Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Alpha Series
Lecture Notes
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Set 1: Mentalism
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Light Metal
As I explain in the lecture, this routine has been part of my shows for as long as 1 can
remember. I often use it as an ice-breaker or an opener. To those of us in the trade, the
method is trivial. However, in my experience:
- audiences love it
Effect
The theme is that of psychics who give 'test conditions' demonstrations of their amazing
powers. The Performer invites a spectator on stage to help, and to examine some stainless
steel spoons. In a variety of entertaining, humorous and dramatic ways, the spectator
proves that the spoons are genuine and unprepared; there are no 'strange chemicals'
involved; and no sleight of hand or suspicious moves. Nonetheless, the Performer holds
one of the examined spoons, and without any moves or cover causes it to slowly and
visibly bend. Eventually, it breaks completely.
Preparation
There is nothing new about the preparation - you put a 'fat frac' (a fatigue fracture) into one
spoon by bending it back and forth until it is almost ready to break. More or less everyone
who has ever used this method has their own preferred way of doing it. Let me just add my
two cents, based on experience.
isn't always practical, it's messy, it slows the process down, and it makes it more or less
impossible to use the correct grip (as explained below). It is simpler and more practical to
just wrap the spoon in a handkerchief or piece of cloth.
Grip the spoon face up (that is, so the spoon could hold soup) between your hands, as
shown. In the illustration, I've omitted the handkerchieflcloth or else the illustration would
be pointless.
Your left thumb rests firmly on the top of the spoon's neck, precisely above the spot where
you are going to 'stress' the spoon. The left fingers are curled around the bowl from below this isn't very comfortable, but you can bear it. The right thumb, also on the top of the neck,
is just a little short of the tip of the left thumb. The right fingers grip the spoon's neck very
firmly from below.
As far as you can, try to get your elbows, your thumbs and the neck of the spoon aligned
straight across your body and parallel to the floor. This is indicated by the dotted line in the
illustration below left.
It is impossible to achieve perfectly straight alignment (at least 1 find it is), but just get as
close as you can. This is your Starting Position. You can now begin to fatigue fracture the
spoon.
As I demonstrate in the ledure, don't just bend the spoon using the strength from your
wrists, hands and thumbs. You will get a better result if you generate the necessary strength
and force using your whole arms, especially the entire forearm area, which you channel
downwards through your thumbs into the neck of the spoon. Using this method, put a slight
bend in the neck of the spoon. In the second illustration, I have exaggerated the extent of
the downward movement for clarity. Keeping your grip perfectly constant, bend the spoon
up again until you return to the flat, level Starting Position. Never go upwards beyond the
horizontal level from which you started.
Repeat this process, using slow, deliberate actions. Keep returning to the Starting Position,
with everything in alignment. Keep your grip constant from the start of this process until it is
completed. It's harder work than you might think, but it does produce good results! If the
spoon gets too hot, you may need to stop for a while to let it cool down. Do this just by
holding it in the Starting Position. Do not let go of the spoon, or put it down, or change
your grip at all.
Eventually, you will have developed the fracture until only a thin 'skin' of metal is actually
keeping the bowl attached to the handle. This is the Ready Point, and it becomes easier to
judge with practice.-You can handle the spoon fairly freely, and it will stay intact. However,
with a little extra persuasion at the stress point during performance, the bowl will break
away completely.
If you pre-stress the spoon correctly, it will still look more or less as it did to start with. There
will be some evidence of the fatigue fracture - most of it on the underside of the neck, but
some on top where it can (in theory) be seen. Don't worry about anyone noticing thii
during the show - they never do. These tell-tale cracks are rather like the marks on a
marked deck: obvious if you know what to look for and where to look, and otherwise
invisible.
Prepare several spoons until you have two good ones that show minimal evidence of the
fatigue fracture. One is for the show, and the other is a reserve in case anything happens to
the first one before your show.
Supplementary note 1: the 'hacksaw' method
Instead of using the fat frac, some deceivers use a fine hacksaw blade to saw through the
neck of the spoon from the back until it is at the Ready Point. The supposed advantage is
that it is theoretically possible to leave the front of the spoon's neck looking more or less
perfectly intact. If you want to pursue this, you can even buy a very fine hacksaw blade,
snap a section off, and carry it around with you. Thus you are prepared to attack any
spoons you want to use for 'impromptu' demonstrations.
I have tried the 'saw' approach in the past, but 1 prefer the fat frac. I happen to believe it
creates a more 'natural' looking break when the spectators are examining the spoon
afterwards (which they usually do). I also don't have to worry about whether or not I have
my 'pocket saw' with me.
Supplementary note 2: clever touches that aren't
This is also a good time to mention several touches which I've heard about or tried over the
years, just so that I can tell you not to waste your time on them. Some clever souls, worried
that the fatigue fracture leaves a few visible cracks, have tried to hide them using putty, wax
or filler. They rub the putty (or whatever) into the neck, then polish or burnish the spoon so
the cracks are concealed and the spoon looks brand new again. First of all - not necessary.
The spectators never notice the cracks. Second of all - doesn't work. You just end up with a
spoon covered in unsightly gunk.
Another fun waste of time is to fat frac the spoon, then get your aerosol of silvery paint and
give the spoon a re-spray, making it look as good as new! It's the same story: not necessary,
doesn't work.
The Routine
I am assuming you will have seen the routine during the lecture, so these notes are intended
just to refresh your memory as to the main points, and the sequence in which they happen.
Introduction, silent shout g a g and volunteer
After any appropriate preamble you say
"According to some psychics, to make a spoon bend you have to tell i t to bend in your
mind. So let's have a try - yes, this is audience participation and don't you just love it?
Okay, everyone on this side [gesture to indicate the right-hand half of the audience from
your point of view] when I count to three I want you in your mind to shout the word
'Bend!' really loud, one two three".
Say this clearly but quickly. One or two spectators will misunderstand and shout out loud.
Extract whatever humour you can. Have them all by again, and this time they will all get it
right. Gesture towards one or two people and act as if - due to your telepathic powers you can tell they did not join in. Say
"One or two of you not joining in, which is a shame."
It's rare for anyone to make the 'shout out loud' mistake this time. Gesture to this second
half of the audience, turn to the first half and say reproachfully
"See? They can all do it!"
At this point I simply go into the audience, choose someone and lead them back to the
stage. The fact that there is no volunteering whatsoever gets a mild laugh of its own - and
the use of the word 'keen' or 'eager' adds to the fun. This may not be to your style or taste.
More on this under 'Thoughts Arising' at the end of this routine.
Alpha series set 1: Mentalism
Jacqueline will copy the 'pointing-from-above' gesture. As soon as she does so - and you
know she has understood you - look away from Jacqueline, and directly out into the
audience, to emphasise that you do not care which spoon she points to.
Turn back to face Jacqueline. She will usually be pointing at one of the ungaffed spoons
(we will cover other possibilities later). Invite her to pick it up and examine it. Set the tray
down again on the table behind you.
"Pick it up! Check it out! Have a good look a t it. Now the first thing we need to check is
that these are solid steel spoons. They are not plastic or rubber, and we need to prove
this in a theatrically satisfying manner. So Jacqueline is going to bang the spoon hard
on my heace'.
This practical, if faintly absurd proposal, gets a laugh, and Jacqueline's reaction is usually
good fun as well. Make it dear that you are perfectly serious, and that you really are going
to do this. Make sure Jacqueline is holding the spoon by the handle before proceeding, as
you saw in the lecture.
"So on a count of three, Jacqueline, I want you to bang the spoon on my forehead as hard
as you can. Isn't this great?! You get to inflict violence on a man, and it's perfectly okay!
[To the audience] And if you are quiet, you will actually hear the satisfying sound of
steel on bone!"
Turn to face Jacqueline, lean forward slightly and incline your head down a little. You do
the countdown, and Jacqueline bangs the spoon on your forehead. She will either do this
quite lightly, or very hard, and you can a few laughs either way. If she employs a light tap,
say it was not hard enough to prove the point, you cannot afford to leave doubts, and so
she must d o it again much harder. If she hits you really hard, pretend that you never meant
her to do it that hard, and feign a sense of hurt and alarm as you 'realise' that Jacqueline is
rather psychopathic and prone to violence.
Ian Rowland Lecture Notes
You are now going to toss spoons out into the audience, and also accomplish a very simple
switch. At the start of this section, Jacqueline is holding the two spoons that she has
randomly chosen and examined. You have six spoons left on your tray. Five are normal,
but the one nearest to you is gaffed.
Pick up normal spoon #I and make it clear you are going to toss it out into the audience to
anyone who wants it. Stir up some interest, much like a market trader promoting a special
bargain - 'Who wants a spoon? Come on - who wants to join?. Throw the spoon out to
someone in the audience. During your patter and byplay with the audience, pick up normal
spoon #2, and throw this out as well.
