MindCraft: PerceptionsLet's enjoy this, shall we?

Written by Me, Myself, and I

Forward

Normally I hate it when someone writing a short ebook sticks in a forward and an

introduction, and a copyright page, and a table of contents page, and a conclusion, and a

back cover etc., because it makes it seem like they are just trying to add to their page

count. I guess I'm technically doing that now, so my apologies for my hypocrisy in advance.

I just wanted to say that these are effects and ideas I've been mulling over the last couple

years and just recently (past 6 months or so) got into print. I'm afraid I haven't developed

most of the effects even half as much as they could be, but I have no doubt that there are

those among you who will take the concepts and ideas and build upon them.

Thoughts from both Ran Pink and Decomposed on the Magic Cafe forums have been greatly

appreciated and used. Big thanks to them.

Part 1: Hacking the Mind is about effects that involve stealing thoughts from a spectator's

mind, where as Part 2: Bending the Will, involve effects where you force your spectator to

think of a predetermined word, card, number, etc. These can be presented as if you were

“hacking their mind”, but their methodology involves forcing.

In the Table of Contents, I bolded some of my, and reviewer's favorite effects in the book.

Contents

Part 1: Hacking the Mind

Thought Dueling . . . . . . . . 7

Duel a spectator with your thoughts, and get them right!

Let's Make a Deal . . . . . . . 9

A mathematical bar scam.

Birthday's Rock . . . . . . . . 11

Discovering a spectator's Birthday through an elaborate process where in she never writes

or names either the month or day she was born on.

On Thin Ice . . . . . . . . . . . 16

A powerful reading system that deals primarily with a client's subconscious.

Gone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Via your hypnotic influence; make a spectator think of a word that was never there.

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

A true think a card. Nothing is ever consciously spoken or acknowledged by your spectator.

Not surefire, but when it works, it bloody kills.

Invisible Book Test . . . . . . 23

You predict a word a spectator will think of. They open an invisible book to any page,

remember any word on the page, and you were right.

Part 2: Bending the Will

The Fair . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Equivoque at its finest.

Prime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

A psychological word forcing principle with a near 100% hit rate.

Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

Your spectator thinks of a color, then a planet. You read their mind.

In Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

A spectator freely chooses a fruit in their mind. You both examine it, then you name it.

Mental Epic . . . . . . . . . . . 35

One ahead with Prime.

Intuitional Power . . . . . . . 36

Slip a ring on the finger of a spectator and give them the power of intuition.

Thought Catcher . . . . . . . .37

A blank index card catches their thought.

Other Languages . . . . . . . 38

Adaptations for Spanish or German speakers.

(In)Visible Book Test . . . . . 39

Impromptu book test on the fly and some ideas.

Hive Mentality . . . . . . . . . 41

Bend the wills of even the largest of audiences to your own.

Prime Cards . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Catch, identify, and name random thoughts your spectators have during your show.

Tossed out Thought . . . . . . 44

Tossed out deck; with words, from the brilliant mind of Ran Pink.

Drawing Duplication . . . . . .46

An impromptu drawing duplication.

Thought Dueling . . . . . . . . 47

Stand back to back in a thought face off. This version uses Prime.

Realizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

Give your spectator the chance to be a god, just for a moment, and create life by a mere

breath, a single word.

PK Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Your spectator just thinks of a time. No words are spoken. You bring your watch into view.

Psychological Card Force . . 51

A psychological card force using Prime, with an incredible hit rate.

Prime Reading . . . . . . . . . 53

A powerful cold reading presentation.

Other Forces . . . . . . . . . . 55

Still other words you can force with prime.

Beautiful Miracle . . . . . . . 56

A spectator thinks of a month. You spin around a ring on your finger to reveal that month's

birthstone. A beautiful memory is created.

World Traveling . . . . . . . . 58

Take your spectator on a global adventure that exists only in their mind.

Part 3: Notes

Ran Pink's Notes . . . . . . . 60

Giani's Notes . . . . . . . . . . 62

Paul Carnazzo's Notes . . . . 63

My Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Part 1: Hacking the Mind

Thought Dueling

Description:

Imagine both you and a spectator are thinking of numbers, or even just words. Then you

both stand back to back, walk off five paces, turn, aim, fire, and hit. You then both call

out what you received. Both of you are right. Nothing is written, nothing is spoken,

nothing is asked.

Method:

Version 1 - Spectator is asked to think of a word, which is psychologically forced. You also

pretend to think of a word. You both pace off and aim. The spectator then calls out the

word they think they "received". You call out the psychologically forced word. You pretend

to be shocked.

Version 2 - You have a pocket writer and as you recoil from "shock" you write the word

they "received", and then show it as "proof" of the fact that you were thinking of it.

Version 3 - You have the spectator write their word on an index card as you do the same

--just write nonsense, you're going to pocket write in the end-- and then peek at their

word via your favorite method (e.g. Acidus Novus). Tell him to put the card in his pocket,

and you do the same. Now run through Version 2; you'll have a 100% hit rate at the loss of

them writing.

Examples of psychological word/number forces are:

1. Think of a vegetable - Carrot.

2. Think of a wild animal - Lion.

3. Think of a color - Blue.

4. Think of a number between 1 and 10 - 7.

5. Think of a number between 1 and 50 with two, different, odd digits – 37.

My favorite is a word force called 'Pachyderm', by Colin Mcleod. A basic version is in

Psychological Subtleties 3, and a more defined one with outs is in Colin's book

'Contributions'.

Another force recommended by p_n_g was Anate by Christopher Dee. I've included it, but I

think it would be difficult to implement because the nature of Thought Dueling requires

the thought never to be spoken by the spectator, which is fairly crucial in Anate.

A highly recommended verbal force is Prime, the last effect in this book. Much more on

using Prime and Thought Dueling is detailed in that section.

Let's Make a Deal

Description:

Need a couple bucks to get a drink? This is for you. Bet a mate a dollar or three on 50/50

luck; allowing him to choose his own fate, and you win. You could technically earn a living

as a con man with this one... But you're not cheating. You're just lying.

Method:

To come up with this effect, I was dabbling with some mathematical principles, when I

discovered the Monty Hall Problem. Its quite a complicated idea, and was featured in the

TV show 'Let's Make a Deal". Basically a contestant in the show would be given a choice of

three identical doors. Behind one was a car, and behind two were goats. The object was to

find the car. They would make their first choice without opening a door, and then the

host, who knew were the car was, would throw open another door, revealing a goat. The

contestant could now choose between his original door and the other unopened door to

guess where the car was. The chance seems like a 50/50 shot. One door has a car, the

other a goat. The choice is free. Yet if they switched doors to the other unopened door,

their odds of hitting the car went up from a third --it was never a half-- to two thirds. Yet

out of every eight contestants, only one would switch because of psychological pressure

and the "intuition" that had led them to that door in the first place. Think about it; the

only way you could win by not switching is if you landed on the marked door right off the

bat. The odds of you doing so are obviously 2 to 1 against you.

