Volume 2 Issue 2Mar 2003

Center Tear

the thinking persons journal

Volume 2 Issue 2

Mar 2003

Doesn't time fly? Only yesterday it was February.......!!

Well it's been a pretty busy period for me - the new show innerPsyche has taken off and is
receiving some great reviews, which is great news for Lesault and myself after all the hard work.
The new book (Rainbow Readings) is being tweaked and will hopefully go to print at the end of
March.

CENTER TEAR has now surpassed itself and has a readership of over 300. Let's just hope this
thing doesn't get out of control... To all those that have submitted effects and essays so far many
thanks. We're now getting input from all over the world... Add to that effects coming soon from
Banachek, Larry Becker and Ted Lesley. All for the price of NOTHING.... All we ask is this - 'If you
get something from CENTER TEAR, give something back'.

For those who like their Magick with a Bizarre flavour, check out www.dragonskull.co.uk for details
of The Gathering 2003.

I'd just like to close by welcoming our new readers from PEA, think there's about 260 of you guys -
so welcome to the party...

Arcane

Seven Keys To Dreamstate by Scott Creasey

Timing the fall! by Max Gordon

Emotional Reaction by Dr Adrian Solon (Adrian Bint)

Center Piece by Kenton Knepper

The Impossible Prediction by Rod Bourne

Another Shade by Alain Bellon

Elementary by Gardinski

QWERTY Update By David Lang

NLP and Products for Mentalists: My Thoughts & Experience (cont)

by Rex Sikes

Review

Deadly Mentalism by Ben Rayot
Big Brother - Game Show routine by Max Gordon

Volume 2 Issue 2Mar 2003

Seven Keys To Dreamstate

by Scott Creasey

Many years ago I bought
Pentalock form Repro
Magic, which is one of
the many gaffed locks
that have been devised
to perform Annemann’s
Seven Keys to Baldpate.

This version came with 5 keys, a brass
padlock gaffed on the pendulum
principle (any key will open the lock
depending which way up it is held), and
a clear plastic folder in which to lock
some money. My feeling was that
plastic folder idea took what could be a
great piece of mentalism and made it
into a sucker trick. With this in mind, up
until a year ago I had only ever used the
lock to demonstrate my lock-picking
prowess when doing escapology
demonstrations.

Brainstorming with the equipment I hit
upon an idea that seems to work well
and has a sort of in built logic for the
use of the lock and keys.

Effect
After talking about dream interpretation,
our wizard shows a note pad, which he
keeps at the side of his bed so that he
can write down any dreams he has. He
explains that sometimes he wakes up in
the middle of the night after a very vivid
dream and sometimes he remembers
them when he wakes in the morning.
Either way he always writes down the
date and time of the dream, tries to give
it a title and include a few lines about
the subject. Sometimes this also
includes a picture or two.

He then shows the most recent page in
the notebook has been ripped out and
explains that last night's dream was
somewhat surreal and very vivid, so

vivid in fact he feels it may be a
premonition. Removing a clear plastic
bag from his case he explains he is
going to try to recreate last nights
dream and see if his theory is correct.

From the bag he removes a small flat
black box that he explains is made from
the same material as the black box in an
aeroplane, at least it was in his dream.
The box is locked shut with a brass
padlock. Also in the bag can be seen 5
keys. The wizard explains that only one
of the keys opens the lock. Five people
from the audience are invited to choose
a key and each is given the opportunity
to change their mind.

Once all five participants are happy with
their key, the wizard picks up the lock
and box holding them by the box only
(never touching the lock) and offers it to
each person in turn.

Only one person’s key fits. She is given
the box to open and asked to remove
the contents: this is seen to be the page
ripped from the dream note book, folded
into four. She is asked to read out the
dream on the paper and it goes
something like this.

2.30am 12/11/02

Just been awoken by a really vivid
dream about an attractive lady with
blonde hair and glasses who seems to
be wearing all black and feeling
nervous.

She seems to be the only person
amongst many who holds the key that
can unlock my dreams.

Ah well back to sleep.
The dream description of course
matches perfectly the lady who chose
the correct key.

Volume 2 Issue 2Mar 2003

Method
Ok, quite simple and I probably don’t
need to tell you. You will need any
version of Seven Keys to Baldpate, and
a black plastic box. I use one that came
from Staples (the famous mentalists'
prop supplier) and is for carrying
individual floppy disks. I just drilled a
hole big enough for my padlock through
the end that opens. You also need a
notebook full of dreams with one page
ripped out. I use the notebook in the
next effect as a follow on so it actually
does have a load of dreams written in it,
but you don’t have to let them read it, so
it could just be full of scribble.

Oh, and then there is the pre-show
work. OK, sort of pre-show. Before you
start, just spot someone (I always use a
woman) and on the piece of paper
ripped from the note pad write out your
dream as in the effect, obviously
describing the person you are going to
use and changing the dates accordingly.
Fold this up and put it in the black box,
lock it and you are ready to go.

Just a couple of notes here. If you are
working from a stage, it is best to wait
until everyone is seated before you spot
the person you want to use. Make sure
they are on the front row and therefore
easily accessible. Also if you are into
pre-show work you can add more info to
the dream, (star sign or initials etc.)

These are the bare bones of the effect
that I use. You can make the dream as
surreal as you wish and add as many
predictions as you wish, just don’t take it
too far (i.e. someone is thinking of the
Ace of Spades).