Throwing spoons out to various members of the audience creates quite a bit of chaos,
laughter and chatter - which is intentional. Increase the pace, pick up normal spoon #3,
and throw it out. Make it an ambitious throw, quite a way back (but d o it safely). Without
breaking pace, turn to Jacqueline, smile at her, take one of the spoons she is holding and
throw that out into the audience as well. Don't ask her or comment on this, just turn to her,
take one of her spoons, turn to face the audience and throw it out. From the tray, pick up
normal spoon #5, and throw that out as well. Jacqueline is now holding one spoon, and
the gaffed spoon is left on the tray. Pick up the gaffed spoon, and set the tray down on the
table.
That's the 'switch' achieved, although it is so simple as to be barely worth the name. In the
lecture, I stress the need to have fun with this, but also to take care and make sure you
don't harm anyone. If the venue is large, I usually have some fun seeing just how far 1 can
throw some of the spoons - but only if I am confident that I can do this safely, and that noone is going to get harmed. I haven't taken any eyes out yet.
T h e 'Finger licking' gag
With any luck the rather dramatic process of hurling silverware around the venue will have
gained quite a reaction from the audience. Allow the audience to settle down a little. You
are about to get a very big laugh indeed..
"Now, people with very suspicious minds sometimes say that spoon bending involves
chemicals on the fingers."
Hold your left hand up flat to the audience, as you saw in the lecture. With your right hand,
gesture towards your splayed left it as you say
"To prove that this is not the case, Jacqueline is now going to lick [pause for a beat] each
of my fingers ..."
The minor pause after the word 'lick' is important, and allows the audience to get ahead of
you and work out the general idea. This will get a big laugh. First the audience will laugh at
the unexpected and outrageous idea. Then they will look to see Jacqueline's reaction. She
Alpha series set 1:Mentalism
will usually either be laughing, or making signs and gestures to the effect that she refuses to
do this. No matter what her reaction, it will get a second wave of laughter from the
audience.
Look at Jacqueline and act puzzled and disappointed at her reluctance. This is a beautiful
dramatic point in the structure of the routine, because the audience have no idea how you
will resolve this apparently awkward moment. If you want to twist an extra laugh out of this,
say
"Come on, Jacqueline, it's for science. Ladies and gentlemen, you all saw her volunteer
for this, didn't you? You all saw her agree to take part?"
Most audiences, even the good-natured ones, generally enjoy behaving rather treacherously
towards Jacqueline and agreeing that she volunteered, even though she did no such thing
(assuming you have followed my practise of simply choosing someone and leading them on
stage). Pretend to have second thoughts as you gallantly decide you could not possibly
expect Jacqueline to go through with this action. Say
"Okay,just to prove the point, I'll do it".
Lick each of your fingers, on both hands, as you saw me do during the lecture. On the
printed page, this may read as rather distasteful. It doesn't have to be. Many spectators
watch this 'licking' process very carefully, just to check there really ore no chemicals.
It doesn't matter whether the spectator says she can feel anything or not - this line is pure
opportunism. Sometimes, she might come up with quite an imaginative response. On
occasion, she will say she can feel some strange kind of sensation, and this deepens the
mystery and makes the routine more baffling. At other times, her response might be quite
amusing. The next step is to give use equivocation to make sure she ends up with the
normal spoon:
"I want you to choose one, so it's up to you. Upper or lower?"
Let us assume the upper spoon is the gaffed one. If she says 'Upper':
"The upper spoon. Okay, the spoon you choose is the spoon we use. Watch...".
You let her keep hold of the other (normal)spoon, while you take the gaffed one and turn
to the audience, holding the spoon in the Presentation Position shown at the top of the next
page - one hand rubbing the neck between finger and thumb, the other lightly holding the
handle. Invite Jacqueline, and everyone in the audience holding a spoon, to hold their
spoon this way.
Continue to apply slight pressure until you can feel that the spoon has fractured completely,
and the bowl is now actually separate from the handle. Keep this fact concealed. Maintain a
tight grip with your thumb and forefinger, so there is no obvious sign that the spoon is
already in two pieces.
Hold the spoon in an elevated position with one
hand, as shown. By gently relaxing the pressure,
allow the bowl to 'bend' sideways v e y slowly.
With a little practice, you can make it travel
slowly as if from '12' on a clock dial to '4' or
even '5' before it is ready to fall away completely.
This is a beautiful visual illusion - enjoy it and let
your audience enjoy it. Focus your eyes, your
attention and your body language on the spoon
while the bend is in progress.
y
i;
phenomena after this routine. Take some of the credit for yourself, but be generous sharing
it with the individuals concerned.
Thoughts Arising
Anyone wishing to be disparaging about this routine has plenty of ammunition! The
'method' is childishly simple. One canchoose to react with supercilious disdain to the
vulgarity of the 'bang on head' and the 'finger-licking' gags. And if you think mentalism
must always be solemn, then this routine will be high on your l i t of 'No Hope Mentalism
Routines From Hell'.
I'm not remotely defensive about it, because I can tell you - having performed it for 15
years or so - that audiences love it. They have fun, I have fun, and yet there is a strong
mystery involved. Fun stuff aside, it does seem as if the spoons were examined, the
spectator decided which ones would be used, there were no false moves... and yet the
spoon visibly melted on command. I hope you enjoy amending it to suit your own style,
and get some mileage out of it.
W h a t if t h e spectator p o i n t s t o t h e gaffed spoon?
During the pointing-and-choosing phase, what if the spectator happens to point to the
prepared spoon? This is not a problem. You just need to adapt the routine slightly. Consider
the spectator's first choice. If she points to the gaffed spoon, just pick it up yourself and, in a
very matter-of-fact voice, say, 'and we need one more... choose another". Whichever she
nominates, invite her to pick it up. Set the tray to one side. You are holding a gaffed spoon,
she is holding a regular spoon. You can now go through the 'banging on the head' gag, and
the 'chemicals on the fingers' gag.
When it comes to distributing the spoons throughout the audience, you do not even need
the simple 'switch'. With your free hand, pick up the remaining spoons off the tray and toss
them out. You can now truthfully point out that you had some spoons on a bay, the
spectator freely decided which two spoons would be used for the demonstration, and all the
others have been handed out for examination:The same is true if she chooses the gaffed
spoon on her second choice. You pick it up. She's holding a regular spoon, you are holding
the gaffed one. The others can now be thrown out into the audience.
Personally, 1 always choose a woman to help. I find that women respond better, are more
fun on stage, and are almost always better turned out and hence nicer for the audience to
look at. I don't think that's a sexist comment - it's just true. Most women have at least a
modicum of good dress sense. Most men, myself included, exhibit the dress sense of a
chimp let loose in the 'Extra Dull And Shapeless' clothes shop.
Thought Flash
In essence, this is a Polaroid camera trick which you can perform without the trouble of
having to carry round a Polaroid camera, or indeed any sort of camera. It can also be
adapted to keep up with any changes in camera technology. I have used it as both a stage
and close-up item, and it has proved a reliable crowd-pleaser. It's so simple the cat could do
it, but audiences don't know this. As far as they are concerned, you can catch thoughts in a
photograph. Which is quite something.
Effect
A spectator's thoughts are captured on a blank piece of photographic film. More specifically,
a spectator freely chooses one movie star celebrity from many possible, and concentrates
on her. You project an image of this randomly (?) chosen movie icon on to what was
previously a blank piece of photographic film.
- a Himber wallet
- a way of generating two photographs (or things that look like photographs) roughly the
same size and shape as a genuine Polaroid photo, but small enough to fit in your Himber.
In other words, square or square-ish, measuring about 3 to 3 112 inches (8-9cm) to a
side.
Create these photos any way you want. I mention a few possibilities during the lecture.
Preparation
First of all, you need to create your two photographs.
The first has a solid black back, preferably with a white border (this is what a real Polaroid
photo looks like from the back, but that's not important). On the face, this photo shows
solid, empty blackness.
From the back, the second photo looks identical to the first. It has to, because you are going
to switch one photo for the other (as if you hadn't guessed). On its face, it bears the image
of the famous movie star whose name you are going to force. For this explanation, I'm
going to suppose it's Jacqueline Bisset. At the time of writing, she's possibly not the most
famous actress in the world, but she's a firm favourite with me! You should choose a movie
star whose name and image will be well-known to everyone in your audience.
You want this image to be clearly recognisable, yet also slightly hazy or distorted in some
way so that it looks like the result of paranormal thought projection. When I first prepared
such a photo, I just got a poster of the movie star I wanted and played around with lighting
and blurring until I got a Folaroid of it that I liked. These days, I have the luxury of a digital
camera and computer magic. Use whatever resources are available to you, and have some
fun doing it.
You have your Empty Black photo and your Movie Star photo.
Take your Himber wallet. I expect that you have already added a small secret mark to the
outside of your Himber so that you can readily tell Side 1 from Side 2 before you open it. If
you haven't, it's a darn good idea.
In Side 1, tuck the Empty Black photo face
down. Trim some flash paper into strips roughly 1
inch (3cm)wide by 3 inches (8cm) tall. Tuck three
strips into the wallet as shown. May I suggest you
add some other bits and pieces to make the
wallet look like your regular wallet - currency
notes, credit cards, Jacqueline Bisset's phone
number... that kind of thing. I haven't included
these bits and pieces in the illustration.