So imagine setting out three entirely examinable cards, one a picture card and two

numbers, or three beer coasters, one marked, the others devoid of marks. You set them all

face down, and mix them up. Then you peek without showing your mate. You now act as

the host; ask him to choose one of them without flipping it. You then flip over one of the

unmarked coasters/number cards other than his own, and ask him if he wants to switch

coasters/cards. Most of the time he will say no. In that event, the odds of him winning the

bet are literally 2 to 1. So 2 out of 3 times, you'll walk out with a free drink. Not bad for

some stuffy mathematics.

Note:

A similar, but perhaps slightly more transparent, method would be to use four

cards/coasters instead of three. Take away two instead of one. Their odds of winning if

they switch will go to ¾, but if they don't –-I haven't experimented with this number--

their odds of winning are ¼.

Birthday's Rock

Description:

This uses a combination of techniques and is real mind reading. Imagine yourself on a

date. You ask the girl to visualize the month she was born in. Later on, the day. You could

then say "Funny, a few months ago... June 16th, I had a nice dream about this girl who..."

Enjoy. :)

Method:

I decided to use a few methods in here. For the general season, we're going to use some

NLP eye accessing cues. Let's get started. Ask your spectator to imagine what season they

were born in. If she were born in the fall, ask her to imagine herself standing on a

rooftop, with leaves coasting down all around them, and a stunning rainbow stretched

across the sky. If she were born in winter or in the spring before May, ask her to imagine

herself on the edge of a rocky craig, a scarf thrown round her neck, amidst layers of

falling snow. If she was born in the summer, ask her to remember opening her favorite

birthday gift as a child. As you say this, you should be watching her, but without keeping

strong eye contact. If she was born in May or the summer, she will look to her left, up and

to her left most often, as she is recalling a memory. If she is born in the winter, fall, or

early spring, she will gaze to the right. Also, and more importantly, note the time her eyes

switch. If they do so right after you talk about fall, she is born in the fall, etc.

Now that you know about what season she was born in (fall, winter/spring, summer), you

are ready to move into some anagram style fishing. If you don't know what progressive

anagrams are, basically its a process by which you can divine something letter by letter,

like a flowchart. If word contains a letter, move on, otherwise you know the answer, or are

just a few questions away from knowing it. You should state the letters/number of letters

you "see", and watch for non verbal cues. Ask for confirmation if you are not skilled at

picking up non verbal cues.

The month anagrams I created are not only based on the individual letters, but the

number of letters, so they are almost progressive instead of branching. In other words, in

almost all cases, as soon as you get a no or negative cue, you know what they are thinking

of, strengthening the effect. Sometimes a bit of intuition can be useful, and a little

guesswork (if she or a friend of hers mentions that she was at her birthday last summer,

you can cut your work in quarters).

Fall

September, October, November

M > September, November

3 E's > September

November

October

Winter/Spring

November, December, January, February, March, April

A > January, February, March, April

A 1st/2nd letter > January, March, April

5 letters > March, April

A 2nd letter > March

April

January

February

3 E's> November

December

Summer

U > June, July, August

4 letters > June, July

Take a guess, June and July are close enough to make it worth it.

August

May

Now that you know the month, with just two to four questions and almost perfect

accuracy (the more questions, the better you seem at using your intuition), you are ready

to move on to the day. We're going to use some contact reading and another anagram for

this effect. We are going to base our contact reading system on the fact that the odds of

her being born on the 30th or the 31st are more than 15 to 1. So that means that we just 1

of 3 options for the first digit of her birth month. Take out four random objects. Identify

the first one as 0, the second as 1, the third as 2, and the fourth as a 3. We will be using

the fourth as just a placeholder to keep everything consistent.

Now grasp her right wrist --with her permission of course--, and ask her to think of the

correct object and guide to guide you to that object with her mind. Now slowly draw her

arm towards the three objects, making slight movements back and forth between them.

You are trying to feel for an ideometer response from her arm. Basically you are going

away from the object she is trying to subconsciously draw you to, you will feel a slight tug

of resistance. She won't know she's doing it, but with sufficient practice, you will be able

to zone in on the correct object (and digit), in seconds.

One minor note, at no time during this process, or the month divination, should you tell

her what month you know she is thinking of. It will come more powerfully if you reveal it

all at once. Instead, just say something like "That's interesting", or "You seem to have a

powerful mind", or something else along those lines.

The final digit can be discovered with another anagram, hence my recommendation that

you space the process out.

Second Digit

E > zero, one, three, five, seven, eight, nine

4/5 letters > zero, three, five, seven, eight, nine

2 of the same letter > three, seven, nine

2 E's > three, seven

Gap between E's > 7

3

nine

1st or 2nd letter is an E > zero, eight

4/5 letters (take a guess)

five

one

Revelation (suggested by IAIN):

Run through a one ahead system –- such as Mental Epic –- and use Contact Mind Reading

and the Eye Accessing Cues for the Season. Duly noted, thank you IAIN.

On Thin Ice

Description:

A powerful new reading system that enables you to help your clients not only learn more

about themselves, but make changes to their subconscious. Use with care.

Method:

Ask your client to visualize themselves walking down a long, white hallway that is going

deep down. There are no doors. At the very end, the hall opens up into a large room, the

size of an art gallery, with just one painting on the wall. Ask them to imagine walking up

to that painting, and looking at the canvas. Ask them to change the color of the canvas,

like a screen, in their mind. Then, ask them what color they changed it to. Take your time

during this process, you do not want to rush into this. It's not a trick. Take your time and

gain rapport.

The hallway leading into the ground is their subconscious mind. The screen is a

representative of their mental state. These are what the colors represent:

Green - Life force, energized.

Blue - Idealistic, thoughtful.

Red - Passionate, artistic.

Yellow - Open, free.

By combining these colors, you get a set of advanced colors and states. An example is

violet; a romantic state of mind that is a combination of a thoughtful, passionate state.

You must explain some of the basic meanings of these before telling them about their

current mental state. For example, if they say they see a bright green, it means that they

are in a state where they have an enormous amount of energetic potential available to

them.

When you define what the colors mean, your client will accept your definitions as truth.