Enjoy

© 2002 Scott Creasey

Timing the fall!

by Max Gordon

Routine:
Following a talk on
telekinesis, the
performer offers to
demonstrate.

He places a block of wood against a
wine glass and has two members of the
public take his pulse. Both
acknowledge that they can feel a pulse
and with their free hand beat the pulse
they feel. As they beat, it becomes
obvious that they are getting out of time.
They start to feel the pulse weaken and
then they both stop beating. At that
exact moment, the block of wood falls
over away from the glass. The pulse
immediately returns and everything can
be examined.

OK so this is pretty obviously a
telekinetic timber routine. What differs is
that you KNOW when it is going to tip.

Without giving away the method,
Telekinetic Timber is temperature
sensitive, so the timing will differ with
every venue. The trick is to know how
long it takes and then stop your pulse at
that point.

Prior to the performance, I set up the
timber and time it a few times to
establish how long it takes. Amazingly,
once it has reached room temperature,
the falls will all be within 2-3 seconds of
each
Other. This gives you plenty of time to
stop talking just before the timber falls.

I needed a reason take off my watch so
that I could keep an eye on the time. By
having two people take my pulse it was
essential to remove my watch and place
it on the table.

Volume 2 Issue 2Mar 2003

The pulse gimmick is made from three
loops of cord. One around each armpit
and one joining the two at the back. A
sort of string shoulder holster! On each
of the shoulder loops I threaded a
strong but light ball about 2" diameter. I
used hard plastic cat play balls. These
are kept forward of the armpits until
needed. They are ready to be moved
into place just before the effect.

This routine was originally published in
SYZYGY but was altered without
permission by Lee Earle.

© 2002 Max Gordon

Emotional Reaction

by Dr Adrian Solon

(aka Adrian Bint)

Effect

The mentalist

explains that

emotions are
very powerful

forces, so

powerful that

he can often feel exactly what emotion
another person is feeling and, indeed,
can even see what mental thoughts or
images are giving rise to the emotion.
The mentalist then selects a member of
the audience, perhaps someone who is
a very emotional person, on to the stage
or out to the front to assist. The
mentalist then shows a deck of about 40
white cards to the audience. The
audience can see that the cards have
different feelings and emotions written
on them in large black letters, for
example ‘joy’, ‘fear’, ‘envy’ etc; the
reverse sides of the cards are seen to
be blank. The mentalist then turns to the
assistant and, turning the cards face
down, gives her a free choice of any
card in the deck, instructing her to keep
the face of the card hidden.

The assistant, who is now standing well
away from the mentalist and facing the
audience, is asked to visualise an image
relating to the emotion or feeling on the
card.

She is asked to imagine that the image
is of something that is actually
happening to her right now.

The mentalist concentrates and begins
to get impressions of the image and the
emotion behind it. He might see, for
example, two bright eyes and get a
strong impression of a green colour. He
asks the assistant if this is a creature,
perhaps a green snake. She agrees
that it is. He says that the snake
appears to be crawling up her leg. She
again agrees that it is. Finally the
mentalist states that he has a powerful
feeling of envy and the woman agrees
that that is the word on the card. She is
thanked for her help and her strong
emotional reaction to the word on the
card.

The Secret
The deck of cards is constructed from
double-blank cards using the rough and
smooth principle, as in the well-known
Invisible Deck. The twenty face cards
each have a single word on the face,
expressing a feeling or emotion. The
twenty hidden cards of the pairs all have
the same thing written on them. In the
example above, the message is:

ENVY

Visualise a green

snake with bright

eyes crawling

up your leg.

You can easily make this deck using
roughing spray. Some people prefer to
put a small blob of an adhesive that
stays tacky in the centre of the faces of
the hidden cards.

Volume 2 Issue 2Mar 2003

Performance points
The essence of this effect is that the
assistant has a quite different
perception of what is happening from
that of the audience. The assistant is
asked to the front before the deck is
shown to the audience, so that she
never sees the deck fanned through to
show the different face cards. The
mentalist also shows the audience the
blank backs, again ensuring that the
assistant never sees the face cards.
When the deck is fanned face down for
the card selection, the assistant is
asked to simply touch one card, she can
also change her mind if she wishes. The
performer then cleanly pulls the touched
card from the deck and gives it to the
assistant. ‘ And the rest is theatre’.

Acknowledgement
The inspiration for this effect came from
the concepts in Bruce Bernstein’s
publication ‘Perception is Everything’
especially the ‘Pseudo-telepathy’
routine.

PS If anyone would like to put this effect
into commercial production, please get
in touch with me.
([e-mail])

© 2002 Dr Adrian Solon (Adrian Bint)

Center Piece

by Kenton Knepper

Many years ago, I lived

in Acapulco, Mexico
for a while. One of

the ideas I had while

there was based on

some pottery being

sold to tourists.

When I returned to the

States, I discovered Docc Hilford was
doing a rousing readings business using

a center tear. He added the brilliant
notion of having the pieces of the
client’s paper stuck down into a vase.
This correlated to my idea of the vases I
had seen in Acapulco. Docc’s use and
method are completely different, and
you should study his work on this, to be
certain. My idea was most likely a
subconscious elaboration based on the
thoughts of Orv Meyer and Robert
Harbin.