In Side 2, do exactly the same so it looks identical - photo face down, flash paper strips,
same bits and pieces. The only difference is that it's the Movie Star photo.
Put the Himber in your inside jacket pocket so that you know which way round it is, and
can take it out and flip it open at Side 1with confidence.
Next, you need to make a rough and smooth forcing deck that will force the name
Jacqueline Bisset (or whichever less talented, less beautiful actress you prefer to force upon
your audience). Take a stack of 20 blank cards. Write the name of a different well-known
movie star on each one, in clear black capitals. Write them so clearly that someone who
normally reads with glasses could read them without their glasses - it might happen! Rough
these on their backs. Take 20 more blanks, and write 'Jacqueline B i t ' on every one.
Rough these on their faces. Assemble your deck of cards, rough to rough.
Make sure your novelty lighter works, and stash it in your outer left pocket.
The Routine
Intro and N a m e Force
I am assuming you have seen me present this at the lecture so you know what happens.
You force the name. You show the Empty Black photo. There's a bit of byplay and you
sneakily switch it for the Movie Star photo. Miracle accomplished.
Here are the main points of the routine.
"There are some-psychic powers that everyone's heard of, such as ESP or spoon-bending,
but others are less well-known. I'd like to share with you something that is truly very
strange, and that you have probably never seen before. It's called thoughtography, and
in the 60s a guy called Ted Serios caused quite a sensation with it. I'd like someone to
help with this - it's very easy, involves no heavy lifting or nudity, in fact you don't even
need to come on stage".
Choose a suitable volunteer. This routine is one of the few for which I usually choose a man
rather than a woman. Let us assume he is called John. Have John stand up in the
audience. Pick up the packet of cards.
"First of all John, we need to select a target a t random. These are all names of famous
people, and I'm going to take names off the top, one a t a time. All you have to do is to say
'Stop' whenever you like. It's up to you. When you do, the very next card off the top will
be yours - no question.
Some people say 'Stop' quite quickly, some people wait a long time, for others it's
somewhere in between ... I don't care, it's up to you. Okay?"
Very s-I-o-w-I-y, and fairly, remove the next top card, actually separating the rough and
smooth pair so that the card you show says aacqueline Bisset'. Show this very clearly
around the room, and take your time.
"Remember the name. I t doesn't matter if I see what it is. Just remember the name you
chose."
As you show the card around the room, briefly tilt it towards yourself so that you can
glimpse it, and then carry on showing it slowly around the room. You are not performing a
secret glimpse. You are openly taking a quick look at the card, ostensibly so that you can
see who was chosen - because remember, it was chosen at random. Once everyone has
seen the name, you can set all the cards to one side.
Take out the Himber. I will assume that John is to your right, and you are turned slightly in
his direction. Your left side is nearest the audience. With your right hand, flip open the
Himber. With your left hand, extract the Empty Black photo, face down. Hold it so that
neither John nor anyone else can see what's on it.
This is a nice moment in terms of dramatic structure. The audience will be in two minds are you bluffing, or have you really managed this rather impressive feat? They are also
interested to see John's reaction when you ask him if he's impressed. Say
"Seriously, this really is a photo of the person you're thinking of, Jacqueline Bisset
[name your Movie Star]. Isn't that extraordinary?"
As you have still not shown the photo, and proved your claim, there is plenty of scope for
byplay here. You can act a little hurt if he seems unimpressed, or a little surprised if he
seems astonished too easily! Moving on, you raise the photo up as if to display it for all to
see, but time the revelation with the following words,
"Well, it is a photo of Jacqueline Bisset, but the... [pause for two beats] flash didn't
work."
Time the words to establish the appropriate build-up, and then puncture it with the
intentionally pathetic anti-climax. The empty black void of the photo should only become
visible as you say the words 'flash didn't work'. The audience will feel a palpable sense of
disappointment at this stage, because the blank photo is such a poor joke. Act as if you
really have nothing to offer except this dull and unimpressive joke. Be sure to ask John
what he thinks about this.
"It's just a joke. You don't think it's funny?"
You are still holding the Himber in your right hand. With your left, replace the photo in the
wallet in exactly the same position it had originally. Flip the Himber closed. With your left
hand take out the novelty lighter from your left jacket pocket, say "Do you know what this
is?" and hand it to John.
This provides the perfect moment to adjust the Himber so it will now open at Side 2. John
will identify the item as a cigarette lighter. It should now be clear why you use some kind of
'novelty' cigarette lighter that is unusual or visually interesting:
- the audience's eyes and attention always focus on what is new in a scene, and this effect
is heightened if the 'new' thing is (a)moving and (b) visually interesting in its own right
- because the lighter is visually a bit strange, each spectator's mind goes into 'analyse and
identify' mode, during which time it cannot pay attention to anything else
- because it looks a bit weird, you aren't insulting John's intelligence by asking him what he
thinks it is
All in all, lots of misdirection. John replies to your question, and you say
"Absolutely correct. It's a lighter, and we're going to use it to create some flash."
Flash Paper and Finish
Flip the Himber open on Side 2. To the audience, everything looks exactly as it did before.
With your left hand extract the photo but keep it face down (you don't want anyone to see
that it bears the image of Jacqueline Bisset). Invite John to extend hi right hand, palm up
and flat, so that you can rest something on it. Place the face down photo on his hand, and
then place the lighter on top of it. Take out one strip of flashpaper, and put the wallet away.
... This is what we use to create the flash. It's called flashpaper. You get it from
theatres, and they make it by soaking tissue paper in nitroglycerine. I am not making
this up, it's true. Nitrogylcerine. And when you set fire to it, i t goes up in a 'flash', hence
the name."
"
This is a fairly accurate description of what flashpaper is. Fold or scrunch the flashpaper up
into a ball which you hold in your left hand. You now d o two things in a single action. With
your right hand, pick up the cigarette lighter, and with your left hand place the scrunched
ball of flash paper on the back of the photo. With your right hand, pick up the photo by its
nearest corner and position it - still face down of course - on the outstretched palm of your
left hand. As far as John and the audience are concerned, it is just the empty black photo
they saw before. Hold the photo, with the flashpaper on top, fairly close to John's face.
"Piece of paper. Nitroglycerine. And I'm going to set fire to it. Very near to you."
John might be smiling at this point, but he will be feeling some anxiety as well. It is a nice
moment dramatically, as the audience are aware that something is going to happen, but
they are not quite sure what. Position the cigarette lighter so that when you operate it, it will
set fire to the flashpaper. Act as if you have a certain amount of trepidation about actually
doing this, and as you gradually 'steel' yourself to actually set the paper alight, offer John a
series of quasi-humorous fake reassurances ...
"Might take your eyebrows off a bit. But it's all for the sake of entertainment, so I know
you won't mind."
"Possibly a little bit of partial, temporary blindness. Clears up in days. Nothing to worry
about, all for the sake of entertaining the lovely ladies and gentlemen".
"Worst case scenario, perhaps 90% scalding around the face. But, hey, it's all good
entertainment and that's what we're here for".
Before you actually set the flashpaper alight, you get a little more serious.
"John, do you believe in the power of visualisation? That by visualising something in
your heart, you can maybe cause it to appear in your life? Well, I believe in it, and this is
just a small illustration of what visualisation can achieve. Earlier on, we had lots of
famous people to choose from and you chose someone a t random ... who was that? [John
says the name of the forced Movie Star]. John, I want you to visualise Jacqueline Bisset
as hard as you have ever visualised anything in your life. I will work with you, and
something very special will happen."
After all this preamble, move your hand a little away from John's face, so that there is no
risk whatsoever of him actually coming to any harm. Set the flash paper alight and move
your left hand once up and down rapidly, as if catching a thought. Allow yourself a few
seconds of absolute stillness and dramatic tension. You say nothing, and d o nothing. Turn
to John.
"Who was it again?"
"John, this is just a little demonstration using a simple target, but I hope you will
always remember the power of positive visualisation, because it really works. Here's the
proof. Your thought, Miss Jacqueline Bisset, captured, on film."
Slowly, and with as much dramatic grandeur as you can muster, turn the photo over and
show it - first to John, and then to the rest of the audience in a slow, broad arc so that
everyone gets a good look.
Thoughts Arising
-
I make no apologies for the extreme simplicity of thii effect. There are at least 10,000 skilled
dose-up workers out there who could execute a much better switch, without the need to
resort to a Himber wallet. Nonetheless, having performed this routine almost everywhere
for almost everyone over the past ten years, I can tell you it can get actual gasps of
astonishment from audiences. Actual dumbfounded, drop-jawed 'Oh my God!'
bewilderment. That's why I do it, and that's why I like it.
Preparing the H i m b e r wallet
In the 'Preparation' section, I suggested that when you have loaded the Himber with the
bits you need for the routine, you add extra bits and pieces so that it looks like an actual
wallet. May I just repeat that I think this is a good idea. It's a shame to see a magician or
mentalist take out a wallet which is totally empty except for the card or envelope or
whatever he needs for the trick. A wallet is supposed to have things in it. If it doesn't have
things in it, you are announcing that it's not really used for anything except the trick. You
may as well stamp 'Magic Prop' on the outside.