This is why you need to be careful. To make a change, you can ask them to visualize the

color slowly shifting to something more advanced, perhaps by combining two advanced

colors together.

The most advanced color, the most balanced mental state, a combination of all, is pure

white. Next most is a light pink. You can subtly change their state more permanently by

suggesting that they imagine the color changing to, for example, yellow, and as you do so,

touch their shoulder. Just before they leave, touch their shoulder again. In doing so, you

have just cemented a psychological anchor that you created, so even though their

conscious mind might not register a change, their subconscious will take in and implement

the change. This is an excellent way to gain rapport and make sure that the impression

stays with them.

Gone

Description:

The performer shows a spectator 6 cards. Each has a word on it. He asks the spectator to

just think of one of the words. The mentalist then shows that their card has disappeared,

then proceeds to read their mind, and then show that the reason it wasn't in the stack was

because, the entire time, the card they thought they saw was in his pocket.

Method:

To setup, print these words on 6 blank business cards:

Rock Side Time Rite Pet Tire

Make duplicates and place them in your two pockets. On the other sides of the first set,

print these words:

Stone Ride Mine Set Light

On the back of the Tire card, instead of writing a word, put a piece of double back tape.

Place this card on the bottom of the packet so that the tape is facing down.

To start, show the cards to your spectator one at a time, telling him/her to think of one.

Once this is done, gain eye contact, and patter about how, through hypnotic influence, you

were able to make them see a word and card that was never there. During this time, you

have cut the packet evenly and squarely so that the tape sticks to the top card, and then

you flipped the packet. Now go through the cards to show that one of them is gone, and

ask them to look for the word they are thinking of. This works similar to the Princess Card

trick, because the other words are similar, but none of them are the same, so the effect

will work no matter what word they think of.

The words themselves were chosen very carefully to allow the creation of a perfect

progressive anagram (not branching) to be created from them. You now use this to divine

the word they are thinking of.

E > One Time Rite Pet Tire

T > Time Rite Pet Tire

I > Time Rite Tire

Starts w/T > Time Tire

R > Tire

Rite

Pet

Side

Rock

Now all that remains is for you to remove the corresponding card from your pocket,

proving your influence.

Thought from Victor:

Victor on the Magic Cafe forums mentioned an interesting variation which I had pondered

before but forgot to include. You may wish, instead, to read their mind, and THEN show

the card has vanished. That way you end cleaner, and it gives a logical disconnect for your

audience member. Derren Brown used a similar ploy in his effect Smoke (albeit done with

a cigarette and a gaffed packed of cards).

Black

Description:

Ask your spectator to think of a card. Without questions, without contact, without paper,

you read his or her mind.

Method:

Make up eight index cards with seven playing cards written on each as follows.

AS, QH, AH, AD, KH, JS, 7C, 3S

AC, 2C, 3C, 4C, 5C, 6C, 7C

8C, JC, QC, KC, AD, 2D, 3D

4D, 5D, 6D, 7D, 8D, 9D, 10D

JD, QD, KD, AH, 2H, 3H, 4H

5H, 6H, 7H, 8H, 9H, 10H, JH

QH, KH, AS, 2S, 3S, 4S, 6S

7S, 8S, 9S, 10S, JS, QS, KS

We are going to use some non contact mind reading. Ask your spectator to think of money

or sex when they see their card. Then let them look at the cards, one by one. You will be

watching their eyes. If their pupils dilate, you will know which card contains the card they

are thinking of. The first card is a null to let you calibrate how their eyes are going to

work when focusing on something close up. I intentionally started with clubs as well,

because it is the least thought of suit by far, so that will give you a little extra

calibration. You may have to do it more than once. A good rhythm to show the cards is

One, pause, Two, pause, next card. Thats why the cards we are primarily having them look

at should be sorted and written neatly, so they can scan the entire card quickly. While the

first card is a dummy card, it also contains the top thought of cards; with close to 40% of

all thought of cards. So, for example, if their eyes dilate on both the first card and the

seventh card, you can take a good stab at the Ace of spades (although the 3S is also on

both cards). Most of the time, however, you can just use the first card as a dummy or a

confirmation, and will move on to the next (and last) set of cards.

AC, 8C, 4D, JD, 5H, QH, 7S

2C, JC, 5D, QD, 6H, KH, 8S

3C, QC, 6D, KD, 7H, AS, 9S

4C, KC, 7D, AH, 8H, 2S, 10S

5C, AD, 8D, 2H, 9H, 3S, JS

6C, 2D, 9D, 3H, 10H, 4S, QS

7C, 3D, 10D, 4H, JH, 6S, KS

So, for example, if their eyes dilated on the sixth card of the first set (five through jack of

hearts), and the fourth card of the second set, you could tell that the only heart card

between those values is the 8 of hearts, so that must be the card they are thinking of. At

no point do you ask questions, yet you can still impossibly read their mind. If instead you

are looking for something more direct, take a look at the card forcing method; The Fair.

Invisible Book Test

Description:

You write a word on an index card, fold it up, and then drop it into an envelope which you

then seal and drop on a table in plain view. Now you hand your spectator an book. An

invisible book. Tell them to flip to any page, and memorize any word they like on the

page. They do so. You then take the book back, and burn it with an invisible lighter to

"destroy the evidence". You then hand them an index card and ask them to write the word

they are thinking down for confirmation, as, after all, they are quite literally the only

ones alive who know what word they read and it would be a pity if they forgot it. After

they write the word, you ask them to fold it into quarters, and then you place it to the

side. You now rip open the envelope, reach your hand inside, and remove your index card,

and then read the contents aloud; the word they are thinking of. You then drop the card

back into the envelope, and unfold their card. Lo and behold, you were correct.

Method:

To perform this effect, you will need an envelope of your choice, two index cards, a pen,

and a pair of scissors. Cut a slit in the bottom third of the back of the envelope. You are

now ready to begin.

Take out one of the index the cards and write a word on it. Be sure that your audience

cannot see what you write. In reality, you can write anything of medium length. A great

example would be "example". Just jot it down, then fold it into quarters, drop it into the

top of the of the envelope. As you do so, with your left hand, push the back bottom third

of the envelope to the front, so the card falls into it. Palm this folded card. Now with

your right hand, seal the envelope and then lay it slit side down on the table.