This may be played as psychic,
mediumistic, ceremonial, metaphorical
or perhaps a strict conditions test. I
suggest however not to put too much
audience challenge into the
presentation. Essentially a client prints
a clear word, two if they must, on to a
small square of paper. This is folded by
the client into quarters - ala typical
center tear procedure.

She is told to focus intently on her
subject, and place the paper down into
the neck of a decorative vase. “This is
not merely to be sure not a soul may
see what you have written. Placing your
thought deep into the vase is a symbolic
gesture. From time immemorial, the
vase has represented the human body,
and the subconscious mind. The
subconscious is said to be the doorway
to the Universal Consciousness. It best
understands symbolic action, and goes
to work upon all symbolic acts. Having
placed your thought deep into the
symbolic subconscious, I should soon
get a sense of what is on your mind”.

The performer notices that the paper is
stuck in the neck of the vase, and has
not made its way fully into the vase
itself. He gives the client a stick of
incense, ceremonial wand, dowel, or
pen, and has the client “force that
thought into the depths where our minds
are as one”. The client does this until
she is satisfied the paper is deep inside
the vase.

Volume 2 Issue 2Mar 2003

Naturally, the performer, medium,
mentalist, or charlatan begins to
describe the very thought the client has
on her mind.

The method is a special

vase, but do not despair.

You will find these vases

prevalent in many
forms. In the
States, we call

them “planters”.

These are vases

with a piece of one

side cut open. A

great variety of shapes

and styles are to be had. In normal use,
soil and a plant are placed into the
opening, so that the plant grows from
the inside to the outside of the vase. It
supposedly looks a little like a vase from
ancient ruins with a plant growing out of
it. Of course, we performers are not
exactly normal people, so we will not
use this in the normal way.

You are sure to have the idea by now.
The open part of the vase is never
shown to anyone. To the client or an
audience, the vase appears simply to be
a solid vase. The client drops the folded
paper into the vase at the top opening.
Some may get the paper all the way
down into the vase. Other people will
try, and the paper will get stuck in the
neck. Regardless, some sort of stick is
used to be sure the paper is well within
the body of the vase. What is unknown
is the stick helps open the paper inside
the vase, so it may be read through the
open back. If the writing is positioned
incorrectly, the stick can stir the paper
into position.

For those who would rather not use a
wand or stick, purchase a larger neck
vase. In this case, the stick does not
open the paper of course. You must
use the thumb of the hand that holds
the vase to open the folds. As many

mentalists are used to
popping open a folded
billet, this is not as
difficult as some might
think. In fact,
Harbin had a billet
box, which allowed
the thumb and first
finger to do this sort
of work.

A vase isolated on a
table however, with the performer never
touching the vase or the paper seems
very fair. As the paper appears to be
completely out of access to the
performer, manipulating it with the stick
is not an issue. No one suspects that
the reason for tapping the paper deeper
is so it can be read! It suggests just the
opposite. I mention the vase being on a
table, as the vase should also be near a
wall or upstage. While this is not vital to
the working, it does help cure most
angle problems and keeps any skeptical
person blocked subtly. You will find
your own best management naturally.
Of course, if the client or audience were
to know of the big gaping hole in the
back of the jar - the jig would be up. So,
we handle this by planning wisely
instead of acting nervously. One might
do a Weerdist presentation and “mix
your thoughts with the ashes” of a
famed psychic, pharaoh, or twisted
relative. Whatever your passion, I hope
this stirs your psychic imagination.

© 2002 Kenton Knepper

The Impossible Prediction

by Rod Bourne

(The Man with the Entertaining Mind)

Effect - An opaque bag is placed on the
table. Into the bag is placed a pack of
cards. An envelope containing a
prediction is given to an observer for
safekeeping. A member of the

Volume 2 Issue 2Mar 2003

audience is invited to place their hands
into the bag and cut the cards several
times. The top three cards of the deck
are now removed and placed face down
on the table. The Magician dives his
hand into the bag and removes a fan of
cards, showing that any of the cards
could have been chosen.

The three cards selected, unseen,
inside the bag, are now displayed.

The Prediction envelope is opened and
found to contain duplicates of the
chosen cards.

Required - A three way forcing deck.
Three Jumbo cards to match the forcing
deck for the prediction and an envelope
to place them in. Six indifferent cards
with backs to match the forcing deck.
A change bag made of thick corduroy
(See * below), which should not be too
large.

Performance - Place the bag, with the
indifferent cards in one side of the bag,
flat down on the table. Hand the
envelope to someone for safekeeping.
Casually handle the force deck and give
it a false shuffle.

Handing to deck to a spectator, you ask
them to place the deck into the bag, as
this I as close to 'Laboratory Conditions'
as you can get. No one can see what is
happening, so the choice cannot be
influenced in any way.

You state that there is clearly insufficient
room inside the bag to execute a shuffle
(whilst saying this mime an exaggerated
over hand shuffle) so they are to
completely cut the cards two or three
times. (Whilst stating this, mime the
action of completely cutting the cards so
that the helper is in no doubt as to what
they should do.)

Once the helper has completed the
task, confirm with them and the rest of
the audience that 'They must agree that
no one could possibly know, for sure,
what the top three cards of deck are'

Have the top three cards removed and
placed face down on the table. Picking
up the bag you remove the six
indifferent cards. Fanning them,
comment that any of these cards could
have been chosen.