About showing a few more cards
There is a point in this routine where 'John' has just said 'Stop' and you have shown the
force card. At this point, I sometimes like to run through a few more cards, just to casually
demonstrate that if John had carried on he would have arrived at a different choice. It only
takes a second or two, and I think it's an appropriate convincer.
Versatility
It should be clear that thii routine is extremely versatile. It can be themed around any
people you want: movie stars, sports stars or even people in the company who have hired
you as the corporate entertainment. Also, it doesn't have to be about people. It can be
about any group of items that are visual and which can be named: famous landmarks,
famous paintings, famous composers... any theme that is of interest to you or to your
audience.
If you don't want to make your own R&S deck to force a person, place or thing, you can
use a regular R&S deck, so the routine is about choosing a card and then the card appears
in the photograph. This is very pedestrian.
Some people say 'Stop' quite quickly, some people wait a long time, for others it's
somewhere in between ... I don't care, it's up to you."
There is certainly no need to say anything quite this long-winded. However, over many
years of shows and performances, I have found this verbal formula to be extremely
disarming.
Whereas most spectators are co-operative and relatively easy to work with, there are a small
number who occasionally want to 'challenge' the performer in various ways. On a 'Stop'
trick, it can be rather unhelpful if someone is determined to say 'Stop' very quickly (such as
insisting on the top card) or to wait a very long time. What's more, if you are using a rough
and smooth deck of any kind, you are running out of cards twice as quickly as normal, so
you really d o not want the spectator taking forever and a day to say 'Stop'. All 1 can tell you
is that the wording 1 have suggested above tends to eliminate any such extremism, and
ensure that the spectator behaves co-operatively. That's why I'm passing it on. If it's not for
you, then it's not for you.
Please don't make copies of these Lecture Notes. It has taken one heck
of a lot of time and money to produce them. If you know someone
who is interested in these notes, please don't just run off a copy.
Instead, please play fair and refer them to my web site:
www.ianrowland.com . I will sell a copy to anyone with a bona fide
interest. For the work that went into them, I'm not charging over the
odds. Thank you. - Ian
Effect
The Performer shows a &splay board featuring sixteen famous celebrities. A spectator
chooses any one of the sixteen via a process of elimination, and her choice is found to
match the Performer's sealed prediction. So far, so normal.
The Performer then proves that in fad this was an experiment in guided subliminal
persuasion: the predicted outcome was actually stated on the display board, in full view yet not a soul in the audience noticed it!
The Routine
Many mentalism routines are all about the Performer demonstrating what he can do. Where
possible, I prefer to turn things around so that the routine is about the spectator achieving
something they didn't realise they could do. The Subliminal Prediction starts off in this vein.
"I believe everyone has some kind of intuitive gift - some call it the power of intuition,
others say it's positive visualisation. I think it's just a case of learning how to tap into it.
I'd like to try a n experiment along these lines. It's kind of fun, but a t the same time I
hope it will show just how powerful intuition can be."
Have a spectator come up to assist. Just for the sake of example, let us suppose she is
called Jacqueline. Hand her the marker pen and tell her she'll need it later on. Call attention
to the display board.
Ian Rowland Lecture Notes
"Jacqueline, here are 16 famous people. Take a good look. There's quite a variety. Some
men, some women, some historical figures and some who are still with us. In here [pick
up the black prediction folder] is one of these 16 people. But you don't know which one,
do you?"
All you have to do is to make sure that one of the duplicate cards (Queen Victoria) stays on
top, and the other stays around tenth position. I'm referring to 'cards' meaning roughed
pairs of cards. Hold the cards face down. Vey openly, thumb off eight cards so that you
have eight in your left hand and eight in your right. Either packet contains one of the
duplicate Queen Victoria cards. Hold the two packets wide apart, like a bragging fisherman.
You are now going to use an elimination process involving 'left' and 'right' choices. Your left
and right is of course distinct from the audience's left and right. Thii provides scope for
confusion and ambiguity, so it is very important to be absolutely clear, and totally
unambiguous, at every stage.
"Jacqueline, eight names in my left hand [look a t your left hand, raise it up and down, as
you saw me do a t the lecture], and eight cards in my right [likewise]. Don't reason, don't
guess. Look a t the display board. Take your time, rely on your intuition, and then
nominate left or right."
Jacqueline makes her choice. In the lecture, I talked about the need to show 'appropriate
feeling' at these moments in mentalism routines. You should appear to look slightly relieved
or pleased, as if you know that Jacqueline has made the right choice. If you don't show this
feeling or expression, you are undermining the logic of your own routine. And if you don't
believe it, you can't expect anyone else to.
give it to her to hold face down for a second
Whichever packet Jacqueline wants to h,
(she's not allowed to look at the faces). Take the remaining packet of eight cards, and
briefly display their faces to show a few different names. Do this fairly quickly -just to show
that a few different names at random have been discarded. Just take care not to flash the
duplicate 'Queen Victoria' card - it's near the vey back of the face-up packet, so it's easy to
hide. From this point on, there is no more duplication to wony about. Discard this packet.
Take back the eight remaining name cards. Thumb off four, so that you have four cards in
either hand. Repeat the very fair elimination process. Be sure to make Jacqueline look at
the display board and use her intuition. She makes her choice, and this time you can show
the discarded names as clearly as you like.
Alpha series set 1:Mentalism
21
So the eight names get whittled down to four, and the four become two. Here's the
handling for the final two. You have one in either hand.
"Jacqueline, it's your final choice. I don't want to say too much, but let me reassure you,
you're doing fine. Now, take one last look a t the display board. Use your intuition. I have
one name in my left hand, and one in my right. You are going to tell me to put the left
card on top, or the right card on top."
Make the appropriate gesture, as you saw me do at the lecture, of bringing your hands
together and miming either putting the left or the right on top. Separate your hands again,
so Jacqueline can make her choice. Bring your hands together slowly and carefully, so
everyone can see you aren't cheating. Place left on right or right on left, as Jacqueline
prefers, and extend you hand to Jacqueline so she can take her marker pen and write her
initials on the back of the card.
'You have finally committed yourself to one choice. Sign it for security"
Separate the roughed card, hand it to Jacqueline but don't let her look at it yet. Casually
flash the other name (actually a roughed pair with a single extra card at the back) as you
add it to the ditched pile. Retrieve the black prediction folder.
"Jacqueline, I'm confident you have done very well. [Addressing the audience a s a
whole]. Ladies and gentlemen, this experiment is interesting on two levels. Let me show
you what I mean"
For the first time, let Jacqueline look at the name she selected. She reads out 3ulia
Roberts'. Make sure everyone in the room sees this and hears it. Take the name card from
her, while you hand her the black prediction folder. Hold the name card so everyone can
see it, and have Jacqueline open the prediction. Everyone sees she is absolutely right as she
holds up the photo of Ms. Roberts.
This will win your customary round of applause, and eueyone will now believe the routine
is ouer. Enjoy this. Set aside the name card and the photo.
"I said this was interesting in two ways... but you have only seen one of them.
Jacqueline's intuition managed to find Julia Roberts. But to make this work, I tried to
help Jacqueline, to influence her, without her even realising it. You may have heard or
read about 'subliminal persuasion'. But it's very rare to see it demonstrated. Believe me,
it can be frighteningly powerful stuff. You will notice that I asked Jacqueline - and
indeed all of you - to look a t this display about a dozen times or more. There was a
reason. That reason, is subliminal persuasion."
Take out the pointer. Extend it dramatically. Tap out the letters:
"Jacqueline, every time I made you look a t the board, you were taking in a message
whether you realised it or not. It's all about the first letter on every line. Some are
random, just to hide the secret. But look... J - U - L - I -A, R - 0 - B - E - R - T - S. And
that spells, Julia Roberts. And that is the power of subliminal persuasion".
If you sell this correctly, you should now earn yourself an audible gasp of realisation,
followed by one of the strongest rounds of applause you have ever enjoyed.
Thoughts Arising
The forcing p r o c e d u r e
The routine as described uses a special packet of cards to force the name. If you think this is
too crude, by all means substitute a force you like. All I suggest is that it should at least
resemble a process of elimination, as opposed to just a straight 1-from-16 shot. For
completeness, here are some forcing suggestions.
Take away the rest of the cards, fan or spread them slightly with one hand and give them
out. You can then turn the card around - it only takes a little care to keep the cutaway
concealed - and show the name 'Julia Roberts'.
This contravenes my own earlier suggestion that the force should be an elimination process,
not a single 1-from-16 shot. This is a glaring lack of internal consistency, but I'm too old to
worry about it. As Walt Whitman once said, "I contradict myself? Very well, then I
contradict myself. I am vast. I contain multitudes".
Alternative #2: as above, with a minor tweak
You can modify the cutaway gimmick card so that the cutaway half-moon is not removed
entirely, but is attached to the card with a hinge (invisible Scotch tape works well). When
you want the cutaway for the 'second deal' process, it's there. When you want to straighten
the card out for display purposes, you can fold the cutaway part down and it therefore
bears more scrutiny.