Now hand the invisible book to your spectator and ask him or her to remember a word in

it. During this entire process, your left hand should be at your side. When they are done,

ask them to drop the book back on the table. Whip out an invisible lighter and torch the

book, explaining that you are burning it to destroy the evidence. This should get some

laughs. Now shove over the other card and pen, asking them to write it for whatever

pretense you like to use. Have them fold it into quarters, and then take it in your right

hand. As you do, false pass it over to your left hand, palming it in your right, and drop the

card in your left hand a few feet to the side. All that now remains is for you to pick up the

envelope with your right hand, so that the card is pressed on the bottom third, rip off the

top with your left, and then reach in, THROUGH THE SLIT, and take out the card. Unfold

it, and read what they wrote aloud. Then drop it through the envelope to your right hand

the same way you did before, take the dummy card with your left hand, and false pass it

back to your right, ditch the dummy in your pocket or sleeve, crumple the envelope, and

then unfold their card (which you just read off!) to "confirm" that you got your prediction

right.

Mission accomplished.

Again, running over the method:

1. Write on and fold dummy.

2. Drop dummy through slit in envelope and palm in other hand. Seal envelope.

3. Have spectator “choose” word, write it, and fold card.

4. False pass their card for the dummy, and place it aside.

5. Rip off top of envelope, reach down, then unfold and read your “prediction”.

6. Drop prediction back through to other hand, false pass dummy back, and open their

original card to “confirm” your prediction.

7. Dispose of dummy and envelope by crumpling them into a ball.

Part 2: Bending the Will

The Fair

Description:

The Fair came to me when I thought of all the ways to verbally force a card, both

psychological and equivocal. To be right every time, I decided to choose equivocal.

At the same time I wanted it to be a fast effect that seemed free, yet left spectators

wondering what hit them. To do this, I took Occam’s Razor to equivoque as a whole and

used what I came up with.

Imagine placing a card face down on a table between you and a friend. Imagine asking

them to freely choose a color and value of a card. Then imagine asking that friend to flip

over the card on the table. And imagine being right. Every single time.

Method:

To accomplish this, I cut down the equivoque to just three choices. Just three. You could

get away with normal magician’s force with just three. But I didn’t want to do that either.

How could that be possible you ask? Just three questions? The way I pull it off is by

carefully choosing the force card. If you tried equivoque on any other card, such as the 7

of clubs, it would be much longer. Imagine it. Choose cards above or below 5. Choose

number cards or picture cards. Choose odd or even. Choose 7 or 9. Choose black or red.

Choose Clubs or Spades. That’s a whopping 6 choices necessary just to force a card.

If you used anything but a highly advanced and streamlined version of equivoque, your

spectator would catch on to what you were doing and the effect would lose its power. So,

how can you get almost the same impact as a psychological force with equivoque? It’s

simple. Limit their choices strategically. The force card? The Queen of Hearts.

Explain that you are going to do an experiment. Add that once they make a decision, there

is no turning back. They can never know what might have happened. With that said, lay

the card down on the table face down. Now say the following: “Let us pretend that I have

an invisible pack of cards here. I have picture cards, and I have number cards. Which ones

should I remove? The picture cards or the number cards?" If they say number, then reach

down to your invisible pack and remove the “number cards”, and throw them over your

shoulder saying that you have removed the number cards as they asked. If they say picture

cards, remove them from the pack as if you were taking them out to use them.

Either way, invisibly separate the picture cards into two packets, saying that of the

picture cards, there remain female cards (the Queens), and male cards (the Jacks and

Kings). Pretend to place the two about 6 inches apart in the air, asking your spectator to

choose which of the two they want you to take down. If they say the male cards, take

them down and toss them to the side, spreading the Queens in the air. If they say the

female cards, take them down and spread them invisibly in your hands. Now close the

packet and say that you are placing them back into the card box. Ask your spectator to

imagine either the red Queens or the black Queens dissolving into the air. Ask which one

they made disappear. If they named the red Queens, ask them to imagine one of the two

materializing into the shape of a card, as you point down to the card between you. If they

name the black Queens, say that all you are left with is a red Queen, and then just point

to the card. They will flip it over, and then flip out.

Prediction:

Instead of using a Queen of Hearts, you could use any other Queen, and you could just jot

it on the back of a napkin, or use it in a one ahead system, as the system itself is entirely

non gimmicked –- as are pretty much all of the effects in this book.

Prime

There is really no single description for this effect; you can do so much with it. It can be

performed any time, anywhere, for anyone (in many languages). In the dark, over the

phone; your spectator does not even need to be able to speak. But here is what most will

want to do with it:

The mentalist asks his spectator to think of a word. Any word. He then asks his spectator

to freely make exactly two changes to the word. As soon as the changes are made, the

thought permeates the minds of not only the spectator, but the mentalist.

Method:

The basic method is this. The spectator thinks of a word, and the mentalist has them think

of a country that begins any vowel in the word. He then asks them to think of a month or

fruit that begins with the last vowel of the country. You now know what they are thinking

of, and can move on to a variation. They will almost always -- 99.9% of the time -- be

thinking of either the month August/April --which you can fish for--, or the fruit Apple.

The shorter the process is, the quicker they will forget about it as you lead them into the

rest of the routine. I phrase it as "Before we begin, I need you to think of a word. Good.

Now I need you to think of a country that begins with the first vowel in your word. Good.

Now I need you to freely think of a month that begins with a vowel in your freely chosen

(it is indeed freely chosen, they might think of Australia, England, and dozens of others)

country. Great, now that you have your just thought of month, we can start."

This way the process happens before they know what hit them. They just think of

something, no questions are asked; it all happens in their head. One slight note, most

people will not be able to think of Oman, so when you ask them to think of a country, I

would advise you to give them some examples: "Think of a country.. Such as England,

Oman, India, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Japan..." and you can't go wrong.

A bit of the thinking comes from a method called Thought Chunneling by Joshua Quinn,

which I will not go into here for obvious reasons. A similar tactic was used in the classic

effect 'Gray Elephants in Denmark'. I took it, and then used an idea I had regarding

branching anagrams; selecting a specific letter, and selected a specific, but equally

unknown, letter. So just as Thought Chunneling turned a branching anagram on its head,

Prime turned both on their sides, coming up with a fast and easy process that just

produces one result.

One possible out is if they think of Egypt. Obviously, the odds of them thinking so are

quite low, but its always a possibility. Anyways, they won't be able to think of a fruit. If

so, you can merely say “Hmmm... Try to take that letter and think of a planet instead.”,

and then you're home free.

Direct Mind Reading Example:

Performer: “Please, think of a word. Any word you please.”

[Spectator thinks of word]

Performer: “Done? Perfect. Now please think of a country that begins with the a vowel in

your word. A country in the Americas, such as Argentina or Brazil, a country in Europe like

England or Germany, in Africa like Sudan or Oman, or even in Asia and the Middle East,

such as China or Ethiopia. Do you have a country in mind?”