Have the prediction envelope opened by
its custodian, and display the card it
contains. Turn over the three 'freely
selected' cards to show that you were
able to predict which cards would be
selected.

* The Change bag is made of thick
corduroy so that the ridges in the
material disguise the indifferent cards in
the other compartment.

* The construction of the bag in
corduroy means that one compartment
will have two different surfaces; this is
the compartment that the indifferent
cards are placed in, as the audience will
never see it.

* When the bag is first placed down,
the opening should be folded over (ie
like trousers turn up), to disguise the
two compartments.

The effect could also be made up using
ESP cards that have the symbols in
different colours.

© 2002 Rod Bourne

Another Shade

by Alain Bellon

When I first read David Britland’s
discovery of the one-way markings on
ESP cards, I thought it would be perfect

Volume 2 Issue 2Mar 2003

for an effect using Gray code. Then I
continued reading the Rhine issue of the
Center Tear Magazine to find Doug
Dyment had put to practice that idea
already.

Based on that same effect premise, it
occurred to me that a simpler handling
can be achieved by the exclusive use of
a cyclic code.

The Gray code is a binary “numbering”
or identifying system that has some
interesting properties. It is relatively
easy to create a series of binary
identifiers that are all unique for a given
set of items. We could have: 1011,
0000, 1001, 1110, etc. We could even
just count in binary. But what makes
Gray code special is that any two
successive numbers differ from one
another by 1. For example: 1100, 1101,
1111, 1110, etc. This particular property
allows us to construct a digit sequence
that when read in groups, generates a
sequence of unique numbers. The
interesting thing is that even if we have
a sequence to create unique codes in a
sequential and cyclic form we are not
necessarily generating a Gray code.

Let’s take the 8-digit sequence:

…11100010…

If we start reading it by groups of three
digits at a time we get:

111: 11100010
110: 11100010
100: 11100010
000: 11100010
001: 11100010
010: 11100010
101: 11100010
011: 11100010

By reading groups of three starting at
each digit of the sequence we have
created the eight possible combinations

of 3-digit binary numbers without any
repetitions. We can start at any point
and the result is the same. Notice how
the consecutive 3-digit numbers not all
differ by 1, making this code sequential
but not a Gray code.

If we see a stack of cards with their one-
way markings as a cyclic sequence of
0s and 1s, we can generate codes just
like the ones above. The cyclic nature of
the sequence makes it possible to cut
the deck and not disturb the codes.

So let’s go back to our effect. All we
need is a unique identifier code for each
of the five Rhine symbols.
In Doug Dyment’s Shades of Gray, we
have the identifiers being generated in
cyclic form like we just saw. He used
two bits of information (two digits) which
generate four unique identifiers
(00,01,10,11), one for each card. These
are generated from the four digit
sequence 0011. Having two binary digits
allows us to only have four cards and
this is why Doug decided to discard one
of the symbols, the star.

But this type of code does not need to
exclusively use numbers that are
powers of two. To accommodate for five
cards we need more bits or digits for our
identifiers. A 3-digit binary identifier can
have up to eight different combinations
so it will serve our purpose.

Since we have only five symbols we
need to create a sequence of five digits
that can generate-in cyclic form-five
different 3-digit combinations. We can
generate several such sequences like
00111 or 11100. I will use 00110 for a
reason that will be explained later on. By
taking groups of three digits at a time
we obtain the identifiers for each
symbol:

Identifier
Code

Symbo
l

001

Volume 2 Issue 2Mar 2003

011

110

100

000

I have retained the stack order that
Doug Dyment selected so that not much
change needs to be done. Also his
choice is particularly easy to remember.
A circle has one line, the Cross has two
lines, the wavy lines have three, the
square has four lines and the star has
five points. So our stack would look like
this from top to bottom:

Symbol

Orientatio
n

0 ▲ 0

▲ 1

▼

1 ▼ 0

▼

I will not go into the details of how the
markings work since this is covered in
the Rhine issue of this magazine. The
orientation assignment to the 0s and 1s
is up to you. The stack just repeats itself
in the same order for symbols and
orientations. You will need a way to
determine which is the right orientation
for the deck when you bring it out, so
either place a tiny pencil dot on the
corner of the first card or just remember
the orientation that the box or bag
needs to be in so that the deck is
properly oriented. You could also train
yourself to see the one-way marks up
close and determine the proper
orientation of the deck that way.

To determine what cards two people are
holding all you need to do is look at the
orientation of the two cards they have
plus the orientation of the card left on
top of the deck. These orientations you
can translate into a 3-digit identifier
code that will tell you what the first card
is. The second card is just the next
symbol in the stack.

Here is the table of possible results:

Orientatio

n of

Card #1

Orientatio

n of

Card #2

Orientatio

n of

Top Card

Symbo

l

#1

Symbo

l

#2

0 ▲ 0

▲ 1

▼

0 ▲ 1

▼ 1

▼

1 ▼ 1

▼ 0

▼

1 ▼ 0

▼ 0

▲

0 ▼ 0

▲ 0

▲

Now, you can decide to just learn the
stack and the five 3-digit codes. But
there is a simpler option. Notice how the
first four codes are different even if just
considering the first two digits.

Because of this, you can forget about
the third digit and only memorize 2-digit
codes and one extra rule. For the most
part (60% of the time) you don’t even
need to look at the card left on top of
the deck.

