From the mind of Lee Smith comes two strong mentalism
effects already used by professional magicians.
Fifth element is two effects with a mentalism theme which
keeps away from the usual pick a card plot.
Lee Smith 2008
For more about Lee s effects and magic& www.walkaboutmagic.com
Two impromptu
mentalism effects
Introduction The Third Degree
In this booklet I am presenting two of my favourite effects from my working Effect
repertoire. There has been a lot of interest in these two tricks which can both be
done impromptu with a borrowed deck and have a mentalist theme. Both The first spectator thinks of a card, the second spectator picks a card which is placed on
routines seem to the spectator to have  thought of cards rather than the the table under a glass and the third spectator selects a card which is removed from the
standard pick-a-card trick. As I frequently get asked by magicians to explain deck and then visually changed into the card on the table and the card under the glass
them I thought it would be a good idea to put them in a booklet. There are no becomes the first spectator s thought of card.
new moves or difficult sleights in the tricks but it is the presentation that is
different and makes them so effective. These effects are aimed at magicians Method
with some experience and based on the premise that the moves are already
known so only brief descriptions of any sleights are given. This is a trick that requires three spectators. Firstly have one of the spectators shuffle a
deck of cards and hand them back to you. Make eye contact and single out one
spectator (Spectator 1). Dribble through the deck and tell them to say stop at any time.
When they do, push off the face down top card with one hand and hold it up so that
only Spectator 1 can see it and tell them to  think of that card. This should be done
fairly quickly as the important part of the rest of the trick is to try to make Spectator 1
forget that they glimpsed the card but are in fact just thinking of the card. This is not as
difficult as it seems as throughout the performance you will reiterate what you are
doing and actually tell Spectator 1 that they are thinking of a card. The glimpsed card is
now controlled to the top of the deck, I use the pass which I feel is the best and quickest
way but any method will do.
At this point relax back and tell Spectator 1  so you re just thinking of a card and turn
to Spectator 2 casually cutting the cards as you turn keeping a break and perform a
riffle force getting Spectator 2 to say stop and re-cutting the glimpsed card to the top of
the deck. Spectator 2 should now believe the cards have been cut to a random place in
the deck. Perform a double lift and show the  chosen card for example The Ten of
Hearts and say the name of it out loud. Turn it back facedown on the deck and take the
top card (the glimpsed card) and place it on the table under a glass or anything else that
comes to hand.
Reiterate, say to spectator 1  so you re just thinking of a card and to Spectator 2  and
you ve stopped me on the Ten of Hearts which is under the glass . I often do a false cut
at this point but do not do a real cut as Spectator 2 s card is on the top. Now turn to
Spectator 3 and riffle your thumb down the corner as if doing a riffle force however,
this is a genuine selection. When they stop you, take out the card and turn it face up on
the top of the deck and name the card out loud. It should now be back to back with
Spectator 2 s card in this case the Ten of Hearts.
Reiterate once more, say to Spectator 1  So once again you re just thinking of a Fifth Element - Thought of card to pocket
card in your mind , to spectator 2 point to the glass  you stopped me on the Ten
of hearts and to Spectator 3 point to the face up card  and you stopped me on Effect
this card here and name the card.
Spectator is shown five cards and asked to think of any one of them. The five cards are
Now for the magic! pick up the two back to back cards keeping spectator 3 s placed one at a time into the spectators hand and he is challenged to trap his chosen card
card face up and say  watch this card very carefully and perform the twirl as soon as he sees it by placing his other hand on top. The magician then proves the
change, hold them at diagonal corners and whilst shaking your hand back and spectator wasn t quick enough by producing the thought of card from his pocket.
forward use your fingers to turn the cards over. As Dai Vernon said the large
movement (hand shaking) hides the small movement (cards turning over) . This Method
revelation is Spectator 3 s card visually changing into Spectator 2 s card. This
is a nice moment in the effect as it usually gets a gasp and then puzzled looks as Start with a shuffled deck, show the spectator five random cards. Its your choice as to
they slowly realise that this should be the card under the glass. Look at the how to get the five cards as it is a completely free choice. One quick way is simply riffle
spectators and say  This raises an interesting question emphasising what they down the cards get the spectator to say stop, cut the cards and take the top five cards.
are probably already thinking. Turn to spectator 1 and say  for the first time Fan the five cards out and ask the spectator to think of one of the cards and remember
out loud what card were you thinking of in your mind when they tell you it. Whilst they are looking at the cards obtain a break under the top card of the deck so
emphasise the fact that you won t touch it and let Spectator 1 turn his own card that when the cards are replaced on the top of the deck you retain six cards. Square the
over. The miracle is complete the spectator s thought of card is under the glass. cards briefly then lift up and hold the six cards in the Biddle grip and count them one at
a time by sliding them back onto the deck saying  you could be thinking of the first, the
Thoughts second etc&  . when you get to the fifth place the two cards as one onto the deck.
This trick has a bit of everything, visual change, spectator involvement, Tell the spectator to put their hand out flat with the other hand a few inches above
mentalism feel and an extremely strong ending. It is important not to rush the ready to trap the card. Whilst they are putting their hands up swap the top two cards,
effect as it has been pared down as much as possible and the longer you leave any method will do, I use the Erdnase (colour change) but there is enough time to do a
between each stage the longer Spectator 1 has to forget he glimpsed the card in simple top change.
the first place. As you reiterate with the spectators particularly Spectator 1 use
the nodding principle this is simply when you tell them anything nod your head Now perform a double lift showing the first card and challenge them to trap their
you will find them nodding in agreement which is fun in itself and this can only thought of card between their hands so quickly you won t have a chance to remove the
make the effect stronger. If Spectator does not fall for it and still remembers card. Turn the card face down and place the top card onto the spectator s hand . Repeat
glimpsing the card and says so don t worry and carry on as it is still a very this process placing the cards one by one onto the spectator s hand performing the
strong effect double lift each time. When the spectator sees their card they will trap the cards. Tell
them they were quick and reinforce the fact that there is no way you could possibly
know the thought of card and there was no way you could remove the card at that speed.
Because of the double lift you now have the spectator s card on the top of the deck.
Now say to the spectator  this is where it gets interesting as not only did I Acknowledgements
remove your thought of card psychologically and find out what the card was
but I also removed the card from between your hands and placed it in my I d like to thank Nick Brown of Howdy Doodat Magic without whose help it is unlikely
pocket Whilst saying this to the spectator palm off the top card, put your hand this booklet would have been written. Thanks to my girlfriend Jen who puts up with my
in your pocket and immediately bring out the card face down. The spectator magic even though she s seen it all before and doesn t leave me. Also thanks to Steve
will usually check the cards in their hands at this point, turn the card over Johnson, Jamie Waring and all my family and friends for their support.
revealing that you really can read minds but you will only use your powers for
good.
Thoughts
On occasion the spectator will pick the fifth card, this will not happen very
often but when it does there are a few things to note. As you are left with the
last card you now know the chosen card. Present the situation as a test of
speed, say to the spectator  it must be this card, I will place it in your hand and
try to remove it before you close your hands . Place the card in their hand and
carry on as normal.
Use the nod principle even though the card really is only thought of in this
trick as it reinforces everything you are telling the spectator.
If you don t want to palm the card off obviously there are any number of ways
to reveal the card as it is on the top of the deck but I have found the way
described it to be the strongest by far.
Finally
I hope you have as much fun with these effects as I have over the year s they
are not difficult tricks to perform but with the right presentation they are
extremely powerful. Both tricks can be performed walk around or at tables and
as they are completely impromptu there is no resetting required. Overall two
good effects for working magicians that will fit into any repertoire.