet" sticker onto the underside of a saucer, ashtray, beermat or any other flatish object. This should be done casually without drawing attention to your actions. If there are just two of you an excellent moment for this is when the other person has left the table for a moment. In your left hand finger palm the prepared "Watch" sticker and in your right hand finger palm the "Coin" sticker; these are palmed wax side up (diagram below) Ask to borrow a watch, receive it in your left hand and as it is handed to you affix the waxed "Watch" sticker to the underside of the face (shown below), now ask for a coin and as you take it in your right hand affix the "Coin" sticker to it, in the same manner as you did the coin. water You now ask for the spectator to place his wallet on the table. Explain about the value of each object i.e. "Here is your watch. This is an item that you have with you at all times and is a trusty companion. Its very existence means it has to be efficient and therefore you find yourself relying on it. It is a good solid object that looks reasonably valuable in monetary terms and is very much a part of you. Here is your coin, a totally transient object. You haven't given it any thought or value apart from its obvious one. It is light and probably will be in and out of your life within two days. Here is your wallet, an item of close personal identity. Seemingly valuable both financially and sentimentally, without Push Lseet. one warecAI LABEL MAND their wallet many people are stranded. | want you 10 choose just one of these objects. Don't base your decision on anything I've Just said though, you must go with your own instinct although I have a pretty shrewd idea which object you will go with; in fact [ have predicted it but more of that in a minute. Let's use this ashtray (or whatever object you stuck the "Wallet" sticker onto) as the final decision maker." As you say this bring the ashtray over io the other three objects. "Whichever of these three items you select I will pick up and place on the ashtray. if you want to change your mind for one of the other two items you have until the selected item touches the ashtray; once it is on that's it." An object is now seiected and piaced onto the ashtray Option |. The wallet is chosen. Pick up the watch in the left hand and the coin in the right. As you return each item slide the waxed sticker off with your thumb So it slides back into finger palm. Ask the Spectator to pick up his wallet and turn over the ashtray and read the sticker. Whiist he does this you casually ditch the stickers wherever you want. The actions of removing the stickers are shown below. Option 2. The watch is chosen. Pick up the wallet and return it, then return the coin removing the sticker as you do. Now ask the spectator to pick up his watch turn it over reading the sticker as he does so. As he does this casually ditch the coin sticker and slide the ashtray out of the way, there will be no heat on it. Jd Deanne LABEL wre HANDOption 3. The coin is chosen. The same as option 2; just remove the watch sticker when returning it. The key to this routine is the apparent Impromptu nature of it. You must be absolutely casual in your handling of the objects. The more incidental the ashtray or saucer appears the better. | promise there will be no heat on it, honest.s For The Prosecution. Witne: This routine is primarily Anneman’s "Passing Of Sherlock Holmes" from The Jinx. The effect is a two person telepathy test that is perfect for dinner parties. Where my version differs from the original is that I have eliminated the card element and I have introduced the murder weapons into the plot which I think further disguise the method. I urge you to buy all three volumes of The Jinx and devour every page. Whilst at a dinner party you introduce into the conversation the idea that the police are now using psychics in there investigations to help find murderers. Explain that you and your partner have developed the ability whereby one of you can receive the image of a victim and a killer. To demonstrate, your "psychic detective" partner leaves the room whilst you ask someone to volunteer to be a killer. Once done you ask them to pick the person they will murder. Give the victim a choice, was he shot, strangled, stabbed or beaten to death. As you ask him for his chosen method of death you place onto the table a card bearing the picture of a bullet, a picce of rope, a glove and a knife to symbolize the different methods. Whichever method he chooses he picks up the corresponding picture and places it in his pocket. The remaining weapons are put away and everyone is told to act normally and give nothing away; you may now leave the room if you wish. The detective now comes back into the room, surveys the faces and body language of the other guests and in one fell swoop proclaims how the victim was killed, in which pocket the weapon is and who the killer was. The effect is just about repeatable. Method. Obviously there is a system of secret signals, but they are so simple that almost as fast as you read these instructions you will have the system memoriscd. The effect is accomplished by sticking a button onto the shoulder of both the killer and the victim. In the original routine Anneman suggested leaving different coloured thread on the spectators. Whilst this does have the benefit of leaving you clean it is incredibly hard to see. I decided a button would be a lot easier for the ‘detective! to see and remove. The table overleaf shows the colours of the buttons and their corresponding meanings. The more graphic you make your mental picture the easier it will be tomeaning, hence the objectionable images [ am using, in the table below. A White button is stuck on the killer. The victim will have one of the following colours stuck to him: BUTTON COLOUR. VICTIM KILLED. IMAGINE. Red