The following table will show how this
works:

Orientation

of

Card #1

Orientation of

Card #2

Symbo

l

#1

Symbo

l

#2

0 ▲ 0

▲

Card on top of

deck is 1 ▼

0 ▲ 1

▼

1 ▼ 1

▼

1 ▼ 0

▼

0 ▼ 0

▲

Cad on top of

deck is 0 ▲

In simple terms you only look at the card
left on top of the deck if the other two
cards are 0s. Also, because I chose the
sequence 00110, the memory aids
described by Doug Dyment in Shades of
Gray still apply.

Examples:

If participant #1 has an up card (0),
participant #2 a down card (1) you have
a 01 code and therefore:

Volume 2 Issue 2Mar 2003

Participant #1 holds acard and
participant #2 holds a card.

If participant #1 has an up card (0), and
participant #2 also an up card (0) you
have a 00 code, so you look at the card
left on top of the deck. If it is an up card
(0) as well, we know that:

Participant #1 holds acard and
participant #2 holds a card.

The way I recall the codes is by
remembering the cyclic sequence
00110. I can quickly determine if the
code, obtained from the held cards, is
the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th by just
mentally running through the sequence
in groups of two. With practice it should
become second nature and you will
know them by memory. Once I know the
number of the code I just recall which
symbol corresponds to the number. In
our first example the 01 code is the 2nd,
so I know the first card begin held is the
cross (second symbol in stack/has two
lines). The wavy lines follows in the
stack and it is therefore the symbol the
second participant is holding.

Performance

Retrieve your stacked deck keeping
track of the proper orientation at all
times. False shuffle the deck and give it
a cut or two. Invite two people from the
audience to assist you with the
experiment. Allow them to approach the
table where the deck is and then
distance yourself from the table. Have
the first participant cut the deck as
many times as she wishes. Once she is
satisfied, look at the orientation of the
card on top of the deck as you instruct
her to pick up the card. It is always
better to determine the orientation while
the card is on the table since the person
may rotate the card as she picks it up.
Ask the second participant to approach
the deck and at the same time

determine the orientation of the second
card. Ask her to pick up that card as
well and to keep it hidden from view. At
this point, only if the two cards are 0s
you will need to look at the orientation of
the card left on top of the deck. Use the
code to determine the card held by the
first participant and your knowledge of
the stack to determine the second card.

Since this handling allows for quite
some freedom, use it to your advantage.
Make your participants keep the cards
to themselves and hidden away from
anyone. You can even have the cards
placed inside their pockets. There are
plenty of premises you can explore with
this concept.

If you are doing a mind-reading
presentation, avoid visual contact
towards the table after you get the code
and perform the mind-reading (or
clairvoyance) sequence with your back
turned. Play it big. You can also do a
design-duplication, an ESP match, etc.
If you ask one of the participants to
keep the deck in her pocket, you can
use the selections later in your show (as
long as the selection process was brief
or entertaining enough).

I hope this procedure will make it easier
on you by incorporating all five symbols
and therefore avoiding any extra
handling. Thanks to David Britland for
his discovery and Doug Dyment for his
original contribution.

© 2002 Alain Bellon

Elementary

by Gardinski

Here's a straightforward little effect that
you can carry around in your pocket for
those occasions when you may be
called upon to "do something
metaphysical", (as so often happens

Volume 2 Issue 2Mar 2003

down the supermarket). You can play it
straight as a 'quickie', or jazz it up with a
bit of cold-reading or NLP, depending
on time and personal preference.

The Effect
A spectator freely selects one of the
four elements (earth, water, fire or air).
The performer then reveals that he
predicted the outcome in advance. No
forces, no switching, no equivoque, no
dodgy quadruple-envelopes, and
virtually no skill required (except
presentational finesse and tons of
charisma, but you're a CT reader, so
that's a given).

Presentation:
You produce four cards, each of which
bears the name of one of the four
elements: Earth, Water, Fire & Air. You
explain the ancient belief that these
archetypal elements had particular
resonances for certain people. A 'water
person' might have characteristics
associated with water - coolness,
fluidity, flexibility. An 'earth person' is
solid, stable, dependable, practical, loyal
to their 'roots'. 'Air people' might be
highly imaginative, quick-witted,
mercurial and impossible to tie down,
whereas 'fire people' have an innate
tendency to go on strike for a 40%
payrise.

- "To modern ears," you explain, "this
sounds overly simplistic, as most people
are far more complex than that, and
they switch from one set of 'elemental
characteristics' to another depending on
the situation. But I have a theory that I'd
like you to help me test."

(Give them a second to feel great about
their imminent contribution to your
valuable research).

- "I want you to look at the four elements
I've got written down here, and just think
about what each of the words suggests

to you - think of how it looks, how it
feels, what it means to you...."

(Incidentally, I'd suggest you avoid
mentioning the word 'cards' until you
really have to. Talk about "the words
I've got written down" or "the names of
the elements" - anything that distances
them from the idea of a 'card trick'. I've
broken my own rule later on in this
routine, but that's because I'm deeply
unreliable, and besides I couldn't think
of an alternative).

- "Now I want you to focus on just one of
the elements - one that has a particular
meaning for you, and really try to 'feel' it.
Place yourself in the scene. Imagine
how your body would feel surrounded by
that element. Imagine how you would
react to it."