Spectator: “Yes, I have one.”

Performer: “Splendid. Now please think of a fruit that begins with the last vowel of that

country. [snap]”

[Spectator thinks, then nods]

Performer: “Visualize this fruit as if it where before you. Is it an Apple?”

[Spectator is impressed]

Colors

Description:

Your spectator thinks of a color, and then a planet. You read their mind.

Method:

A Prime related effect would be to ask someone to think of a color, then think of a planet

that begins with the last vowel of that color, or even the last letter. All the colors but

yellow have a last vowel of e, and in the case of yellow, they'd just say they can't, and you

could have them think of a month (October). In the event of the last letter, chances are of

the colors that they will think of blue, so if you wanted to take a risk you could nail it

immediately.

Your options are limitless when you use vowels.

In Spirit

Description:

This is entirely naked mentalism. Imagine asking your spectator to think of a fruit, such as

a pear or a banana and then tossing it from hand to hand, gazing at its color, as you mime

their every action in real time. You then name their thought aloud. No props, no memory,

no gaffs, nothing. Your body and your head.

Method:

Force the word Apple, then ask your spectator to cup their hands and imagine holding it

[you are miming all of these actions along with them], turning it over, spinning it by its

stem, gazing at its color, smelling it, scratching it, as you like. (e.g. “Hold it in your hands

[as you do this you mime the actions you want them to perform], lift it by its stem, toss it

from hand to hand, gaze at its color.”). You then reveal it to be an Apple. This creates a

sufficient logical disconnect. You can ramble on about the Apple's aura if you like.

Mental Epic

Description:

Ask your spectator to think of a city, a number, and a fruit. Predict them all beforehand.

Method:

Yes, sir. You can now perform Mental Epic -- or any Confab/One ahead routine -- on the fly,

without a card force; so that instead of seeming the weakest -- a chosen card is pretty

pale compared to a three digit number or a city -- it can be the strongest -- it doesn't get

much better than the merely thought of word.

In the event that you don't know what the one ahead system is, you probably shouldn't be

reading this book, but here's a stripped down version to let you understand the gist of it:

1. Fold three pieces of paper into halves.

2. Ask your spectator to think of a name or city, etc. Pretend to write it down on one

of the papers, but instead, write “Apple”.

3. Drop this paper in something like a glass, declaring it to be your prediction. Ask

your spectator what city/name they were thinking of for confirmation.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with a number, except instead of Apple, write the city/name.

5. Force Apple with Prime, and but write down the number they just told you.

6. Dump out the glass to let them read your –- all correct –- predictions.

Intuitional Power

Description:

Hand a gold ring to a spectator to put on, and ask another spectator to think of a word.

With intuition granted by the powers of the ring, your first spectator names the word the

other spectator is merely thinking of.

Method:

This can be done with or without a sort of dual reality. Essentially you ask for a person

who has experienced several "chances of intuition", and give this spectator a medallion,

ring, or some other supposed "magical" trinket -- a Prime -- and as you show it to them,

point out subtly an engraving or writing of sorts, that says Apple, Earth, or whatever

other word you decided to force. You then put in on their neck, and run through the

procedure with another spectator. You then ask your first spectator, "with the help of the

amulet/ring/medallion" to name a word they feel drawn to. This could be a very easy way

to make a nice side profit; have a large stash of unmarked "Primes" to sell as a souvenir of

your show.

The other way to do the effect -- without preshow -- is to have one spectator -- again

supposedly with some experience of intuition -- act as your receiver. Now ask both of your

spectators to think of a word, and then continue through the process. Your first spectator

will have picked up perfectly, because there is only one possible result!

Thought Catcher

Description:

Display a blank index card Crumple it into a ball, and drop it into your spectator's fist. Ask

them to think of a fruit, and then shake their hand. Their thought has appeared –- in print

–- on the card.

Method:

Take an index card, and write Apple on one side in pencil for preparation. Peel up as much

of the card as you can without showing the writing, displaying the blank side freely as you

talk. Suddenly crumple the card so that the writing is on the inside. Ask your spectator to

open their hand, then drop the ball into their hand and ask them to close their fist tightly.

Run through the process, and ask them to imagine the word they are thinking of to surge

through their hand to the paper. All that remains is for them to unfold the paper that has

been in their hand the entire time. I had heard of something like this being done, but with

a psychological force. This is similar, just virtually fool proof.

Other Languages

Spanish:

In Spanish, and some other languages, you can just have them think of the last letter of a

European country, which will be A as well. Have them think of a word, and then a

European country that starts with the last letter of that word, and then something like a

vehicle (automobile) that begins with the letter. The only exceptions will be words that

end in O or Y (which you can use Octobre or Yogur for).

Italian:

In Italian, you can go to a country, and then directly to the last letter. Use Arancione as

the force word. In English it means Orange. You can force words such as November by

branching off of it, such as in arancioNe, or the number nine (nove), etc.

German:

Have them think of a language that begins with a vowel in their word. Then have them

think of a form of footwear, such as a shoe, that begins with the third to last letter

(motion to the left twice as you say this). The answer will always be stiefel, or boot,

because virtually all languages in German end in isch. This may be slightly more

transparent then the English version. In English, this wouldn't work, because you have

languages like Spanish, and then ones like Chinese, Tibetan, etc.

(In)Visible Book Test

Description:

Produce an invisible or visible book, and hand it to your spectator. Ask them to freely

choose a word. Ask them to shift their thoughts just two times from one word to another,

and then name their thought. If you are ever in a pinch to do an impromptu book test for

misdirection/a logical disconnect, with or without a book, then this effect is for you.

Method:

The shifting idea and the justification comes from Ran Pink –- see his notes latter on.

You have two choices here. Either write your force word on a card, and then place that

card face down on the table, or skip this step if you want to read their mind.

Next, either hand them a tangible or in tangible book, ask them to freely flip to a page;

explaining that you are mentally influencing them to a certain page, and then ask them to

choose a line, and finally a word. This should seem like this process, when in reality the

process has not even begun. Now that they have settled on a word, force a word of your

choice, asking them to shift from their initial word to a country that starts with a vowel in

their word, and then to shift to, say a fruit that begins with the last vowel in their

country. Then use this patter from Ran:

“So now you are thinking of a word that you didn't even know you would think of, and that

is the exact state of mind you need to be in for this to work. Don't shift thoughts. Can you

visualize this word? Perfect...”

Now either flip over the card –- this can raise some suspicion to the card, which can be

good to shift the thought away from Prime –- or proceed to pick their thought up, a letter

at a time, or however you would wish to reveal.