Shot Blood exploding out of a bullet hole Blue Strangled Face turning blue as a rope is tightened Green Stabbed The green handle of the knife sticking out of the victims back Black Beaten A black glove punching someone The shoulder the button is stuck to denotes the side pocket the victim placed the weapon into; left shoulder, left pocket. If you missed which pocket the button went into stick the button in between his shoulders. A perfect moment to stick the button on is when explaining to the spectator what is going to happen, as shown below.When the detective re-enters it is essential that there is no communication between the partners, that is why it is preferable that the first partner leaves the room. The detective should also disguise the fact that he is looking at the shoulders of the guests. By walking around the outside of the group and looking at the faces you will have ample opportunity to spot the buttons. The buttons should be stuck to the rear of the shoulder. The easiest way to affix the buttons is to have double sided tape stuck to them and the buttons then stuck in your pocket in a memorable order. If you start with the white button finger palmed you only have remember the position of four buttons. Alternatively if you keep the pictures of the weapons in an envelope you can stick the buttons onto the back of it and remove them as you need them. To remove the buttons the detective can either do it as he reveals who is who or you can bide your time and do it later in the evening. It is essential with this routine that you pick your moment. If you cannot comfortably walk around the guests don't do it. The last thing you want is for the victim chosen to be the person sat with his back against the wall. The perfect setting is after dinner with at least 6 or 8 guests so the selections seem more random.The Fargo Principle. The first thing to state is that if you haven’t seen the Coen Brothers film ‘Fargo’ do not read the following essay. In fact do yourself a favour, put these notes down, get your coat, go to your nearest video shop and rent it, now. Not only is ‘Fargo’ a fantastic film but I believe there is a huge magical lesson to be learnt from it If your reading on, and [ really beg you only to do so if you have seen the film, you are aware that the movie is based on the true and totally bizarre story of kidnap and murder in small town America. So where’s the magical lesson you may be asking a yourself or was I merely trying to get you to see a movie I liked? The answer is a very simple one; the movie is not based on a true story at all. It is a total fabrication. The movie is no more a true story than ‘E.T.” is. The Coen brothers lied to us. After the film was reviewed the Coen brothers came clean. They knew that by telling us the film was a true story it would instantly allow us to accept everything we were about to see, without questioning it. What appeals most to me about this ploy is the way in which we are duped. The Coens truly understand their medium and know that we, as an audience, are conditioned to believe the performer if they tell us what they are saying is true. When this is extended to the arts, be that cinema, theatre, literature or even magic we automatically accept truths that we would normally question. 7 After all, we cannot stop the film and ask the image if it is honestly telling us the truth. Equally audiences, on the whole, will not stop a performer; they are trapped and therefore have to trust you. We must accept that by performing magic we are in essence lying to our audience; that lie could be as fundamental as hiding a gimmick or as esoteric as asking them to believe I can read minds. Whether they go home believing or not is unimportant to me; what matters is that for the duration of the performance, whether it is 30 seconds or 30 minutes, they buy into both me and the lie. We must also accept that at some level there is an unspoken agreement, a complicité between performer and audience: an agreement that states that the performer does not do anything genuinely unexpected or unacceptable whilst ‘holding court’. Inother words outside the accepted rules of the performer / audience relationship. The magical performer be it in close-up, stand-up, manipulation, mentalism or children's shows must treat his performance as a piece of theatre, no matter how intimate the performance may be. ‘That does not mean that every magician has to be a trained actor, but it does mean that to achieve maximum impact with one’s chosen material, the performer has to understand the rules: learning how to pace an act so it is not monotonous, what image you project through your appearance, how to draw an audience into your performance, how to earn a silent moment. The list goes on and on. Once we as performers begin to know who we are, we start to understand what we project to an audience. When we start to understand the effect we are having on an audience we are getting close to understanding what the audience is thinking about us and when we begin to grasp what the audience is thinking about then we can begin to know what they expect from us. It is only then that we can start to throw in the things they really don’t expect. [ don’t mean something as mundane as the kicker finish to a trick, I mean genuinely disarming an audience so that they don’t know whether you are telling them the truth or not. If haltway through a trick you were to put your cards down on the table put your head in your hands and tell your audience “........