(String this out as long as you feel it's
appropriate and effective).

Here comes the clever bit - the
revelation of the chosen element, known
only to your participant. Depending on
how things are going, you can reveal
the information in either of two ways.
You can play it safe, and go straight for
the 'standard revelation', or if the gods
are smiling on you, you can jump to the
"Killer Bonus" section (included free of
charge at the end of this article). It's
perfectly safe, as you'll see you can
always switch back to the 'standard
revelation' with your audience none-the-
wiser if you haven't got an immediate
hit.

The Revelation:
Ask your participant to confirm that she
has a distinct mental impression of just
one element.

- "Do you have one of the four
elements clearly in mind? For the first
time, could you please tell me which
element you're thinking of?"

Volume 2 Issue 2Mar 2003

At this point, she should name the
element. (If she refuses to tell you,
make a mental note to pick more co-
operative volunteers in future, and make
a hasty departure). For the sake of this
example, let's say she names EARTH.

- "Now, I don't know whether you'd say it
was a premonition, or a hunch, or just
that I'm amazingly astute... but I just
knew in advance you were going to feel
drawn to EARTH. You could have
named Air or Water, but I felt absolutely
certain EARTH had a particular
resonance for you."

You could just leave it hanging and
hope they believe you, but I've
discovered that people are innately
suspicious. They tend not to take your
word for things like premonitions and
predictions. They want proof. It's a sad
state of affairs, but that's the way it is.
So you continue:

- "You may have heard rumours that
some people do sneaky things like
marking cards, have you? Well, if you
take a close look at the reverse of
these, you'll see..." (turning the four
cards face down for the first time, and
displaying the back of each in turn) "...
that they're all perfectly blank except
THIS ONE, which I marked with a big
red X". Turn the marked card over and,
surprise surprise, it's the very element
they selected.

Method:
As you may have guessed, it's an
Elmsley Count, tarted up with a bit of
NLP, Wonder Wordsy doubletalk and a
smokescreen of metaphysical
nonsense.

Two of the four cards (Earth & Fire) are
marked with a red X on the back. The
other two are blank on the back. I think
of Earth and Fire as being a logical 'pair'

(both reddish), and Air/Water as another
pair (both clear).

Before you turn the cards face down to
show the backs, make sure that they
are paired up, and that the 'target card'
is on the face of the packet (ie, the
bottom one when you've turned them
face down).

- if the target is Air, then you need that
on the top of the face-up packet,
followed by it's 'partner' Water, and then
the other two in either order. (So, when
turned face down the cards will be
earth-fire-water-air from top to bottom).

- if the target is Earth, then you need
that on the top of the face-up packet,
followed by it's 'partner' Fire, and then
the other two in either order. (Face
down the cards will be earth-fire-water-
air from top to bottom).

Let's say the selected element is
EARTH. Whilst saying "You could have
named air or water...", you can simply
rearrange the cards into the order you
need them in (Earth facing you face up,
followed by Fire, and then the other
pair). Turn them face down, and say
"You may have heard rumours that
some people do sneaky things like
marking cards". Here, we break the
rules about not mentioning cards, but I
think it's acceptable at this later stage in
the effect, because we've already
steered them away from card-trick
territory by having them think in terms of
strong visual imagery.

Why mention marked cards at all?

Partly because it's a point of reference
that a lot of people will have, and we
can subtly disarm their suspicions by
anticipating the question, even though
the traditional "marked deck" patently
has nothing to do with the effect.

(Thanks to Kenton's Wonder Words for
switching me on to this line of thinking).

Volume 2 Issue 2Mar 2003

More significantly, though, my aim at
this point is to "interrupt the audience's
pattern" (in NLP parlance) and
momentarily shift their focus away from
the 'words' written on the cards, so that
when, in a moment, the 'X-marked card'
appears to be third from the top, they
won't necessarily be conscious of the
fact that, a second ago when the cards
were face up, their card was on the top,
and seems spookily to have jumped
places. Additionally, by drawing
attention to the 'non-target pair' (air &
water) and holding them in sight for a
fraction of a second just before turning
everything face down, you create one
more obstacle to prevent the eagle-eyed
spectator from seeing what you're up to.

With the face-down cards in the order
described (top to bottom: indifferent
pair, then our target card's partner, then
our target card), you can display the
three non-target cards as all being
blank-backed by means of an Elmsley
Count. I'm sure CT readers will be
familiar with it, but for anyone who isn't,
you can find an excellent demonstration
on Kaufman's video "Basic Card
Techniques", as well as in most of the
standard texts.

The Elmsley Count allows you to
camouflage the identity of the third-
from-top card in a packet of four (in this
case, the card which is paired with the
target element). Therefore, if the
spectator's chosen element is Earth,
use of an Elmsley Count ensures that
the back of the Fire card (which
contains the same 'X' mark as the back
of the Earth card) remains unseen,
whilst the performer apparently displays
3 blank backs. (In actuality, he shows
the back of the first card twice).

If the chosen element is Air or Water (ie,
not marked with an X), you simply use
the same technique to apparently
display all three indifferent cards as

being marked with an X, and the target
card as the only one with an unmarked
back. Rephrase your patter
accordingly, saying something like "As I
dismissed each of the other
possibilities from my mind, I crossed
them off one by one, until only one
element remained..."