Hive Mentality

Description:

Ever wanted to mass hypnotize/influence an audience with just your mind and mouth?

Need a group mental force? If so, then Hive Mentality is for you.

Method:

Prime makes a great show opener. Ask everyone to think of a word through this process,

and hit with nearly everyone, except a few who might not have understood your words.

The impression will be so strong, and its so fast, you can knock them flat. Sell it off as

crowd hypnotism or whatever you want, or say that their minds are all inexplicably linked,

and that if they all concentrate on a word, you will receive it. Start out your show right.

Use Prime.

Prime Cards

Description:

As you perform, locate and identify spectator's random thoughts throughout your show,

much to the amazement of the spectators and your audience.

Method:

This is a particularly interesting ploy that uses a multiple dual reality method. Let us

suppose that you have several cards. The first would say something like this:

Please think of a word. Now please think of a country that begins with a vowel in your

word. Examples are China, Tibet, Oman, Argentina, Uganda, Japan, and the like. Now, afix

in your mind a fruit that begins with the last vowel of your country. Once you have a clear

mental image of this fruit, destroy this paper.

Another could force a month, and another perhaps something like a day of the week, a

planet, or a precious stone. Place these cards on various seats in your performing area so

that you will be able to recall the seats. During your performance, you can call out to

various members of the audience –- not all at the same time obviously –- seemingly at

random, ask them if they are thinking of something such as a fruit, and then name exactly

what it is. E.g.:

“Excuse me sir, yes you, in the classes and suede coat. You are thinking of a fruit, are you

not? Yes, and it is an Apple, I can tell. I know that you are hungry, but would you be so

kind as not to concentrate so hard upon that? I am trying to read minds here, and yours is

getting in the way.”

Your spectator will be stunned, but the effect on nearby audience members will be much

larger; you randomly chose someone, identified that they were thinking of something,

identified what type of thing it was, and then exactly what they where thinking of. At

least that is what your audience believes. They will get a magical sensation that “they

could be next”.

The beauty of Prime is that it doesn't require you to sit with the person and talk it

through; you can just force it with a card. It will make a much bigger impact on them if

they crumple/tear it up; so they won't think intently on the force itself, but if they do, it

doesn't matter very much; the impact on the audience will be almost the same.

Tossed out Thought by Ran Pink

Description:

Along the same line as the two previous effects, you can now do something like a Tossed

out Deck with mere words.

Method:

Do Prime force on a large audience. Start with saying "I want you all to imagine something

you could easily draw quickly if you were put on the spot. It should be easy to recognize if

anyone looked at it, but it should be more interesting than just a symbol or shape.".

Continue to a country and/or fruit.

"Most of you are thinking of a fruit right now, but I feel as though some of you couldn't

think of a country. So take the letter you are thinking of and think of a fruit."

Have them focus on the final word in their mind and explain that you are going to try to

receive thoughts from the audience.

"Now I'm sensing so many words. Let me see if I can focus on just a few people. You all

were thinking of any word than changed the word into a word you never even knew you

would think of. That is the perfect state of mind to be for this to flow. I'm getting more

than just fruits. It seems that some of you are dwelling on previous words. That's ok."

Then select 6 people to stand up. Have them sit down if you successfully name a word that

they had been thinking about . "Tree, Orange, England, House, Apple, Money"

It will appear as though you were picking up words from 6 different people.

Drawing Duplication

Description:

Ask your spectator to think of a word, make a few changes, and then draw what they are

thinking of on a pad of paper. You stand back to back with them, and draw the same thing.

Method:

This should be terribly obvious by now. You can perform it on the fly. Just grab something

to write on and with, hand one of each to your spectator, stand back to back, and begin.

Force the word back to back, and then have them draw it. Alternatively, you could force

two words (one based on the other), as you will learn a little later, and draw one inside

the other, or one with the color of the other. (This could force a different stone, like a

ruby by forcing emerald and apple then asking them to change the color of their stone to

the color of their thought of fruit). Read further in for more info on this idea.

Thought Dueling

Description:

Imagine both you and a spectator think of a word, a month, a time, a season, a planet, a

vehicle; you name it. Then you both stand back to back, walk off five paces, turn, aim,

fire, and hit. You then both call out what you received. Both of you are right. Nothing

written, nothing spoken, nothing asked.

Method:

An obvious choice would be to perform a perfectly working and impromptu Thought Duel.

Imagine asking someone to think of a word, and change it twice. You then stand back to

back with them, explaining that you will both walk out five paces, then turn and silently

fire the word you are thinking of; naming the other word that enters your skull at that

moment. You are both right.

Prime whatever word you like (you'll learn even more options later), stand back to back,

walk out and fire. As they fire, name the force word. Whatever word they name, act

impressed.

Realizer

Description:

Allow your spectator to play God for a moment. Show a box, its front covered in glass.

Explain that it is an expensive Qui-Life box. Cover the box with a silk. Tell them that now

they get to be the creator. As the a life form slips their lips, you are whisking away the

silk; to reveal the creature has been created within.

Method:

Get a cardboard box or some similar box. Dress it up as some New Agey sort of crystal

gadget. You should have two sides. Both sides are covered in glass. In the center is a

double backed mirror (or just two mirrors back to back) setup at a 45 degree angle so that

the box appears to be empty. Make sure everything is properly sealed, then on one side,

drop in a large number of ants. They can be fake, but live, moving ants will be more

impressive. Attach something in a way of a handle to the top of the box.

To perform, you will need to be within relatively close range of your spectators so that

they will be able to see the ants, but not too close. If you are comfortable with dual

reality, I highly advise that you perform this preshow. It will just appear that much more

impressive. You are going to force the ant by asking, instead of a fruit or month, for your

spectator to think of an insect. Assuming that you are doing this via a dual reality preshow

setup, you never have to have your spectator reveal what they are thinking of or even say

a thing; you already know, thanks to Prime. When you are ready to perform, walk in with

the box, so that the empty side is facing your audience. Be very cautious about angles; too

casual of a walk with the mirror could give it away. An alternative way to position the

mirror would be tilted vertically instead of horizontally if you feel your angles will be

right.

Now, explain that this box is a Qui-Life box, that can bring life into being with a mere

word (or thought, depending on your presentation). The idea is very novel. You are

essentially giving your spectator the opportunity to play God. They will speak, and live

will appear. As you speak, take an opaque black silk, and show that it is ungimmicked,

then cover the box from the front to the back. Patter about how the box It is capable of

creating life, slowly spin the box 180 degrees. I would advise walk around a small table

you have it on as you do this. Once complete, ask your “primed” {so to speak) spectator to

slowly name a life form that they recently thought about. They will say “Ant”, or “Ants”,

whereupon you explain that as they uttered the words, Ants were created within the box.