Alternative #3: still with the name cards, but no gaffs or fakes
You could achieve the required force of 1 from 16 purely by equivocation (also called
"magician's choice" and several other names). Several people have written about good
equivoque technique, Max Maven being among the most lucid and authoritative. Another
great source of expertise is David Berglas, who probably got more mileage out of skilled
equivoque than anyone else. David Britland's superb book, 'The Mind and Magic of David
Berglas', contains much wisdom on this subject. Equivoque is fast, neat and direct. Its only
demerits are that (a)in less then expert hands, it can be less than convincing, and (b) some
people, in some audiences, can smell it a mile away.
Alternative #4: n o name cards, 'X' marks the spot process
Here's another forcing option. You create your 16 names so that a series of binary choices
can lead to the force name. For example, 8 names are male and 8 are female. You force
'female'. 4 of the female names are historical (a euphemistic way of saying 'dead') and the
other 4 are living. You force 'living'. 2 of them are singers and 2 are actresses, you force
actress. You're left with 2 actresses, and force Julia Roberts. How to achieve each binary
force? In each case, you have two cards (file cards or blank card stock). On the first, you
write the word 'Male' and on the other you write the word 'Female'. The spectator takes
these behind her back, mixes them up so she does not know which is which, and marks a
cross on the back of one of them with the pen you give her. In reality, the cross is already
on the back of the one you want to force, and the pen is non-writing. The non-writing pen
ruse has been used many times in mentalism. If you like it, you will love Basil Smith's
'Xoteric Forces' which takes this principle to new deceptive heights. I cannot give details
because it is a marketed dealer item, but I promise it is devastatingly clever and well-worth
investigating.
24
Turn away from Jacqueline. She picks up a small packet of cards. Turn around, and pick up
about half a dozen cards yourself. Say,
"Jacqueline, no-one knows how many cards you picked up, or whether it's a n odd or even
number. But I believe your intuition will have worked, and will help us find out who's in
thatblack folder."
Hold your packet of cards out in front of you, ready to count them. Tell Jacqueline you will
demonstrate what she is going to do. Say,
"Jacqueline, I don't know if you ever played 'loves me, loves me not' as a kid, but this
works the same way."
Take the top card of your packet, say "Female name" and openly and cleanly transfer this
card to the bottom of the packet. Take the next card off the top of your packet, say "Male
name" and discard it on to the table. Repeat this process. Now get Jacqueline to join in
with her packet of cards. Top card, she says "Female name", transfers to bottom. Next card,
she says "Male name", discards. Say
"It's the last card that counts... let's see if you end on male or female".
You stop your counting procedure, but Jacqueline continues with hers until she gets to the
end. She will end on "Female". If you haven't met the Matsuyama Force before, you might
suppose the outcome depends on whether she's holding an odd or even number of cards.
In fact, it makes no difference. Whichever value (e.g. male or female) is assigned to the
cards transferred to the bottom, as opposed to being discarded, will always be chosen. Try
it for yourself. You say to Jacqueline
"So, if your intuition is correct, the person inside that folder must be female. Okay, now
if we look at the Board we see eight female names, so it must be one of those. How can
we eliminate some more... oh, I see, look, some are historical figures no longer with us,
while others are very much alive".
You now repeat the process: Jacqueline picks up a random number of cards, and you help
her through the counting procedure. However, you can add a minor difference. Even
though Jacqueline is now familiar with the procedure, give her a quick demonstration again.
This time, take your first card, discard it on to the table, and say, "Hitorical" (or you can
use the word 'dead' if you don't think it will offend anyone). Take your second card, say
"Living" and transfer it to the bottom. S o whereas previously you started with a transfer to
the bottom of the packet, this time you start with a discard. To the audience, it should look
like a little variety for variety's sake.
Jacqueline follows the procedure, and ends up on 'Living'.
"So far so good. According to your instinctive choices, the person inside the folder must
be female, and someone still very much alive."
By repeating the Matsuyama Force procedure as often as required, you can force any result
you like - male or female, living or dead, actress or singer, Julia or another actress. This
force is clean, direct and deceptive. Its only demerit is that with repetition it can feel a bit
slow and long-winded.
Introduction
'Elephant From Matchbox' is a general principle with many applications in mentalism.
It enables you to offer any one-from-two choice, and to write down the answer
beforehand, such that you can always control the outcome. If you want the spectator
to be right, he will be right. If you want him to be wrong, he will be wrong. It does not
use psychological techniques, nail or band writers, cues or prompting. If you use the
spectator-as-psychicroutine, he has no idea how he is achieving his successful results.
28
horizontal lines in any of the illustrations, so please just imagine them. The pad should also
have reasonably stout cardboard covers.
To learn the basic handling, turn to the 10th page of the pad and write 'Heads'. Hold the
pad up in your right hand as illustrated, as if you were displaying it to an audience. Note:
I'm left-handed, so by all means swap left-for-right as you work with these notes.
The cover is closed, but your thumb marks the page on which you've just written. With a
gentle flick of your forearm and wrist, but very little movement, it's easy to make the pad
swing open at the page marked by your thumb.
Try it a few times to find the most natural position for you to hold the pad in this fashion,
and note whereabouts your thumb tends to grip the page. For most people, it is just a little
less than halfway up. Look at the knuckle of your thumb. You are using a 'lined' or 'ruled'
pad, with horizontal lines on every page. Find the line nearest to the knuckle of your thumb.
We'll call this the thumb line.
Open your pad at the 10th page. With your scissors, cut along the thumb line for a couple
of inches ( 5 4 . More specifically, this slit only needs to go as far as your thumb extends
across the page.
Having done this, turn to the 11th page and
write 'Tails'.
Turn back to the 10th page. Hold the pad as
shown, with your thumb half inside the slit.
Specifically, the lower part of your thumb is
resting on page 1 0 ('Heads'), while the tip of
your thumb has passed through the slit and is
resting on page 11 ('Tails'). Retaining this grip
with your thumb, close the pad and again
hold it up as illustrated above. We'll call this
the Display Start Position. You are now going
to open the pad in two slightly different ways.
First, with the pad still closed, slide the tip of your
thumb down a little, so it passes back out of the
slit. Then slide it back up a little, this time passing
over the slit and covering it up. (The illustration
shows a 'cut away' view of what is happening
under the pad's closed cover.) Your thumb is now
gripping the pad at page 10. Swing the pad
open, and the audience see 'Heads'.
Now try the alternative. Get back to the Display
Start Position. The pad is closed, and your
thumb is half inside the slit. Slide your thumb up
the page a little, so that even more of your
thumb passes through the slit. When you d o this,
the lower half of page 1 0 comes free, and is no
longer held by the lower portion of your thumb.
When you now swing the pad open, it opens at
page 11 and the audience see 'Tails'.
The necessary thumb adjustment is tiny, and can
be accomplished in a split second. This is the
basic handling.
The second challenge in the routine is going to be about whether an imaginary roulette spin
lands on red or black. So you need to create two more pages.
You have just prepared pages 10 and 11. Leave a couple of blank intermediate pages, and
then start preparing your next pair of challenge pages. It's the exact same procedure. Create
the double-thickness page. Leave it blank. On the next page, draw Rand B, and put a large
tick against the B. Turn back to the double-thickness page. Use your fine pencil to draw
your guideline R and B. Remember, in performance you will go over these fine lines with
your marker pen, so that the Rand B you draw will match the ones you have already
drawn on the pagebeneath. Make the secret slit, and you're done.
The third challenge will be about a choice between two shapes - a square and a triangle. So
you create a pair of pages accordingly. Same process... leave some intermediate blank
pages. Make your double-thickness page. On the next page, draw a triangle and a square,
and tick the square. On the double-thick page, put in the faint pencil guidelines, and cut the
slit.
The fourth challenge will be about whether a thought-of number falls between 1-50 or 50100.Prepare the two pages in the usual way, but with a slight addition. On the second page
of the pair, as well as ticking the 50-100 option, add a small '68?.
The fifth challenge will be about whether a thought-of famous person is male or female.
Prepare the two pages in the usual way, so that you can show either M for Male or F for
Female. As with the 'number' challenge, there is a slight addition. On the second page of
the pair, as well as ticking F for female, add a small 'Marilyn?.
You're all ready. You just need the pad and your black marker pen.
Pick up the pad and get ready to open it at the first double-thickness slit page. This is the
top page of the two which you prepared to deal with the coin toss challenge. It appears
blank to the audience, but actually bears very faint pencil traces which copy the H and T on
the page below. Casually flash this apparently blank page.
"All we know is that this coin is going to land heads or tails."
With your marker pen, write in H and T o n the blank page, following your pre-drawn pencil
guidelines. Show the audience the result, standing in the Display Position, and explain that
H is obviously for 'Heads' and T for 'Tails'. Turn the pad back towards yourself and say that
you are going to tick one of them. Disguise your writing actions however best you can, so
that no-one can tell where you put the tick. In fact, you tick H. Replace the cap on the pen.
Put your thumb into the secret slit, and stand with the pad closed in the Display Start
Position.
Ian Rowland Lecture Notes
But then ask her if she had a specific number in mind. If she happened to choose 37 or 68,
which is psychologically likely, you have an extra climax. If not, show that she was right
even though you had a different number in mind.