...whereupon you hand the target card
to your spectator, and reveal that you
truly knew it all along.

KILLER BONUS (to be used when
appropriate)
Depending upon the suggestibility and
body language of your participant, you
may have a distinct idea of what their
chosen element is before you even ask
them. It's obviously not essential to the
effect, but if you DO get the impression
that they're thinking of, say, fire, there's
no harm in going for it. You could even
be REALLY BOLD about this: look
deeply into their eyes and say "Now I
know... you're picturing FIRE...",
pause for a fraction of a second and
then (if they haven't immediately gone
"Oh wow, you're a genius") continue
"...or WATER or whatever your
element is, right?", and then segue
straight into the standard Elmsley Count
bit of the routine.

So, depending on their response, there
are two possibilities:

either you've said...

"Now, I KNOW you're picturing
FIRE!"
- (huge applause, garlands of flowers,
lifetime membership of the Mentalism
Hall Of Fame)

...or...

"Now, I know you're picturing Fire or
Water or whatever your chosen

Volume 2 Issue 2Mar 2003

element is clearly in your mind's eye,
right?"
- which just comes across as a
confirmation that they're keeping up with
the visualisation exercise, and therefore
looks completely innocent and
innocuous.

© 2003 Gardinski

QWERTY Update

By David Lang

Having performed
QWERTY a few
more times I've
come up with the
following
improvement;

When you prepare the crib as a self-
adhesive label, have it read; Queen,
Window, Elephant, Rabbit, Tap etc,
instead of just the letters.

When revealing their thoughts go for the
picture first. E.g. if the sequence starts I
for Igloo, O for Octopus, P for Penguin
then patter about the impression of
‘being cold, something to do with a
house’ then ‘I’m getting a number 8’.
Finally you could use a line about
chocolate biscuits and birds!

This is much stronger that just revealing
the letters I, O & P!!

© 2002 David Lang

NLP and Products for

Mentalists: My Thoughts &

Experience

(cont)

by Rex Sikes

Yet, many still prefer
myth and
misconceptions to
pragmatic workable
methods and skills.
Well, so be it. You
can't please everyone
and not everyone will
see the value of
something. So for
those that don't I say
fine. For those who
wish to further explore I
invite you to begin at
my web site

http://www.idea-seminars.com and
check out the articles, and other things
on that web site.

So as previously stated NLP is a
method for learning how something is
done and then doing it. We call that
"modelling" In other words NLP is about
modelling excellence. Learning what
someone does really well and then
being able to duplicate the results in
ourselves that the other gets. Much of
the current vernacular available today in
the therapeutic world and the business
world comes from NLP assimilation into
the culture.

One popularlizer of NLP is Tony
Robbins. Some love him and some hate
him. I have always maintained that Tony
mastered only a very little of actual NLP
skill - but he mastered what he learned
well and as a result built an empire
using his knowledge and his talent. If
you want to experience a master
influencer at work go to a Tony Robbin's
seminar. If you want to see how Tony
does what he does - then go see him

Volume 2 Issue 2Mar 2003

only after you have had some good NLP
training. Then you will be able to witness
the technology at work.

Obviously, I love NLP. I have been
offering it for many years. I, in fact, have
improved upon it by looking into areas I
thought it didn't address and worked to
make it better. And I did. I also added
accelerated learning and other aspects
into the mix.

This is interesting because NLP and
accelerated learning principles mutually
enhance and endorse each other. Both
are comprised of each others methods.
So we can use NLP to learn more
effectively and easily.

Anyway - I never wanted to be a new
age self help guru like Tony. I preferred
to remain an entertainer and conduct
training and do shows around the world.
But I would never give up any of the
wonderful tools and experiences I have
had on a daily basis as a result of
learning and using NLP for half of my
life.

You can discover it too. It is not instant,
overnight magic like the kind most
people want. It is more like learning to
become a gymnast - as I said before.
Yes, you can be a far better entertainer
as a result.

Some of NLP - a small portion is
represented in Kenton Knepper's
Wonder Words. He explores some of
the linguistic nuances that we have
utilized for decades and he does apply
them to performing. Many people have
found them valuable.

While the Wonder Words only scratch
the surface of some NLP areas the
Wonder Words series is great! But there
is a whole lot more to NLP than many
people realize. And likewise there are

elements in Wonder Words that are not
contained in the field of NLP either.

Every one has their own biases and
preferences. I don't think Wonder
Words is the end all to end all, nor is
Completely Cold. But I do think if one
understands some of the principles
behind them then one can apply the
works with great satisfaction. Some
people get really good at playing scales
on the piano - others go on to become
world class pianists. It is the difference
that makes the difference even though
they all enjoy playing the same notes.

It is the artist in artistry and art that
utilizes what one is given to the
maximum potential. One man's floor is
another man's ceiling. Some can see
merit where others can't. Some stop
where others continue on.

Ultimately you have to decide for your
self and be happy with your decision or
change you mind and re-decide. The
bottom line is some people find value
where others don't because they look at
things differently.

Wonder Words is a fine series to help
enhance what you do if you understand
how to add it into what you do. Same
with Completely Cold. These aren't
meant to replace or be a substitute for
other things. They are an
ENHANCEMENT, a way to suggest
things, a means for directing attention -
getting people to focus in particular
areas as opposed to other areas. They
are useful in creating more hits rather
than misses when appropriate and when
applied judiciously, with good taste, and
thoughtfulness they may indeed work
wonders! But whether they do or not is
up to you - NOT the specific phrase.