Whisk away the cloth, and bow to your well deserved applause. Your spectator will also

react strongly. Think about it. You have made your spectator a god, and their awe will

repay you. There is no mind reading about this effect, its never mentioned. Its all focused

around a word they speak and a box.

PK Time

Description:

Your spectator thinks up a time; all is done in their head. No mathematical tricks, the

process is entirely verbal. Without them speaking a word, you slowly bring your wrist into

view. On it is a watch.

Method:

Set your watch to roughly one o'clock –-if it's digital, make it 1 PM. Now get yourself a

spectator and follow along with patter something like this:

“Please think of a word that is related to time, such as eon, age, future, or some other

similar term. Perfect. Now please think of a country that begins with any vowel in that

word. Great, now I want you to think of a time of day that begins with the last vowel of

that country, such as morning, afternoon, evening, or night. Now please think of an exact

hour in that time of day that begins with the, say, second to last letter of that time. Now,

if you would just look at my watch here; it would appear that we have gone back to that

time as you said it..” etc. etc.

Psychological Card Force

Description:

Your spectator mentally creates a card. Then flips over one on the table.

Method:

As with everything, you can use this for one person, or an entire audience. Dual reality or

real time. If 'The Fair' doesn't suit your tastes, yet you still want to lay a card on the table

and bend another's will to your own, this is for you. The benefit is that you can do it on a

group instead of just one. This is the patter. I borrowed the cementing and justification

from subtleties provided by Ran Pink. Try it on yourself:

“Here I have a playing card. I am mentally going to draw your mind to this card. To begin, I

would like you to think of a word. A word that identifies with who you are, such as

courageous, ingenious, or introverted. Are you done? Now please think of a country that

begins with, say, the the first vowel in your word. At this time concentrate on the last

vowel in your chosen country. Think of a card value that begins with this letter, such as a

Ten, Jack, or Queen. Do you have that in your mind? Splendid. Now please think of a suit

that starts with the second letter of your value.

You thought of any word then changed the word into a word you never even knew you

would think of. That is the perfect state of mind to be for this to flow. Now please, in

your mind's eye, picture a blank playing card. Paint the value and suit onto your blank

card. Once you have done this, imagine it slowly floating out of your mind, and into this

card upon the table.”

At this point, just motion to the card to reveal it to be the Ace of Clubs; the card in their

mind, the card that they never mentioned aloud.

Prime Reading

Description:

Your spectator appears drawn to a gemstone, all in their head. You give them a reading

that relates to their choice, and then name it aloud.

Method:

I liked Ran Pink's way of switching to a precious stone (see Ran's Notes), which obviously

happens to be emerald. I thought of an interesting reading system based on it.

You just need to have a reading script. I just use the general Forer lines or something

similar (thanks to Julian Moore's James Bond Cold Reading System). Example:

“The stone you are most drawn to actually tells me a lot about your personality. You have

a great need for other people to like and admire you. You have a tendency to be critical of

yourself. You have a great deal of unused capacity which you have not turned to your

advantage. While you have some personality weaknesses, you are generally able to

compensate for them. Disciplined and self-controlled outside, you tend to be worrisome

and insecure inside. At times you have serious doubts as to whether you have made the

right decision or done the right thing. You prefer a certain amount of change and variety

and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. You pride

yourself as an independent thinker and do not accept others' statements without

satisfactory proof. You have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to

others. At times you are extroverted, affable, sociable, while at other times you are

introverted, wary, reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be pretty unrealistic.

Security is one of your major goals in life. I can tell that you must have mentally chosen

an emerald.”

Think for a moment on just how powerful this is. It firstly creates a perfect and lengthy

logical disconnect regarding how they “were drawn” to the emerald in the first place. If

you think about it, if they had just told you they liked the emerald, and you had rattled

off that script, they would have been impressed. But the fact that you told them about

themselves, and then revealed that you could draw from that what stone they chose in

their head, without speaking, is what brings the experience to a new level.

Other Forces

From Apple, ask them to think of a number between 1 and 10 that begins with the last

letter of the fruit they are thinking of. You have just forced the number 8, in a more

surefire manner than something such as Anate. Even easier, you could force the season

Autumn. A more surefire month force would be to force Autumn and then November (from

the last letter of Autumn). It would be just as short as forcing the planet Earth or the

number 8, and could be used as an alternative to April/August in Beautiful Miracle. An

example of patter: “Think of a word. Great, now think of a country that begins with any

vowel in that word. Perfect. Now please think of a season that begins with the last vowel

in that country. We are now going to get farther into this season, so think of a month that

begins with the last letter of that season. So, you freely and randomly chose a season, and

then a month within that season. All of this is in your head. Now, if you would look down

to my hand here...” etc.

Beautiful Miracle

Description:

Your spectator thinks of a month. You spin around a ring on your finger to reveal the

corresponding birth stone.

This effect should be performed for a female, because there is a fair chance that they will

know birthstones on sight. I advise you to bring a small chart along just in case. This time,

ask them to think of a word that has had a deep personal significance to them. Ask them

to think of a month, to force August or April. During this entire time, wear either a

diamond ring or a light green peridot ring, so that the stone is turned inwards towards

your palm.

This is a 50-50 chance, so choose which of the two you want wisely. As an out, have the

other month written on the back of an index card or napkin lying inconspicuously on the

table or another nearby surface. I would personally choose August as the month for the

ring, as it has the highest birth rate and we are naturally drawn to the month we were

born in, but on the other hand, most women and even many men will say April because

they know its stone is the diamond.

Choose carefully. In the event that it is the month with the ring, you have your miracle. If

it was April, slowly turn your ring around. If you had a peridot ring, swivel the ring, and

then pull out your index of months and stones. You have just created a powerful,

emotional contact. You first had them think of a word of meaning in their life, and then a

month. And then, on your finger, appeared a ring with the corresponding gemstone. A

beautiful miracle. Another alternative would be to use Ran Pink's gemstone force (just a

few sections below), to force an emerald (May), or November (citrine).

World Traveling by Ran Pink

Description:

Take your spectator on a short mental adventure, and read their mind in the process.

Method:

"It is known that traveling and visiting new and unknown places is mind expanding. I want

you to take an imaginary journey to any country in the world. This imaginary journey will

open your mind so that I can get inside and try to share a simple thought."