The fifth and final challenge works in a similar way. You say
"Jacqueline,you've done brilliantly well. We've worked with coins, roulette, shapes and
numbers. For your final psychic challenge, let's work with people. I'm going to imagine a
famous person walking into this room, and you're going to guess whether this person is
male or female. I'll tell you this person is no longer with us, but their name and image
will live forever. It's someone that everyone has heard of, a star, an icon of the twentieth
century. He or she still has millions of fans."
You pick up the pad and use the final pair of prepared pages. The audience see the blank
page. They see you write in M for 'Male' and F for 'Female', and you show these. Then,
with the pad towards yourself, you tick M for Male, and also write 'Elvis?. The other
prepared page takes care of the 'Female' option, and has 'Marilyn? added. With a little
luck, Jacqueline will come up with one of these names.
You take care of the outcome in the usual way. However, there's a strong chance that
Jacqueline will also get the exact name - Elvis or Marilyn. Here's an additional presentation
point. As soon as Jacqueline mentions her choice - male or female - mention the opposite
example that she could have picked. So if Jacqueline opts for 'Male', say
"Male? Good choice! You could have thought of... oh, let's say, Marilyn Monroe. She's
actually the most common choice. But you went for male, yes?"
and show that she was right. If she also got 'Elvis', then she gets added kudos. If she opts
for 'Female', say
"Female? Good choice! You could have thought of ... oh, let's say, Elvis Presley. He's
actually the most common choice. But you went for female, yes?"
Thoughts Arising
Elephant From Matchbox can be more or less any kind of mentalism routine you want.
If you want to be a super-mindreader, ask a spectator to just imagine tossing a coin and
seeing if it lands heads or tails. You focus on him, divine his secret thoughts, study his body
language and so on (depending what kind of patter you prefer) and write down your guess.
He announces whether he was thinking 'heads' or 'tails', and you show you guessed
correctly. You can d o the same with any 50-50 choice, and you can d o it as many times in a
row as you want - depending on how many pages you prepare in advance.
If you want to show you can predict the future, then you apparently write down 'heads' or
'tails' ahead of time, and then get the spectator to toss an imaginary coin or a real one, and
you can show that you predicted the outcome correctly. Again, this works with any 50-50
event, and you can d o it as often as you like.
If you want to build a routine around the psychic prowess of a spectator, you can use the
sort of 'five challenges' presentation I have already described. If you want to show that you
can out-guess the spectator, you can challenge him five times (maybe with a bet) and make
sure he guesses wrong every time.
Instead of one spectator facing five challenges, you can have five spectators who try one
challenge each. This is useful if you like to involve more people.
I don't think Elephant From Matchbox would be easy to use when working close-up.
However, it is suitable for any type of platform, stage or cabaret work, and you can work
34
with spectators either joining you on stage or simply staying where they are - seated or
standing. You can even d o this on TV, and read the mind of a viewer at home who is
phoning in to the studio.
- psychological forces
-
- acting
There is an excellent book called 'Psychology of the Psychic' by David Marks and Richard
Kamman. sub-titled A
' wnetratina scientific analysis of claims of psychic abilities'. In the
~ ~ ~ e n dthe
i xauthors
,
provide a list of the most common things ihat people draw when
invited to make a simple drawing.
The illustration below is derived from the list in the book, with some additions based on my
own experience and suggestions from other mindreaders. Marks and Kamman sorted their
list by frequency, whereas this list is sorted by theme or visual similarity. From the top:
-the circle motifs: sun, flower, apple, smiley face, spiral, circle with a cross in it, eye
- tree, ladder
- modes of transport: car, horse
Twenty one items in all. (I'm actually a brilliant freehand artist, and I could have drawn all
of these items with remarkable flair and skill. However, since most spectators draw fairly
crude scribbles, I've deliberately simulated this lack of talent for added realism. I trust this is
absolutely clear.)
You do not really need to memorise this list. Nevertheless, if you intend to be dabbling in
mentalism for any length of time, there is nothing to lose and lots to gain by committing this
list to memory, and it helps to memorise the items in the groups presented here. Now let's
look at the actual routine.
The Routine
Let us suppose you are working with a young woman called Jacqueline (just to pick a name
at random). First of all, it helps to present the item as a demonstration of her abilities, not
yours:
'You know there's more and more research these days suggesting that we all have some
kind of ESP. I mean, sure, there's a lot of nonsense talked about it as well, and if we all
had these amazing powers of ESP we wouldn't need telephones, would we? But leaving
all the nonsense asipe, it's surprising how many people can train themselves to kind of
'tune in' to some thoughts and impressions. Let me just try something with you. It's very
easy, and I think you'll do well".
This opening spiel has spiked four possibilities: cube, tree, stick figure, house. Get rid of the
sheet on which you just drew a cube and a tree.
You now need to make sure that you are left with just one piece of paper on which you will
make your own drawing later on. This is an important part of the method, for reasons that
will become clear later. S o if you are using a pad of paper, rip one sheet out for yourself
and give the pad to Jacqueline, saying "I'll just keep one piece for myself". Similarly, if you
are using loose sheets of paper, just take one that you say is for your own use, and make it
clear that you will have nothing to do with the rest. It is important that you end up with just
one piece of paper, and everyone knows this is the only piece of paper you will use.
Jacqueline now makes her drawing under whatever conditions of secrecy she desires. For
once in your life you are not trying to control her actions, glean any clues or accomplish any
trickery. Enjoy this moment. Savour the delicious feeling of being able to relax, with nothing
to conceal or worry about, and wear your halo of authentic innocence with pride. If there
are others present, some of them may be scrutinising your actions carefully, hoping to catch
any sign of trickery. Enjoy the fact that there is nothing for them to notice except your
sincerity and innocence.
When the gracious Jacqueline announces that she is ready, you can attempt your drawing
duplication.
Go through the usual 'Look at me and concentrate' rigmarole with Jacqueline, inviting her
to mentally focus on her drawing in her mind and to 'send' it to you. As far as possible,
arrange things so that no-one can see what you are drawing.
That's all. It may seem like quite a lot, but that's because we've gone through it step by
step. In actual fact, it's very simple. It's easy to memorise, and you could draw the whole
thing in about 20 seconds or less if you wanted to. How long you actually take over it
depends on your presentational style and the mood of the moment, but in general I think
you can 'sell' this for at least 1-2 minutes, and the longer the better (within reason).
You now invite Jacqueline to reveal her drawing so that you can compare what she was
sending with what you received.
Circular themes
In about 75% of cases, there will be some correspondence between Jacqueline's drawing
and the central circular motif that you have drawn. If she has drawn a sun, flower, apple/
fruit, smiley face, spiral, circle with a cross in it or eye, or anything else with a circular aspect
to it, you can credit her with a hit or a partial hit. All you have to do is find and emphasise
as much similarity between her drawing and yours as possible. In discussing the outcome,
don't be afraid to go over your sketch with your pen to strengthen the bits that correlate
well, and thereby diminish the importance of the bits that don't. It's quite amazing how far
you can push thiiidea, and revise the evidence, without detracting from people's
acceptance of the effect.
Where there are strong similarities, give Jacqueline credit and say those were the elements
that came through most clearly. Where the two drawings differ, or some elements don't
agree, blame yourself and say "Oh, those bits... 1 shouldn't have added them. 1 wasn't
paying close enough attention to what you were sending me".
Note that I d o not say you, the Performer, can claim a hit. Not at all. You make it dear that
this experiment is all about her abilities and psychic talents, and it is up to you to give her
as much credit as you can.
Spiral or triangular t h e m e s
In another 15%of cases, you will need to work a little harder to make Jacqueline look like a
success. If she has drawn a spiral, a boat based on a 'triangle' shape, a star of David or any
triangle-based motif, then you need to exploit the small drawings you made at the top of
the paper, before you folded the top section down.
Do not simply unfold the top part to show that you the drawings match or partially match.
It pays to be a little more subtle than that. Lay your piece of paper down, with the folded
over portion nearest Jacqueline. Act as if you are disappointed in yourself. Say, "Oh, this
sometimes happens. I've failed. I'm so annoyed with myself. You were fine, you did really
well, but it's my fault. I've got to learn to trust my first impressions. I d o wish I'd just stuck
with the first impressions 1 got from you."
At this point, give a half-hearted gesture towards the folded-over portion of the paper,
without over-selling it. You can guarantee that Jacqueline will now be very keen to see what
your first impressions were, as will anyone else present. She will reach for the paper and
unfold the top section to see what you drew. As before, your job is to find ways to give
Jacqueline as much credit as you possibly can. The bits that are right are the "clearest
impressions I got from you", and the bits that aren't are just down to your own mistakes
and your lack of concentration.
Pets
If Jacqueline has drawn a dog, cat or fish, then once again you must act as if you are
disappointed with yourself for not having concentrated more on the clearest impressions
you were getting. Point to what you wrote in the upper left section of the page. "You know
something? That's what I wrote first of all, and then my concentration just wandered, 1
didn't think it was going to be that simple so I started making it more complicated. I'm
sorry, you were fine but 1just didn't do well here".