[’m really sorry, I’ve had a bloody awful day and I’m finding it really hard to concentrate. Can someone get me a glass of water please,” they wouldn’t know what the hell to do. Now I am not suggesting you go out and try this, but think how disarming it would be for an audience. In exactly the same way we must try to understand what the audience wants and only give it to them when we want to. The more you embellish your work with truths from your own experiences, the more your work will sound real to the audience. By adding reality into your lies you legitimise everything else. Think about the plots you use and throw in real names of people from your life. Create a story about a memorable place you visited or the schoo! you went to; the more you do this the easier it becomes. I promise you this; when the audience starts to believe what you're telling them, your magic will become twice as strong. We must strive to become better liars by pulling the lies as close to ourselves as we can. That is “The Fargo Principle” and if you get it going you'll have them eating out of your hand.Mike O'Brien is one of the unsung heroes of British magic. He is a superb thinker, a brilliantly funny performer and a maestro of the classics of magic; as if all this was not enough, he is also a lovely man. Deep gratitude and thanks to him for allowing me to lecture this superb routine. Billet work is one of the most important and most neglected aspects of mentalism. Maybe it's the very use of the word billet’ that puts people off; it seems archaic in the same way slate routines do. In essence what we are talking about is a device that allows you to read the information that the spectator has justake sure that all the creases are crisp The Switch, Before learning the routine it is important that you learn and master the billet switch. If you already have a switch that you are comfortable with stick with it as any switch will work. Mike uses the following which is a no move switch that is derivative of Anneman. Start with three pieces of notepad paper; [ use a standard 7.5cm by 7.5cm square. Any size of paper will do as long as it is not too big for your hands, Fold the pieces as shown 2 The Fold Once done write on both sides of one of the pieces "DATE", on another piece write "FILM" and on the final piece write “NAME". Put the "NAME" piece into your left pocket as you don't need it for a few minutes. Needless to say the writing on these billets is to help you learn the switch and routine; for heaven’s sake don't perform the routine with the writing on the outside as I think the spectators will guess how you are doing it. Put the "DATE" piece in tight finger palm (shown over), now put the "FILM" piece over it so it sticks out over your fingertips (also shown over).Now pass both pieces, as though they were one long piece, into | your left hand. In doing so you have switched the pieces as the billet that is now sticking out over your fingertips is the "DATE" piece whilst the "FILM" piece is now in finger palm move so much that it becomes second nature and therefore completely natural. Whilst the actual technical demands of this move are negligible, to make it look innocent requires a lot of work. q That’s it. The secret, as in all magical sleights, is to practise theThe Routine. Stick with me and concentrate and you'll be fine. The script is in italics and the actions in regular text. Start by placing all three blank, folded billets into your left pocket Bring out two of the billets and place them onto the table. Pick one up and address the three spectators you will be using, In a moment Iam going to ask you to write some specific information onto a scrap of paper. All these papers are folded in exactly the same way. This is intentional as it means that once the information is written inside not only can I not see what is written there but I cannot tell which piece is which. Forgive me if | keep repeating this but once you have written in the paper refold it like this. Demonstrate by opening and refolding the paper, then hand the two pieces to two of the spectators. /t is important that when you write the information you keep the thought as clear as possible to help achieve this. Please print the words. Addressing the first spectator / would like you to write a date on the paper; please make it a date that has an emotional meaning for you. Addressing the second spectator, Would you please write the name of your favourite film for me. If you have more than one favourite choose the one that leaves you fecling the most positive. The line about "most positive" is hogwash of course but it sounds as though it has some inner meaning. Once you have written the date and the film please refold the papers taking care to do it correctly and then tell me when you are ready. Once they are ready turn around and with your right hand pick up the first person’s piece which is the "DATE" piece; put it straight into finger palm and then pick up the second person’s piece, the "FILM" piece. You now go to your right pocket and pretend to drop both pieces in. In reality you just drop the "FILM" piece into the pocket and keep the finger palmed "DATE" piece in your right hand. You bring the right hand out of pocket still palming the "DATE" piece and let the arm drop to your side; as you do this place your left hand into your left pocket bringing out the final blank billet. Now place the blank billet straight into your right hand onto the palmed "DATE" piece, as in fig.1 of the switch explanation. Addressing the third spectator / have one more piece for you but I'm going to ask you to write something a little more personal, perform the switch, / hope you don't mind. You have now switched the pieces so that the piece sticking out is the "DATE" piece. Remember after you have printed the information on the paper , as you say this unfold the "DATE" billet, take onefast look at it , as you say this line glance at the date written on the paper, bearing in mind it may be upside down, and then refold the Paper. Match the action to the word and refold the "DATE" paper. 