Now I'm thinking as I'm writing but what if you started with the person's name as a base as

if to personalize the journey and have them choose any letter in their name to travel to

the first country. Then they choose the first vowel in that country to travel to another

country.

"Now that you've traveled and you are in an expanded state of mind, but your stomach is

empty so I'll have you focus on a simple thought. Take the last vowel of the country you

are in and can you think of a fruit?"

I'd need to research if this would work, but the idea is to wrap it with a presentation that

might render the method invisible.

I also love it short and sweet, but it's fun to try to find meaningful justifications for our

odd procedures.

"Ouiea"

Write this word on a card. Use it as a strange mystical meditation mantra like "Ohm". "I

learned it during my mystical travels as a young man in my twenties."

Have them close their eyes and repeat the mantra and then choose a country with one of

the letters in "Ouiea" to take an imaginary journey. I'm trying to force "India" with the

mystical meditation language but even if they use the other letters you are still on track

to your force options.

Notes

Ran Pink's Notes

[Paraphrased] If they hesitate on the country, and you haven't mentioned countries like

Oman, then skip the country and go straight for the fruit. It will have to be an Orange,

unless they didn't think of Uganda or Uzbekistan, in which case they won't be able to think

of a fruit; and you can just tie it up with the planet Uranus. If you get to Orange, you can

ask your spectator to think of a precious stone that begins with the last letter of the fruit;

Emerald, and reveal both thoughts.

Another idea to get 3 or 4 thoughts is to try influential language or psychological forces to

ask for the first word, then do Prime and do one more controlled vowel jump if need be.

Now you can pump fairly safely because you can always cut yourself off with a true

statement about one or two of their thoughts.

If the participant has a hard time finding a country, and I forgot, the first time I tried this,

to mention Oman, but if you can just have them think of a fruit at this point to get

Orange. Keep going from there or just reveal the Orange prediction or direct mind read.

This is option FruitBasket as you can have an Orange in one pocket and an Apple in a bag

on the table... or something like that.

Or a sea creature Octopus. Then have them think of a country with the last vowel. E.g.

Uganda/ Uzbekistan. I'm sure there are more but I those are the first that came to mind.

But there are no Octopi in Uganda. ;)

When the participant is --let's say-- thinking of Apple after your basic Prime, "So now you

are thinking of a word that you didn't even know you would think of, and that is the exact

state of mind you need to be in for this to work. Don't shift thoughts. Can you visualize

this word? Perfect..." etc.... It's subtle but gives a fake reason to justify the Prime

process.

The Fair would work well with my Showdown Wallet or any wallet with a divider I suppose,

since you can show the wallet empty after you pull the card out. 4 Queens in 4 index

pockets in my Showdown billfold. Though I can fit all the picture cards in there, less is

more and I do need to leave room for the money.

Giani the Mentalist's Notes

Comedic Approach to “In Spirit”:

"You are touching and holding the fruit. Feel the texture.

Uh Oh, I'm sensing something, a lump of sorts. A brownish soft spot. Can you see it? Try to

see it."

Regarding if they can't think of a fruit:

Watch their eyes while they are thinking of the vowel, then its all about timing between

fruit or a planet. As soon as you see hesitation, you quickly switch to planet or fruit: ie

"Now think of a planet that starts with the letter, rather a fruit. Got it? Great now look at

the last letter of that fruit. Great concentrate now see a planet starting with that letter".

Regarding the risky color ploy:

You could take a stab, perhaps more risky but after they think of a color say:

"Okay now think of ANY vowel in that color. Now think of a planet that starts with that

letter" OF course they could think of turquoise or something. Purple also has U in it. But

then its 50/50 between Earth and Uranus.

Paul Carnazzo's Notes

I seems as though the major flaw with this is not the possible misses, but the directing of

the spectator to use a vowel for their fruit. It may be easy to reconstruct this if they

remember the steps.

Possibly a little time misdirection in the way of a short script directing them to envision

their fruit as the only object in a White Room, or picture a fruit bowl, and slowly all of

the pieces of fruit are vanishing until only one piece remains; “the one you are thinking

of”.

Or, maybe simply recap, sort of miscalling (not mentioning vowels) what actually

happened:

"You thought of any word, there is no possible way I could know what word you thought of.

You used your word to think of a new word, and then took it even further by using that

word to think of anew word, which is completely unique to you! If you had thought of a

different word initially, you'd probably have a different word in your mind now.

But because of all of that extra activity in your mind, it should make it a little easier to

pick up on your thoughts..."

My Notes

Regarding geography; in the direct mind read script, there is included some patter that

cleverly mixes in countries for every vowel so it should be easy for your spectator to

inconspicuously choose a country such as Oman or India mixed in with some random, non

vowel-starting countries if their memory wasn't strong.

If you want to have more options than just the eight planets for them to choose from,

when you get to E, force the president, Eisenhower. Then you can describe him in

whatever manner you like.

I have not yet tested this, and there will be some exceptions, but you might be able to get

away with having them think of a country that starts with ANY letter in the word they

think of. Just a thought; it would probably be a big risk, but much more powerful. I plan

on investigating this. Some examples are A – Australia, B – Bangladesh (won't work), C –

Columbia, D – Denmark...

Another possibility would be to run through the process and ask them to think of a fruit

that begins with that vowel. If they can't just have them think of a planet, just like the

Egypt ploy, and you will almost always be covered.

So ultimately you could have someone think of any word, then think of any letter in that

word, think of a country that starts with that letter, and then a fruit/planet that starts

with the last vowel in that country and be right every time. Mind reading doesn't get much

closer to that.

A safer alternative to that, would be to have them think of a country that started with

the last letter of their word. Due to frequency statistics, this would work most of the

time, however you have more room for missing.

Conclusion

Well, what can I say? I hope you've enjoyed this tome to mentalism. Ideas are based loosely

upon material from Nefesch, Pablo Amira, Bryn Reynolds, and Joshua Quinn.

Thanks go out to Giani the Mentalist (a.k.a. Decomposed), for giving me some notes and

performance results, Ran Pink, for more notes, tips, and review, and Jerome Finley, Pablo

Amira, and edh on the Magic Cafe for reviewing my work. Kudos to all five of these chaps.

So, what are you waiting for? Get out of your chair or off of your couch, grab a friend,

family member, or just someone walking by, ask them to think of a word, freely change it

twice, and then flip over card that's been in your hand the entire time. Or ask them to

visualize it, toss it from hand to hand, gaze at it, and then produce one from your pocket

and take a bite. Or thought duel with them. Or ask them to freely choose a card, and then

ask them to flip over one sitting on a table the entire time. But whatever you do: blow

their mind.

THE END.