The claim that this is what you wrote first is true (forgetting about the 'folded over' part
which you rejected when you started again). It is supported by the fact that these words
appear in the upper left portion of the page, which is, presumably, where you would start
your writing or drawing.
Alpha series set 1:Mentalism
O t h e r possibilities
If it's a car or horse, or something else entirely, you don't have a satisfactory 'out' and you
will just have to take the blame for it not having worked. However, you can at least take a
chance and ask Jacqueline, "Did you honestly not think of something else first? Was that
really the first idea that came to you?"
There's a fair chance that she will say she did think of something else, at least momentarily,
and hopefully this 'something' will have some correspondence with part of your drawing.
If her drawing has no connection with yours, and the 'Was that your first thought? ruse
hasn't worked, then you have one last chance. You can identify one of the commoner
motifs that are in your drawing, such as a flower or a cat, and ask Jacqueline, "Tell me
something. I didn't do very well here and I'm sorry I failed, but is there any reason why
flowers / a cat should be on your mind today, or recently?".
Should she give any sort of positive response, you can try to massage this into a partial
success if you think it's worth it. For example, perhaps she owns a cat. If so, ask her if there
was some incident involving the cat recently, some little story or something unusual. You are
almost certain to unearth some sort of incident or story, in which case you can claim that
you tuned in to her feelings, her emotions, and for some reason the 'cat' came through so
that's what you wrote.
It's up to you how much mileage you try to get from this. You can say that it's quite
amazing when someone does a drawing and they manage to send it to you, but how much
more amazing when you manage to tune into something that hadn't even been drawn! With
luck, this story will improve in the re-telling, and you will be credited with having managed
to reproduce someone's thoughts even though nothing was written down. On such slender
supports are many mighty and miraculous reputations made.
And that is the No Method Drawing Duplication.
Thoughts Arising
Pipe d r e a m o r practical?
If you said you entertained a certain healthy skepticism about this item, I would understand
your point of view. Let me give you a cast-iron assurance that yes, I have used this many
times in real life, and yes, it does work. If I hadn't tried it out in real life, I wouldn't publish it
here. In fact, although the NMDD started out as a kind of 'emergency life saver', these days
1 often use it in non-emergency situations. I am not referring to formal shows, where of
course I prefer to take a more sure-fire route. But in all relatively informal situations, I often
try out the NMDD even if I happen to have a more sure-fire method available. For one
thing, I find it interesting and exciting precisely because the outcome isn't guaranteed.
Secondly, I find that over time I'm getting better at making it work - both in terms of subtly
constraining the spectator's choice, and also in terms of improvising during the climax so as
to make it look as successful as possible. Of course, there are times when it fails completely.
So long as it's not the only thing people ever see you do, I think occasional failure is an
acceptable price to pay.
Re-statement of aims
Secondly, let me repeat what this is, and what it is not. It is a possible route to success, or
partial success, when you have no formal method to hand, and the standard 'impromptu'
methods are not going to work. 1 am hammering this point to death for a good reason. I
once gave a lecture where I presented this item, and afterwards I heard someone say, "Why
Ian Rowland Lecture Notes
take such a chance when there are so many reliable methods around, like dipboards or..."
and luted several dealer items that facilitate drawing duplication. This same point was then
echoed on various internet forums. "Why rely on such a chance approach when there are
so many sure-fire methods around...". Excuse me while I step outside and scream.
A final thought
Here's one final thought. If you are working one-on-one, with nobody else present, then
there is no need for Jacqueline to actually draw anything at all. You can take her through
the same preamble, but invite her to just think of her 'drawing' without actually drawing
anything on paper. It obviously makes no difference to the 'method'. You just draw exactly
what you would draw in the normal No Method Drawing Dupe routine. You take the risk
that Jacqueline might lie to you, but it's up to you judge if you can trust her.
This 'nothing written down' approach is worth trying occasionally, just in case it works and
you get a strong hit (which is bound to happen from time to time). If it does, encourage the
person concerned to tell everyone about your astonishing experiment, and how she
successfully transmitted her thoughts to you even though she wrote down nothing.
book, 'Psychological Subtleties', which is absolutely required reading for anyone interested
in mentalism. The drawing I present here is an amalgam of all sorts of ideas and small
refinements which I built up over many years, starting long before I saw Banachek's
wonderful book. However, this version does incorporate Banachek's idea as well, and I
readilyacknowledge this. When I first lectured on this item, Banachek was gracious enough
to allow me to refer to his own 'universal drawing' in the lecture. I thanked him at the time
and I thank him again now.
Alpha series set 1: Mentalism
I would also like to thank Mike Hutchinson for introducing me not just to the Marks &
Kamman book, but also to co-author David Marks! Mike has been an invaluable friend for
many years, and is very good at introducing me to interesting books and people that I
doubt I would have met otherwise.
I said that the NMDD started out as a kind of life-saver, which reminds me to mention that
Michael Weber's superb book 'Life Savers' is well worth reading. It is packed to the brim
with good ideas for 'emergency situations', and although it's not a mentalism book as such
it contains plenty for any mentalist to enjoy.
Preludes
'Preludes' is not a trick or routine. Preludes are just an idea that I have found to be
tremendously useful, and which you might find useful as well. Put simply, Preludes are four
double-sided picture cards which you can make and cany with you at all times. They have
a least three uses:
The Cards
My set of Preludes consists of four double-sided cards. These yield seven different images to
talk about (why not eight? You will see why in a moment). Most of these images are
colourful, and contain a photographic level of detail. As these lecture notes can only indude
black-and-white line illustrations, I can't convey the appearance of the cards very well in the
illustrations on the next page. However, I usually have some actual examples with me at the
lecture, so I hope you have had a chance to see them. Failing that, if for some reason you
want to know what my set of cards actually look like, you can always contact me via my
website (www.ianrowland.com).
The seven images are as follows:
1. Marilyn Monroe illusion. Viewed upside down, it seems like an easily-recognised photo of
Marilyn. Viewed right way up, it is seen to be grossly distorted.
2. Clown 1 Circus illusion. The 'Clown face' rotated 90 degrees becomes 'the whole circus'
3. Skull illusion. From a distance looks like a skull, but it's actually a lady in front of a
mirror.
4. Twin circles illusion. Stare at the dot in .the middle and move your head backwards and
forwards. The circles seem to rotate in opposite directions.
5. Cow's head puzzle picture. Seems to be meaningless jumble of splodges. When viewed
correctly, is a photo image of a cow's head.
6. The Adelson 'chequer board' illusion. Features two squares, marked with an X, which
seem to be differentshades but which are exactly the same colour. You can prove this by
placing a 'mask' over the image so that only these two squares show through.
7. Hour Youth Income. My own invention. A written phrase that seems to make no sense.
When spoken out loud, the words suddenly form a suitable message.
I created the artwork for the cards as a single page in my computer graphics program (the
mighty Corel Draw). I print this page out on to one sheet of 8 transparent, self-adhesive
inkjet labels. I applied the labels to double-blank Bicyde card stock and trimmed the
excess. This gave me four double-sided cards:
1.Marilyn / Clown
2. Skull / Circles
3. Cow / Chequerboard
4. Hour Youth / mask for chequerboard illusion
On the fourth card, 1 took a sharp modelling knife and cut out two diamond shapes. This
means this card can act as a mask for the Chequerboard illusion (thiipoint will become
clearer later on). These cut-outs do not affect the 'Hour Youth' message on the other side.
I cany these four cards around with me in my wallet at all times. They take up next to no
room, can last forever and are easily replaced even if I lose them or give them away. Now
let's look at how to use them.
"I think you'll find this fascinating. In a moment I'm going to show you a photograph of
a very famous person, and then I'll ask you who it is. This is not a trick question. She
must be one of the most recognisable people of all time, and I promise that if you think
you know the answer then you probably do! So I'll give you three seconds and then you
can tell me the answer. It's upside down to make it a bit harder, but trust me, I'm sure
you'll get i t right".
1 then take away my hand for three seconds, counting out loud "One second, two seconds,
three seconds" and then I cover the image again. The spectator will say it's a photo of
Marilyn Monroe.
"Well done! Absolutely right. Now your mind has just done something absolutely
remarkable. Out of all the millions of faces you have ever seen, your mind has just
instantly located the correct label... in this case 'Marilyn Monroe'. And scientists still
aren't sure how the mind can do this. But there's something even more fascinating. You
have just managed to 'recognise', or stick a label on to, a n image you've never seen
before in your life."
I then take my hand away, and slowly rotate the card 180 degrees so that people can see
how distorted the image appears. Turning the card very slowly is important, because it gives
the spectator a nice 'surprise' moment as the 'recognised' face becomes the 'hideous' face. I
then give this a 'positive thinking' spin, like this:
"I talk to people all the time about how the mind works, and how you can harness your
mind's potential, and this [the illusion] actually illustrates a n important point. We often
stick a label on a situation that we think we recognise. We say That's something I'd be
no good at' or 'I could never achieve that', and we're sticking mental labels on to
situations we think we recognise. But we could be mistaken, just like with this.