And that is where most people miss the
boat - they look at the phrase like they
look at a gimmick. They think the

Volume 2 Issue 2Mar 2003

'THING' is the "thing". It AIN'T. It is
about "the process" not about the
content. It is about the overall effect not
the gimmick. When you focus on the
words you lose sight of what is
supposed to be happening. Your mind is
misdirected - paying attention in the
wrong place and hence missing the
value.

© 2002 Rex Sikes

Deadly Mentalism

by Ben Rayot

Reviewed by Lesault

Exclusive to Alakazam!

In his first ever book, Ben Rayot reveals
some of his most deadly weapons that
he has used time after time to get
strong reactions from audiences and
make a name for himself.

"Deadly Mentalism" includes some of
the finest mental effects seen for a long
time.

Including: "E.S.Pecially for You," "Eye
Can See what You are Thinking,"
"Magnas Veritas" a simple application of
NLP, Ben's handling for a centre tear,
and our favourite effect of all
"Hallucinations" in which a spectator
hallucinates seeing a card in the deck,
as it is revealed immediately after, that it
is elsewhere-full presentation also
included!

If you like mentalism that is high impact,
then you will not want to miss out on this
brilliant new book!

Review:
This is Ben Rayot’s first manuscript. At
15 pages long and containing only 7
effects, it seems a little lightweight at
first glance. Indeed, when you start
reading, you realise that most of the

effects are new presentations and twists
based on tried and tested methods.
However, plenty of thought has been
put into these alternative presentations
which, on the most part, add a new
flavour to the original effect.

An example is the first effect which is a
new ending to Max Maven’s “Shape Up”
effect. In the original, the performer
predicts which ESP card the participant
will stop dealing on. In Ben’s twist, a
second participant perceives the symbol
before the card is turned over. A new
ending which makes a big change to the
effect.

For me, the best effect in the book is
‘Magnas Veritas’. The effect reads: “A
thought is divined!” and that really is
how it plays – nothing written down or
forced, you just tell the participant what
they are thinking about! The method
involves a cunning use of NLP
combined with a few subtleties to really
increase your chances of getting a hit.
Finally a mentalism effect in which NLP
really is the method!

The “Eye See” peek envelope is also
very good. Both sides of the envelope
are displayed while holding it to the light
to prove it is not transparent, but the
peek is easy to make and invisible from
the spectator’s point of view. This is a
technique which will be making its way
into my armoury!

Some parts of the book left me pretty
cold: an off centre tear which, in my
opinion is not as good as many existing
center tear methods, and another
version of a progressive anagram to find
a spectator’s star sign without detailing
any of the subtleties required to disguise
the method.

Ben closes his book with one of his
favourite effects; “Hallucinations” where
the card a participant thinks she chose

Volume 2 Issue 2Mar 2003

is the only card not in the pack, instead
it has been in a sealed envelope with a
prediction since the start of the effect.

Overall the manuscript is a bit of a
mixture, some good some not so good,
it is interesting to see somebody else’s
presentations of effects you probably
already know and there are one or two
really good ideas hidden away.

Price £14.99

From: http://www.alakazam.co.uk

Big Brother

Game Show routine

By Max Gordon

Reviewed by Arcane

Effect:
The performer explains that there are
more and more TV programmes where
the members of the public are put in the
spotlight and placed in a controlled
environment under the ever-watchful
gaze of the camera. Over a series of
weeks (mainly to keep the ratings up)
participants are eliminated until an
eventual winner is achieved.

Five (it could be more) spectators are
chosen at random and they are given
numbered envelopes, which are not
shown, to the audience at this stage.
These are mixed and remain hidden to
all. Performer asks each persons name
and why they should win. (Big
opportunity for comedy here) He then
states that he knows who will be the
eventual winner. To keep things
interesting, he places his prediction in a
glass on the table or in the hands of a
trustworthy spectator.

Both spectators and the performer now
eliminate participants in the fairest
possible manner. Once all but one has
been eliminated, the performer points to
a billet that is attached to your

“assistants” name badge and has been
in full view throughout the show This is
opened by the assistant who reads the
actual NAME of the winner.
The winner will then receive whatever
prize is within your budget! Or your
client’s.

Points to remember.
• You never know who the selected
participants will be. (No force)
• No Stooges
• No Nail writing
• No pre-show work
• Large audience involvement.
• Huge comedy potential
• A different outcome at every show.
• Can be customised to clients product
or service
• Terrific sponsorship opportunity for
winning prize

Review
I have to admit when I was first sent this
I read it and thought "Nope!". The whole
thing just didn't work for me, but that's
where the problem (if there ever was
one) lay. I was looking at it from a very
personal point of view.

After having watched Max perform Big
Brother I can only say "It's tight!". You
can tell that this is Max's baby, and he
really has tweaked and moulded it until
it's how HE wants it to be.

So by now you've worked out what I'm
trying to say. Big Brother isn't for
everyone. It's something you'll need to
work at. But don't let this put you off.
Your hard work will be rewarded. I
needed only to see the audience
reaction that Max received to know that
in the right hands Big Brother is BIG!

Available now as a downloadable .pdf

file cost $15 by paypal to:

[e-mail]