1 would like you to write your mother's maiden name, pass the papers back to your right hand, thus switching them back as you say / hope that is o.k. Now hand them the blank billet, which should be sticking out, and drop your right hand complete with the finger palmed "DATE" billet to your side, Once they tell you they are done pick the "NAME" billet up in your left hand, pass it to your right hand and then place your hand in your pocket. Let's mix these up a bit. Under the auspices of mixing the billets in your pocket you place the "NAME" piece into your pocket and pick up the "FILM" piece. The "DATE" piece stays finger palmed throughout the whole procedure Bring the "FILM" piece out of your pocket whilst "DATE" is still finger palmed, hold it up to your forehead and after a moment reveal the date. If the written date is 15th July 94, don't just say the date, but instead reveal it piece by piece i.e. /'m feeling warmth from this paper, I think you are thinking of a summer month, June, July or Aug...No it's definitely July. I think maybe the thirteenth of July. Can 1 look? Don't reveal the year as this is a little too strong for the first piece. By being slightly out with the date it gives you the perfect excuse to open the billet to find out how close you actually were. You now Open the "FILM" billet and misread the date they wrote. You refold the Paper, pass both pieces to your left hand, performing the switch, and proclaim, Close enough? This is an applause cue; now return the "DATE" billet, which is at your fingertips, to its owner. Drop your left hand to your side. This handing back of the billet is shown below. Hannu BILLET Uy, gPY BKK To AUDIENCE PryYou should now have the "FILM" billet palmed in your left hand and the "NAMB" billet in your right pocket. Place your right hand into your pocket and remove the "NAMB" billet: hold it up to your forehead and state Oh yes this is a very strong image it nusst be the film d way you revealed the date proceed to reveal the film. Once tevealed ask the spectator if that is right, he will say yes and you will receive applause. Now say Let me just look at something; pretend to check the handwriting for something and in doing so you open the "NAME" billet and read what is written. This Graphology excuse '\ a superb piece of thinking by Eddie Fields that I first learnt of through Lee Earle. Once you have read the "NAME" billet refold it and place it into the left hand over the "FILM" billet ready for the switch. Now ask if the Spectator has seen the film recently and as he answers you pass the billets into your right hand, thus switching them back. If he says he has seen his film recently remark that you thought so as the writing is very clear, if he Says that he hasn't seen the film for a while say that you thought not as the writing is a little feint in places. As you say this take just the "FILM" billet with your left hand and return it to the spectator. Place your right hand, complete with palmed "NAME" billet into you pocket, bring out the "NAME" billet, hand it to the third Spectator and ask him to clench it ina fist and concentrate on the name. If the name written was “Abbott” reveal it the first two letters i.e. ...A....B.... and then state I've got it, it's Abbott isn't it? They will say yes and you are finished. One final tip when you read the first "DATE" paper, remember it 's supposed to be blank so don't flash the writing. Where I have mentioned applause cues, it only applies to platform performances. For close-up performances you will not get applause as this routine is too strong. In Mike's original routine he gets a date, maiden name and the name of a deceased friend written down. As T was uncomfortable with the use of a ‘dead’ name and the implications of it, | have changed the routine to suit me. I realize this explanation is extremely detailed and complex, but once you have tried it a couple of times you will see how fast, simple and pure this killer piece of mentalism plays. Thanks Mike.Filmography. Films have always played an important part in my life. From the moment my dad took me to see Jaws I was hooked. The films I have named my tricks after are listed here as a reference for you. Reading the list again it occurs to me that the films all have one thing in common, they all hold back their biggest punch until the very last minute; a lesson to us all. Witness For The Prosecution.( 1957) Dir. Billy Wilder. Starring Marlene Dietrich and Charles Laughton. Incredible adaptation of Agatha Christie's play. Stunning. Now Way Out.(1987) Dir. Roger Donaldson. Starring Kevin Costner & Gene Hackman. A superb modern thriller that keeps you gripped until the very final second Homicide. (1991) Dir. David Mamet. Starring Joe Mantegna. Mamet’s brilliant study of ethnic pressure within a secular society. It will lead you up the garden path and leave you there. Sad magicians may wish to know that along with Mamet's other work, House Of Games and Things Change, Ricky Jay has a part in this film. Take The Money & Run. (1969) Dir. & Starring Woody Allen. Woody Allen’s ability to make us accept the absurd as real is never better than in this hilarious crime spoof. Fargo.(1996) Dir. Joel Coen. Starring Frances McDormand. As I've already written in my essay "The Fargo Principle", a magnificent film with a big secret. Deep Red. (1975) Dir. Dario Argento. Starring David Hemmings. In the U.S. this film may be also known as "The Hatchet Murders" or “Profundo Rosso." This is a film that was and is extremely influential for me. If you can stomach violent films, and believe me this is one of the most violent films you will ever see, I urge you to see it. Argento's film is a direct lesson in misdirection that shook me like no other film ever has. The story is flawed in a million places but if you just go along with it I promise you an unbelievable experience. , seek it out it is awesome. Genuinely approach with caution; weak stomachs avoid at all costs.