By changing the label we stick on a given situation, we often change how we approach
it, and this can open the door to achieving things we didn't realise we could achieve. So
next time you find yourself sticking an unhelpful label on, such as 'I recognise this kind
of challenge - it's the sort of thing I could never do', realise that the label might not be
accurate. Try sticking a different label on it, one that says, 'This might be quite a tough
challenge, but I'm pretty sure I can wpe with it' ."
If the 'positive thinking' spin isn't appropriate, then 1 might just use the Marilyn illusion as a
prelude to a favourite close-up mentalism item, like this:
"My field is the magic of the mind, and this [the illusion] illustrates some of the ideas
that I play with when I entertain people. You see, you look a t it one way and your mind
sees something fairly normal, fairly ordinary: a picture of a famous movie star. Look a t it
another way, and it's very --ordinary!
And my job is to explore that gap, where the
ordinary becomes the extraordinary, and it all happens here, in the mind. For
example ..."
/ Circus illusion
If I have shown the Marilyn illusion, I generally follow it up with the clown illusion on the
other side. I present it the same way, by covering it up and revealing it for three seconds.
Here's the kind of presentational patter I use:
"Let's try just one more. This time, I'm asking you what job this person does. So I'll show
you the picture, and if you think he looks like a doctor then you'll say 'Doctor'; if you
think he looks like a n acrobat, you'll say 'Acrobat'. It's dead easy. Honestly, I've never
known anyone not get this right. Here we go..."
After the three seconds the spectator will say 'Clown' and I cover the image again.
"Absolutely correct. It's a picture of a clown. Where does a clown work, or where would
you expect to find several of them?"
I take my hand away and very slowly rotate the image through 90 degrees, so that the
'clown' becomes a 'circus'. I hold it in the circus position for a while, because it takes most
people a few seconds to perceive the new picture. Here's my typical positive thinking spiel
about this:
"This illustrates a really important point. Sometimes, we only see part of the whole
picture, here represented by the clown. It can be really useful to train your mind to look
a t things in a different way, so that you see the whole picture, or a t least a more
complete version. This is represented here by the circus.
However, it does sometimes work the other way round! There are times when we're less
effective than we could be because we take in too much - the whole circus - and we need
to focus on the part or the detail that really matters - here represented by the clown.
It's a matter of learning to look a t things in the right way, the appropriate way, to get
the results you want. Sometimes, we need to re-train ourselves to see the whole picture
[circus], and sometimes we need to screen out the larger picture and focus on the
specifics that matter [clown]. This is all part of using your mind effectively".
I hope these two examples give you the basic idea. Each illusion can be used as a
springboard either to talk about various aspects of the mind, positive thinking and mind
training, or just to set up various themes and faux-explanationswhich we tend to work with
in mind magic. Now that you have the basic idea, let me deal with the remaining illusions
more briefly.
This illusion is more well-known than some of the others. Nonetheless, it is still a delightful
image which most people tend to like seeing. The fact that it seems to be one thing, and
then on closer inspection is revealed to be something quite different, provides scope for any
number of different presentational possibilities.
I have adopted the artwork slightly so that the image incorporates a small card, the two of
spades. This tends not to be noticed until it is pointed out. The presence of thii card means
you can perform Chuck Smith's stunning effect called 'Imagination' from his book 'What
if?'. It's a great piece of mental magic, and.worth buying the book for.
Circles
This is the best example I know of apparent motion generated from a static image. All you
have to do is hold the card up, stare at the centre dot and move your head back and forth.
The circles not only seem to rotate, but they do so in opposite directions.
As with all of the Preludes cards, this lends itself to several presentational themes - learning
to see a different way / seeing what isn't there / not seeing what is there / the same
opportunity being viewed two different ways / the results you see being changed by the way
you choose to see... and so on.
Cow's Head
This is a 'puzzle picture'. If you don't know what it's a picture of, it can look like random
splodges. After a time, your brain does its magic and fits the splodges together to make a
cow's head. Once you do know what it is, it's impossible not to see it.
Alpha series set 1: Mentalism
All you do is give the card to the spectator and ask him if he can see what it is. It's up to
you whether you help him by at least telling him the correct orientation.
I sometimes perform the reveal like this. I hold the card in the correct orientation and say
"Behold, one two three! [snap fingers] The amazing appearing cow! Look, it's a cow and
she's turned her head to the side to look straight a t you. Here's a n ear, here's another.
Here's her eyes, the front of her face, her dark nose."
Once you point everything out in this way, most people will see the cow's head straight
away. You just made a cow appear from nowhere right in front of their eyes! This is quite a
piece of dose-up magic. If I were you I would encourage people to tell their friends about
the amazing performer who made a cow appear from nowhere! It's the kind of story that
enhances one's reputation.
How you use this to segue into some mind chat or mind magic is, as ever, up to you. My
usual line goes something like this:
W e are all swimming in a sea of great opportunities all the time, but most of us just
don't see them. The difference between successful people and the rest is not that the
successful people get opportunities that the rest of us don't. It's that they train
themselves to see these opportunities. And the funny thing is that opportunities can be
as big and a s obvious as cow, standing right in front of us, but we just don't notice them!
So... that's the secret of success... keep your eyes open for cows!"
Adelson illusion
Also known as the chequerboard illusion. Invented by Edward Adelson, whose website (at
the time of writing) is:
http://www-bcs.mit.edu,/people/adeLson/ade1son.html
I simply show the picture to the spectator and let her look at it for a while. She will not see
anything very strange about it. Then I explain that the two s q u m marked with an X are
exactly the same shade and colour. I generally try to encourage a certain amount of healthy
debate and discussion about this, before I provide the 'mask' card to prove that this is h e .
Most people instinctively want to try it for themselves several times - without mask, with
mask - before they can bring themselves to believe it.
I find this illusion generates a lot of discussion and interest. The way I generally 'tweak it' is
to my,
'The important thing here is not just that your mind could make a mistake. The point is
that your mind can see it both ways. You can still see how the squares look as if they're
different, and yet with just a little help [the paper or cardboard mask] you can see
they're in fact the same. Sometimes, that's all the mind needs to see things in a new and
more accurate way. It can be a business problem, a fresh challenge... whatever. When
you face something that looks daunting or difficult, you can often help your own mind to
see it differently, And when you see differently, you think differently, and when you
think differently you can achieve different - and more positive - results."
H o u r Youth Income
I made this up some time ago for a lecture on critical thinking and problem solving. All I do
is say to someone, "I'm interested in your opinion. Please read this to yourself and tell me if
you agree or not."
The aim here is to get people trying to read it to themselves silently, using their inner mental
voice, rather than reading it out loud. Most people will try to make sense of it and get
absolutely nowhere. Indeed, so long as they concentrate on the words as words, it remains
utterly incomprehensible. They only need a little coaxing, however, to read it out loud and
to hear the words as sounds, which yield the message, 'How you think makes a difference
to what you think'. Which is a lesson in itself.
Thoughts Arising
I said at the start that I find the Preludes have three uses. I'd just like to elaborate on this
point.
Rrst of all, they are a good way to get people in the right frame of mind for some close-up
mind magic. When you show the cards and start demonstrating the different illusions, you
are doing a number of useful things.
1.You are making yourself the focus of attention, and getting the people near you into the
habit of listening to you, following instructions, responding to cues and otherwise doing
as they are told! In other words, you are conditioning them to be good spectators.
2. You are raising your status, since you are the provider of the interest and you are talking
knowledgeably about the mind and how it works (or at least pretending to d o so).
3. You are giving people fun that they can share. I find Preludes are very good for building
up a small, intimate audience because people usually want to try the illusions on their
friends.
S o in all of these ways you are creating ideal circumstances for launching into some of your
favourite pieces of close up mind magic.
Preludes are also very useful in social and informal circumstances where, for whatever
reason, you don't want to perform any tricks but still want to provide some interest or
entertainment. This can often happen. For example, perhaps the circumstances aren't really
suitable for performing mentalism - such as in a busy restaurant or an overcrowded party.
Or you may feel that there are one or two undesirables present who would only make life
difficult if you were to start performing (sometimes, even though you can deal with such
people, it's nice not to have to). Or maybe you've been working too hard, this is your first
night 'off' in a long while, and you want to give yourself a break from performing! With the
Preludes, you can still entertain people for a few minutes, and use the cards as a way of
making your mark and letting people know the sorts of things you're into, without actually
performing any tricks.
Finally, Preludes make great promotional give-aways. In my own case, I don't give the cards
away very often. Normally, I just give out my regular business card. However, if I happen to
meet a very important contact, and I want to make absolutely sure that they will remember
me, then I give away one of the cards and point out that my contact information is written
down the side. They always keep the card and show it to other people, thereby creating a
chain of publicity and awareness. Once I'm home, I just print out another sheet of Preludes,
grab a blank card, replace the card I gave away and my set is complete again!
If you give away the Skull card without having pointed out the small two of clubs/spades,
you can perform an effect so strong it should be illegal. You can phone the person you gave
Alpha series set 1: Mentalism
51
it to at some later date, check that they have the card with them, and then perform Chuck
Smith's 'Imagination' routine with them Qver the hone. Thii will knock them into the
middle of next week.